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Fitness Digest . US ISSN 2164-3997 Stories of the humankind. $1.95 Volume 4 Issue 3 Summer 2012 Deadwood, MTM Emily Wheeler, Race Director Dear Freestyle Jen Schmitt, FitnessDigest.us Columnist I’m a Survivor Brandi Shipman, Elite Triathlete Inspiration Jeremy J. Taylor, CNFI Publishing Motivation Vince Errichiello, USMS Swimmer Ride of Silence Mike Murgas, Poet & Robert LaVallee, Photographer FitnessDigest.us $1.95 V4I1 CS0100304ISSU

FitnessDigest.us Vol. 4.3 Cover

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FitnessDigest.us™ ISSN 2164-3997 published quarterly. Sales go to the non-profits featured in the current issue. Get something fun to read and help a good cause. Current issue $1.95 available at FitnessDigest.us.

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Page 1: FitnessDigest.us Vol. 4.3 Cover

FitnessDigestUS

ISSN 2164-3997

Stories of the humankind

$195Volume 4 Issue 3Summer 2012

trade

Deadwood MTMEmily Wheeler Race Director

Dear FreestyleJen Schmitt FitnessDigestus Columnist

Irsquom a SurvivorBrandi Shipman Elite Triathlete

InspirationJeremy J Taylor CNFI Publishing

MotivationVince Errichiello USMS Swimmer

Ride of SilenceMike Murgas Poet amp

Robert LaVallee Photographer

FitnessDigestus $195

V4I1 CS0100304ISSU

On your iPad or iPhone click the download link for the magazine

The PDF will load automatically in your Safari browser

Once the magazine is loaded into Safari tap the screen to see an ldquoOpen Inrdquo button in the top left corner The button will be visible for a few moments

Click the ldquoOpen in iBooksrdquo and your magazine will then be stored in the PDF shelf of your iBooks library You can rename or make new shelves to organize your books and magazines

A second way to sync your magazine with iBooks is to drag the PDF file onto the computerrsquos iTunes icon The next time you sync your iPad the magazine will be on the PDF shelf of your iBooks library

Many e-readers and tablet computers have good library features Consult your ownerrsquos manual for instructions on syncing PDFs with your e-readerrsquos library

GoodeReads suggests Adobe Digital Editions when reading magazines on a desktop or laptop computer

OPEN in iBooks

IMPORTANT After download

This is a message from GoodeReads An online directory of digital edition magazinesVisit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

It is recommended that iPad owners install iBooks or some other PDF reader app to properly store and read the magazine Kindle Fire users will find the magazine file in the downloads folder of the

Kindle Fire web-browser

Kindle Fire UsersSend us an e-mail We will deliver the magazine directly to your Kindle bookshelf infoFitnessDigestus

FitnessDigestUS

To receive duplicate copies of this issueE-mail PublisherFitnessDigestus Include the delivery

confirmation number from your most recent purchase If you do not have your confirmation number please use the date and time from your sales receipt Our company will confirm your purchase and then send you a copy of the magazine

Please donrsquot steal music movies books and magazines Warning The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of

copyrighted work is illegal Criminal copyright infringement including infringement without monetary gain is investigated

by the FBI and is punishable by up to five years in federal prison and a fine of $250000 No content or files from this magazine may be transmitted in any form by any means

electronic mechanical photocopying recording or otherwise without written license from the publisher

Cover PhotoMTM Marathon Action Sports Images

FitnessDigestustradePO Box 380

Manly IA 50456-0380

ISSN 2164-3997

copy2012 FitnessDigestustrade Copyright claimed in Volume

4 issue 3 exclusive of US government insert pages

LiveAd links in this issue will refer readers to additional information found on the

ever changing world wide web The information video

and audio found on websites outside of this volume-issue

do not represent or reflect FitnessDigestustrade

Occasionally the names of authors and characters may

be changed to protect identities Ghost writers are

used when stories are submitted orally or when many edits are needed

E-mail our companyrsquos 10 member advisory board

directorsFitnessDigestus asympI

FitnessDigestus is published with the assistance of the Robert and Lorenz Publishing Company and the Cooperative Publication Marketplace coopnetbiz

FitnessDigestus coach-consultants are certified by the Red Cross American Swim Coaches Association USA Swimming USA Track and Field or have other nationally recognized certifications Always consult a physician before starting a regular exercise or fitness training program

Win up to $200 by sending us a fitness or health-related story E-mail your story of photo to entryFitnessDigestus New winners are selected quarterly by the FitnessDigestus contest committee

For subscription or circulation information e-mail infoFitnessDigestus

Get PublishedDiamond story winners $200Gold story winners receive $50Silver story winners receive $25Honorary winners receive $10 Prize money can go directly to the author or it can be donated to a non-profit E-mail entryFitnessDigestus

Loved your story KirkusSupport Gary Hall Jr Diabetes FoundationYou rocked the marathon Joe B - from Dawn

A fun way to submit a story or write an editorial even if you dont maintain a blog or website Your message will be published for all our readers in the next issue of FitnessDigestus ISSN 2164-3997

LiveMediaFitnessDigestus

Contributors to Volume 4 issue 3

Emily Wheeler - Owner of Wheeler Event Management Emily is the race director for the Mickelson Trail Marathon and the Crazy Horse Marathon in South Dakota

Jenn Schmitt - 31 year old stay at home mom who worked as a Director of Special Education and a special education teacher prior to that Jenn has a Masters Degree in Educational Administration from Iowa State University

Brandi Shipman - Elite triathlete and cancer survivor Brandi owns and operates a professional triathlete coaching service She is a certified USA Triathlon coach and personal trainer She is one of the best in the country at answering questions on a range of topics that include V02 running science and multi-sport training plans

Vince Errichiello - An active USMS swimmer and motivational writer Vince swims for the Westmont Swim Club in Chicago Illinois Proceeds from the sales of this issue support the purchase of a score board for the pool area at the University of Illinois in Chicago

Jeremy J Taylor - From Morgan Utah Jeremy started out writing lyrics which transposed into writing poetry In the creative process he developed a creative writing theory eventually this theory became the foundation for establishing his writing and publishing interests He owns CNFI publishing

Robert LaValle - Professional photographer who owns the website CreationsPraise Robert is an expert at macro-photography

In this Issue

Short Stories10 Greatest Race14 Watch and Learn15 Dear Freestyle17 Adult Swimming26 Letrsquos Race30 Throwing at Him36 SPAM52 Swim Stories53 Exhale57 Volunteering Admission Price

Features5 Letters to the Editor6 Letter from the Publisher11 Giving it a Tri18 MTM Marathon23 To Build a Fire27 Motivation amp Inspiration32 T-shirts33 To Catch a Lunker35 TOP Tweets36 Unsung Heroes37 Ride of Silence46 Endless Pools47 Walking Stick47 My Bike51 Workout Ideas50 Open Water Numbers54 Irsquom a Survivor58 Cancer61 Reader Photos71 Classifieds

Summer 2012Volume 4 Issue 3

FitnessDigestUSStories of the humankind

trade

13 ndash Loved how the ldquoSay it to my facerdquo article in 42 pointed out that volunteers should be thanked and not criticized It is amazing how parents can sometimes be the worst examples of bad behavior

------

We agree13 ndash FitnessDigestus

------------------------------

Dear FitnessDigestus 13 I just downloaded my free eEdition to my nook Irsquoll have time to read it over the weekend------

13 Thanks Keep growing the collection More fun in each issue )) ndash FitnessDigestus

Letters to the Editor amp Live Media comments

FitnessDigestus is now available in public libraries

Ask for FitnessDigestUS

at your local libraryLocal libraries can now subscribe to FitnessDigestus using the

ISSN 2164-3997 Tell the librarian to visit httpFitnessDigestus for more information

------------------------------

ndash I am not familiar with your magazine Are you associated with a golf publication also

------

We often get confused with websites or blogs FitnessDigestus is closer to an eBook The companys network includes a variety of ties to independent publishers and a few large publishing corporations

13 ndash FitnessDigestus------------------------------

13 To write a letter to the editor e-mail editorFitnessDigestus orhttplivemediaFitnessDigestus Please use the e-mail that you used when you bought your most recent issue

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13 Thank you to all the readers who saved a copy of Vol 42 Irsquove dubbed it the English Channel issue because of the Bryn Dymott story Looking back Irsquom amazed at what the team put together Not only did we get a great story from Bryn Dymott English Channel swimmer but we got stories from an Olymipc Hall of Fame member Transplant Games World Champion and another contribution from Charlotte Andersen

All good stories and causes Vol 42 was such a fun run It really set the standard in many areas We got thousands of new readers through CoopNet DocStoc and Scribd We heard from a handful of people that said they enjoyed the issue With the completion of Vol 42 we are on pace for over 1 million pages read in 2012 The free issue for the quarter was the bench press world record issue Vol 41 It was a VERY popular download

Now we move onto Vol 43 Summer 2012 It is jam packed with stories and writing

13 We are settling into a good pace with this issue Itrsquos our sixth issue for public distribution and might be my favorite issue yet The contributors may not be as well known but their stories are just as fun inspiring heartfelt and entertaining

13 We have our best collection of ultra-short stories in this edition Ultra-shorts are 25-50 word works of wonderment Some of the most entertaining and humorous stories wersquove ever received Keep sending these stories to us anyway you can use the form on the homepage write a letter email phone or send us morse code - whatever works Just getrsquoem in here It is these short antidotal narratives that are some of the most popular reads in each issue

The most value comes from our feature stories though Our main feature this issue is from Texas Brandi Shipman is an elite triathlete and

Whatrsquos in StoreBy Mark Miller mmillerFitnessDigestus

LiveMediaComment on a story without having to write a letter to the editorhttpLiveMediaFitnessDigestus

LiveAdditionsA directory of multimedia resources for the current issue httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

Over 1 million pages read

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cancer survivor Her story is about the incredible comeback she made from breast cancer After battling the disease she took on the race course Her list of accomplishments on the race course are long and she is faster than ever She uses her racing to raise awareness for the American Cancer Society She has touched so many people with her racing and as a survivor That is why stories like Brandis need to be preserved digitally in the most professional way Which leads me to the topic of preservation

13 One of my jobs as publisher is to watch the current publishing trends Ive spent a lot of time lately on digital-preservation of history To communicate the importance of preservation to customers wersquove added the words gather distribute and preserve to the coopnetbiz online store I feel so strongly that stories like Brandis need to be published with preservation in mind Ironically I have a story that illustrates why

13 My grandmother is moving to a nursing home and the family was cleaning out the things she had saved One of the items was a collection of old Life magazines and

a magazine called Archer published by ADM In an amazing coincidence my father opened a Life magazine to a feature about the city we currently live in What an incredible find and the story is so much fun to read Second my family had no idea that my grandfather had been writing a column for ADMrsquos Archer magazine It is so much fun to go back and read the words he wrote in 1950 We are so lucky that my grandmother saved this collection It is priceless to our family Third I just read about Evernote a company that is asking ldquoWill the internet be around in 100 yearsrdquo I should mention now that the company has a billion dollar evaluation Their business plan is

Whatrsquos in Store Continued

For information on people restaurants and events that Mark mentions in his article visithttpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

Got a funny or inspiring story Send for our new writers exordiumentryFitnessDigestus

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built on the idea that websites can disappear in seconds One solution is back-ups Each duplication you make of a file increases the chances of itrsquos survival in years to come

13 It is my hope that someday people will find stories like Brandis on an old iPad or Kindle and get to read her story just like we read my grandfatherrsquos stories in Archer

13 Another first for the magazine We are taking a creative writing expert and pairing his story with a story from a US Masters swimmer The stories are about what inspires and motivates ndash how to find inspiration and motivation in your life I couldnrsquot believe how many underlying similarities there where when I placed them side-by-side

13 This issue is also our first issue that is going to include a new columnist Jen Schmitt is submitting a quarterly column for the magazine She is an inspiring mom in training ndash mom first writer second and triathlete third That is a recipe for success On top of the fact that she is a talented writer her style fits the magazines concept Her writing is

fun and she is great at finding the interesting details in lifes precious moments She brings to light many details that could easily be

overlooked When I see that talent in an athlete-writer I think to myself that they must understand hard work and suffering - because it is the suffering often times during our training that teaches us to see beauty in life Jen uses her talent to help moms find the reward

from long workouts Fittingly we have a poetic story that illustrates this link between suffering and the appreciation of life That story can be found on page 10

13 In 2008 I ran the Mickelson Trail Marathon in Deadwood South Dakota Since then Ive always felt a personal connection to it When I got word from Emily Wheeler the race director that we could get some photos and a short story from the 2012 race I was very excited Jen works closely with the legendary runner Jerry Dunn Mr Dunn is well known for his 200 marathons in the year 2000 He is Americas Marathon man He has appeared on the Today Show and has been featured in numerous magazines The chance to work with Jen and

Whatrsquos in Store Continued

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Jenn Schmitt Columnist

her team is so cool Im very thankful for the contribution Id like to include a quick side note to Emily ndash I think my next challenge will be to make that 100 miler work for me

On a whim I emailed a coordinator from the National Office for the Ride of Silence I mentioned publishing the official poem for the ride along with some photos The excitement I heard back was so positive The ride is emotional to so many people The stories of riders being hurt or killed is tragic we never want to forget them That is why education about sharing the road is a huge part of cycling safety I wont tell you more than that When you read the poem remember those that were hurt or killed while cycling The pictures we got from Robert LaVallee show the different color ribbons given to riders Red is for cyclists who knew a rider that died while cycling black is for a rider that has been injured during a ride

13 Irsquove been downloading classic (out-of-copyright) novels to my Kindle and iPad for re-reading and because I think the are important to preserve for future generations Ive downloaded the Illiad Adventures of Tom Sawyer and the original Wizard

of Oz I also found some good fiction from Jack London I think the magazinersquos readers will appreciate it It is a classic work that is about hiking ndash Think The Long Walk It is a good read with a surprise ending I hope readers will search out books and stories like this and add them to their own collection If we find more that are fitness related or have active subjects we may share them too

Whatrsquos in Store Continued

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2

httpwwwbrandishipmancom

com

pelling

When in the vastness of miles we find ourself not asking questions but finding answers

The fast races we ran years ago seem ugly and unforgiving

Now older and wiser and much much slower the race gives us a different story Four emotions joy anger sadness and frustration - not all at once but in a fashionable order that even makes anger a pleasant experience If it were not for the physical suffering endured for duration of the race you would perhaps experience all at once

Uncomfortable yet compelling

13 The race that when you are done and the suffering is over makes everything clearer priceless moments no longer slipping by but take the stage in life ndash in a perfect permutation

The finish helps us see there is more to do but until the next race there is no hurry Stop smell the roses Until we rise up for another challenge the story that unfolded during the race takes care of us we dont have to tell it It is written into our lives The memories and seemingly the future having been created between the aid stations and mile markers

NOT THE FASTEST RACETHE GREATESTSent from Iowa

U n c o m f o r t a b l e

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As a teenager I chose golf in high school as a sport rather than track Golfing meant enjoying a bag of chips and a can a soda while on the course Running was something I dreaded in school I used to plan how I could get out of the mile run for weeks when I knew it was almost fitness test time Now as a 31 year old stay at home mom I am running 10Ks and have a goal of completing four sprint triathlons in 2012 as well as many other 5Ks and 10Ks My five year goal is to complete an Ironman triathlon

13 Over the course of the last three years I have changed many aspects of my life I earned a Masterrsquos Degree in Education from Iowa State University I left a career as a Director of Special Education in a local school district to become a stay at home mom ndash with my two beautiful girls This change was prompted by a health scare in 2009 I was hospitalized for many days with meningitis and realized life was just too short

13 In 2011 while nursing my 4 month old my sister in law invited me to go with her to Weight Watchers I joined the next day for what was probably the 8th time but this time was different I made my goal and am a lifetime member I lost 43lbs and am healthy for the first time in my life I have Crohnrsquos Disease and am no longer taking any medications and no longer suffering the symptoms associated with the disease

In August of 2011 our hometown hero a Navy Seal was killed in action He was a huge inspiration to many people but after his death I was inspired to make a difference in our community and live my life differently He was a triathlete that had tackled the big daddy of them all and became an Ironman Realizing what he gave up so that we may have freedom inspired me to

Favo

rite

food

Kale

chip

s or

Rice

Cak

es w

ith A

lmon

d Bu

tter

Favo

rite

indu

lgen

ces

Che

x mix

Givingit aTri

FitnessDigestus columnist Jen Schmitt Rockford Iowa

Men

ingi

tis

13 In 2011 while nursing my four month old my sister in law invited me to go with her to Weight Watchers I joined the next day for what was probably the eigth time but this time was different They helped me make my goal and I became a lifetime member I lost 43lbs and Irsquom healthy for the first time in my life I also have Crohnrsquos Disease and no longer take medications nor do I suffer with the symptoms associated with the disease

13 In August of 2011 our hometown hero a Navy Seal was killed in action He was a huge inspiration to many people After his death I was inspired to make a difference in our community and to live my life differently He was a triathlete that had tackled the big daddy of them all ndash an Ironman Realizing what he gave up so that we may have freedom inspired me to continue on my fitness path by adding triathlete to my title

Givingit aTri

FitnessDigestus columnist Jen Schmitt Rockford Iowa

13 In 2011 while nursing my 4 month old my sister in law invited me to go with her to Weight Watchers I joined the next day for what was probably the 8th time but this time was different I made my goal and am a lifetime member I lost 43lbs and am healthy for the first time in my life I have Crohnrsquos Disease and am no longer taking any medications and no longer suffering the symptoms associated with the disease

In August of 2011 our hometown hero a Navy Seal was killed in action He was a huge inspiration to many people but after his death I was inspired to make a difference in our community and live my life differently He was a triathlete that had tackled the big daddy of them all and became an Ironman Realizing what he gave up so that we may have freedom inspired me to continue on my fitness path by

Favo

rite

plac

e to

run

Fos

sil amp

Prair

ie Ce

nter

Trail

s R

ockfo

rd Io

wa

Favo

rite

wor

kout

son

g S

trong

er (W

hat D

oesn

rsquot Kill Y

ou) b

y Kell

y Clar

kson

Croh

nrsquos

Dise

ase

his

deat

h

13 When I am not out training with the group that I started in my hometown ldquoFriends in Fitnessrdquo you can find me blogging at justamomgivingitatriblogspotcom studying for my personal trainer certification or spending time with my husband girls and friends I enjoy being in the outdoors whether it is just for a walk or turkey hunting in the woods I am currently the chairperson working to organize a 5K fundraiser for the PEO Chapter that I belong to in Rockford Iowa This is going to be our major fundraiser for the year and we are very excited to encourage wellness among others in our community

Givingit aTri

FitnessDigestus columnist Jen Schmitt Rockford Iowa

13 In 2011 while nursing my 4 month old my sister in law invited me to go with her to Weight Watchers I joined the next day for what was probably the 8th time but this time was different I made my goal and am a lifetime member I lost 43lbs and am healthy for the first time in my life I have Crohnrsquos Disease and am no longer taking any medications and no longer suffering the symptoms associated with the disease

In August of 2011 our hometown hero a Navy Seal was killed in action He was a huge inspiration to many people but after his death I was inspired to make a difference in our community and live my life differently He was a triathlete that had tackled the big daddy of them all and became an Ironman Realizing what he gave up so that we may have freedom inspired me to continue on my fitness path by

Favo

rite

wor

kout

acc

esso

ry G

arm

in Fo

reru

nner

310

XT

Wha

t get

s m

e ou

t of b

ed

My a

larm

on

my p

hone

tellin

g m

e to

get

to th

e po

ol an

d sw

im o

r a s

crea

ming

chil

d

Fam

ily amp

Frie

nds

Watch and LearnSent in from NIP Gym

Successful SAFE gains in

the gym

Available at select Hy-Vee stores

NO MSG

LowSodium

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GREAT STORY HERE FROM NIP amp Fitness 13 I was in the gym this morning doing shoulders A quiet red headed kid comes in and gets on the bench and starts benching His first set of 135 lbs had HORRIBLE technique and form I walk over and talk to him He tells me his name is Joe - age 17 - weight 205 and is a junior at CS High School and he just bought a membership to NIP amp Fitness He tells me two weeks ago he benched 185 lbs for a max I told him that was very good for is age but NOT for his build I knew he was stronger than that So I helped him shape up is technique and form Joe ndash LISTENED and WATCHED He learned that he was much stronger than a 185 pound max bench presser Today from LISTENING and WATCHING Joe bench pressed 225 X 2 ndash and that 185 pounds he maxed two weeks ago he finished his work out by doing that 185 pounds for seven reps Proper TECHNIQUE and FORM are the key to successful SAFE gains in the gym Today Joe was a perfect example CONGRATULATIONS Joe

Dear Freestyle Swim Stroke

13 You are so frustrating to me Why canrsquot we just get along When I made the decision to tackle this goal of completing a triathlon I was not even worried about you That has proven to be a mistake Some days things go so smooth between us and some mornings I spring out of bed at 430 so excited about our time together Today was not one of those days You left me feeling like thishellip

Like a wet wrung out old swimsuit

These are the reasons that I am so upset with you

1 You literally take my breath away

2 You make my shoulder hurt (Popcorn kernels currently on shoulder while typing)

3 You make me leave my warm cozy bed about two hours before I would really like to leave it

4 If I donrsquot get my butt out of bed and go at 430 AM I have to leave my family and go at 730 PM

Dear FreestyleBy Jen Schmitt Rockford Iowa

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pull

head position

exit

flutter-kick

recovery

(Yes we know ndash no cameras in the locker room No one was harmed in this photo shoot)

13 And to the very old man in the lane beside me I do not dislike you in-fact I am insanely jealous of you I donrsquot stare at you because of your body you may look hot if I was 75 but I am not I stare at you in awe of how effortlessly you move up and down the pool without a rest Someday I hope to be just like you

13 So for now as much as I would love to say we need to break up and go our separate ways I am too D stubborn to do that We will make this work and we are going to get along Here is my promise to you ndash I promise to meet-up with you two to three times a week for at least an hour to work on our relationship I promise not to cheat on you with the sidestroke although I am so much more comfortable with him I promise to keep an open mind about our relationship and give it all that I have just like I do with my friend the run

Love you (I think)

Jen

Dear FreestyleContinued

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pull

head position

exit

flutter-kick

recovery

Adult SwimmingBy Susan Dawson-cook

I have taught dozens of adults how to swim Many of them were initially either afraid of water or somewhat uncomfortable in the aquatic environment Whats worked best is to get in the water with them and do activities that show them it can be fun and safe I make sure they feel safe and secure the entire time and even say things like if you have trouble standing up after you take some strokes I will help you or just reach for my hand if you need support

13 Many beginners have this fear ndash if they are in the horizontal position swimming they wont be able to stand up One woman cried she was so overjoyed she overcame her fear and learned to take her first strokes

Find more of Susanrsquos writing and published works at httplivemediaFitnessDigestus

Body image and fitness are hot topics for both men and women The Great Fitness Experiment is my hilarious poignant embarrassing and at times heart-breaking journey to find my way through the morass of contradictory claims and information in todayrsquos health- and fitness-obsessed world

Available in paperback or in eBookhttpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

If you have trouble standing up after you

take some strokesone women cried

she was so overjoyed

If you would like future issues delivered to a Facebook Twitter or e-mail account e-mail us at infoFitnessDigestus

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2 Deadwood Mickelson Trail MarathonSunday June 2 2013

Deadwood South Dakota

13 On June 2nd we will celebrate 12 years of offering runners from around the globe the most unique running experience of their life Where else in the world can you run on a course that takes you from an abandoned mining town across railroad trestles through a mountain past monolithic rock formations beside a babbling creek and finish in Deadwoodhellipa town that is a historic landmark

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Written Emily WheelerFor more information amp video visit httpLIveAdsFitnessDigestus

ldquoWild West town known primarily for its gamblers gunslingers and gold minersrdquo

Hope to see you at the finish

This Wild West town known primarily for its gamblers gunslingers and gold miners has turned into one of the premiere destination marathon venues in the US

13 The breathtaking beauty of our course the truly outstanding team of volunteers the hospitality of everyone associated with the event and paying attention to details are just a couple of reasons yoursquoll want to toe the line on June 2nd

The Deadwood Mickelson Trail Half and Full Marathon is a point to point course

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ldquoThe breathtaking beauty of our courserdquo

WaynesSkiandCyclenetlive links to Waynersquos at httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

MTM Charity Partner

13 Habitat for Humanity is a global nonprofit Christian housing organization that has helped to build more than 500000 decent affordable houses and served 25 million people worldwide since its founding in 1976 With the help of volunteers and donations of money and materials Habitat constructs rehabilitates and preserves homes in partnership with low-income families in need Operating in nearly 80 countries and with more than 1500 affiliates in the United States Habitat also advocates for fair and just housing policies and provides training and access to resources to help families improve their shelter conditions

Shop for Name BrandItems 24 Hours a Day

beginning in the historic mining town of Rochford the first 15 miles are on a paved road At this point the course becomes the Mickelson Trail (a rails to trails project) The next 12 miles are a mixture of gentle uphill and flat terrain

13 Then the course is either downhill or flat and finishes at the historic Engine House at end of the linehellipthe Deadwood Trailhead The Half Marathon is also a point to point course starting at the 131 mile mark of the full marathon Walker Friendly

All participants will receive a Commemorative Finisherrsquos Medal

Mickelson Trail Marathon Charity Partner is the Black Hills Habitat for HumanityMake your Marathon Matter Matching Funds

Make your Marathon matter by helping create decent shelter in the Black Hills ndash take the challenge to give at least $1 per race mile Our goal is to raise $3000 in 2012 for BH Habitat for Humanity to help provide shelter for more families in the Black Hills

Registrations are capped at 3000 runners If you want to be part of the Deadwood Mickelson Trail Marathon Weekend celebration go to LiveAdsFitnessDigestus and click on the MTM Marathon URL

Hope to see you at the Finish Line - ThanksEmily Wheeler Wheeler Event Management Inc

ldquoHope to see you at the finish linerdquo

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links

DAY had broken cold and gray exceedingly cold and gray when the man turned aside from the main Yukon trail and climbed the high earth-bank where a dim and little traveled trail led eastward through the fat spruce timberland It was a steep bank and he paused for breath at the top excusing the act to himself by looking at his watch It was nine oclock There was no sun nor hint of sun though there was not a cloud in the sky It was a

clear day and yet there seemed an intangible pall over the face of things a subtle gloom that made the day dark and that was due to the absence of sun This fact did not worry the man He was used to the lack of sun It had been days since he had seen the sun and he knew that a few more-days must pass before that cheerful orb due south would just peep above the sky-line and dip immediately from view

To Build a Fire - Hiking the Yukon TrailShort story fiction Written by Jack London (1876-1916)

The man flung a look back along the way he had come The Yukon lay a mile wide and hidden under three feet of ice On top of this ice were as many feet of snow It was all pure white rolling in gentle undulations where the ice jams of the freeze-up had formed North and south as far as his eye could see it was unbroken white save for a dark hairline that curved and twisted from around the spruce-covered island to the south and that curved and twisted away into the north where it disappeared behind another spruce-covered island This dark hair-line was the trail--the main trail--that led south five hundred miles to the Chilcoot Pass Dyea and salt water and that led north seventy miles to Dawson and still on to the north a thousand miles to Nulato and finally to St Michael on Bering Sea a thousand miles and half a thousand more

But all this--the mysterious far-reaching hair-line trail The absence of sun from the sky the tremendous cold and the strangeness and weirdness of it all--made no

impression on the man It was not because he was long used to it He was a newcomer In the land a chechaquo and this was his first winter The trouble with him was that he was without imagination He was quick and alert in the things of life but only in the things and not in the significances Fifty degrees below zero meant eighty-odd degrees of frost Such fact impressed him as being cold and uncomfortable and that was all It did not lead him to meditate upon his frailty as a creature of temperature and upon mans frailty in general able only to live within certain narrow limits of heat and cold and from there on it did not lead him to the conjectural field of immortality and mans place in the universe Fifty degrees below zero stood forte bite of frost that hurt and that must be guarded against by the use of mittens ear-flaps warm moccasins and thick socks Fifty degrees below zero was to him just precisely fifty degrees below zero That there should be anything more to it than that was a thought that never entered his head

To Build a FireContinued

Continued on page 62

Stand Up Paddle BoardingWOWSUPIowacom on LiveAds

It is important from time to time to slow down to go away by yourself and simply be --Eileen Caddy

Letrsquos Race13 My son is eight and our family is very active Im just hitting my peak racing age of about 34 years old The family members all support each otherrsquos activities They are a great cheering section when my wife and I compete in races There is a popular two mile fun run in our town that we my wife and I run every year We also have for-fun races with the kids around the house or across the football field For years Ive let the eight year old win a few and others I win by just a little bit I think he is wising up to my tactics of good fatherhood One day he said ldquoDad you are letting me win but I think I can beat you fair and squarerdquo He added ldquoYoursquore not that fast Ill bet you 10 dollars I can beat you in a two mile racerdquo Wanting to teach him a lesson about spouting off and writing checks his body cant cash I took him up on it I said All right you pick a time and place We will race two miles for 10 dollars He replied You know that two mile race you and mom do every year I can race you then I agreed and he quickly added Ill need 20 years to warm-up That would make me 54 and him 28 Irsquom preparing for the loss and putting 10 dollars aside now

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Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

In my first creative experience it was through music and I was interested in developing my values of creativity I was inspired by a band named Motley Crue and the song that captured my interest was Home Sweet home Dear reader what inspires you Is it music or inspirational quote thought or ideas To express how this song motivated my interests it helped give me faith in my own creative abilities in the process I began to write lyrics I eventually began to work on different styles of writing and broaden my writing skills What types of music inspire your creative thoughts What types of other inspiration values inspire your creative thoughts

13 Getting motivated is one of the key aspects of a successful weight-loss program Without this motivation there would be no drive to get up early or to avoid eating unhealthy snacks ndash that you absolutely love Yes you can thank your motivation for that When you are looking for weight-loss motivation sometimes it is hard to find Where can you find that extra umph to make it to your goal

The benefits of finding a motivator are something that cannot be paralleled It has been said mind over matter This coincides with our principle that no matter how hard the task you can accomplish the goal given the right mindset It is important to go into a new weight-loss program with a positive mental attitude

FINDI

NG TH

EM X InspirationX

Motivation

When I was introduced to William Shakespeare I was intrigued by his creative values and I started to work on developing a different aspect of writing I then watched the movie Free Jack there was a quote by Albert Einstein Imagination is more important than knowledge I thought about the in depth values of both concepts and then I applied both concepts and defined different creative concept Do you believe that anything is possible if you believe I know that I do believe that if an individual believes deeply enough one can accomplish their goals I had to believe in my own abilities and in my dreams and ignore the negative values that were impressed by others

Anything less can potentially hinder growth towards your goal

Some of the things that you should be thinking about when looking for motivators are people with good morals and a positive attitude This is because if the people helping you do not have a positive attitude then it is also difficult for you Some great places to look for a motivator are online blogs in the gym or even in your own family I am sure that in all of these places you will see someone else trying to accomplish the same or even more difficult goals than your own

Another key to finding motivation is to let it find you You should not have to go find a reason to go do something You will do it because you wanted to not because you were forced to

X

InspirationMotivation

More simply put motivation will find you because you will see something that inspires you to make a change in yourself That change may be a weight-loss goal or something else Maybe even an academic goal The true key is to maintain that motivation until you have achieved your goal

Regards Vincent ErrichielloUSMS Swimmer

InspirationMotivation

With believing so deeply within my own abilities and the faith that I could accomplish what I set out to achieve I wrote a lyric titled Dreams Are Only Real and in believing in this concept further defining its true meaning the concept became Dreams Are Only Real Until You Dont believe

Jeremy J TaylorCNFI Publishing

himTHROWINGWritten by anonymous contributor

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13 Johnny is not the best batter in our little league Matter-of-fact he is quiet awful At practice one afternoon Johnny hit a pitch really well The coach had pitched him inside on accident far enough inside that it almost hit him Johnny got his hit by using his bat to defend himself from that arrant pitch The coach told him ldquogood hitrdquo and Johnny yelled back ldquoWell I didnrsquot want the ball to hit merdquo13 Johnny improved his batting after that He was hitting the ball almost every time he got up At one point I said to coach ldquoHow did you get Johnny to improve his batting so quicklyrdquo He replyed Im throwing the ball it AT HIM every time

Body image and fitness are hot topics for both men and women The Great Fitness Experiment is my hilarious poignant embarrassing and at times heart-breaking journey to find my way through the morass of contradictory claims and information in todayrsquos health- and fitness-obsessed world

Available in paperback or in eBookVisit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

wwwnorthiafitnesscom on LiveAdsEmail northiowafitnessgmailcom

Phone 641-201-1035Strongest weight loss supplements

on the market

The Fall of Billy Hitchingsby Kirkus MacGowan

Available at Amazon

LOCATED IN ST ANSGAR IOWA

Business Cards Envelopes

Letterheads Programs

Vinyl Decals Signs

Posters Invites (graduation wedding showers etc)

Flyers Brochures

T-ShirtsShorts SweatshirtsSweats

Koozies Sashes

Business Forms Placemats

Postcards And Much More

Bridgette Beyer DesignerOwner

Bring your ideas in andVisual Aspect Designs can print

andor design for you

Black Lab LanyardsSpecializing in customized duck and goose call lanyards for waterfowl enthusiasts

For more information on this productVisit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

FitnessDigestus is now available at

WOWSUPIOWAcom

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entryFitnessDigestus

Send u

s yo

ur T

-shi

rt

READE

R T

-shi

rts

13 I was standing on shore fishing in my favorite spot A guy Irsquove never seen at the pond gets in and starts swimming After about 25 minutes of back and forth he stops at a place about 30 yards off shore He gives me a quick look and dices down below the water

His next lap he stops in the same place looks at me again and points down at the water He finished his swim and left I picked up my gear and moved to the other side of the outlet just a few yards from where he had stopped twice Caught a lunker in the first cast

Swim Signs - Lunker

BankersPromotional and Advertising Specialties

Call to order 641ndash423ndash3111

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Black Lab LanyardsSpecializing in customized duck and goose call lanyards for waterfowl enthusiastsCustomized Duck and Goose Call Lanyards

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Visit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus for more information

TOP TWEETS

Iowa Cubs (IowaCubs)Thanks to all our fans who showed up for the pre-game on-field catch with dad

Louise Pineda (forerunnerGPS)The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficultyWinston Churchill quotes

Softball Darlin (Softball_Darlin)My mom told me our team was gettin white uniforms for summer amp to try not to get them dirty Uh Have you seen me play Not gonna happen

I Swim I Suffer (ISwimISuffer)thatswimmerwho If the water is in your right ear for example then jump on your right leg and lean your head to the right side while jumping

I Swim and I Know It (iSwimWithIssues)During the summer you shower 467 times at the pool 17 times at hotels and 3 times at your house Truth

Everyday Health (WomensCancer)63000 Americans will be diagnosed w malignant melanoma (the deadliest skin cancer) this year Know your risk

US Paralympics (USParalympics)Want to be introduced to Paralympic sport Attend one of the Paralympic Experiences being held throughout the countryFi

tnes

sDig

est

US v

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2

SwimSwam (swimswamnews)Congrats to KenyaSwimmer on being selected to carry the Kenya flag swimswamcom

Better than sharing on a blog Twitter or Facebook and you can share a story even if you donrsquot maintain a social-web presencePublished for ALL FitnessDigestus readers

Sign with your real name pen-name or anonymoushttpLiveMediaFitnessDigestus

13 Funnest thing SPAM about some weight-loss supplements got posted on a friendrsquos Facebook My friend is an ultra-runner I notice there was also an ad for salami recipes on the same page The recipes were right next to the SPAM about diet-pills

13 Letrsquos see ndash it sounds like the beginning of a good joke Q What do you get when a friend tries to sell you ultra-runner endorsed salami-flavored-SPAM diet-pills on Facebook Answer Sick

Unsung Heroes1 Irsquove never swam open water and wanted to do a triathlon A friend that

races open water took extra time to swim with me at a lake I was much more comfortable after that

2 I was going on vacation and needed advice on a place to swim A friend living in the area took the time to help me find people to answer my questions

3 I was over eating and had complained to my friend about it She called me twice a day for three weeks just to remind me to eat healthy

4 I usually run to and from the gym It takes about 30 minutes to run both ways I didnrsquot have enough time to get there and back before a scheduled appointment I had A friend drove me to the gym saving me about 30 minutes I was able to run home and still had time to get to my appointment

SPAM DIET

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Visit the Suburban Mommy blog and learn more about AtresiaMicrotia a birth defect of the inner earFor links to SubMommy blog httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

SUBMOMMYBLOG

On Wednesday May 16 2012 at 7 PM simultaneous rides occurred around the

USA and the world

We all ride Now we can ride as one

One day One time One world world wide

Let the silence roar

322 locations world wide

The Ride of SilenceTonight we number many but ride as one

In honor of those not with us friends

mothers fathers sisters sons

With helmets on tight and heads down low

We ride in silence cautious and slow

The wheels start spinning in the lead pack

But tonight we ride and no one attacks

The dark sunglasses cover our tears

Remembering those we held so dear

Tonights ride is to make others aware

The road is there for all to share

To those not with us or by our side

May God be your partner on your final ride

- Mike Murgas

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 50 states

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 7 Continents

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 0 words spoken

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 1 million memories

Ride of Silence

ldquoCost-effective investments in bicycling boost our economy help individuals and government agencies save money and directly address key societal challenges such as obesity and road congestion In these tough economic times our federal government can only afford to invest in solutions that solve multiple problems Bicycling fits the billrdquo ndash PeopleForBikesorg

This photo collection was taken byRobert LaVallee of Mason City IA

To see his entire collection visithttpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

Non-subscriberSign-up for delivery of

the FREE edition at coopnetbiz

It provides an outstanding aerobic workout in less than half the time we would spend in still water It has allowed us as swim coaches to observe swimmers stroke characteristics up close and to see the effects of fatigue on stroke mechanics ~ Larry L Chazy NY

Swimming is an excellent exercise and now I can swim every day because its so convenient and private I can swim when I want and how long I want Im able to have it at a temperature that is comfortable to me The small size of an Endless Pool enabled me to install a pool where I could not install a regular size one

As an aging baby boomer nutrition professional I have yearned for consistent exercise that doesnt stress joints and will enable me to attain physical fitness cardiovascular health and weight control I can eat what I want and still firm up and lose weight ~ John C Columbus OH

Endless Pools make for long swims in small places The 8x15 Endless Pool is less than regulation size but offers the same benefits as a very large pool ~ Noah H Connecticut Post

The Endless Pool is a great strength builder I am amazed at the strength of the current I now swim against I did not buy it for that reason but because of my arthritis so the strength gain is a wonderful surprise

Endless PoolsTestimonials For more information visit httpLIveAdsFitnessDigestus

s w i m m i n g s h o r t s

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Baseball Walking Stick13 My sons friend grabbed his baseball bat and said to me this is my walking stick I politely ask him why he calls it that He replied because my dad says if I hit a home run with it I donrsquot have to run the bases ndash I can walk

My Bike My mountain bike was stolen a while back and my kids were really upset Ive been riding my road bike in its place Since then Ive been careful to lock my bike up when we go to the park

13 On this occasion I did not lock-up my sonrsquos bike up with mine He looked at me quizzically and said sternly lock my bike up too I tried to explain that his bike was not as expensive and therefor didnt need to be locked up Boy that was a mistake He made me feel a little dumb when he said Dad I dont care how expensive it is Its the only bike Irsquove got

North Iowa Roads

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A LEADER inSearch Engine Optimization

Technology

Increase your visitor page views and Facebook Likes

Are you moving to a new state Already hired your mover

E-mail blind box at box02FitnessDigestus will get

you the best rates on cable phone and internet

Digital Movers

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

parent sports tipBy FitnessDigestus staff writer JGA

PAR

EN

T

TIP

Keeping Kids Focused13 Organize their thoughts Help them prioritize and make decisions based on value Even kids can understand the value of simple non-monetized choices Questions like ldquoShould I finish playing my gameboy game or pause it when they call my swimming eventrdquo

If kids are taught to make good decisions and not just find quick answers everyone wins

AugustGolf Month5th Friendship Day15th Relaxation Day25th Kiss and Make Up Day31st Trail Mix DaySeptemberLittle League Month12th Chocolate Milk Shake Day13th Positive Thinking Day16th Womenrsquos Friendship Day21st Miniature Golf DayOctoberBreast Cancer Awareness MonthNational Diabetes Month1st World Vegetarian Day4th Golf Day25th World Pasta Day

National Calendar

Au

gu

stSe

pte

mb

er

Oc

tob

er

Encourage friendships writing skills sharing thoughts and

experiencesEight different cards

YAGOTTAWANNA

Variety of pricing From single orders to bulk orders of 24 notecards

Learn more online

Stay in touch with your swimming or triathlon buddies

It is better to be safe then to try to beat the heat There are many options to stay cool and run during a hot-summer day Staying inside and running on the treadmill is a good one Remember staying safe is a top priority

Most workouts can be modified to work indoors This issuersquos workout is to do your usual run or interval set just stay inside and run it on the treadmill Visualize the different landmarks to see during your outdoor run

Coach Millerrsquos Quarterly ChallengeStay safe in the heatBy Mark Miller mmillerFitnessDigestus

A few years back we had a hot-spell similar to this yearrsquos record heat

I remember training for a long run and having to stop at the local swimming hole to cool off I literally took off my

shoes and jumped in with my running clothes on I was so hot

FitnessDigestUSEntertainment amp Inspiration

Use coupon codeldquoRAMCSPRrdquo

at puresportshopcomfor 20 OFF

Nutritional Performance Sports Drinks with Protein

OPEN WATER SWIMMING BY THE NUMBERS

In kilometers The shortest open water race included in the Fina World Championships

10107 How many miles it

is to swim from Cuba to the USA

5

1000Number of swimming strokes in a mile for a typical swimmer

31800About the number of calories it takes to swim 100 miles

LOCATED IN ST ANSGAR IOWA

Business Cards Envelopes

Letterheads Programs

Vinyl Decals Signs

Posters Invites (graduation wedding showers etc)

Flyers Brochures

T-ShirtsShorts SweatshirtsSweats

Koozies Sashes

Business Forms Placemats

Postcards And Much More

Bridgette Beyer DesignerOwner

Bring your ideas in andVisual Aspect Designs can print

andor design for you

The minimum open water distance in kilometers that is considered a swimming-

marathon

On Facebook Visit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

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Open water safety means swimming in shallow water where there is a lifeguard or using an escort

Shop for Name BrandGear

24 Hoursa Day

WaynesSkiandCyclenet

For links to Waynersquos visit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

s w i m m i n g s h o r t s

Googles

13 Swimming fans can really appreciate a 200 IM when their goggles fill with water How about an Olympian Swimming a leg of the 400 Free Relay with his goggles across his opened mouth ndash and going 45rsquos A great team swimmer an Olympian wouldnrsquot let down his teammates by throwing them off or fixing them

500 Fly13 A world class butterflyer asked if he could swim butterfly in the 500 yard freestyle during a dual meet His goal was to break five minutes After considering the competition it seemed like a great way to make him really work a hard fly swim so we agreed Problem was he swam a 502 and the opposing coach complained to the officials because he embarrassed his swimmers Oh well you canrsquot win lsquoem all

Stories sent in by Robert Steele

No-No-No13 The other morning I was teaching front-streamlines to snotty nosed 8 year olds (some are literally snotty-nosed) One boy was taking a big gulp of air and holding his breath When he lifted his head he had to exhale and inhale before submerging again Swimmers will understand this does not work very well Kids need to learn to exhale underwater The first time he did it I told him to exhale underwater The second time I stopped him looked him in the eye and reminded him to exhale underwater The third and fourth times I started to get a little frustrated ldquoJohnny you need to exhale underwater so you can breath betterrdquo The fifth time as his head popped up for a breath I quickly asked ldquoJohnny Do you even know what exhale meansrdquo as he submerged his head below the water I could see him shake his head no-no-no

Favorite Potato Chips13We try to limit the junk food the kids eat at our house For lunch one day our son wanted some potato chips I gave him 3 large chips with his sandwich He started to cry and said he wanted one more chip ldquoI wanted four chipsrdquo he screamed I took the plate back When he wasnt looking I broke a chip in half and give it back to him with four chips

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

13 My cancer story is one of uniqueness Leave it to me to do something like cancer to its fullest It did not begin with a mammogram diagnosis or a lump My journey began about 4 years ago with some suspicious activity that turned into Pagetrsquos disease of the nipple which signaled the underlying cancer On April 1st I found out about my breast cancer through a biopsy that came back as positive for Pagetrsquos disease The onslaught of tests learning and decisions were dizzying I immediately went for an evaluation of the suspicious tissue and had to begin making decisions for my mastectomy I quickly learned there is a test called the BRAC Analysis which is a genetic test for breast and ovarian cancer Finally a piece of good news for me I did not have the gene

Decisions Now it was time to make decisions about my mastectomy and how I was going to handle reconstruction I discussed my options with my boyfriend Brian friends family members and even my principalboss I read books searched the Internet and contacted people I

Brandi ShipmanCancer Survivor and elite triathlete

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

know and knew from my past that had been directly affected and that I thought might have answers for me The outpouring of love encouragement and help during this process was overwhelming After meeting with four different doctors two surgeons and two plastic surgeons I decided to go with immediate reconstruction and was lucky enough to find two wonderful doctors They were willing to work together just because I wanted them to even though they had never done so before My surgery was scheduled for mid May

Mental Toughness13 My mental preparation at this point was very important I had to scrap any idea of competing in triathlons for the rest of the year and focus on a positive attitude of getting better I stopped thinking about what I wasnrsquot going to able to do and started thinking about what I could do that I was alive and kept my mind on the fact that so many others had made it before me

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links

Part 213 I was prepared by the doctors survivors and literature to be ldquodownrdquo for several weeks after my surgery I even took the rest of the school year off My surgery went well and I was out of the hospital the next day A few friends came to visit while I was in the hospital and my principal and vice principal brought the most wonderful picture of the faculty wearing pink for me I can only imagine what it looked like at Thornton Elementary on that day in May 2009 a sea of pink all for Brandi Shipman Shortly after their visit I received a text from my friend Margie Massey My friends from the gym wore pink for me that day as well The support brought tears to my eyes I was so excited to come home and be comfortable in my own home I just wish the stupid drain that was attached could have stayed at the hospital The pain from that was worse than the pain from the mastectomy

the most

powerful picture

13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Recovery ndash May13 Once I got home I slept and watched a lot of TV Friends visited and brought yummy food and my favorites I am not supposed to eat I ate them all My friend and co-worker set up a cancer care calendar that alerted anyone who logged on when I was having a doctorrsquos appointment or when I was in need of anything I felt like royalty as everyone took care of me I think Brian secretly enjoyed the fact that he wouldnrsquot have to cook for me each night My recovery was quicker than I thought as I was doing my best to get better and get the stinkinrsquo drain out of my skin I was out walking within a week and running within 3 weeks I couldnrsquot believe my recovery I know it was from all the prayers love and good care from Brian and the loved ones around me Life was looking better each day

ldquoLife was looking

better each dayrdquo

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Part three and part

four of I am Survivor

will be published in

the next edition of

FitnessDigestus

Get the convenience of

digital-delivery

Sign-up or subscribe at

httpFitnessDigestus

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During the past 150 years we have witnessed many remarkable advances against cancer a disease known to humanity for thousands of years The advances highlighted below represent a sampling of what has been accomplished to date

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

1882 William Halsted performs the first radical mastectomy to treat breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast the lymph nodes under the arm (axillary lymph nodes) and the chest muscles behind the breast (pectoralis major and pectoralis minor muscles) are removed Radical mastectomy will remain the standard operation for breast cancer until latter half of the 20th century when the use of modified radical mastectomy becomes widely accepted

1932 David H Patey develops the modified radical mastectomy for breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast axillary lymph nodes and pectoralis minor muscle behind the breast are removed The modified radical mastectomy is less disfiguring than the radical mastectomy and will eventually replace the radical mastectomy as a standard treatment option for breast cancer

1953 James Watson and Francis Crick discover the molecular structure of DNA (the double helix)

1963 The Health Insurance Plan (HIP) of Greater New York Study begins HIP is the first randomized controlled trial of periodic breast cancer screening with mammography

1882

1932

1953

1963

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1976 The results of a randomized clinical trial show that women with early breast cancer who receive post-operative (adjuvant) combination chemotherapy with the drugs cyclophosphamide methotrexate and 5-FU have improved disease-free survival

1981 A randomized clinical trial in the United Kingdom shows for the first time that the rates of survival local recurrence and tumor metastasis among women whose breast cancer is treated with modified radical mastectomy are not substantially different from those of women who are treated with radical mastectomy

1993 An NCI-convened international workshop on screening for breast cancer reports that screening with mammography reduces breast cancer mortality among women ages 50-69 This conclusion is based on a review of published and unpublished data from eight randomized controlled trials

2004 Data from the Womens Health Initiative (WHI) study show that women who take estrogen in combination with the hormone progestin have a greater risk of developing breast cancer than women who take estrogen alone The results also show that menopausal hormone therapy with estrogen alone has no benefit in disease prevention specifically in reducing the risks of colorectal cancer coronary heart disease and dementia

1976

1981

1993

2004

Although we still have a long way to go to reduce the toll of cancer in the United States and worldwide our research and public health efforts are beginning to pay dividends

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

Volunteering vs Participating13 My girl friend and I are involved in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation The local chapter raises awareness for the cause with a fun-run each year We have volunteered to help with the race five years in a row This year we were stationed at a water table where the runners pick-up cups of water to drink Toward the end of the race there are very few runners There was a little time to chat about things We were talking about what we would wish for if we could have three wishes I told her I would wish for an end to Juvenile Diabetes and to lose 10 pounds Being nice I said ldquoyou can have my last wishrdquo She said I wish you would skip volunteering and just run this race next year

Admission Price Our aquatic center was having a promotion one night and advertised an elementary school night The kids could swim for free When we got to the pool we saw a promotional sign for the event In small lettering it read All swimmers must be accompanied by an adult We thought no big deal one of us can just stay and watch When we got to the front desk we found the lifeguard was enforcing the adult-admission price of $8

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CNFI Publishing - Products Books Chapbooks Bookmarks Plaques and Poetry Collector Cards Merchandising Products Coffee Mugs Mouse Pads Tiles 3x6 Coasters T - Shirts and Wall Plaques More info athttpliveadsFitnessDigestus

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

Featured PhotosFitnessDigestus feature

Chicago open water swim course at nighttop left

Kids race at Bicycle Blues and BBQtop right

Some team members volunteer at the local soup kitchenmiddle right

Ken Mauer loads the balls for hitting practice during a Twins baseball camp for

children 7-13 bottom right

Get your local event photos published in the next issue of FitnessDigestus E-mail

your photo to photoFitnessDigestus

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2

As he turned to go on he spat speculatively There was a sharp explosive crackle that startled him He spat again And again in the air before it could fall to the snow the spittle crackled He knew that at fifty below spittle crackled on the snow but this spittle had crackled in the air Undoubtedly it was colder than fifty below--how much colder he did not know But the temperature did not matter He was bound for the old claim on the left fork of Henderson Creek where the boys were already They had come over across the divide from the Indian Creek country while he had come the roundabout way to take a look at the possibilities of getting out logs in the spring from the islands in the Yukon He would be in to camp by six oclock a bit after dark it was true but the boys would be there a fire would be going and a hot supper would be ready As for lunch he pressed his hand against the protruding bundle under his jacket It was also under his shirt wrapped up in a handkerchief and lying against the naked skin It was the only way to keep the biscuits from freezing He smiled agreeably to himself as he thought of those biscuits each cut open and sopped in bacon grease and each enclosing a generous slice of fried bacon

He plunged in among the big spruce trees The trail was faint A foot of snow had fallen since the last sled had passed over and he was glad he was without a sled traveling light In fact he carried nothing but the lunch wrapped in the handkerchief He was surprised however at the cold It certainly was cold he concluded as he rubbed his numb nose and cheek-bones with his mittened hand He was a warm-whiskered man but the hair on his face did not protect the high cheek-bones and the eager nose that thrust itself aggressively into the frosty air

At the mans heels trotted a dog a big native husky the proper wolf-dog gray-coated and without any visible or temperamental difference from its brother the wild wolf The animal was depressed by the tremendous cold It knew that it was no time for

traveling Its instinct told it a truer tale than was told to the man by the mans judgment In reality it was not merely colder than fifty below zero it was colder than sixty below than seventy below It was seventy-five below zero Since the freezing point is thirty-two above zero it meant that one hundred and seven degrees of frost obtained The dog did not know anything about thermometers Possibly in its brain there was no sharp consciousness of a condition of very cold such as was in the mans brain But the brute had its instinct It experienced a vague but menacing apprehension that subdued it then made it slink along at the mans heels and that made it question eagerly every unwonted movement of the man as if expecting him to go into camp or to seek shelter somewhere and build a fire The dog had learned fire and it wanted fire or else to burrow under the snow and cuddle its warmth away from the air

The frozen moisture of its breathing had settled on its fur in a fine powder of frost and especially were its jowls muzzle and eyelashes whitened by its cry-stalled breath The mans red beard and mustache were likewise frosted but more solidly the deposit taking the form of ice and increasing with every warm moist breath he exhaled Also the man was chewing tobacco and the muzzle of ice held his lips so rigidly that he was unable to clear his chin when he expelled the juice The result was that a crystal beard of the color and solidity of amber was increasing its length on his chin If he fell down it would shatter itself like glass into brittle fragments But he did not mind the appendage It was the penalty all tobacco-chewers paid in that country and he had been out before in two cold snaps They had not been so cold as this he knew but by the spirit thermometer at Sixty Mile he knew they had been registered at fifty below and at fifty-five

He held on through the level stretch of woods for several miles crossed a wide flat of rigger-heads and dropped down a bank to the frozen bed of a

To Build a FireContinued

small stream This was Henderson Creek and he knew he was ten miles from the forks He looked at his watch It was ten oclock He was making four miles an hour and he calculated that he would arrive at the forks at half-past twelve He decided to celebrate that event by eating his lunch there

The dog dropped in again at his heels with a tail drooping discouragement as the man swung along the creek-bed The furrow of the old sled-trail was plainly visible but a dozen inches of snow covered the marks of the last runners In a month no man had come up or down that silent creek The man held steadily on He was not much given to thinking and just then particularly he had nothing to think about save that he would eat lunch at-the forks and that at six oclock he would be in camp with the boys There was nobody to talk to and had there been speech would have been impossible because of the ice-muzzle on his mouth So he continued monotonously to chew tobacco and to increase the length of his amber beard

Once in a while the thought reiterated itself that it was very cold and that he had never experienced such cold As he walked along he rubbed his cheek-bones and nose with the back of his mittened hand He did this automatically now and again changing hands But rub as he would the instant he stopped his cheek-bones went numb and the following instant the end of his nose went numb He was sure to frost his cheeks he knew that and experienced a pang of regret that he had not devised a nose-strap of the sort Bud wore in cold snaps Such a strap passed across the cheeks as well and saved them But it didnt matter much after all What were frosted cheeks A bit painful that was all they were never serious

Empty as the mans mind was of thoughts he was keenly observant and he noticed the changes in the creek the curves and bends and timber jams and always he sharply noted where he placed his feet Once coming around a bend he shied abruptly

like a startled horse curved away from the place where he had been walking and retreated several paces back along the trail The creek he knew was frozen clear to the bottom--no creek could contain water in that arctic winter--but he knew also that there were springs that bubbled out from the hillsides and ran along under the snow and on top the ice of the creek He knew that the coldest snaps never froze these springs and he knew likewise their danger They were traps They hid pools of water under the snow that might be three inches deep or three feet Sometimes a skin of ice half an inch thick covered them and in turn was covered by the snow Sometimes there were alternate layers of water and ice-skin so that when one broke through he kept on breaking through for a while sometimes wetting himself to the waist

That was why he had shied in such panic He had felt the give under his feet and heard the crackle of a snow-hidden ice-skin And to get his feet wet in such a temperature meant trouble and danger At the very least it meant delay for he would be forced to stop and build a fire and under its protection to bare his feet while he dried his socks and moccasins He stood and studied the creek-bed and its banks and decided that the flow of water came from the right He reflected a while rubbing his nose and cheeks then skirted to the left stepping gingerly and testing the footing for each step Once clear of the danger he took a fresh chew of tobacco and swung along at his four-mile gait

In the course of the next two hours he came upon several similar traps Usually the snow above the hidden pools had a sunken candied appearance that advertised the danger Once again however he had a close call and once suspecting danger he compelled the dog to go on in front The dog did not want to go It hung back until the man shoved it forward and then it went quickly across the white unbroken surface Suddenly it broke through floundered to one side and got away to firmer

To Build a FireContinued

To Build a FireContinued

footing It had wet its forefeet and legs and almost immediately the water that clung to it turned to ice It made quick efforts to lick the ice off its legs then dropped down in the snow and began to bite out the ice that had formed between the toes l his was a matter of instinct To permit the ice to remain would mean sore feet It did not know this It merely obeyed the mysterious prompting that arose from the deep crypts of its being But the man knew having achieved a judgment on the subject and he removed the mitten from his right hand and helped tear out the ice-particles He did not expose his fingers more than a minute and was astonished at the swift numbness that smote them It certainly was cold He pulled on the mitten hastily and beat the hand savagely across his chest

At twelve oclock the day was at its brightest Yet the sun was too far south an its winter journey to clear the horizon The bulge of the earth intervened between it arid Henderson Creek where the man walked under a clear sky at noon and cast no shadow At half-past twelve to the minute he arrived at the forks of the creek He was pleased at the speed he had made If he kept it up he would certainly be with the boys by six He unbuttoned his jacket and shirt and drew forth his lunch The action consumed no more than a quarter of a minute yet in that brief moment the numbness laid hold of the exposed fingers He did not put the mitten on but instead struck the fingers a dozen sharp smashes against his leg Then he sat down on a snow-covered log to eat The sting that followed upon the striking of his fingers against his leg ceased so quickly that he was startled He had had no chance to take a bite of biscuit He struck the fingers repeatedly and returned them to the mitten baring the other hand for the purpose of eating He tried to take a mouthful but the ice-muzzle prevented He had forgotten to build a fire and thaw out He chuckled at his foolishness and as he chuckled he noted the numbness creeping into the exposed fingers Also he noted that the stinging which had first come to his

toes when he sat down was already passing away He wandered whether the toes were warm or numb He moved them inside the moccasins and decided that they were numb

He pulled the mitten on hurriedly and stood up He was a bit frightened He stamped up and down until the stinging returned into the feet It certainly was cold was his thought That man from Sulphur Creek had spoken the truth when telling how cold it sometimes got in the country And he had laughed at him at the time That showed one must not be too sure of things There was no mistake about it it was cold He strode up and down stamping his feet and threshing his arms until reassured by the returning warmth Then he got out matches and proceeded to make a fire From the undergrowth where high water of the previous spring had lodged a supply of seasoned twigs he got his firewood Working carefully from a small beginning he soon had a roaring fire over which he thawed the ice from his face and in the protection of which he ate his biscuits For the moment the cold space was outwitted The dog took satisfaction in the fire stretching out close enough for warmth and far enough away to escape being singed

When the man had finished be filled his pipe and took his comfortable time over a smoke Then he pulled on his mittens settled the ear-flaps of his cap firmly about his ears and took the creek trail up the left fork The dog was disappointed and yearned back toward the fire This man did not know cold Possibly all the generations of his ancestry had been ignorant of cold of real cold of cold one hundred and seven degrees below freezing point But the dog knew all its ancestry knew and it had inherited the knowledge And it knew that it was not good to walk abroad in such fearful cold It was the time to lie snug in a hole in the snow and wait for a curtain of cloud to be drawn across the face of outer space whence this cold came On the other hand there was no keen intimacy between the dog and the man

The one was the toil-slave of the other and the only caresses it had ever received were the caresses of the whiplash and of harsh and menacing throat-sounds that threatened the whiplash So the dog made no effort to communicate its apprehension to the man It was not concerned in the welfare of the man it was for its own sake that it yearned back toward the fire But the man whistled and spoke to it with the sound of whiplashes and the dog swung in at the mans heel and followed after

The man took a chew of tobacco and proceeded to start a new amber beard Also his moist breath quickly powdered with white his mustache eyebrows and lashes There did not seem to be so many springs on the left fork of the Henderson and for half an hour the man saw no signs of any And then it happened At a place where there were no signs where the soft unbroken snow seemed to advertise solidity beneath tee man broke through It was not deep He wet himself halfway to the knees before he floundered out to the firm crust

He was angry and cursed his luck aloud He had hoped to get into camp with the boys at six oclock and this would delay him an hour for he would have to build a fire and dry out his foot-gear This was imperative at that low temperature--he knew that much and he turned aside to the bank which he climbed On top tangled in the underbrush about the trunks of several small spruce trees was a high-water deposit of dry firewood--sticks and twigs principally but also larger portions of seasoned branches and fine dry last-years grasses He threw down several large pieces on top of the snow This served for a foundation and prevented the young flame from drowning itself in the snow it otherwise would melt The flame he got by touching a match to a small shred of birch bark that he took from his pocket This burned even more readily than paper Placing it on the foundation he fed the young flame with wisps of dry grass and with the tiniest dry twigs

He worked slowly and carefully keenly aware of his danger Gradually as the flame grew stronger he increased the size of the twigs with which he fed it He squatted in the snow pulling the twigs out from their entanglement in the brush and feeding directly to the flame He knew there must be no failure When it is seventy-five below zero a man must not fail in his first attempt to build a fire--that is if his feet are wet If his feet are dry and he fails he can run along the trail for half a mile and restore his circulation But the circulation of wet and freezing feet cannot be restored by running when it is seventy-five below No matter how fast he runs the wet feet will freeze the harder

All this the man knew The old-timer on Sulphur Creek had told him about it the previous fall and now he was appreciating the advice Already all sensation had gone out of his feet To build the fire he had been forced to remove his mittens and the fingers had quickly gone numb His pace of four miles an hour had kept his heart pumping blood to the surface of his body and to all the extremities But the instant he stopped the action of the pump eased down The cold of space smote the unprotected tip of the planet and he being on that unprotected tip received the full force of the blow The blood of his body recoiled before it The blood was alive like the dog and like the dog it wanted to hide away and cover itself up from the fearful cold So long as he walked four miles an hour he pumped that blood willy-nilly to the surface but now it ebbed away and sank down into the recesses of his body The extremities were the first to feel its absence His wet feet froze the faster and his exposed fingers numbed the faster though they had not yet begun to freeze Nose and cheeks were already freezing while the skin of all his body chilled as it lost its blood

But he was safe Toes and nose and cheeks would be only touched by the frost for the fire was beginning to burn with strength He was feeding it

To Build a FireContinued

with twigs the size of his finger In another minute he would be able to feed it with branches the size of his wrier and then he could remove his wet toot-gear and while it dried he could keep his naked feet warm by the fire rubbing them at first of course with snow The fire was a success He was safe He remembered the advice of the old timer on Sulphur Creek and smiled The old-timer had been very serious in laying down the law that no man must travel alone in the Klondike after fifty below Well here he was he had had the accident he was alone and he had saved himself Those old-timers were rather womanish some of them he thought All a man had to do was to keep his head and he was all right Any man who was a man could travel alone But it was surprising the rapidity with which his cheeks and nose were freezing And he had not thought his fingers could go lifeless in so short a time Lifeless they were for he could scarcely make them move together to grip a twig and they seemed remote from his body and from him When he touched a twig he had to look and see whether or not he had hold of it The wires were pretty well down between him and his finger-ends

All of which counted for little There was the fire snapping and crackling and promising life with every dancing flame He started to untie his moccasins They were coated with ice the thick German socks were like sheaths of iron halfway to the knees and the moccasin strings were like rods of steel all twisted and knotted as by some conflagration For a moment he tugged with his numb fingers then realizing the folly of it he drew his sheath-knife

But before he could cut the strings it happened It was his own fault or rather his mistake He should not have built the fire under the spruce tree He should have built it in the open But it had been easier to pull the twigs from the brush and drop them directly on the fire Now the tree under which

he had done this carried a weight of snow on its boughs No wind had blown for weeks and each bough was fully freighted Each time he had pulled a twig he had communicated a slight agitation to the tree--an imperceptible agitation so far as he was concerned but an agitation sufficient to bring about the disaster High up in the tree one bough capsized its load of snow This fell on the boughs beneath capsizing them This process continued spreading out and involving the whole tree It grew like an avalanche and it descended without warning upon the man and the fire and the fire was blotted out Where it had burned was a mantle of fresh and disordered snow

The man was shocked It was as though he had just heard his own sentence of death For a moment he sat and stared at the spot where the fire had been Then he grew very calm Perhaps the old-timer on Sulphur Creek was right If he had only had a trail-mate he would have been in no danger now The trail-mate could have built the fire Well it was up to him to build the fire over again and this second time there must be no failure Even if he succeeded he would most likely lose some toes His feet must be badly frozen by now and there would be some time before the second fire Was ready

Such were his thoughts but he did not sit and think them He was busy all the time they were passing through his mind He made a new foundation for a fire this time in the open where no treacherous tree could blot it out Next he gathered dry grasses and tiny twigs from the high-water flotsam He could not bring his fingers together to pull them out but he was able to gather them by the handful In this way he got many rotten twigs and bits of green moss that were undesirable but it was the best he could do He worked methodically even collecting an armful of the larger branches to be used later when the fire gathered strength And all the while the dog sat and watched him a certain yearning wistfulness in its eyes for it looked upon

To Build a FireContinued

him as the fire-provider and the fire was slow in coming

When all was ready the man reached in his pocket for a second piece of birch bark He knew the bark was there and though he could not feel it with his fingers he could hear its crisp rustling as he fumbled for it Try as he would he could not clutch hold of it And all the time in his consciousness was the knowledge that each instant his feet were freezing This thought tended to put him in a panic but he fought against it and kept calm He pulled on his mittens with his teeth and threshed his arms back and forth beating his hands with all his might against his sides He did this sitting down and he stood up to do it and all the while the dog sat in the snow its wolf-brush of a tail curled around warmly over its forefeet its sharp wolf-ears pricked forward intently as it watched the man And the man as he beat and threshed with his arms and hands felt a great surge of envy as he regarded the creature that was warm ant secure in its natural covering

After a time he was aware of the first far-away signals of sensation in his beaten fingers The faint tingling grew stronger till it evolved into a stinging ache that was excruciating but which the man hailed with satisfaction He stripped the mitten from his right hand and fetched forth the birch bark The exposed fingers were quickly going numb again Next he brought out his bunch of sulphur matches But the tremendous cold had already driven the life out of his fingers In his effort to separate one match from the others the whole bunch fell in the snow He tried to pick it out of the snow but failed The dead fingers could neither touch nor clutch He was very careful He drove the thought of his freezing feet and nose and cheeks out of his mind devoting his whole soul to the matches He watched using the sense of vision in place of that of touch and when he saw his fingers on each side the bunch he dosed them--that is he willed to close them for the wires were down and the fingers did not obey He pulled

the mitten on the right hand and beat it fiercely against his knee Then with both mittened hands he scooped the bunch of matches along with much snow into his lap Yet he was no better off

After some manipulation he managed to get the bunch between the heels of his mittened hands In this fashion he carried it to his mouth The ice crackled and snapped when by a violent effort he opened his mouth He drew the lower jaw in curled the upper lip out of the way and scraped the bunch with his upper teeth in order to separate a match He succeeded in getting one which he dropped on his lap He was no better off He could not pick it up Then he devised a way He picked it up in his teeth and scratched it on his leg Twenty times he scratched before he succeeded in lighting it As it flamed he held it with his teeth to the birch bark But the burning brimstone went up his nostrils and into his lungs causing him to cough spasmodically The match fell into the snow and went out

The old-timer an Sulphur Creek was right he thought in the moment of controlled despair that ensued after fifty below a man should travel with a partner He beat his hands but failed in exciting any sensation Suddenly he bared both hands removing the mittens with his teeth He caught the whole bunch between the heels of his hands His arm muscles not being frozen enabled him to press the hand-heels tightly against the matches Then he scratched the bunch along his leg It flared into flame seventy sulphur matches at once There was no wind to blow them out He kept his head to one side to escape the strangling fumes and held the blazing bunch to the birth bark As he so held it he became aware of sensation in his hand His flesh was burning He could smell it Deep down below the surface he could feel it The sensation developed into pain that grew acute And still he endured it holding the flame of the matches clumsily to the bark that would not light readily because his own burning hands were in the way absorbing most of the flame

To Build a FireContinued

At last when he could endure no more he jerked his hands apart The blazing matches fell sizzling into the snow but the birch bark was alight He began laying dry grasses and the tiniest twigs on the flame He could not pick and choose for he had to lift the fuel between the heels of his hands Small pieces of rotten wood and green moss clung to the twigs and he bit them off as well as he could with his teeth He cherished the flame carefully and awkwardly It meant life and it must not perish The withdrawal of blood from the surface of his body now made him begin to shiver and he grew more awkward A large piece of green moss fell squarely on the little fire He tried to poke it out with his fingers but his shivering frame made him poke too far and he disrupted the nucleus of the little fire the burning grasses and tiny twigs separating and scattering He tried to poke them together again but in spite of the tenseness of the effort his shivering got away with him and the twigs were hopelessly scattered Each twig gushed a puff of smoke and went out The fire-provider had failed As he looked apathetically about him his eyes chanced on the dog sitting across the ruins of the fire from him in the snow making restless hunching movements slightly lifting one forefoot and then the other shifting its weight back and forth on them with wistful eagerness

The sight of the dog put a wild idea into his head He remembered the tale of the man caught in a blizzard who killed a steer and crawled inside the carcass and so was saved He would kill the dog and bury his hands in the warm body until the numbness went out of them Then he could build another fire He spoke to the dog calling it to him but in his voice was a strange note of fear that frightened the animal who had never known the man to speak in such way before Something was the matter and its suspicious nature sensed danger--it knew not what danger but somewhere somehow in its brain arose an apprehension of the man It flattened its ears down at the sound of the mans voice and its restless

hunching movements and the liftings and shiftings of its forefeet became more pronounced but it would not come to the man He got on his hands and knees and crawled toward the dog This unusual posture again excited suspicion and the animal sidled mincingly away

The man sat up in the snow for a moment and struggled for calmness Then he pulled on his mittens by means of his teeth and got upon his feet He glanced down at first in order to assure himself that he was really standing up for the absence of sensation in his feet left him unrelated to the earth His erect position in itself started to drive the webs of suspicion from the dogs mind and when he spoke peremptorily with the sound of whiplashes in his voice the dog rendered its customary allegiance and came to him As it came within reaching distance the man lost his control His arms flashed out to the dog and he experienced genuine surprise when he discovered that his hands could not clutch that there was neither bend nor feeling in the fingers He had forgotten for the moment that they were frozen and that they were freezing more and more All this happened quickly and before the animal could get away he encircled its body with his arms He sat down in the snow and in this fashion held the dog while it snarled and whined and struggled

But it was all he could do hold its body encircled in his arms and sit there He realized that he could not kill the dog There was no way to do it With his helpless hands he could neither draw nor hold his sheath knife nor throttle the animal He released it and it plunged wildly away with tail between its legs and still snarling It halted forty feet away and surveyed him curiously with ears sharply pricked forward The man looked down at his hands in order to locate them and found them hanging on the ends of his arms It struck him as curious that one should have to use his eyes in order to find out where his hands were He began threshing his arms back and forth beating the mittened hands against

To Build a FireContinued

his sides He did this for five minutes violently and his heart pumped enough blood up to the surface to put a stop to his shivering But no sensation was aroused in the hands He had an impression that they hung like weights on the ends of his arms but when he tried to run the impression down he could not find it

A certain fear of death dull and oppressive came to him This fear quickly became poignant as he realized that it was no longer a mere matter of freezing his fingers and toes or of losing his hands and feet but that it was a matter of life and death with the chances against him This threw him into a panic and he turned and ran up the creek-bed along the old dim trail The dog joined in behind and kept up with him He ran blindly without intention in fear such as he had never known in his life Slowly as he plowed and floundered through the snow he began to see things again the banks of the creek the old timber-jams the leafless aspens and the sky The running made him feel better He did not shiver Maybe if he ran on his feet would thaw out and anyway if he ran far enough he would reach camp and the boys Without doubt he would lose some fingers and toes and some of his face but the boys would take care of him and save the rest of him when he got there And at the same time there was another thought in his mind that said he would never get to the camp and the boys that it was too many miles away that the freezing had too great a start on him and that he would soon be stiff and dead This thought he kept in the background and refused to consider Sometimes it pushed itself forward and demanded to be heard but he thrust it back and strove to think of other things

It struck him as curious that he could run at all on feet so frozen that he could not feel them when they struck the earth and took the weigh of his body He seemed to himself to skim along above the surface and to have no connection with the earth Somewhere he had once seen a winged Mercury

and he wondered if Mercury felt as he felt when skimming over the earth

His theory of running until he reached camp and the boys had one flaw in it he lacked the endurance Several times he stumbled and finally he tottered crumpled up and fell When he tried to rise he failed He must sit and rest he decided and next time he would merely walk and keep on going As he sat and regained his breath he noted that he was feeling quite warm and comfortable He was not shivering and it even seemed that a warm glow had come to his chest and trunk And yet when he touched his nose or cheeks there was no sensation Running would not thaw them out Nor would it thaw out his hands and feet Then the thought came to him that the frozen portions of his body must be extending He tried to keep this thought down to forget it to think of something else he was aware of the panicky feeling that it caused and he was afraid of the panic But the thought asserted itself and persisted until it produced a vision of his body totally frozen This was too much and he made another wild run along the trail Once he slowed down to a walk but the thought of the freezing extending itself made him run again

And all the time the dog ran with him at his heels When he fell down a second time it curled its tad over its forefeet and sat in front of him facing him curiously eager and intent The warmth and security of the animal angered him and he cursed it till it flattened down its ears appealingly This time the shivering came more quickly upon the man He was losing in his battle with the frost It was creeping into his body from all sides The thought of it drove him on but he ran no more than a hundred feet when he staggered and pitched headlong It was his last panic When he had recovered his breath and control he sat up and entertained in his mind the conception of meeting death with dignity However the conception did not come to him in such terms His idea of it was that he had been making a fool of

To Build a FireContinued

himself running around like a chicken with its head cut off--such was the simile that occurred to him Well he was bound to freeze anyway and he might as well take it decently With this new-found peace of mind came the first glimmerings of drowsiness A good idea he thought to sleep off to death It was like salting an anesthetic Freezing was not so bad as people thought There were lots worse ways to die

He pictured the boys finding his body next day Suddenly he found himself with them coming along the trail and looking for himself And still with them he came around a turn in the trail and found himself lying in the snow He did not belong with himself any more for even then he was out of himself standing with the boys and looking at himself in the snow It certainly was cold was his thought When he got back to the States he could tell the folks what real cold was He drifted on from this to a vision of the old-timer on Sulphur Creek He could see him quite clearly warm and comfortable and smoking a pipe

You were right old boss you were right the man mumbled to the old-timer of Sulphur Creek

Then the man drowsed off into what seemed to him the most comfortable and satisfying sleep he had ever known The dog sat facing him and waiting The brief day drew to a close in a long slow twilight There were no signs of a fire to be made and besides never in the dogs experience had it known a man to sit like that in the snow and make no fire As the twilight drew on its eager yearning for the fire mastered it and with a great lifting and shifting of forefeet it whined softly then flattened its ears down in anticipation of being chidden by the man But the man remained silent Later the dog whined loudly And still later it crept close to the man and caught the scent of death This made the animal bristle and back away A little longer it delayed howling under the stars that leaped and danced and shone brightly in the cold sky Then it turned and trotted up the trail in the direction of the camp it knew where were the other food-providers and fire-providers

To Build a FireContinued

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Page 2: FitnessDigest.us Vol. 4.3 Cover

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Cover PhotoMTM Marathon Action Sports Images

FitnessDigestustradePO Box 380

Manly IA 50456-0380

ISSN 2164-3997

copy2012 FitnessDigestustrade Copyright claimed in Volume

4 issue 3 exclusive of US government insert pages

LiveAd links in this issue will refer readers to additional information found on the

ever changing world wide web The information video

and audio found on websites outside of this volume-issue

do not represent or reflect FitnessDigestustrade

Occasionally the names of authors and characters may

be changed to protect identities Ghost writers are

used when stories are submitted orally or when many edits are needed

E-mail our companyrsquos 10 member advisory board

directorsFitnessDigestus asympI

FitnessDigestus is published with the assistance of the Robert and Lorenz Publishing Company and the Cooperative Publication Marketplace coopnetbiz

FitnessDigestus coach-consultants are certified by the Red Cross American Swim Coaches Association USA Swimming USA Track and Field or have other nationally recognized certifications Always consult a physician before starting a regular exercise or fitness training program

Win up to $200 by sending us a fitness or health-related story E-mail your story of photo to entryFitnessDigestus New winners are selected quarterly by the FitnessDigestus contest committee

For subscription or circulation information e-mail infoFitnessDigestus

Get PublishedDiamond story winners $200Gold story winners receive $50Silver story winners receive $25Honorary winners receive $10 Prize money can go directly to the author or it can be donated to a non-profit E-mail entryFitnessDigestus

Loved your story KirkusSupport Gary Hall Jr Diabetes FoundationYou rocked the marathon Joe B - from Dawn

A fun way to submit a story or write an editorial even if you dont maintain a blog or website Your message will be published for all our readers in the next issue of FitnessDigestus ISSN 2164-3997

LiveMediaFitnessDigestus

Contributors to Volume 4 issue 3

Emily Wheeler - Owner of Wheeler Event Management Emily is the race director for the Mickelson Trail Marathon and the Crazy Horse Marathon in South Dakota

Jenn Schmitt - 31 year old stay at home mom who worked as a Director of Special Education and a special education teacher prior to that Jenn has a Masters Degree in Educational Administration from Iowa State University

Brandi Shipman - Elite triathlete and cancer survivor Brandi owns and operates a professional triathlete coaching service She is a certified USA Triathlon coach and personal trainer She is one of the best in the country at answering questions on a range of topics that include V02 running science and multi-sport training plans

Vince Errichiello - An active USMS swimmer and motivational writer Vince swims for the Westmont Swim Club in Chicago Illinois Proceeds from the sales of this issue support the purchase of a score board for the pool area at the University of Illinois in Chicago

Jeremy J Taylor - From Morgan Utah Jeremy started out writing lyrics which transposed into writing poetry In the creative process he developed a creative writing theory eventually this theory became the foundation for establishing his writing and publishing interests He owns CNFI publishing

Robert LaValle - Professional photographer who owns the website CreationsPraise Robert is an expert at macro-photography

In this Issue

Short Stories10 Greatest Race14 Watch and Learn15 Dear Freestyle17 Adult Swimming26 Letrsquos Race30 Throwing at Him36 SPAM52 Swim Stories53 Exhale57 Volunteering Admission Price

Features5 Letters to the Editor6 Letter from the Publisher11 Giving it a Tri18 MTM Marathon23 To Build a Fire27 Motivation amp Inspiration32 T-shirts33 To Catch a Lunker35 TOP Tweets36 Unsung Heroes37 Ride of Silence46 Endless Pools47 Walking Stick47 My Bike51 Workout Ideas50 Open Water Numbers54 Irsquom a Survivor58 Cancer61 Reader Photos71 Classifieds

Summer 2012Volume 4 Issue 3

FitnessDigestUSStories of the humankind

trade

13 ndash Loved how the ldquoSay it to my facerdquo article in 42 pointed out that volunteers should be thanked and not criticized It is amazing how parents can sometimes be the worst examples of bad behavior

------

We agree13 ndash FitnessDigestus

------------------------------

Dear FitnessDigestus 13 I just downloaded my free eEdition to my nook Irsquoll have time to read it over the weekend------

13 Thanks Keep growing the collection More fun in each issue )) ndash FitnessDigestus

Letters to the Editor amp Live Media comments

FitnessDigestus is now available in public libraries

Ask for FitnessDigestUS

at your local libraryLocal libraries can now subscribe to FitnessDigestus using the

ISSN 2164-3997 Tell the librarian to visit httpFitnessDigestus for more information

------------------------------

ndash I am not familiar with your magazine Are you associated with a golf publication also

------

We often get confused with websites or blogs FitnessDigestus is closer to an eBook The companys network includes a variety of ties to independent publishers and a few large publishing corporations

13 ndash FitnessDigestus------------------------------

13 To write a letter to the editor e-mail editorFitnessDigestus orhttplivemediaFitnessDigestus Please use the e-mail that you used when you bought your most recent issue

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13 Thank you to all the readers who saved a copy of Vol 42 Irsquove dubbed it the English Channel issue because of the Bryn Dymott story Looking back Irsquom amazed at what the team put together Not only did we get a great story from Bryn Dymott English Channel swimmer but we got stories from an Olymipc Hall of Fame member Transplant Games World Champion and another contribution from Charlotte Andersen

All good stories and causes Vol 42 was such a fun run It really set the standard in many areas We got thousands of new readers through CoopNet DocStoc and Scribd We heard from a handful of people that said they enjoyed the issue With the completion of Vol 42 we are on pace for over 1 million pages read in 2012 The free issue for the quarter was the bench press world record issue Vol 41 It was a VERY popular download

Now we move onto Vol 43 Summer 2012 It is jam packed with stories and writing

13 We are settling into a good pace with this issue Itrsquos our sixth issue for public distribution and might be my favorite issue yet The contributors may not be as well known but their stories are just as fun inspiring heartfelt and entertaining

13 We have our best collection of ultra-short stories in this edition Ultra-shorts are 25-50 word works of wonderment Some of the most entertaining and humorous stories wersquove ever received Keep sending these stories to us anyway you can use the form on the homepage write a letter email phone or send us morse code - whatever works Just getrsquoem in here It is these short antidotal narratives that are some of the most popular reads in each issue

The most value comes from our feature stories though Our main feature this issue is from Texas Brandi Shipman is an elite triathlete and

Whatrsquos in StoreBy Mark Miller mmillerFitnessDigestus

LiveMediaComment on a story without having to write a letter to the editorhttpLiveMediaFitnessDigestus

LiveAdditionsA directory of multimedia resources for the current issue httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

Over 1 million pages read

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cancer survivor Her story is about the incredible comeback she made from breast cancer After battling the disease she took on the race course Her list of accomplishments on the race course are long and she is faster than ever She uses her racing to raise awareness for the American Cancer Society She has touched so many people with her racing and as a survivor That is why stories like Brandis need to be preserved digitally in the most professional way Which leads me to the topic of preservation

13 One of my jobs as publisher is to watch the current publishing trends Ive spent a lot of time lately on digital-preservation of history To communicate the importance of preservation to customers wersquove added the words gather distribute and preserve to the coopnetbiz online store I feel so strongly that stories like Brandis need to be published with preservation in mind Ironically I have a story that illustrates why

13 My grandmother is moving to a nursing home and the family was cleaning out the things she had saved One of the items was a collection of old Life magazines and

a magazine called Archer published by ADM In an amazing coincidence my father opened a Life magazine to a feature about the city we currently live in What an incredible find and the story is so much fun to read Second my family had no idea that my grandfather had been writing a column for ADMrsquos Archer magazine It is so much fun to go back and read the words he wrote in 1950 We are so lucky that my grandmother saved this collection It is priceless to our family Third I just read about Evernote a company that is asking ldquoWill the internet be around in 100 yearsrdquo I should mention now that the company has a billion dollar evaluation Their business plan is

Whatrsquos in Store Continued

For information on people restaurants and events that Mark mentions in his article visithttpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

Got a funny or inspiring story Send for our new writers exordiumentryFitnessDigestus

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built on the idea that websites can disappear in seconds One solution is back-ups Each duplication you make of a file increases the chances of itrsquos survival in years to come

13 It is my hope that someday people will find stories like Brandis on an old iPad or Kindle and get to read her story just like we read my grandfatherrsquos stories in Archer

13 Another first for the magazine We are taking a creative writing expert and pairing his story with a story from a US Masters swimmer The stories are about what inspires and motivates ndash how to find inspiration and motivation in your life I couldnrsquot believe how many underlying similarities there where when I placed them side-by-side

13 This issue is also our first issue that is going to include a new columnist Jen Schmitt is submitting a quarterly column for the magazine She is an inspiring mom in training ndash mom first writer second and triathlete third That is a recipe for success On top of the fact that she is a talented writer her style fits the magazines concept Her writing is

fun and she is great at finding the interesting details in lifes precious moments She brings to light many details that could easily be

overlooked When I see that talent in an athlete-writer I think to myself that they must understand hard work and suffering - because it is the suffering often times during our training that teaches us to see beauty in life Jen uses her talent to help moms find the reward

from long workouts Fittingly we have a poetic story that illustrates this link between suffering and the appreciation of life That story can be found on page 10

13 In 2008 I ran the Mickelson Trail Marathon in Deadwood South Dakota Since then Ive always felt a personal connection to it When I got word from Emily Wheeler the race director that we could get some photos and a short story from the 2012 race I was very excited Jen works closely with the legendary runner Jerry Dunn Mr Dunn is well known for his 200 marathons in the year 2000 He is Americas Marathon man He has appeared on the Today Show and has been featured in numerous magazines The chance to work with Jen and

Whatrsquos in Store Continued

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Jenn Schmitt Columnist

her team is so cool Im very thankful for the contribution Id like to include a quick side note to Emily ndash I think my next challenge will be to make that 100 miler work for me

On a whim I emailed a coordinator from the National Office for the Ride of Silence I mentioned publishing the official poem for the ride along with some photos The excitement I heard back was so positive The ride is emotional to so many people The stories of riders being hurt or killed is tragic we never want to forget them That is why education about sharing the road is a huge part of cycling safety I wont tell you more than that When you read the poem remember those that were hurt or killed while cycling The pictures we got from Robert LaVallee show the different color ribbons given to riders Red is for cyclists who knew a rider that died while cycling black is for a rider that has been injured during a ride

13 Irsquove been downloading classic (out-of-copyright) novels to my Kindle and iPad for re-reading and because I think the are important to preserve for future generations Ive downloaded the Illiad Adventures of Tom Sawyer and the original Wizard

of Oz I also found some good fiction from Jack London I think the magazinersquos readers will appreciate it It is a classic work that is about hiking ndash Think The Long Walk It is a good read with a surprise ending I hope readers will search out books and stories like this and add them to their own collection If we find more that are fitness related or have active subjects we may share them too

Whatrsquos in Store Continued

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httpwwwbrandishipmancom

com

pelling

When in the vastness of miles we find ourself not asking questions but finding answers

The fast races we ran years ago seem ugly and unforgiving

Now older and wiser and much much slower the race gives us a different story Four emotions joy anger sadness and frustration - not all at once but in a fashionable order that even makes anger a pleasant experience If it were not for the physical suffering endured for duration of the race you would perhaps experience all at once

Uncomfortable yet compelling

13 The race that when you are done and the suffering is over makes everything clearer priceless moments no longer slipping by but take the stage in life ndash in a perfect permutation

The finish helps us see there is more to do but until the next race there is no hurry Stop smell the roses Until we rise up for another challenge the story that unfolded during the race takes care of us we dont have to tell it It is written into our lives The memories and seemingly the future having been created between the aid stations and mile markers

NOT THE FASTEST RACETHE GREATESTSent from Iowa

U n c o m f o r t a b l e

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As a teenager I chose golf in high school as a sport rather than track Golfing meant enjoying a bag of chips and a can a soda while on the course Running was something I dreaded in school I used to plan how I could get out of the mile run for weeks when I knew it was almost fitness test time Now as a 31 year old stay at home mom I am running 10Ks and have a goal of completing four sprint triathlons in 2012 as well as many other 5Ks and 10Ks My five year goal is to complete an Ironman triathlon

13 Over the course of the last three years I have changed many aspects of my life I earned a Masterrsquos Degree in Education from Iowa State University I left a career as a Director of Special Education in a local school district to become a stay at home mom ndash with my two beautiful girls This change was prompted by a health scare in 2009 I was hospitalized for many days with meningitis and realized life was just too short

13 In 2011 while nursing my 4 month old my sister in law invited me to go with her to Weight Watchers I joined the next day for what was probably the 8th time but this time was different I made my goal and am a lifetime member I lost 43lbs and am healthy for the first time in my life I have Crohnrsquos Disease and am no longer taking any medications and no longer suffering the symptoms associated with the disease

In August of 2011 our hometown hero a Navy Seal was killed in action He was a huge inspiration to many people but after his death I was inspired to make a difference in our community and live my life differently He was a triathlete that had tackled the big daddy of them all and became an Ironman Realizing what he gave up so that we may have freedom inspired me to

Favo

rite

food

Kale

chip

s or

Rice

Cak

es w

ith A

lmon

d Bu

tter

Favo

rite

indu

lgen

ces

Che

x mix

Givingit aTri

FitnessDigestus columnist Jen Schmitt Rockford Iowa

Men

ingi

tis

13 In 2011 while nursing my four month old my sister in law invited me to go with her to Weight Watchers I joined the next day for what was probably the eigth time but this time was different They helped me make my goal and I became a lifetime member I lost 43lbs and Irsquom healthy for the first time in my life I also have Crohnrsquos Disease and no longer take medications nor do I suffer with the symptoms associated with the disease

13 In August of 2011 our hometown hero a Navy Seal was killed in action He was a huge inspiration to many people After his death I was inspired to make a difference in our community and to live my life differently He was a triathlete that had tackled the big daddy of them all ndash an Ironman Realizing what he gave up so that we may have freedom inspired me to continue on my fitness path by adding triathlete to my title

Givingit aTri

FitnessDigestus columnist Jen Schmitt Rockford Iowa

13 In 2011 while nursing my 4 month old my sister in law invited me to go with her to Weight Watchers I joined the next day for what was probably the 8th time but this time was different I made my goal and am a lifetime member I lost 43lbs and am healthy for the first time in my life I have Crohnrsquos Disease and am no longer taking any medications and no longer suffering the symptoms associated with the disease

In August of 2011 our hometown hero a Navy Seal was killed in action He was a huge inspiration to many people but after his death I was inspired to make a difference in our community and live my life differently He was a triathlete that had tackled the big daddy of them all and became an Ironman Realizing what he gave up so that we may have freedom inspired me to continue on my fitness path by

Favo

rite

plac

e to

run

Fos

sil amp

Prair

ie Ce

nter

Trail

s R

ockfo

rd Io

wa

Favo

rite

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kout

son

g S

trong

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hat D

oesn

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ou) b

y Kell

y Clar

kson

Croh

nrsquos

Dise

ase

his

deat

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13 When I am not out training with the group that I started in my hometown ldquoFriends in Fitnessrdquo you can find me blogging at justamomgivingitatriblogspotcom studying for my personal trainer certification or spending time with my husband girls and friends I enjoy being in the outdoors whether it is just for a walk or turkey hunting in the woods I am currently the chairperson working to organize a 5K fundraiser for the PEO Chapter that I belong to in Rockford Iowa This is going to be our major fundraiser for the year and we are very excited to encourage wellness among others in our community

Givingit aTri

FitnessDigestus columnist Jen Schmitt Rockford Iowa

13 In 2011 while nursing my 4 month old my sister in law invited me to go with her to Weight Watchers I joined the next day for what was probably the 8th time but this time was different I made my goal and am a lifetime member I lost 43lbs and am healthy for the first time in my life I have Crohnrsquos Disease and am no longer taking any medications and no longer suffering the symptoms associated with the disease

In August of 2011 our hometown hero a Navy Seal was killed in action He was a huge inspiration to many people but after his death I was inspired to make a difference in our community and live my life differently He was a triathlete that had tackled the big daddy of them all and became an Ironman Realizing what he gave up so that we may have freedom inspired me to continue on my fitness path by

Favo

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kout

acc

esso

ry G

arm

in Fo

reru

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310

XT

Wha

t get

s m

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ed

My a

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on

my p

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tellin

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e to

get

to th

e po

ol an

d sw

im o

r a s

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chil

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Fam

ily amp

Frie

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Watch and LearnSent in from NIP Gym

Successful SAFE gains in

the gym

Available at select Hy-Vee stores

NO MSG

LowSodium

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GREAT STORY HERE FROM NIP amp Fitness 13 I was in the gym this morning doing shoulders A quiet red headed kid comes in and gets on the bench and starts benching His first set of 135 lbs had HORRIBLE technique and form I walk over and talk to him He tells me his name is Joe - age 17 - weight 205 and is a junior at CS High School and he just bought a membership to NIP amp Fitness He tells me two weeks ago he benched 185 lbs for a max I told him that was very good for is age but NOT for his build I knew he was stronger than that So I helped him shape up is technique and form Joe ndash LISTENED and WATCHED He learned that he was much stronger than a 185 pound max bench presser Today from LISTENING and WATCHING Joe bench pressed 225 X 2 ndash and that 185 pounds he maxed two weeks ago he finished his work out by doing that 185 pounds for seven reps Proper TECHNIQUE and FORM are the key to successful SAFE gains in the gym Today Joe was a perfect example CONGRATULATIONS Joe

Dear Freestyle Swim Stroke

13 You are so frustrating to me Why canrsquot we just get along When I made the decision to tackle this goal of completing a triathlon I was not even worried about you That has proven to be a mistake Some days things go so smooth between us and some mornings I spring out of bed at 430 so excited about our time together Today was not one of those days You left me feeling like thishellip

Like a wet wrung out old swimsuit

These are the reasons that I am so upset with you

1 You literally take my breath away

2 You make my shoulder hurt (Popcorn kernels currently on shoulder while typing)

3 You make me leave my warm cozy bed about two hours before I would really like to leave it

4 If I donrsquot get my butt out of bed and go at 430 AM I have to leave my family and go at 730 PM

Dear FreestyleBy Jen Schmitt Rockford Iowa

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pull

head position

exit

flutter-kick

recovery

(Yes we know ndash no cameras in the locker room No one was harmed in this photo shoot)

13 And to the very old man in the lane beside me I do not dislike you in-fact I am insanely jealous of you I donrsquot stare at you because of your body you may look hot if I was 75 but I am not I stare at you in awe of how effortlessly you move up and down the pool without a rest Someday I hope to be just like you

13 So for now as much as I would love to say we need to break up and go our separate ways I am too D stubborn to do that We will make this work and we are going to get along Here is my promise to you ndash I promise to meet-up with you two to three times a week for at least an hour to work on our relationship I promise not to cheat on you with the sidestroke although I am so much more comfortable with him I promise to keep an open mind about our relationship and give it all that I have just like I do with my friend the run

Love you (I think)

Jen

Dear FreestyleContinued

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pull

head position

exit

flutter-kick

recovery

Adult SwimmingBy Susan Dawson-cook

I have taught dozens of adults how to swim Many of them were initially either afraid of water or somewhat uncomfortable in the aquatic environment Whats worked best is to get in the water with them and do activities that show them it can be fun and safe I make sure they feel safe and secure the entire time and even say things like if you have trouble standing up after you take some strokes I will help you or just reach for my hand if you need support

13 Many beginners have this fear ndash if they are in the horizontal position swimming they wont be able to stand up One woman cried she was so overjoyed she overcame her fear and learned to take her first strokes

Find more of Susanrsquos writing and published works at httplivemediaFitnessDigestus

Body image and fitness are hot topics for both men and women The Great Fitness Experiment is my hilarious poignant embarrassing and at times heart-breaking journey to find my way through the morass of contradictory claims and information in todayrsquos health- and fitness-obsessed world

Available in paperback or in eBookhttpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

If you have trouble standing up after you

take some strokesone women cried

she was so overjoyed

If you would like future issues delivered to a Facebook Twitter or e-mail account e-mail us at infoFitnessDigestus

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2 Deadwood Mickelson Trail MarathonSunday June 2 2013

Deadwood South Dakota

13 On June 2nd we will celebrate 12 years of offering runners from around the globe the most unique running experience of their life Where else in the world can you run on a course that takes you from an abandoned mining town across railroad trestles through a mountain past monolithic rock formations beside a babbling creek and finish in Deadwoodhellipa town that is a historic landmark

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Written Emily WheelerFor more information amp video visit httpLIveAdsFitnessDigestus

ldquoWild West town known primarily for its gamblers gunslingers and gold minersrdquo

Hope to see you at the finish

This Wild West town known primarily for its gamblers gunslingers and gold miners has turned into one of the premiere destination marathon venues in the US

13 The breathtaking beauty of our course the truly outstanding team of volunteers the hospitality of everyone associated with the event and paying attention to details are just a couple of reasons yoursquoll want to toe the line on June 2nd

The Deadwood Mickelson Trail Half and Full Marathon is a point to point course

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ldquoThe breathtaking beauty of our courserdquo

WaynesSkiandCyclenetlive links to Waynersquos at httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

MTM Charity Partner

13 Habitat for Humanity is a global nonprofit Christian housing organization that has helped to build more than 500000 decent affordable houses and served 25 million people worldwide since its founding in 1976 With the help of volunteers and donations of money and materials Habitat constructs rehabilitates and preserves homes in partnership with low-income families in need Operating in nearly 80 countries and with more than 1500 affiliates in the United States Habitat also advocates for fair and just housing policies and provides training and access to resources to help families improve their shelter conditions

Shop for Name BrandItems 24 Hours a Day

beginning in the historic mining town of Rochford the first 15 miles are on a paved road At this point the course becomes the Mickelson Trail (a rails to trails project) The next 12 miles are a mixture of gentle uphill and flat terrain

13 Then the course is either downhill or flat and finishes at the historic Engine House at end of the linehellipthe Deadwood Trailhead The Half Marathon is also a point to point course starting at the 131 mile mark of the full marathon Walker Friendly

All participants will receive a Commemorative Finisherrsquos Medal

Mickelson Trail Marathon Charity Partner is the Black Hills Habitat for HumanityMake your Marathon Matter Matching Funds

Make your Marathon matter by helping create decent shelter in the Black Hills ndash take the challenge to give at least $1 per race mile Our goal is to raise $3000 in 2012 for BH Habitat for Humanity to help provide shelter for more families in the Black Hills

Registrations are capped at 3000 runners If you want to be part of the Deadwood Mickelson Trail Marathon Weekend celebration go to LiveAdsFitnessDigestus and click on the MTM Marathon URL

Hope to see you at the Finish Line - ThanksEmily Wheeler Wheeler Event Management Inc

ldquoHope to see you at the finish linerdquo

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links

DAY had broken cold and gray exceedingly cold and gray when the man turned aside from the main Yukon trail and climbed the high earth-bank where a dim and little traveled trail led eastward through the fat spruce timberland It was a steep bank and he paused for breath at the top excusing the act to himself by looking at his watch It was nine oclock There was no sun nor hint of sun though there was not a cloud in the sky It was a

clear day and yet there seemed an intangible pall over the face of things a subtle gloom that made the day dark and that was due to the absence of sun This fact did not worry the man He was used to the lack of sun It had been days since he had seen the sun and he knew that a few more-days must pass before that cheerful orb due south would just peep above the sky-line and dip immediately from view

To Build a Fire - Hiking the Yukon TrailShort story fiction Written by Jack London (1876-1916)

The man flung a look back along the way he had come The Yukon lay a mile wide and hidden under three feet of ice On top of this ice were as many feet of snow It was all pure white rolling in gentle undulations where the ice jams of the freeze-up had formed North and south as far as his eye could see it was unbroken white save for a dark hairline that curved and twisted from around the spruce-covered island to the south and that curved and twisted away into the north where it disappeared behind another spruce-covered island This dark hair-line was the trail--the main trail--that led south five hundred miles to the Chilcoot Pass Dyea and salt water and that led north seventy miles to Dawson and still on to the north a thousand miles to Nulato and finally to St Michael on Bering Sea a thousand miles and half a thousand more

But all this--the mysterious far-reaching hair-line trail The absence of sun from the sky the tremendous cold and the strangeness and weirdness of it all--made no

impression on the man It was not because he was long used to it He was a newcomer In the land a chechaquo and this was his first winter The trouble with him was that he was without imagination He was quick and alert in the things of life but only in the things and not in the significances Fifty degrees below zero meant eighty-odd degrees of frost Such fact impressed him as being cold and uncomfortable and that was all It did not lead him to meditate upon his frailty as a creature of temperature and upon mans frailty in general able only to live within certain narrow limits of heat and cold and from there on it did not lead him to the conjectural field of immortality and mans place in the universe Fifty degrees below zero stood forte bite of frost that hurt and that must be guarded against by the use of mittens ear-flaps warm moccasins and thick socks Fifty degrees below zero was to him just precisely fifty degrees below zero That there should be anything more to it than that was a thought that never entered his head

To Build a FireContinued

Continued on page 62

Stand Up Paddle BoardingWOWSUPIowacom on LiveAds

It is important from time to time to slow down to go away by yourself and simply be --Eileen Caddy

Letrsquos Race13 My son is eight and our family is very active Im just hitting my peak racing age of about 34 years old The family members all support each otherrsquos activities They are a great cheering section when my wife and I compete in races There is a popular two mile fun run in our town that we my wife and I run every year We also have for-fun races with the kids around the house or across the football field For years Ive let the eight year old win a few and others I win by just a little bit I think he is wising up to my tactics of good fatherhood One day he said ldquoDad you are letting me win but I think I can beat you fair and squarerdquo He added ldquoYoursquore not that fast Ill bet you 10 dollars I can beat you in a two mile racerdquo Wanting to teach him a lesson about spouting off and writing checks his body cant cash I took him up on it I said All right you pick a time and place We will race two miles for 10 dollars He replied You know that two mile race you and mom do every year I can race you then I agreed and he quickly added Ill need 20 years to warm-up That would make me 54 and him 28 Irsquom preparing for the loss and putting 10 dollars aside now

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Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

In my first creative experience it was through music and I was interested in developing my values of creativity I was inspired by a band named Motley Crue and the song that captured my interest was Home Sweet home Dear reader what inspires you Is it music or inspirational quote thought or ideas To express how this song motivated my interests it helped give me faith in my own creative abilities in the process I began to write lyrics I eventually began to work on different styles of writing and broaden my writing skills What types of music inspire your creative thoughts What types of other inspiration values inspire your creative thoughts

13 Getting motivated is one of the key aspects of a successful weight-loss program Without this motivation there would be no drive to get up early or to avoid eating unhealthy snacks ndash that you absolutely love Yes you can thank your motivation for that When you are looking for weight-loss motivation sometimes it is hard to find Where can you find that extra umph to make it to your goal

The benefits of finding a motivator are something that cannot be paralleled It has been said mind over matter This coincides with our principle that no matter how hard the task you can accomplish the goal given the right mindset It is important to go into a new weight-loss program with a positive mental attitude

FINDI

NG TH

EM X InspirationX

Motivation

When I was introduced to William Shakespeare I was intrigued by his creative values and I started to work on developing a different aspect of writing I then watched the movie Free Jack there was a quote by Albert Einstein Imagination is more important than knowledge I thought about the in depth values of both concepts and then I applied both concepts and defined different creative concept Do you believe that anything is possible if you believe I know that I do believe that if an individual believes deeply enough one can accomplish their goals I had to believe in my own abilities and in my dreams and ignore the negative values that were impressed by others

Anything less can potentially hinder growth towards your goal

Some of the things that you should be thinking about when looking for motivators are people with good morals and a positive attitude This is because if the people helping you do not have a positive attitude then it is also difficult for you Some great places to look for a motivator are online blogs in the gym or even in your own family I am sure that in all of these places you will see someone else trying to accomplish the same or even more difficult goals than your own

Another key to finding motivation is to let it find you You should not have to go find a reason to go do something You will do it because you wanted to not because you were forced to

X

InspirationMotivation

More simply put motivation will find you because you will see something that inspires you to make a change in yourself That change may be a weight-loss goal or something else Maybe even an academic goal The true key is to maintain that motivation until you have achieved your goal

Regards Vincent ErrichielloUSMS Swimmer

InspirationMotivation

With believing so deeply within my own abilities and the faith that I could accomplish what I set out to achieve I wrote a lyric titled Dreams Are Only Real and in believing in this concept further defining its true meaning the concept became Dreams Are Only Real Until You Dont believe

Jeremy J TaylorCNFI Publishing

himTHROWINGWritten by anonymous contributor

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13 Johnny is not the best batter in our little league Matter-of-fact he is quiet awful At practice one afternoon Johnny hit a pitch really well The coach had pitched him inside on accident far enough inside that it almost hit him Johnny got his hit by using his bat to defend himself from that arrant pitch The coach told him ldquogood hitrdquo and Johnny yelled back ldquoWell I didnrsquot want the ball to hit merdquo13 Johnny improved his batting after that He was hitting the ball almost every time he got up At one point I said to coach ldquoHow did you get Johnny to improve his batting so quicklyrdquo He replyed Im throwing the ball it AT HIM every time

Body image and fitness are hot topics for both men and women The Great Fitness Experiment is my hilarious poignant embarrassing and at times heart-breaking journey to find my way through the morass of contradictory claims and information in todayrsquos health- and fitness-obsessed world

Available in paperback or in eBookVisit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

wwwnorthiafitnesscom on LiveAdsEmail northiowafitnessgmailcom

Phone 641-201-1035Strongest weight loss supplements

on the market

The Fall of Billy Hitchingsby Kirkus MacGowan

Available at Amazon

LOCATED IN ST ANSGAR IOWA

Business Cards Envelopes

Letterheads Programs

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Posters Invites (graduation wedding showers etc)

Flyers Brochures

T-ShirtsShorts SweatshirtsSweats

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Business Forms Placemats

Postcards And Much More

Bridgette Beyer DesignerOwner

Bring your ideas in andVisual Aspect Designs can print

andor design for you

Black Lab LanyardsSpecializing in customized duck and goose call lanyards for waterfowl enthusiasts

For more information on this productVisit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

FitnessDigestus is now available at

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entryFitnessDigestus

Send u

s yo

ur T

-shi

rt

READE

R T

-shi

rts

13 I was standing on shore fishing in my favorite spot A guy Irsquove never seen at the pond gets in and starts swimming After about 25 minutes of back and forth he stops at a place about 30 yards off shore He gives me a quick look and dices down below the water

His next lap he stops in the same place looks at me again and points down at the water He finished his swim and left I picked up my gear and moved to the other side of the outlet just a few yards from where he had stopped twice Caught a lunker in the first cast

Swim Signs - Lunker

BankersPromotional and Advertising Specialties

Call to order 641ndash423ndash3111

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TOP TWEETS

Iowa Cubs (IowaCubs)Thanks to all our fans who showed up for the pre-game on-field catch with dad

Louise Pineda (forerunnerGPS)The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficultyWinston Churchill quotes

Softball Darlin (Softball_Darlin)My mom told me our team was gettin white uniforms for summer amp to try not to get them dirty Uh Have you seen me play Not gonna happen

I Swim I Suffer (ISwimISuffer)thatswimmerwho If the water is in your right ear for example then jump on your right leg and lean your head to the right side while jumping

I Swim and I Know It (iSwimWithIssues)During the summer you shower 467 times at the pool 17 times at hotels and 3 times at your house Truth

Everyday Health (WomensCancer)63000 Americans will be diagnosed w malignant melanoma (the deadliest skin cancer) this year Know your risk

US Paralympics (USParalympics)Want to be introduced to Paralympic sport Attend one of the Paralympic Experiences being held throughout the countryFi

tnes

sDig

est

US v

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2

SwimSwam (swimswamnews)Congrats to KenyaSwimmer on being selected to carry the Kenya flag swimswamcom

Better than sharing on a blog Twitter or Facebook and you can share a story even if you donrsquot maintain a social-web presencePublished for ALL FitnessDigestus readers

Sign with your real name pen-name or anonymoushttpLiveMediaFitnessDigestus

13 Funnest thing SPAM about some weight-loss supplements got posted on a friendrsquos Facebook My friend is an ultra-runner I notice there was also an ad for salami recipes on the same page The recipes were right next to the SPAM about diet-pills

13 Letrsquos see ndash it sounds like the beginning of a good joke Q What do you get when a friend tries to sell you ultra-runner endorsed salami-flavored-SPAM diet-pills on Facebook Answer Sick

Unsung Heroes1 Irsquove never swam open water and wanted to do a triathlon A friend that

races open water took extra time to swim with me at a lake I was much more comfortable after that

2 I was going on vacation and needed advice on a place to swim A friend living in the area took the time to help me find people to answer my questions

3 I was over eating and had complained to my friend about it She called me twice a day for three weeks just to remind me to eat healthy

4 I usually run to and from the gym It takes about 30 minutes to run both ways I didnrsquot have enough time to get there and back before a scheduled appointment I had A friend drove me to the gym saving me about 30 minutes I was able to run home and still had time to get to my appointment

SPAM DIET

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Visit the Suburban Mommy blog and learn more about AtresiaMicrotia a birth defect of the inner earFor links to SubMommy blog httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

SUBMOMMYBLOG

On Wednesday May 16 2012 at 7 PM simultaneous rides occurred around the

USA and the world

We all ride Now we can ride as one

One day One time One world world wide

Let the silence roar

322 locations world wide

The Ride of SilenceTonight we number many but ride as one

In honor of those not with us friends

mothers fathers sisters sons

With helmets on tight and heads down low

We ride in silence cautious and slow

The wheels start spinning in the lead pack

But tonight we ride and no one attacks

The dark sunglasses cover our tears

Remembering those we held so dear

Tonights ride is to make others aware

The road is there for all to share

To those not with us or by our side

May God be your partner on your final ride

- Mike Murgas

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 50 states

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 7 Continents

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 0 words spoken

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 1 million memories

Ride of Silence

ldquoCost-effective investments in bicycling boost our economy help individuals and government agencies save money and directly address key societal challenges such as obesity and road congestion In these tough economic times our federal government can only afford to invest in solutions that solve multiple problems Bicycling fits the billrdquo ndash PeopleForBikesorg

This photo collection was taken byRobert LaVallee of Mason City IA

To see his entire collection visithttpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

Non-subscriberSign-up for delivery of

the FREE edition at coopnetbiz

It provides an outstanding aerobic workout in less than half the time we would spend in still water It has allowed us as swim coaches to observe swimmers stroke characteristics up close and to see the effects of fatigue on stroke mechanics ~ Larry L Chazy NY

Swimming is an excellent exercise and now I can swim every day because its so convenient and private I can swim when I want and how long I want Im able to have it at a temperature that is comfortable to me The small size of an Endless Pool enabled me to install a pool where I could not install a regular size one

As an aging baby boomer nutrition professional I have yearned for consistent exercise that doesnt stress joints and will enable me to attain physical fitness cardiovascular health and weight control I can eat what I want and still firm up and lose weight ~ John C Columbus OH

Endless Pools make for long swims in small places The 8x15 Endless Pool is less than regulation size but offers the same benefits as a very large pool ~ Noah H Connecticut Post

The Endless Pool is a great strength builder I am amazed at the strength of the current I now swim against I did not buy it for that reason but because of my arthritis so the strength gain is a wonderful surprise

Endless PoolsTestimonials For more information visit httpLIveAdsFitnessDigestus

s w i m m i n g s h o r t s

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Baseball Walking Stick13 My sons friend grabbed his baseball bat and said to me this is my walking stick I politely ask him why he calls it that He replied because my dad says if I hit a home run with it I donrsquot have to run the bases ndash I can walk

My Bike My mountain bike was stolen a while back and my kids were really upset Ive been riding my road bike in its place Since then Ive been careful to lock my bike up when we go to the park

13 On this occasion I did not lock-up my sonrsquos bike up with mine He looked at me quizzically and said sternly lock my bike up too I tried to explain that his bike was not as expensive and therefor didnt need to be locked up Boy that was a mistake He made me feel a little dumb when he said Dad I dont care how expensive it is Its the only bike Irsquove got

North Iowa Roads

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A LEADER inSearch Engine Optimization

Technology

Increase your visitor page views and Facebook Likes

Are you moving to a new state Already hired your mover

E-mail blind box at box02FitnessDigestus will get

you the best rates on cable phone and internet

Digital Movers

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

parent sports tipBy FitnessDigestus staff writer JGA

PAR

EN

T

TIP

Keeping Kids Focused13 Organize their thoughts Help them prioritize and make decisions based on value Even kids can understand the value of simple non-monetized choices Questions like ldquoShould I finish playing my gameboy game or pause it when they call my swimming eventrdquo

If kids are taught to make good decisions and not just find quick answers everyone wins

AugustGolf Month5th Friendship Day15th Relaxation Day25th Kiss and Make Up Day31st Trail Mix DaySeptemberLittle League Month12th Chocolate Milk Shake Day13th Positive Thinking Day16th Womenrsquos Friendship Day21st Miniature Golf DayOctoberBreast Cancer Awareness MonthNational Diabetes Month1st World Vegetarian Day4th Golf Day25th World Pasta Day

National Calendar

Au

gu

stSe

pte

mb

er

Oc

tob

er

Encourage friendships writing skills sharing thoughts and

experiencesEight different cards

YAGOTTAWANNA

Variety of pricing From single orders to bulk orders of 24 notecards

Learn more online

Stay in touch with your swimming or triathlon buddies

It is better to be safe then to try to beat the heat There are many options to stay cool and run during a hot-summer day Staying inside and running on the treadmill is a good one Remember staying safe is a top priority

Most workouts can be modified to work indoors This issuersquos workout is to do your usual run or interval set just stay inside and run it on the treadmill Visualize the different landmarks to see during your outdoor run

Coach Millerrsquos Quarterly ChallengeStay safe in the heatBy Mark Miller mmillerFitnessDigestus

A few years back we had a hot-spell similar to this yearrsquos record heat

I remember training for a long run and having to stop at the local swimming hole to cool off I literally took off my

shoes and jumped in with my running clothes on I was so hot

FitnessDigestUSEntertainment amp Inspiration

Use coupon codeldquoRAMCSPRrdquo

at puresportshopcomfor 20 OFF

Nutritional Performance Sports Drinks with Protein

OPEN WATER SWIMMING BY THE NUMBERS

In kilometers The shortest open water race included in the Fina World Championships

10107 How many miles it

is to swim from Cuba to the USA

5

1000Number of swimming strokes in a mile for a typical swimmer

31800About the number of calories it takes to swim 100 miles

LOCATED IN ST ANSGAR IOWA

Business Cards Envelopes

Letterheads Programs

Vinyl Decals Signs

Posters Invites (graduation wedding showers etc)

Flyers Brochures

T-ShirtsShorts SweatshirtsSweats

Koozies Sashes

Business Forms Placemats

Postcards And Much More

Bridgette Beyer DesignerOwner

Bring your ideas in andVisual Aspect Designs can print

andor design for you

The minimum open water distance in kilometers that is considered a swimming-

marathon

On Facebook Visit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

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Open water safety means swimming in shallow water where there is a lifeguard or using an escort

Shop for Name BrandGear

24 Hoursa Day

WaynesSkiandCyclenet

For links to Waynersquos visit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

s w i m m i n g s h o r t s

Googles

13 Swimming fans can really appreciate a 200 IM when their goggles fill with water How about an Olympian Swimming a leg of the 400 Free Relay with his goggles across his opened mouth ndash and going 45rsquos A great team swimmer an Olympian wouldnrsquot let down his teammates by throwing them off or fixing them

500 Fly13 A world class butterflyer asked if he could swim butterfly in the 500 yard freestyle during a dual meet His goal was to break five minutes After considering the competition it seemed like a great way to make him really work a hard fly swim so we agreed Problem was he swam a 502 and the opposing coach complained to the officials because he embarrassed his swimmers Oh well you canrsquot win lsquoem all

Stories sent in by Robert Steele

No-No-No13 The other morning I was teaching front-streamlines to snotty nosed 8 year olds (some are literally snotty-nosed) One boy was taking a big gulp of air and holding his breath When he lifted his head he had to exhale and inhale before submerging again Swimmers will understand this does not work very well Kids need to learn to exhale underwater The first time he did it I told him to exhale underwater The second time I stopped him looked him in the eye and reminded him to exhale underwater The third and fourth times I started to get a little frustrated ldquoJohnny you need to exhale underwater so you can breath betterrdquo The fifth time as his head popped up for a breath I quickly asked ldquoJohnny Do you even know what exhale meansrdquo as he submerged his head below the water I could see him shake his head no-no-no

Favorite Potato Chips13We try to limit the junk food the kids eat at our house For lunch one day our son wanted some potato chips I gave him 3 large chips with his sandwich He started to cry and said he wanted one more chip ldquoI wanted four chipsrdquo he screamed I took the plate back When he wasnt looking I broke a chip in half and give it back to him with four chips

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

13 My cancer story is one of uniqueness Leave it to me to do something like cancer to its fullest It did not begin with a mammogram diagnosis or a lump My journey began about 4 years ago with some suspicious activity that turned into Pagetrsquos disease of the nipple which signaled the underlying cancer On April 1st I found out about my breast cancer through a biopsy that came back as positive for Pagetrsquos disease The onslaught of tests learning and decisions were dizzying I immediately went for an evaluation of the suspicious tissue and had to begin making decisions for my mastectomy I quickly learned there is a test called the BRAC Analysis which is a genetic test for breast and ovarian cancer Finally a piece of good news for me I did not have the gene

Decisions Now it was time to make decisions about my mastectomy and how I was going to handle reconstruction I discussed my options with my boyfriend Brian friends family members and even my principalboss I read books searched the Internet and contacted people I

Brandi ShipmanCancer Survivor and elite triathlete

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

know and knew from my past that had been directly affected and that I thought might have answers for me The outpouring of love encouragement and help during this process was overwhelming After meeting with four different doctors two surgeons and two plastic surgeons I decided to go with immediate reconstruction and was lucky enough to find two wonderful doctors They were willing to work together just because I wanted them to even though they had never done so before My surgery was scheduled for mid May

Mental Toughness13 My mental preparation at this point was very important I had to scrap any idea of competing in triathlons for the rest of the year and focus on a positive attitude of getting better I stopped thinking about what I wasnrsquot going to able to do and started thinking about what I could do that I was alive and kept my mind on the fact that so many others had made it before me

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links

Part 213 I was prepared by the doctors survivors and literature to be ldquodownrdquo for several weeks after my surgery I even took the rest of the school year off My surgery went well and I was out of the hospital the next day A few friends came to visit while I was in the hospital and my principal and vice principal brought the most wonderful picture of the faculty wearing pink for me I can only imagine what it looked like at Thornton Elementary on that day in May 2009 a sea of pink all for Brandi Shipman Shortly after their visit I received a text from my friend Margie Massey My friends from the gym wore pink for me that day as well The support brought tears to my eyes I was so excited to come home and be comfortable in my own home I just wish the stupid drain that was attached could have stayed at the hospital The pain from that was worse than the pain from the mastectomy

the most

powerful picture

13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Recovery ndash May13 Once I got home I slept and watched a lot of TV Friends visited and brought yummy food and my favorites I am not supposed to eat I ate them all My friend and co-worker set up a cancer care calendar that alerted anyone who logged on when I was having a doctorrsquos appointment or when I was in need of anything I felt like royalty as everyone took care of me I think Brian secretly enjoyed the fact that he wouldnrsquot have to cook for me each night My recovery was quicker than I thought as I was doing my best to get better and get the stinkinrsquo drain out of my skin I was out walking within a week and running within 3 weeks I couldnrsquot believe my recovery I know it was from all the prayers love and good care from Brian and the loved ones around me Life was looking better each day

ldquoLife was looking

better each dayrdquo

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Part three and part

four of I am Survivor

will be published in

the next edition of

FitnessDigestus

Get the convenience of

digital-delivery

Sign-up or subscribe at

httpFitnessDigestus

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During the past 150 years we have witnessed many remarkable advances against cancer a disease known to humanity for thousands of years The advances highlighted below represent a sampling of what has been accomplished to date

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

1882 William Halsted performs the first radical mastectomy to treat breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast the lymph nodes under the arm (axillary lymph nodes) and the chest muscles behind the breast (pectoralis major and pectoralis minor muscles) are removed Radical mastectomy will remain the standard operation for breast cancer until latter half of the 20th century when the use of modified radical mastectomy becomes widely accepted

1932 David H Patey develops the modified radical mastectomy for breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast axillary lymph nodes and pectoralis minor muscle behind the breast are removed The modified radical mastectomy is less disfiguring than the radical mastectomy and will eventually replace the radical mastectomy as a standard treatment option for breast cancer

1953 James Watson and Francis Crick discover the molecular structure of DNA (the double helix)

1963 The Health Insurance Plan (HIP) of Greater New York Study begins HIP is the first randomized controlled trial of periodic breast cancer screening with mammography

1882

1932

1953

1963

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1976 The results of a randomized clinical trial show that women with early breast cancer who receive post-operative (adjuvant) combination chemotherapy with the drugs cyclophosphamide methotrexate and 5-FU have improved disease-free survival

1981 A randomized clinical trial in the United Kingdom shows for the first time that the rates of survival local recurrence and tumor metastasis among women whose breast cancer is treated with modified radical mastectomy are not substantially different from those of women who are treated with radical mastectomy

1993 An NCI-convened international workshop on screening for breast cancer reports that screening with mammography reduces breast cancer mortality among women ages 50-69 This conclusion is based on a review of published and unpublished data from eight randomized controlled trials

2004 Data from the Womens Health Initiative (WHI) study show that women who take estrogen in combination with the hormone progestin have a greater risk of developing breast cancer than women who take estrogen alone The results also show that menopausal hormone therapy with estrogen alone has no benefit in disease prevention specifically in reducing the risks of colorectal cancer coronary heart disease and dementia

1976

1981

1993

2004

Although we still have a long way to go to reduce the toll of cancer in the United States and worldwide our research and public health efforts are beginning to pay dividends

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

Volunteering vs Participating13 My girl friend and I are involved in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation The local chapter raises awareness for the cause with a fun-run each year We have volunteered to help with the race five years in a row This year we were stationed at a water table where the runners pick-up cups of water to drink Toward the end of the race there are very few runners There was a little time to chat about things We were talking about what we would wish for if we could have three wishes I told her I would wish for an end to Juvenile Diabetes and to lose 10 pounds Being nice I said ldquoyou can have my last wishrdquo She said I wish you would skip volunteering and just run this race next year

Admission Price Our aquatic center was having a promotion one night and advertised an elementary school night The kids could swim for free When we got to the pool we saw a promotional sign for the event In small lettering it read All swimmers must be accompanied by an adult We thought no big deal one of us can just stay and watch When we got to the front desk we found the lifeguard was enforcing the adult-admission price of $8

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CNFI Publishing - Products Books Chapbooks Bookmarks Plaques and Poetry Collector Cards Merchandising Products Coffee Mugs Mouse Pads Tiles 3x6 Coasters T - Shirts and Wall Plaques More info athttpliveadsFitnessDigestus

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

Featured PhotosFitnessDigestus feature

Chicago open water swim course at nighttop left

Kids race at Bicycle Blues and BBQtop right

Some team members volunteer at the local soup kitchenmiddle right

Ken Mauer loads the balls for hitting practice during a Twins baseball camp for

children 7-13 bottom right

Get your local event photos published in the next issue of FitnessDigestus E-mail

your photo to photoFitnessDigestus

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As he turned to go on he spat speculatively There was a sharp explosive crackle that startled him He spat again And again in the air before it could fall to the snow the spittle crackled He knew that at fifty below spittle crackled on the snow but this spittle had crackled in the air Undoubtedly it was colder than fifty below--how much colder he did not know But the temperature did not matter He was bound for the old claim on the left fork of Henderson Creek where the boys were already They had come over across the divide from the Indian Creek country while he had come the roundabout way to take a look at the possibilities of getting out logs in the spring from the islands in the Yukon He would be in to camp by six oclock a bit after dark it was true but the boys would be there a fire would be going and a hot supper would be ready As for lunch he pressed his hand against the protruding bundle under his jacket It was also under his shirt wrapped up in a handkerchief and lying against the naked skin It was the only way to keep the biscuits from freezing He smiled agreeably to himself as he thought of those biscuits each cut open and sopped in bacon grease and each enclosing a generous slice of fried bacon

He plunged in among the big spruce trees The trail was faint A foot of snow had fallen since the last sled had passed over and he was glad he was without a sled traveling light In fact he carried nothing but the lunch wrapped in the handkerchief He was surprised however at the cold It certainly was cold he concluded as he rubbed his numb nose and cheek-bones with his mittened hand He was a warm-whiskered man but the hair on his face did not protect the high cheek-bones and the eager nose that thrust itself aggressively into the frosty air

At the mans heels trotted a dog a big native husky the proper wolf-dog gray-coated and without any visible or temperamental difference from its brother the wild wolf The animal was depressed by the tremendous cold It knew that it was no time for

traveling Its instinct told it a truer tale than was told to the man by the mans judgment In reality it was not merely colder than fifty below zero it was colder than sixty below than seventy below It was seventy-five below zero Since the freezing point is thirty-two above zero it meant that one hundred and seven degrees of frost obtained The dog did not know anything about thermometers Possibly in its brain there was no sharp consciousness of a condition of very cold such as was in the mans brain But the brute had its instinct It experienced a vague but menacing apprehension that subdued it then made it slink along at the mans heels and that made it question eagerly every unwonted movement of the man as if expecting him to go into camp or to seek shelter somewhere and build a fire The dog had learned fire and it wanted fire or else to burrow under the snow and cuddle its warmth away from the air

The frozen moisture of its breathing had settled on its fur in a fine powder of frost and especially were its jowls muzzle and eyelashes whitened by its cry-stalled breath The mans red beard and mustache were likewise frosted but more solidly the deposit taking the form of ice and increasing with every warm moist breath he exhaled Also the man was chewing tobacco and the muzzle of ice held his lips so rigidly that he was unable to clear his chin when he expelled the juice The result was that a crystal beard of the color and solidity of amber was increasing its length on his chin If he fell down it would shatter itself like glass into brittle fragments But he did not mind the appendage It was the penalty all tobacco-chewers paid in that country and he had been out before in two cold snaps They had not been so cold as this he knew but by the spirit thermometer at Sixty Mile he knew they had been registered at fifty below and at fifty-five

He held on through the level stretch of woods for several miles crossed a wide flat of rigger-heads and dropped down a bank to the frozen bed of a

To Build a FireContinued

small stream This was Henderson Creek and he knew he was ten miles from the forks He looked at his watch It was ten oclock He was making four miles an hour and he calculated that he would arrive at the forks at half-past twelve He decided to celebrate that event by eating his lunch there

The dog dropped in again at his heels with a tail drooping discouragement as the man swung along the creek-bed The furrow of the old sled-trail was plainly visible but a dozen inches of snow covered the marks of the last runners In a month no man had come up or down that silent creek The man held steadily on He was not much given to thinking and just then particularly he had nothing to think about save that he would eat lunch at-the forks and that at six oclock he would be in camp with the boys There was nobody to talk to and had there been speech would have been impossible because of the ice-muzzle on his mouth So he continued monotonously to chew tobacco and to increase the length of his amber beard

Once in a while the thought reiterated itself that it was very cold and that he had never experienced such cold As he walked along he rubbed his cheek-bones and nose with the back of his mittened hand He did this automatically now and again changing hands But rub as he would the instant he stopped his cheek-bones went numb and the following instant the end of his nose went numb He was sure to frost his cheeks he knew that and experienced a pang of regret that he had not devised a nose-strap of the sort Bud wore in cold snaps Such a strap passed across the cheeks as well and saved them But it didnt matter much after all What were frosted cheeks A bit painful that was all they were never serious

Empty as the mans mind was of thoughts he was keenly observant and he noticed the changes in the creek the curves and bends and timber jams and always he sharply noted where he placed his feet Once coming around a bend he shied abruptly

like a startled horse curved away from the place where he had been walking and retreated several paces back along the trail The creek he knew was frozen clear to the bottom--no creek could contain water in that arctic winter--but he knew also that there were springs that bubbled out from the hillsides and ran along under the snow and on top the ice of the creek He knew that the coldest snaps never froze these springs and he knew likewise their danger They were traps They hid pools of water under the snow that might be three inches deep or three feet Sometimes a skin of ice half an inch thick covered them and in turn was covered by the snow Sometimes there were alternate layers of water and ice-skin so that when one broke through he kept on breaking through for a while sometimes wetting himself to the waist

That was why he had shied in such panic He had felt the give under his feet and heard the crackle of a snow-hidden ice-skin And to get his feet wet in such a temperature meant trouble and danger At the very least it meant delay for he would be forced to stop and build a fire and under its protection to bare his feet while he dried his socks and moccasins He stood and studied the creek-bed and its banks and decided that the flow of water came from the right He reflected a while rubbing his nose and cheeks then skirted to the left stepping gingerly and testing the footing for each step Once clear of the danger he took a fresh chew of tobacco and swung along at his four-mile gait

In the course of the next two hours he came upon several similar traps Usually the snow above the hidden pools had a sunken candied appearance that advertised the danger Once again however he had a close call and once suspecting danger he compelled the dog to go on in front The dog did not want to go It hung back until the man shoved it forward and then it went quickly across the white unbroken surface Suddenly it broke through floundered to one side and got away to firmer

To Build a FireContinued

To Build a FireContinued

footing It had wet its forefeet and legs and almost immediately the water that clung to it turned to ice It made quick efforts to lick the ice off its legs then dropped down in the snow and began to bite out the ice that had formed between the toes l his was a matter of instinct To permit the ice to remain would mean sore feet It did not know this It merely obeyed the mysterious prompting that arose from the deep crypts of its being But the man knew having achieved a judgment on the subject and he removed the mitten from his right hand and helped tear out the ice-particles He did not expose his fingers more than a minute and was astonished at the swift numbness that smote them It certainly was cold He pulled on the mitten hastily and beat the hand savagely across his chest

At twelve oclock the day was at its brightest Yet the sun was too far south an its winter journey to clear the horizon The bulge of the earth intervened between it arid Henderson Creek where the man walked under a clear sky at noon and cast no shadow At half-past twelve to the minute he arrived at the forks of the creek He was pleased at the speed he had made If he kept it up he would certainly be with the boys by six He unbuttoned his jacket and shirt and drew forth his lunch The action consumed no more than a quarter of a minute yet in that brief moment the numbness laid hold of the exposed fingers He did not put the mitten on but instead struck the fingers a dozen sharp smashes against his leg Then he sat down on a snow-covered log to eat The sting that followed upon the striking of his fingers against his leg ceased so quickly that he was startled He had had no chance to take a bite of biscuit He struck the fingers repeatedly and returned them to the mitten baring the other hand for the purpose of eating He tried to take a mouthful but the ice-muzzle prevented He had forgotten to build a fire and thaw out He chuckled at his foolishness and as he chuckled he noted the numbness creeping into the exposed fingers Also he noted that the stinging which had first come to his

toes when he sat down was already passing away He wandered whether the toes were warm or numb He moved them inside the moccasins and decided that they were numb

He pulled the mitten on hurriedly and stood up He was a bit frightened He stamped up and down until the stinging returned into the feet It certainly was cold was his thought That man from Sulphur Creek had spoken the truth when telling how cold it sometimes got in the country And he had laughed at him at the time That showed one must not be too sure of things There was no mistake about it it was cold He strode up and down stamping his feet and threshing his arms until reassured by the returning warmth Then he got out matches and proceeded to make a fire From the undergrowth where high water of the previous spring had lodged a supply of seasoned twigs he got his firewood Working carefully from a small beginning he soon had a roaring fire over which he thawed the ice from his face and in the protection of which he ate his biscuits For the moment the cold space was outwitted The dog took satisfaction in the fire stretching out close enough for warmth and far enough away to escape being singed

When the man had finished be filled his pipe and took his comfortable time over a smoke Then he pulled on his mittens settled the ear-flaps of his cap firmly about his ears and took the creek trail up the left fork The dog was disappointed and yearned back toward the fire This man did not know cold Possibly all the generations of his ancestry had been ignorant of cold of real cold of cold one hundred and seven degrees below freezing point But the dog knew all its ancestry knew and it had inherited the knowledge And it knew that it was not good to walk abroad in such fearful cold It was the time to lie snug in a hole in the snow and wait for a curtain of cloud to be drawn across the face of outer space whence this cold came On the other hand there was no keen intimacy between the dog and the man

The one was the toil-slave of the other and the only caresses it had ever received were the caresses of the whiplash and of harsh and menacing throat-sounds that threatened the whiplash So the dog made no effort to communicate its apprehension to the man It was not concerned in the welfare of the man it was for its own sake that it yearned back toward the fire But the man whistled and spoke to it with the sound of whiplashes and the dog swung in at the mans heel and followed after

The man took a chew of tobacco and proceeded to start a new amber beard Also his moist breath quickly powdered with white his mustache eyebrows and lashes There did not seem to be so many springs on the left fork of the Henderson and for half an hour the man saw no signs of any And then it happened At a place where there were no signs where the soft unbroken snow seemed to advertise solidity beneath tee man broke through It was not deep He wet himself halfway to the knees before he floundered out to the firm crust

He was angry and cursed his luck aloud He had hoped to get into camp with the boys at six oclock and this would delay him an hour for he would have to build a fire and dry out his foot-gear This was imperative at that low temperature--he knew that much and he turned aside to the bank which he climbed On top tangled in the underbrush about the trunks of several small spruce trees was a high-water deposit of dry firewood--sticks and twigs principally but also larger portions of seasoned branches and fine dry last-years grasses He threw down several large pieces on top of the snow This served for a foundation and prevented the young flame from drowning itself in the snow it otherwise would melt The flame he got by touching a match to a small shred of birch bark that he took from his pocket This burned even more readily than paper Placing it on the foundation he fed the young flame with wisps of dry grass and with the tiniest dry twigs

He worked slowly and carefully keenly aware of his danger Gradually as the flame grew stronger he increased the size of the twigs with which he fed it He squatted in the snow pulling the twigs out from their entanglement in the brush and feeding directly to the flame He knew there must be no failure When it is seventy-five below zero a man must not fail in his first attempt to build a fire--that is if his feet are wet If his feet are dry and he fails he can run along the trail for half a mile and restore his circulation But the circulation of wet and freezing feet cannot be restored by running when it is seventy-five below No matter how fast he runs the wet feet will freeze the harder

All this the man knew The old-timer on Sulphur Creek had told him about it the previous fall and now he was appreciating the advice Already all sensation had gone out of his feet To build the fire he had been forced to remove his mittens and the fingers had quickly gone numb His pace of four miles an hour had kept his heart pumping blood to the surface of his body and to all the extremities But the instant he stopped the action of the pump eased down The cold of space smote the unprotected tip of the planet and he being on that unprotected tip received the full force of the blow The blood of his body recoiled before it The blood was alive like the dog and like the dog it wanted to hide away and cover itself up from the fearful cold So long as he walked four miles an hour he pumped that blood willy-nilly to the surface but now it ebbed away and sank down into the recesses of his body The extremities were the first to feel its absence His wet feet froze the faster and his exposed fingers numbed the faster though they had not yet begun to freeze Nose and cheeks were already freezing while the skin of all his body chilled as it lost its blood

But he was safe Toes and nose and cheeks would be only touched by the frost for the fire was beginning to burn with strength He was feeding it

To Build a FireContinued

with twigs the size of his finger In another minute he would be able to feed it with branches the size of his wrier and then he could remove his wet toot-gear and while it dried he could keep his naked feet warm by the fire rubbing them at first of course with snow The fire was a success He was safe He remembered the advice of the old timer on Sulphur Creek and smiled The old-timer had been very serious in laying down the law that no man must travel alone in the Klondike after fifty below Well here he was he had had the accident he was alone and he had saved himself Those old-timers were rather womanish some of them he thought All a man had to do was to keep his head and he was all right Any man who was a man could travel alone But it was surprising the rapidity with which his cheeks and nose were freezing And he had not thought his fingers could go lifeless in so short a time Lifeless they were for he could scarcely make them move together to grip a twig and they seemed remote from his body and from him When he touched a twig he had to look and see whether or not he had hold of it The wires were pretty well down between him and his finger-ends

All of which counted for little There was the fire snapping and crackling and promising life with every dancing flame He started to untie his moccasins They were coated with ice the thick German socks were like sheaths of iron halfway to the knees and the moccasin strings were like rods of steel all twisted and knotted as by some conflagration For a moment he tugged with his numb fingers then realizing the folly of it he drew his sheath-knife

But before he could cut the strings it happened It was his own fault or rather his mistake He should not have built the fire under the spruce tree He should have built it in the open But it had been easier to pull the twigs from the brush and drop them directly on the fire Now the tree under which

he had done this carried a weight of snow on its boughs No wind had blown for weeks and each bough was fully freighted Each time he had pulled a twig he had communicated a slight agitation to the tree--an imperceptible agitation so far as he was concerned but an agitation sufficient to bring about the disaster High up in the tree one bough capsized its load of snow This fell on the boughs beneath capsizing them This process continued spreading out and involving the whole tree It grew like an avalanche and it descended without warning upon the man and the fire and the fire was blotted out Where it had burned was a mantle of fresh and disordered snow

The man was shocked It was as though he had just heard his own sentence of death For a moment he sat and stared at the spot where the fire had been Then he grew very calm Perhaps the old-timer on Sulphur Creek was right If he had only had a trail-mate he would have been in no danger now The trail-mate could have built the fire Well it was up to him to build the fire over again and this second time there must be no failure Even if he succeeded he would most likely lose some toes His feet must be badly frozen by now and there would be some time before the second fire Was ready

Such were his thoughts but he did not sit and think them He was busy all the time they were passing through his mind He made a new foundation for a fire this time in the open where no treacherous tree could blot it out Next he gathered dry grasses and tiny twigs from the high-water flotsam He could not bring his fingers together to pull them out but he was able to gather them by the handful In this way he got many rotten twigs and bits of green moss that were undesirable but it was the best he could do He worked methodically even collecting an armful of the larger branches to be used later when the fire gathered strength And all the while the dog sat and watched him a certain yearning wistfulness in its eyes for it looked upon

To Build a FireContinued

him as the fire-provider and the fire was slow in coming

When all was ready the man reached in his pocket for a second piece of birch bark He knew the bark was there and though he could not feel it with his fingers he could hear its crisp rustling as he fumbled for it Try as he would he could not clutch hold of it And all the time in his consciousness was the knowledge that each instant his feet were freezing This thought tended to put him in a panic but he fought against it and kept calm He pulled on his mittens with his teeth and threshed his arms back and forth beating his hands with all his might against his sides He did this sitting down and he stood up to do it and all the while the dog sat in the snow its wolf-brush of a tail curled around warmly over its forefeet its sharp wolf-ears pricked forward intently as it watched the man And the man as he beat and threshed with his arms and hands felt a great surge of envy as he regarded the creature that was warm ant secure in its natural covering

After a time he was aware of the first far-away signals of sensation in his beaten fingers The faint tingling grew stronger till it evolved into a stinging ache that was excruciating but which the man hailed with satisfaction He stripped the mitten from his right hand and fetched forth the birch bark The exposed fingers were quickly going numb again Next he brought out his bunch of sulphur matches But the tremendous cold had already driven the life out of his fingers In his effort to separate one match from the others the whole bunch fell in the snow He tried to pick it out of the snow but failed The dead fingers could neither touch nor clutch He was very careful He drove the thought of his freezing feet and nose and cheeks out of his mind devoting his whole soul to the matches He watched using the sense of vision in place of that of touch and when he saw his fingers on each side the bunch he dosed them--that is he willed to close them for the wires were down and the fingers did not obey He pulled

the mitten on the right hand and beat it fiercely against his knee Then with both mittened hands he scooped the bunch of matches along with much snow into his lap Yet he was no better off

After some manipulation he managed to get the bunch between the heels of his mittened hands In this fashion he carried it to his mouth The ice crackled and snapped when by a violent effort he opened his mouth He drew the lower jaw in curled the upper lip out of the way and scraped the bunch with his upper teeth in order to separate a match He succeeded in getting one which he dropped on his lap He was no better off He could not pick it up Then he devised a way He picked it up in his teeth and scratched it on his leg Twenty times he scratched before he succeeded in lighting it As it flamed he held it with his teeth to the birch bark But the burning brimstone went up his nostrils and into his lungs causing him to cough spasmodically The match fell into the snow and went out

The old-timer an Sulphur Creek was right he thought in the moment of controlled despair that ensued after fifty below a man should travel with a partner He beat his hands but failed in exciting any sensation Suddenly he bared both hands removing the mittens with his teeth He caught the whole bunch between the heels of his hands His arm muscles not being frozen enabled him to press the hand-heels tightly against the matches Then he scratched the bunch along his leg It flared into flame seventy sulphur matches at once There was no wind to blow them out He kept his head to one side to escape the strangling fumes and held the blazing bunch to the birth bark As he so held it he became aware of sensation in his hand His flesh was burning He could smell it Deep down below the surface he could feel it The sensation developed into pain that grew acute And still he endured it holding the flame of the matches clumsily to the bark that would not light readily because his own burning hands were in the way absorbing most of the flame

To Build a FireContinued

At last when he could endure no more he jerked his hands apart The blazing matches fell sizzling into the snow but the birch bark was alight He began laying dry grasses and the tiniest twigs on the flame He could not pick and choose for he had to lift the fuel between the heels of his hands Small pieces of rotten wood and green moss clung to the twigs and he bit them off as well as he could with his teeth He cherished the flame carefully and awkwardly It meant life and it must not perish The withdrawal of blood from the surface of his body now made him begin to shiver and he grew more awkward A large piece of green moss fell squarely on the little fire He tried to poke it out with his fingers but his shivering frame made him poke too far and he disrupted the nucleus of the little fire the burning grasses and tiny twigs separating and scattering He tried to poke them together again but in spite of the tenseness of the effort his shivering got away with him and the twigs were hopelessly scattered Each twig gushed a puff of smoke and went out The fire-provider had failed As he looked apathetically about him his eyes chanced on the dog sitting across the ruins of the fire from him in the snow making restless hunching movements slightly lifting one forefoot and then the other shifting its weight back and forth on them with wistful eagerness

The sight of the dog put a wild idea into his head He remembered the tale of the man caught in a blizzard who killed a steer and crawled inside the carcass and so was saved He would kill the dog and bury his hands in the warm body until the numbness went out of them Then he could build another fire He spoke to the dog calling it to him but in his voice was a strange note of fear that frightened the animal who had never known the man to speak in such way before Something was the matter and its suspicious nature sensed danger--it knew not what danger but somewhere somehow in its brain arose an apprehension of the man It flattened its ears down at the sound of the mans voice and its restless

hunching movements and the liftings and shiftings of its forefeet became more pronounced but it would not come to the man He got on his hands and knees and crawled toward the dog This unusual posture again excited suspicion and the animal sidled mincingly away

The man sat up in the snow for a moment and struggled for calmness Then he pulled on his mittens by means of his teeth and got upon his feet He glanced down at first in order to assure himself that he was really standing up for the absence of sensation in his feet left him unrelated to the earth His erect position in itself started to drive the webs of suspicion from the dogs mind and when he spoke peremptorily with the sound of whiplashes in his voice the dog rendered its customary allegiance and came to him As it came within reaching distance the man lost his control His arms flashed out to the dog and he experienced genuine surprise when he discovered that his hands could not clutch that there was neither bend nor feeling in the fingers He had forgotten for the moment that they were frozen and that they were freezing more and more All this happened quickly and before the animal could get away he encircled its body with his arms He sat down in the snow and in this fashion held the dog while it snarled and whined and struggled

But it was all he could do hold its body encircled in his arms and sit there He realized that he could not kill the dog There was no way to do it With his helpless hands he could neither draw nor hold his sheath knife nor throttle the animal He released it and it plunged wildly away with tail between its legs and still snarling It halted forty feet away and surveyed him curiously with ears sharply pricked forward The man looked down at his hands in order to locate them and found them hanging on the ends of his arms It struck him as curious that one should have to use his eyes in order to find out where his hands were He began threshing his arms back and forth beating the mittened hands against

To Build a FireContinued

his sides He did this for five minutes violently and his heart pumped enough blood up to the surface to put a stop to his shivering But no sensation was aroused in the hands He had an impression that they hung like weights on the ends of his arms but when he tried to run the impression down he could not find it

A certain fear of death dull and oppressive came to him This fear quickly became poignant as he realized that it was no longer a mere matter of freezing his fingers and toes or of losing his hands and feet but that it was a matter of life and death with the chances against him This threw him into a panic and he turned and ran up the creek-bed along the old dim trail The dog joined in behind and kept up with him He ran blindly without intention in fear such as he had never known in his life Slowly as he plowed and floundered through the snow he began to see things again the banks of the creek the old timber-jams the leafless aspens and the sky The running made him feel better He did not shiver Maybe if he ran on his feet would thaw out and anyway if he ran far enough he would reach camp and the boys Without doubt he would lose some fingers and toes and some of his face but the boys would take care of him and save the rest of him when he got there And at the same time there was another thought in his mind that said he would never get to the camp and the boys that it was too many miles away that the freezing had too great a start on him and that he would soon be stiff and dead This thought he kept in the background and refused to consider Sometimes it pushed itself forward and demanded to be heard but he thrust it back and strove to think of other things

It struck him as curious that he could run at all on feet so frozen that he could not feel them when they struck the earth and took the weigh of his body He seemed to himself to skim along above the surface and to have no connection with the earth Somewhere he had once seen a winged Mercury

and he wondered if Mercury felt as he felt when skimming over the earth

His theory of running until he reached camp and the boys had one flaw in it he lacked the endurance Several times he stumbled and finally he tottered crumpled up and fell When he tried to rise he failed He must sit and rest he decided and next time he would merely walk and keep on going As he sat and regained his breath he noted that he was feeling quite warm and comfortable He was not shivering and it even seemed that a warm glow had come to his chest and trunk And yet when he touched his nose or cheeks there was no sensation Running would not thaw them out Nor would it thaw out his hands and feet Then the thought came to him that the frozen portions of his body must be extending He tried to keep this thought down to forget it to think of something else he was aware of the panicky feeling that it caused and he was afraid of the panic But the thought asserted itself and persisted until it produced a vision of his body totally frozen This was too much and he made another wild run along the trail Once he slowed down to a walk but the thought of the freezing extending itself made him run again

And all the time the dog ran with him at his heels When he fell down a second time it curled its tad over its forefeet and sat in front of him facing him curiously eager and intent The warmth and security of the animal angered him and he cursed it till it flattened down its ears appealingly This time the shivering came more quickly upon the man He was losing in his battle with the frost It was creeping into his body from all sides The thought of it drove him on but he ran no more than a hundred feet when he staggered and pitched headlong It was his last panic When he had recovered his breath and control he sat up and entertained in his mind the conception of meeting death with dignity However the conception did not come to him in such terms His idea of it was that he had been making a fool of

To Build a FireContinued

himself running around like a chicken with its head cut off--such was the simile that occurred to him Well he was bound to freeze anyway and he might as well take it decently With this new-found peace of mind came the first glimmerings of drowsiness A good idea he thought to sleep off to death It was like salting an anesthetic Freezing was not so bad as people thought There were lots worse ways to die

He pictured the boys finding his body next day Suddenly he found himself with them coming along the trail and looking for himself And still with them he came around a turn in the trail and found himself lying in the snow He did not belong with himself any more for even then he was out of himself standing with the boys and looking at himself in the snow It certainly was cold was his thought When he got back to the States he could tell the folks what real cold was He drifted on from this to a vision of the old-timer on Sulphur Creek He could see him quite clearly warm and comfortable and smoking a pipe

You were right old boss you were right the man mumbled to the old-timer of Sulphur Creek

Then the man drowsed off into what seemed to him the most comfortable and satisfying sleep he had ever known The dog sat facing him and waiting The brief day drew to a close in a long slow twilight There were no signs of a fire to be made and besides never in the dogs experience had it known a man to sit like that in the snow and make no fire As the twilight drew on its eager yearning for the fire mastered it and with a great lifting and shifting of forefeet it whined softly then flattened its ears down in anticipation of being chidden by the man But the man remained silent Later the dog whined loudly And still later it crept close to the man and caught the scent of death This made the animal bristle and back away A little longer it delayed howling under the stars that leaped and danced and shone brightly in the cold sky Then it turned and trotted up the trail in the direction of the camp it knew where were the other food-providers and fire-providers

To Build a FireContinued

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Contributors to Volume 4 issue 3

Emily Wheeler - Owner of Wheeler Event Management Emily is the race director for the Mickelson Trail Marathon and the Crazy Horse Marathon in South Dakota

Jenn Schmitt - 31 year old stay at home mom who worked as a Director of Special Education and a special education teacher prior to that Jenn has a Masters Degree in Educational Administration from Iowa State University

Brandi Shipman - Elite triathlete and cancer survivor Brandi owns and operates a professional triathlete coaching service She is a certified USA Triathlon coach and personal trainer She is one of the best in the country at answering questions on a range of topics that include V02 running science and multi-sport training plans

Vince Errichiello - An active USMS swimmer and motivational writer Vince swims for the Westmont Swim Club in Chicago Illinois Proceeds from the sales of this issue support the purchase of a score board for the pool area at the University of Illinois in Chicago

Jeremy J Taylor - From Morgan Utah Jeremy started out writing lyrics which transposed into writing poetry In the creative process he developed a creative writing theory eventually this theory became the foundation for establishing his writing and publishing interests He owns CNFI publishing

Robert LaValle - Professional photographer who owns the website CreationsPraise Robert is an expert at macro-photography

In this Issue

Short Stories10 Greatest Race14 Watch and Learn15 Dear Freestyle17 Adult Swimming26 Letrsquos Race30 Throwing at Him36 SPAM52 Swim Stories53 Exhale57 Volunteering Admission Price

Features5 Letters to the Editor6 Letter from the Publisher11 Giving it a Tri18 MTM Marathon23 To Build a Fire27 Motivation amp Inspiration32 T-shirts33 To Catch a Lunker35 TOP Tweets36 Unsung Heroes37 Ride of Silence46 Endless Pools47 Walking Stick47 My Bike51 Workout Ideas50 Open Water Numbers54 Irsquom a Survivor58 Cancer61 Reader Photos71 Classifieds

Summer 2012Volume 4 Issue 3

FitnessDigestUSStories of the humankind

trade

13 ndash Loved how the ldquoSay it to my facerdquo article in 42 pointed out that volunteers should be thanked and not criticized It is amazing how parents can sometimes be the worst examples of bad behavior

------

We agree13 ndash FitnessDigestus

------------------------------

Dear FitnessDigestus 13 I just downloaded my free eEdition to my nook Irsquoll have time to read it over the weekend------

13 Thanks Keep growing the collection More fun in each issue )) ndash FitnessDigestus

Letters to the Editor amp Live Media comments

FitnessDigestus is now available in public libraries

Ask for FitnessDigestUS

at your local libraryLocal libraries can now subscribe to FitnessDigestus using the

ISSN 2164-3997 Tell the librarian to visit httpFitnessDigestus for more information

------------------------------

ndash I am not familiar with your magazine Are you associated with a golf publication also

------

We often get confused with websites or blogs FitnessDigestus is closer to an eBook The companys network includes a variety of ties to independent publishers and a few large publishing corporations

13 ndash FitnessDigestus------------------------------

13 To write a letter to the editor e-mail editorFitnessDigestus orhttplivemediaFitnessDigestus Please use the e-mail that you used when you bought your most recent issue

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13 Thank you to all the readers who saved a copy of Vol 42 Irsquove dubbed it the English Channel issue because of the Bryn Dymott story Looking back Irsquom amazed at what the team put together Not only did we get a great story from Bryn Dymott English Channel swimmer but we got stories from an Olymipc Hall of Fame member Transplant Games World Champion and another contribution from Charlotte Andersen

All good stories and causes Vol 42 was such a fun run It really set the standard in many areas We got thousands of new readers through CoopNet DocStoc and Scribd We heard from a handful of people that said they enjoyed the issue With the completion of Vol 42 we are on pace for over 1 million pages read in 2012 The free issue for the quarter was the bench press world record issue Vol 41 It was a VERY popular download

Now we move onto Vol 43 Summer 2012 It is jam packed with stories and writing

13 We are settling into a good pace with this issue Itrsquos our sixth issue for public distribution and might be my favorite issue yet The contributors may not be as well known but their stories are just as fun inspiring heartfelt and entertaining

13 We have our best collection of ultra-short stories in this edition Ultra-shorts are 25-50 word works of wonderment Some of the most entertaining and humorous stories wersquove ever received Keep sending these stories to us anyway you can use the form on the homepage write a letter email phone or send us morse code - whatever works Just getrsquoem in here It is these short antidotal narratives that are some of the most popular reads in each issue

The most value comes from our feature stories though Our main feature this issue is from Texas Brandi Shipman is an elite triathlete and

Whatrsquos in StoreBy Mark Miller mmillerFitnessDigestus

LiveMediaComment on a story without having to write a letter to the editorhttpLiveMediaFitnessDigestus

LiveAdditionsA directory of multimedia resources for the current issue httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

Over 1 million pages read

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cancer survivor Her story is about the incredible comeback she made from breast cancer After battling the disease she took on the race course Her list of accomplishments on the race course are long and she is faster than ever She uses her racing to raise awareness for the American Cancer Society She has touched so many people with her racing and as a survivor That is why stories like Brandis need to be preserved digitally in the most professional way Which leads me to the topic of preservation

13 One of my jobs as publisher is to watch the current publishing trends Ive spent a lot of time lately on digital-preservation of history To communicate the importance of preservation to customers wersquove added the words gather distribute and preserve to the coopnetbiz online store I feel so strongly that stories like Brandis need to be published with preservation in mind Ironically I have a story that illustrates why

13 My grandmother is moving to a nursing home and the family was cleaning out the things she had saved One of the items was a collection of old Life magazines and

a magazine called Archer published by ADM In an amazing coincidence my father opened a Life magazine to a feature about the city we currently live in What an incredible find and the story is so much fun to read Second my family had no idea that my grandfather had been writing a column for ADMrsquos Archer magazine It is so much fun to go back and read the words he wrote in 1950 We are so lucky that my grandmother saved this collection It is priceless to our family Third I just read about Evernote a company that is asking ldquoWill the internet be around in 100 yearsrdquo I should mention now that the company has a billion dollar evaluation Their business plan is

Whatrsquos in Store Continued

For information on people restaurants and events that Mark mentions in his article visithttpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

Got a funny or inspiring story Send for our new writers exordiumentryFitnessDigestus

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built on the idea that websites can disappear in seconds One solution is back-ups Each duplication you make of a file increases the chances of itrsquos survival in years to come

13 It is my hope that someday people will find stories like Brandis on an old iPad or Kindle and get to read her story just like we read my grandfatherrsquos stories in Archer

13 Another first for the magazine We are taking a creative writing expert and pairing his story with a story from a US Masters swimmer The stories are about what inspires and motivates ndash how to find inspiration and motivation in your life I couldnrsquot believe how many underlying similarities there where when I placed them side-by-side

13 This issue is also our first issue that is going to include a new columnist Jen Schmitt is submitting a quarterly column for the magazine She is an inspiring mom in training ndash mom first writer second and triathlete third That is a recipe for success On top of the fact that she is a talented writer her style fits the magazines concept Her writing is

fun and she is great at finding the interesting details in lifes precious moments She brings to light many details that could easily be

overlooked When I see that talent in an athlete-writer I think to myself that they must understand hard work and suffering - because it is the suffering often times during our training that teaches us to see beauty in life Jen uses her talent to help moms find the reward

from long workouts Fittingly we have a poetic story that illustrates this link between suffering and the appreciation of life That story can be found on page 10

13 In 2008 I ran the Mickelson Trail Marathon in Deadwood South Dakota Since then Ive always felt a personal connection to it When I got word from Emily Wheeler the race director that we could get some photos and a short story from the 2012 race I was very excited Jen works closely with the legendary runner Jerry Dunn Mr Dunn is well known for his 200 marathons in the year 2000 He is Americas Marathon man He has appeared on the Today Show and has been featured in numerous magazines The chance to work with Jen and

Whatrsquos in Store Continued

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Jenn Schmitt Columnist

her team is so cool Im very thankful for the contribution Id like to include a quick side note to Emily ndash I think my next challenge will be to make that 100 miler work for me

On a whim I emailed a coordinator from the National Office for the Ride of Silence I mentioned publishing the official poem for the ride along with some photos The excitement I heard back was so positive The ride is emotional to so many people The stories of riders being hurt or killed is tragic we never want to forget them That is why education about sharing the road is a huge part of cycling safety I wont tell you more than that When you read the poem remember those that were hurt or killed while cycling The pictures we got from Robert LaVallee show the different color ribbons given to riders Red is for cyclists who knew a rider that died while cycling black is for a rider that has been injured during a ride

13 Irsquove been downloading classic (out-of-copyright) novels to my Kindle and iPad for re-reading and because I think the are important to preserve for future generations Ive downloaded the Illiad Adventures of Tom Sawyer and the original Wizard

of Oz I also found some good fiction from Jack London I think the magazinersquos readers will appreciate it It is a classic work that is about hiking ndash Think The Long Walk It is a good read with a surprise ending I hope readers will search out books and stories like this and add them to their own collection If we find more that are fitness related or have active subjects we may share them too

Whatrsquos in Store Continued

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httpwwwbrandishipmancom

com

pelling

When in the vastness of miles we find ourself not asking questions but finding answers

The fast races we ran years ago seem ugly and unforgiving

Now older and wiser and much much slower the race gives us a different story Four emotions joy anger sadness and frustration - not all at once but in a fashionable order that even makes anger a pleasant experience If it were not for the physical suffering endured for duration of the race you would perhaps experience all at once

Uncomfortable yet compelling

13 The race that when you are done and the suffering is over makes everything clearer priceless moments no longer slipping by but take the stage in life ndash in a perfect permutation

The finish helps us see there is more to do but until the next race there is no hurry Stop smell the roses Until we rise up for another challenge the story that unfolded during the race takes care of us we dont have to tell it It is written into our lives The memories and seemingly the future having been created between the aid stations and mile markers

NOT THE FASTEST RACETHE GREATESTSent from Iowa

U n c o m f o r t a b l e

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As a teenager I chose golf in high school as a sport rather than track Golfing meant enjoying a bag of chips and a can a soda while on the course Running was something I dreaded in school I used to plan how I could get out of the mile run for weeks when I knew it was almost fitness test time Now as a 31 year old stay at home mom I am running 10Ks and have a goal of completing four sprint triathlons in 2012 as well as many other 5Ks and 10Ks My five year goal is to complete an Ironman triathlon

13 Over the course of the last three years I have changed many aspects of my life I earned a Masterrsquos Degree in Education from Iowa State University I left a career as a Director of Special Education in a local school district to become a stay at home mom ndash with my two beautiful girls This change was prompted by a health scare in 2009 I was hospitalized for many days with meningitis and realized life was just too short

13 In 2011 while nursing my 4 month old my sister in law invited me to go with her to Weight Watchers I joined the next day for what was probably the 8th time but this time was different I made my goal and am a lifetime member I lost 43lbs and am healthy for the first time in my life I have Crohnrsquos Disease and am no longer taking any medications and no longer suffering the symptoms associated with the disease

In August of 2011 our hometown hero a Navy Seal was killed in action He was a huge inspiration to many people but after his death I was inspired to make a difference in our community and live my life differently He was a triathlete that had tackled the big daddy of them all and became an Ironman Realizing what he gave up so that we may have freedom inspired me to

Favo

rite

food

Kale

chip

s or

Rice

Cak

es w

ith A

lmon

d Bu

tter

Favo

rite

indu

lgen

ces

Che

x mix

Givingit aTri

FitnessDigestus columnist Jen Schmitt Rockford Iowa

Men

ingi

tis

13 In 2011 while nursing my four month old my sister in law invited me to go with her to Weight Watchers I joined the next day for what was probably the eigth time but this time was different They helped me make my goal and I became a lifetime member I lost 43lbs and Irsquom healthy for the first time in my life I also have Crohnrsquos Disease and no longer take medications nor do I suffer with the symptoms associated with the disease

13 In August of 2011 our hometown hero a Navy Seal was killed in action He was a huge inspiration to many people After his death I was inspired to make a difference in our community and to live my life differently He was a triathlete that had tackled the big daddy of them all ndash an Ironman Realizing what he gave up so that we may have freedom inspired me to continue on my fitness path by adding triathlete to my title

Givingit aTri

FitnessDigestus columnist Jen Schmitt Rockford Iowa

13 In 2011 while nursing my 4 month old my sister in law invited me to go with her to Weight Watchers I joined the next day for what was probably the 8th time but this time was different I made my goal and am a lifetime member I lost 43lbs and am healthy for the first time in my life I have Crohnrsquos Disease and am no longer taking any medications and no longer suffering the symptoms associated with the disease

In August of 2011 our hometown hero a Navy Seal was killed in action He was a huge inspiration to many people but after his death I was inspired to make a difference in our community and live my life differently He was a triathlete that had tackled the big daddy of them all and became an Ironman Realizing what he gave up so that we may have freedom inspired me to continue on my fitness path by

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run

Fos

sil amp

Prair

ie Ce

nter

Trail

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rd Io

wa

Favo

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g S

trong

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y Kell

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Dise

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13 When I am not out training with the group that I started in my hometown ldquoFriends in Fitnessrdquo you can find me blogging at justamomgivingitatriblogspotcom studying for my personal trainer certification or spending time with my husband girls and friends I enjoy being in the outdoors whether it is just for a walk or turkey hunting in the woods I am currently the chairperson working to organize a 5K fundraiser for the PEO Chapter that I belong to in Rockford Iowa This is going to be our major fundraiser for the year and we are very excited to encourage wellness among others in our community

Givingit aTri

FitnessDigestus columnist Jen Schmitt Rockford Iowa

13 In 2011 while nursing my 4 month old my sister in law invited me to go with her to Weight Watchers I joined the next day for what was probably the 8th time but this time was different I made my goal and am a lifetime member I lost 43lbs and am healthy for the first time in my life I have Crohnrsquos Disease and am no longer taking any medications and no longer suffering the symptoms associated with the disease

In August of 2011 our hometown hero a Navy Seal was killed in action He was a huge inspiration to many people but after his death I was inspired to make a difference in our community and live my life differently He was a triathlete that had tackled the big daddy of them all and became an Ironman Realizing what he gave up so that we may have freedom inspired me to continue on my fitness path by

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esso

ry G

arm

in Fo

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Wha

t get

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ed

My a

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on

my p

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get

to th

e po

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im o

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crea

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chil

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Fam

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Frie

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Watch and LearnSent in from NIP Gym

Successful SAFE gains in

the gym

Available at select Hy-Vee stores

NO MSG

LowSodium

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GREAT STORY HERE FROM NIP amp Fitness 13 I was in the gym this morning doing shoulders A quiet red headed kid comes in and gets on the bench and starts benching His first set of 135 lbs had HORRIBLE technique and form I walk over and talk to him He tells me his name is Joe - age 17 - weight 205 and is a junior at CS High School and he just bought a membership to NIP amp Fitness He tells me two weeks ago he benched 185 lbs for a max I told him that was very good for is age but NOT for his build I knew he was stronger than that So I helped him shape up is technique and form Joe ndash LISTENED and WATCHED He learned that he was much stronger than a 185 pound max bench presser Today from LISTENING and WATCHING Joe bench pressed 225 X 2 ndash and that 185 pounds he maxed two weeks ago he finished his work out by doing that 185 pounds for seven reps Proper TECHNIQUE and FORM are the key to successful SAFE gains in the gym Today Joe was a perfect example CONGRATULATIONS Joe

Dear Freestyle Swim Stroke

13 You are so frustrating to me Why canrsquot we just get along When I made the decision to tackle this goal of completing a triathlon I was not even worried about you That has proven to be a mistake Some days things go so smooth between us and some mornings I spring out of bed at 430 so excited about our time together Today was not one of those days You left me feeling like thishellip

Like a wet wrung out old swimsuit

These are the reasons that I am so upset with you

1 You literally take my breath away

2 You make my shoulder hurt (Popcorn kernels currently on shoulder while typing)

3 You make me leave my warm cozy bed about two hours before I would really like to leave it

4 If I donrsquot get my butt out of bed and go at 430 AM I have to leave my family and go at 730 PM

Dear FreestyleBy Jen Schmitt Rockford Iowa

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pull

head position

exit

flutter-kick

recovery

(Yes we know ndash no cameras in the locker room No one was harmed in this photo shoot)

13 And to the very old man in the lane beside me I do not dislike you in-fact I am insanely jealous of you I donrsquot stare at you because of your body you may look hot if I was 75 but I am not I stare at you in awe of how effortlessly you move up and down the pool without a rest Someday I hope to be just like you

13 So for now as much as I would love to say we need to break up and go our separate ways I am too D stubborn to do that We will make this work and we are going to get along Here is my promise to you ndash I promise to meet-up with you two to three times a week for at least an hour to work on our relationship I promise not to cheat on you with the sidestroke although I am so much more comfortable with him I promise to keep an open mind about our relationship and give it all that I have just like I do with my friend the run

Love you (I think)

Jen

Dear FreestyleContinued

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pull

head position

exit

flutter-kick

recovery

Adult SwimmingBy Susan Dawson-cook

I have taught dozens of adults how to swim Many of them were initially either afraid of water or somewhat uncomfortable in the aquatic environment Whats worked best is to get in the water with them and do activities that show them it can be fun and safe I make sure they feel safe and secure the entire time and even say things like if you have trouble standing up after you take some strokes I will help you or just reach for my hand if you need support

13 Many beginners have this fear ndash if they are in the horizontal position swimming they wont be able to stand up One woman cried she was so overjoyed she overcame her fear and learned to take her first strokes

Find more of Susanrsquos writing and published works at httplivemediaFitnessDigestus

Body image and fitness are hot topics for both men and women The Great Fitness Experiment is my hilarious poignant embarrassing and at times heart-breaking journey to find my way through the morass of contradictory claims and information in todayrsquos health- and fitness-obsessed world

Available in paperback or in eBookhttpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

If you have trouble standing up after you

take some strokesone women cried

she was so overjoyed

If you would like future issues delivered to a Facebook Twitter or e-mail account e-mail us at infoFitnessDigestus

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2 Deadwood Mickelson Trail MarathonSunday June 2 2013

Deadwood South Dakota

13 On June 2nd we will celebrate 12 years of offering runners from around the globe the most unique running experience of their life Where else in the world can you run on a course that takes you from an abandoned mining town across railroad trestles through a mountain past monolithic rock formations beside a babbling creek and finish in Deadwoodhellipa town that is a historic landmark

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Written Emily WheelerFor more information amp video visit httpLIveAdsFitnessDigestus

ldquoWild West town known primarily for its gamblers gunslingers and gold minersrdquo

Hope to see you at the finish

This Wild West town known primarily for its gamblers gunslingers and gold miners has turned into one of the premiere destination marathon venues in the US

13 The breathtaking beauty of our course the truly outstanding team of volunteers the hospitality of everyone associated with the event and paying attention to details are just a couple of reasons yoursquoll want to toe the line on June 2nd

The Deadwood Mickelson Trail Half and Full Marathon is a point to point course

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ldquoThe breathtaking beauty of our courserdquo

WaynesSkiandCyclenetlive links to Waynersquos at httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

MTM Charity Partner

13 Habitat for Humanity is a global nonprofit Christian housing organization that has helped to build more than 500000 decent affordable houses and served 25 million people worldwide since its founding in 1976 With the help of volunteers and donations of money and materials Habitat constructs rehabilitates and preserves homes in partnership with low-income families in need Operating in nearly 80 countries and with more than 1500 affiliates in the United States Habitat also advocates for fair and just housing policies and provides training and access to resources to help families improve their shelter conditions

Shop for Name BrandItems 24 Hours a Day

beginning in the historic mining town of Rochford the first 15 miles are on a paved road At this point the course becomes the Mickelson Trail (a rails to trails project) The next 12 miles are a mixture of gentle uphill and flat terrain

13 Then the course is either downhill or flat and finishes at the historic Engine House at end of the linehellipthe Deadwood Trailhead The Half Marathon is also a point to point course starting at the 131 mile mark of the full marathon Walker Friendly

All participants will receive a Commemorative Finisherrsquos Medal

Mickelson Trail Marathon Charity Partner is the Black Hills Habitat for HumanityMake your Marathon Matter Matching Funds

Make your Marathon matter by helping create decent shelter in the Black Hills ndash take the challenge to give at least $1 per race mile Our goal is to raise $3000 in 2012 for BH Habitat for Humanity to help provide shelter for more families in the Black Hills

Registrations are capped at 3000 runners If you want to be part of the Deadwood Mickelson Trail Marathon Weekend celebration go to LiveAdsFitnessDigestus and click on the MTM Marathon URL

Hope to see you at the Finish Line - ThanksEmily Wheeler Wheeler Event Management Inc

ldquoHope to see you at the finish linerdquo

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links

DAY had broken cold and gray exceedingly cold and gray when the man turned aside from the main Yukon trail and climbed the high earth-bank where a dim and little traveled trail led eastward through the fat spruce timberland It was a steep bank and he paused for breath at the top excusing the act to himself by looking at his watch It was nine oclock There was no sun nor hint of sun though there was not a cloud in the sky It was a

clear day and yet there seemed an intangible pall over the face of things a subtle gloom that made the day dark and that was due to the absence of sun This fact did not worry the man He was used to the lack of sun It had been days since he had seen the sun and he knew that a few more-days must pass before that cheerful orb due south would just peep above the sky-line and dip immediately from view

To Build a Fire - Hiking the Yukon TrailShort story fiction Written by Jack London (1876-1916)

The man flung a look back along the way he had come The Yukon lay a mile wide and hidden under three feet of ice On top of this ice were as many feet of snow It was all pure white rolling in gentle undulations where the ice jams of the freeze-up had formed North and south as far as his eye could see it was unbroken white save for a dark hairline that curved and twisted from around the spruce-covered island to the south and that curved and twisted away into the north where it disappeared behind another spruce-covered island This dark hair-line was the trail--the main trail--that led south five hundred miles to the Chilcoot Pass Dyea and salt water and that led north seventy miles to Dawson and still on to the north a thousand miles to Nulato and finally to St Michael on Bering Sea a thousand miles and half a thousand more

But all this--the mysterious far-reaching hair-line trail The absence of sun from the sky the tremendous cold and the strangeness and weirdness of it all--made no

impression on the man It was not because he was long used to it He was a newcomer In the land a chechaquo and this was his first winter The trouble with him was that he was without imagination He was quick and alert in the things of life but only in the things and not in the significances Fifty degrees below zero meant eighty-odd degrees of frost Such fact impressed him as being cold and uncomfortable and that was all It did not lead him to meditate upon his frailty as a creature of temperature and upon mans frailty in general able only to live within certain narrow limits of heat and cold and from there on it did not lead him to the conjectural field of immortality and mans place in the universe Fifty degrees below zero stood forte bite of frost that hurt and that must be guarded against by the use of mittens ear-flaps warm moccasins and thick socks Fifty degrees below zero was to him just precisely fifty degrees below zero That there should be anything more to it than that was a thought that never entered his head

To Build a FireContinued

Continued on page 62

Stand Up Paddle BoardingWOWSUPIowacom on LiveAds

It is important from time to time to slow down to go away by yourself and simply be --Eileen Caddy

Letrsquos Race13 My son is eight and our family is very active Im just hitting my peak racing age of about 34 years old The family members all support each otherrsquos activities They are a great cheering section when my wife and I compete in races There is a popular two mile fun run in our town that we my wife and I run every year We also have for-fun races with the kids around the house or across the football field For years Ive let the eight year old win a few and others I win by just a little bit I think he is wising up to my tactics of good fatherhood One day he said ldquoDad you are letting me win but I think I can beat you fair and squarerdquo He added ldquoYoursquore not that fast Ill bet you 10 dollars I can beat you in a two mile racerdquo Wanting to teach him a lesson about spouting off and writing checks his body cant cash I took him up on it I said All right you pick a time and place We will race two miles for 10 dollars He replied You know that two mile race you and mom do every year I can race you then I agreed and he quickly added Ill need 20 years to warm-up That would make me 54 and him 28 Irsquom preparing for the loss and putting 10 dollars aside now

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Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

In my first creative experience it was through music and I was interested in developing my values of creativity I was inspired by a band named Motley Crue and the song that captured my interest was Home Sweet home Dear reader what inspires you Is it music or inspirational quote thought or ideas To express how this song motivated my interests it helped give me faith in my own creative abilities in the process I began to write lyrics I eventually began to work on different styles of writing and broaden my writing skills What types of music inspire your creative thoughts What types of other inspiration values inspire your creative thoughts

13 Getting motivated is one of the key aspects of a successful weight-loss program Without this motivation there would be no drive to get up early or to avoid eating unhealthy snacks ndash that you absolutely love Yes you can thank your motivation for that When you are looking for weight-loss motivation sometimes it is hard to find Where can you find that extra umph to make it to your goal

The benefits of finding a motivator are something that cannot be paralleled It has been said mind over matter This coincides with our principle that no matter how hard the task you can accomplish the goal given the right mindset It is important to go into a new weight-loss program with a positive mental attitude

FINDI

NG TH

EM X InspirationX

Motivation

When I was introduced to William Shakespeare I was intrigued by his creative values and I started to work on developing a different aspect of writing I then watched the movie Free Jack there was a quote by Albert Einstein Imagination is more important than knowledge I thought about the in depth values of both concepts and then I applied both concepts and defined different creative concept Do you believe that anything is possible if you believe I know that I do believe that if an individual believes deeply enough one can accomplish their goals I had to believe in my own abilities and in my dreams and ignore the negative values that were impressed by others

Anything less can potentially hinder growth towards your goal

Some of the things that you should be thinking about when looking for motivators are people with good morals and a positive attitude This is because if the people helping you do not have a positive attitude then it is also difficult for you Some great places to look for a motivator are online blogs in the gym or even in your own family I am sure that in all of these places you will see someone else trying to accomplish the same or even more difficult goals than your own

Another key to finding motivation is to let it find you You should not have to go find a reason to go do something You will do it because you wanted to not because you were forced to

X

InspirationMotivation

More simply put motivation will find you because you will see something that inspires you to make a change in yourself That change may be a weight-loss goal or something else Maybe even an academic goal The true key is to maintain that motivation until you have achieved your goal

Regards Vincent ErrichielloUSMS Swimmer

InspirationMotivation

With believing so deeply within my own abilities and the faith that I could accomplish what I set out to achieve I wrote a lyric titled Dreams Are Only Real and in believing in this concept further defining its true meaning the concept became Dreams Are Only Real Until You Dont believe

Jeremy J TaylorCNFI Publishing

himTHROWINGWritten by anonymous contributor

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13 Johnny is not the best batter in our little league Matter-of-fact he is quiet awful At practice one afternoon Johnny hit a pitch really well The coach had pitched him inside on accident far enough inside that it almost hit him Johnny got his hit by using his bat to defend himself from that arrant pitch The coach told him ldquogood hitrdquo and Johnny yelled back ldquoWell I didnrsquot want the ball to hit merdquo13 Johnny improved his batting after that He was hitting the ball almost every time he got up At one point I said to coach ldquoHow did you get Johnny to improve his batting so quicklyrdquo He replyed Im throwing the ball it AT HIM every time

Body image and fitness are hot topics for both men and women The Great Fitness Experiment is my hilarious poignant embarrassing and at times heart-breaking journey to find my way through the morass of contradictory claims and information in todayrsquos health- and fitness-obsessed world

Available in paperback or in eBookVisit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

wwwnorthiafitnesscom on LiveAdsEmail northiowafitnessgmailcom

Phone 641-201-1035Strongest weight loss supplements

on the market

The Fall of Billy Hitchingsby Kirkus MacGowan

Available at Amazon

LOCATED IN ST ANSGAR IOWA

Business Cards Envelopes

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Posters Invites (graduation wedding showers etc)

Flyers Brochures

T-ShirtsShorts SweatshirtsSweats

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Postcards And Much More

Bridgette Beyer DesignerOwner

Bring your ideas in andVisual Aspect Designs can print

andor design for you

Black Lab LanyardsSpecializing in customized duck and goose call lanyards for waterfowl enthusiasts

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FitnessDigestus is now available at

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entryFitnessDigestus

Send u

s yo

ur T

-shi

rt

READE

R T

-shi

rts

13 I was standing on shore fishing in my favorite spot A guy Irsquove never seen at the pond gets in and starts swimming After about 25 minutes of back and forth he stops at a place about 30 yards off shore He gives me a quick look and dices down below the water

His next lap he stops in the same place looks at me again and points down at the water He finished his swim and left I picked up my gear and moved to the other side of the outlet just a few yards from where he had stopped twice Caught a lunker in the first cast

Swim Signs - Lunker

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Call to order 641ndash423ndash3111

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TOP TWEETS

Iowa Cubs (IowaCubs)Thanks to all our fans who showed up for the pre-game on-field catch with dad

Louise Pineda (forerunnerGPS)The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficultyWinston Churchill quotes

Softball Darlin (Softball_Darlin)My mom told me our team was gettin white uniforms for summer amp to try not to get them dirty Uh Have you seen me play Not gonna happen

I Swim I Suffer (ISwimISuffer)thatswimmerwho If the water is in your right ear for example then jump on your right leg and lean your head to the right side while jumping

I Swim and I Know It (iSwimWithIssues)During the summer you shower 467 times at the pool 17 times at hotels and 3 times at your house Truth

Everyday Health (WomensCancer)63000 Americans will be diagnosed w malignant melanoma (the deadliest skin cancer) this year Know your risk

US Paralympics (USParalympics)Want to be introduced to Paralympic sport Attend one of the Paralympic Experiences being held throughout the countryFi

tnes

sDig

est

US v

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2

SwimSwam (swimswamnews)Congrats to KenyaSwimmer on being selected to carry the Kenya flag swimswamcom

Better than sharing on a blog Twitter or Facebook and you can share a story even if you donrsquot maintain a social-web presencePublished for ALL FitnessDigestus readers

Sign with your real name pen-name or anonymoushttpLiveMediaFitnessDigestus

13 Funnest thing SPAM about some weight-loss supplements got posted on a friendrsquos Facebook My friend is an ultra-runner I notice there was also an ad for salami recipes on the same page The recipes were right next to the SPAM about diet-pills

13 Letrsquos see ndash it sounds like the beginning of a good joke Q What do you get when a friend tries to sell you ultra-runner endorsed salami-flavored-SPAM diet-pills on Facebook Answer Sick

Unsung Heroes1 Irsquove never swam open water and wanted to do a triathlon A friend that

races open water took extra time to swim with me at a lake I was much more comfortable after that

2 I was going on vacation and needed advice on a place to swim A friend living in the area took the time to help me find people to answer my questions

3 I was over eating and had complained to my friend about it She called me twice a day for three weeks just to remind me to eat healthy

4 I usually run to and from the gym It takes about 30 minutes to run both ways I didnrsquot have enough time to get there and back before a scheduled appointment I had A friend drove me to the gym saving me about 30 minutes I was able to run home and still had time to get to my appointment

SPAM DIET

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Visit the Suburban Mommy blog and learn more about AtresiaMicrotia a birth defect of the inner earFor links to SubMommy blog httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

SUBMOMMYBLOG

On Wednesday May 16 2012 at 7 PM simultaneous rides occurred around the

USA and the world

We all ride Now we can ride as one

One day One time One world world wide

Let the silence roar

322 locations world wide

The Ride of SilenceTonight we number many but ride as one

In honor of those not with us friends

mothers fathers sisters sons

With helmets on tight and heads down low

We ride in silence cautious and slow

The wheels start spinning in the lead pack

But tonight we ride and no one attacks

The dark sunglasses cover our tears

Remembering those we held so dear

Tonights ride is to make others aware

The road is there for all to share

To those not with us or by our side

May God be your partner on your final ride

- Mike Murgas

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 50 states

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 7 Continents

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 0 words spoken

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 1 million memories

Ride of Silence

ldquoCost-effective investments in bicycling boost our economy help individuals and government agencies save money and directly address key societal challenges such as obesity and road congestion In these tough economic times our federal government can only afford to invest in solutions that solve multiple problems Bicycling fits the billrdquo ndash PeopleForBikesorg

This photo collection was taken byRobert LaVallee of Mason City IA

To see his entire collection visithttpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

Non-subscriberSign-up for delivery of

the FREE edition at coopnetbiz

It provides an outstanding aerobic workout in less than half the time we would spend in still water It has allowed us as swim coaches to observe swimmers stroke characteristics up close and to see the effects of fatigue on stroke mechanics ~ Larry L Chazy NY

Swimming is an excellent exercise and now I can swim every day because its so convenient and private I can swim when I want and how long I want Im able to have it at a temperature that is comfortable to me The small size of an Endless Pool enabled me to install a pool where I could not install a regular size one

As an aging baby boomer nutrition professional I have yearned for consistent exercise that doesnt stress joints and will enable me to attain physical fitness cardiovascular health and weight control I can eat what I want and still firm up and lose weight ~ John C Columbus OH

Endless Pools make for long swims in small places The 8x15 Endless Pool is less than regulation size but offers the same benefits as a very large pool ~ Noah H Connecticut Post

The Endless Pool is a great strength builder I am amazed at the strength of the current I now swim against I did not buy it for that reason but because of my arthritis so the strength gain is a wonderful surprise

Endless PoolsTestimonials For more information visit httpLIveAdsFitnessDigestus

s w i m m i n g s h o r t s

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Baseball Walking Stick13 My sons friend grabbed his baseball bat and said to me this is my walking stick I politely ask him why he calls it that He replied because my dad says if I hit a home run with it I donrsquot have to run the bases ndash I can walk

My Bike My mountain bike was stolen a while back and my kids were really upset Ive been riding my road bike in its place Since then Ive been careful to lock my bike up when we go to the park

13 On this occasion I did not lock-up my sonrsquos bike up with mine He looked at me quizzically and said sternly lock my bike up too I tried to explain that his bike was not as expensive and therefor didnt need to be locked up Boy that was a mistake He made me feel a little dumb when he said Dad I dont care how expensive it is Its the only bike Irsquove got

North Iowa Roads

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A LEADER inSearch Engine Optimization

Technology

Increase your visitor page views and Facebook Likes

Are you moving to a new state Already hired your mover

E-mail blind box at box02FitnessDigestus will get

you the best rates on cable phone and internet

Digital Movers

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

parent sports tipBy FitnessDigestus staff writer JGA

PAR

EN

T

TIP

Keeping Kids Focused13 Organize their thoughts Help them prioritize and make decisions based on value Even kids can understand the value of simple non-monetized choices Questions like ldquoShould I finish playing my gameboy game or pause it when they call my swimming eventrdquo

If kids are taught to make good decisions and not just find quick answers everyone wins

AugustGolf Month5th Friendship Day15th Relaxation Day25th Kiss and Make Up Day31st Trail Mix DaySeptemberLittle League Month12th Chocolate Milk Shake Day13th Positive Thinking Day16th Womenrsquos Friendship Day21st Miniature Golf DayOctoberBreast Cancer Awareness MonthNational Diabetes Month1st World Vegetarian Day4th Golf Day25th World Pasta Day

National Calendar

Au

gu

stSe

pte

mb

er

Oc

tob

er

Encourage friendships writing skills sharing thoughts and

experiencesEight different cards

YAGOTTAWANNA

Variety of pricing From single orders to bulk orders of 24 notecards

Learn more online

Stay in touch with your swimming or triathlon buddies

It is better to be safe then to try to beat the heat There are many options to stay cool and run during a hot-summer day Staying inside and running on the treadmill is a good one Remember staying safe is a top priority

Most workouts can be modified to work indoors This issuersquos workout is to do your usual run or interval set just stay inside and run it on the treadmill Visualize the different landmarks to see during your outdoor run

Coach Millerrsquos Quarterly ChallengeStay safe in the heatBy Mark Miller mmillerFitnessDigestus

A few years back we had a hot-spell similar to this yearrsquos record heat

I remember training for a long run and having to stop at the local swimming hole to cool off I literally took off my

shoes and jumped in with my running clothes on I was so hot

FitnessDigestUSEntertainment amp Inspiration

Use coupon codeldquoRAMCSPRrdquo

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Nutritional Performance Sports Drinks with Protein

OPEN WATER SWIMMING BY THE NUMBERS

In kilometers The shortest open water race included in the Fina World Championships

10107 How many miles it

is to swim from Cuba to the USA

5

1000Number of swimming strokes in a mile for a typical swimmer

31800About the number of calories it takes to swim 100 miles

LOCATED IN ST ANSGAR IOWA

Business Cards Envelopes

Letterheads Programs

Vinyl Decals Signs

Posters Invites (graduation wedding showers etc)

Flyers Brochures

T-ShirtsShorts SweatshirtsSweats

Koozies Sashes

Business Forms Placemats

Postcards And Much More

Bridgette Beyer DesignerOwner

Bring your ideas in andVisual Aspect Designs can print

andor design for you

The minimum open water distance in kilometers that is considered a swimming-

marathon

On Facebook Visit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

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Open water safety means swimming in shallow water where there is a lifeguard or using an escort

Shop for Name BrandGear

24 Hoursa Day

WaynesSkiandCyclenet

For links to Waynersquos visit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

s w i m m i n g s h o r t s

Googles

13 Swimming fans can really appreciate a 200 IM when their goggles fill with water How about an Olympian Swimming a leg of the 400 Free Relay with his goggles across his opened mouth ndash and going 45rsquos A great team swimmer an Olympian wouldnrsquot let down his teammates by throwing them off or fixing them

500 Fly13 A world class butterflyer asked if he could swim butterfly in the 500 yard freestyle during a dual meet His goal was to break five minutes After considering the competition it seemed like a great way to make him really work a hard fly swim so we agreed Problem was he swam a 502 and the opposing coach complained to the officials because he embarrassed his swimmers Oh well you canrsquot win lsquoem all

Stories sent in by Robert Steele

No-No-No13 The other morning I was teaching front-streamlines to snotty nosed 8 year olds (some are literally snotty-nosed) One boy was taking a big gulp of air and holding his breath When he lifted his head he had to exhale and inhale before submerging again Swimmers will understand this does not work very well Kids need to learn to exhale underwater The first time he did it I told him to exhale underwater The second time I stopped him looked him in the eye and reminded him to exhale underwater The third and fourth times I started to get a little frustrated ldquoJohnny you need to exhale underwater so you can breath betterrdquo The fifth time as his head popped up for a breath I quickly asked ldquoJohnny Do you even know what exhale meansrdquo as he submerged his head below the water I could see him shake his head no-no-no

Favorite Potato Chips13We try to limit the junk food the kids eat at our house For lunch one day our son wanted some potato chips I gave him 3 large chips with his sandwich He started to cry and said he wanted one more chip ldquoI wanted four chipsrdquo he screamed I took the plate back When he wasnt looking I broke a chip in half and give it back to him with four chips

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

13 My cancer story is one of uniqueness Leave it to me to do something like cancer to its fullest It did not begin with a mammogram diagnosis or a lump My journey began about 4 years ago with some suspicious activity that turned into Pagetrsquos disease of the nipple which signaled the underlying cancer On April 1st I found out about my breast cancer through a biopsy that came back as positive for Pagetrsquos disease The onslaught of tests learning and decisions were dizzying I immediately went for an evaluation of the suspicious tissue and had to begin making decisions for my mastectomy I quickly learned there is a test called the BRAC Analysis which is a genetic test for breast and ovarian cancer Finally a piece of good news for me I did not have the gene

Decisions Now it was time to make decisions about my mastectomy and how I was going to handle reconstruction I discussed my options with my boyfriend Brian friends family members and even my principalboss I read books searched the Internet and contacted people I

Brandi ShipmanCancer Survivor and elite triathlete

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

know and knew from my past that had been directly affected and that I thought might have answers for me The outpouring of love encouragement and help during this process was overwhelming After meeting with four different doctors two surgeons and two plastic surgeons I decided to go with immediate reconstruction and was lucky enough to find two wonderful doctors They were willing to work together just because I wanted them to even though they had never done so before My surgery was scheduled for mid May

Mental Toughness13 My mental preparation at this point was very important I had to scrap any idea of competing in triathlons for the rest of the year and focus on a positive attitude of getting better I stopped thinking about what I wasnrsquot going to able to do and started thinking about what I could do that I was alive and kept my mind on the fact that so many others had made it before me

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links

Part 213 I was prepared by the doctors survivors and literature to be ldquodownrdquo for several weeks after my surgery I even took the rest of the school year off My surgery went well and I was out of the hospital the next day A few friends came to visit while I was in the hospital and my principal and vice principal brought the most wonderful picture of the faculty wearing pink for me I can only imagine what it looked like at Thornton Elementary on that day in May 2009 a sea of pink all for Brandi Shipman Shortly after their visit I received a text from my friend Margie Massey My friends from the gym wore pink for me that day as well The support brought tears to my eyes I was so excited to come home and be comfortable in my own home I just wish the stupid drain that was attached could have stayed at the hospital The pain from that was worse than the pain from the mastectomy

the most

powerful picture

13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Recovery ndash May13 Once I got home I slept and watched a lot of TV Friends visited and brought yummy food and my favorites I am not supposed to eat I ate them all My friend and co-worker set up a cancer care calendar that alerted anyone who logged on when I was having a doctorrsquos appointment or when I was in need of anything I felt like royalty as everyone took care of me I think Brian secretly enjoyed the fact that he wouldnrsquot have to cook for me each night My recovery was quicker than I thought as I was doing my best to get better and get the stinkinrsquo drain out of my skin I was out walking within a week and running within 3 weeks I couldnrsquot believe my recovery I know it was from all the prayers love and good care from Brian and the loved ones around me Life was looking better each day

ldquoLife was looking

better each dayrdquo

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Part three and part

four of I am Survivor

will be published in

the next edition of

FitnessDigestus

Get the convenience of

digital-delivery

Sign-up or subscribe at

httpFitnessDigestus

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During the past 150 years we have witnessed many remarkable advances against cancer a disease known to humanity for thousands of years The advances highlighted below represent a sampling of what has been accomplished to date

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

1882 William Halsted performs the first radical mastectomy to treat breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast the lymph nodes under the arm (axillary lymph nodes) and the chest muscles behind the breast (pectoralis major and pectoralis minor muscles) are removed Radical mastectomy will remain the standard operation for breast cancer until latter half of the 20th century when the use of modified radical mastectomy becomes widely accepted

1932 David H Patey develops the modified radical mastectomy for breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast axillary lymph nodes and pectoralis minor muscle behind the breast are removed The modified radical mastectomy is less disfiguring than the radical mastectomy and will eventually replace the radical mastectomy as a standard treatment option for breast cancer

1953 James Watson and Francis Crick discover the molecular structure of DNA (the double helix)

1963 The Health Insurance Plan (HIP) of Greater New York Study begins HIP is the first randomized controlled trial of periodic breast cancer screening with mammography

1882

1932

1953

1963

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1976 The results of a randomized clinical trial show that women with early breast cancer who receive post-operative (adjuvant) combination chemotherapy with the drugs cyclophosphamide methotrexate and 5-FU have improved disease-free survival

1981 A randomized clinical trial in the United Kingdom shows for the first time that the rates of survival local recurrence and tumor metastasis among women whose breast cancer is treated with modified radical mastectomy are not substantially different from those of women who are treated with radical mastectomy

1993 An NCI-convened international workshop on screening for breast cancer reports that screening with mammography reduces breast cancer mortality among women ages 50-69 This conclusion is based on a review of published and unpublished data from eight randomized controlled trials

2004 Data from the Womens Health Initiative (WHI) study show that women who take estrogen in combination with the hormone progestin have a greater risk of developing breast cancer than women who take estrogen alone The results also show that menopausal hormone therapy with estrogen alone has no benefit in disease prevention specifically in reducing the risks of colorectal cancer coronary heart disease and dementia

1976

1981

1993

2004

Although we still have a long way to go to reduce the toll of cancer in the United States and worldwide our research and public health efforts are beginning to pay dividends

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

Volunteering vs Participating13 My girl friend and I are involved in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation The local chapter raises awareness for the cause with a fun-run each year We have volunteered to help with the race five years in a row This year we were stationed at a water table where the runners pick-up cups of water to drink Toward the end of the race there are very few runners There was a little time to chat about things We were talking about what we would wish for if we could have three wishes I told her I would wish for an end to Juvenile Diabetes and to lose 10 pounds Being nice I said ldquoyou can have my last wishrdquo She said I wish you would skip volunteering and just run this race next year

Admission Price Our aquatic center was having a promotion one night and advertised an elementary school night The kids could swim for free When we got to the pool we saw a promotional sign for the event In small lettering it read All swimmers must be accompanied by an adult We thought no big deal one of us can just stay and watch When we got to the front desk we found the lifeguard was enforcing the adult-admission price of $8

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CNFI Publishing - Products Books Chapbooks Bookmarks Plaques and Poetry Collector Cards Merchandising Products Coffee Mugs Mouse Pads Tiles 3x6 Coasters T - Shirts and Wall Plaques More info athttpliveadsFitnessDigestus

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

Featured PhotosFitnessDigestus feature

Chicago open water swim course at nighttop left

Kids race at Bicycle Blues and BBQtop right

Some team members volunteer at the local soup kitchenmiddle right

Ken Mauer loads the balls for hitting practice during a Twins baseball camp for

children 7-13 bottom right

Get your local event photos published in the next issue of FitnessDigestus E-mail

your photo to photoFitnessDigestus

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As he turned to go on he spat speculatively There was a sharp explosive crackle that startled him He spat again And again in the air before it could fall to the snow the spittle crackled He knew that at fifty below spittle crackled on the snow but this spittle had crackled in the air Undoubtedly it was colder than fifty below--how much colder he did not know But the temperature did not matter He was bound for the old claim on the left fork of Henderson Creek where the boys were already They had come over across the divide from the Indian Creek country while he had come the roundabout way to take a look at the possibilities of getting out logs in the spring from the islands in the Yukon He would be in to camp by six oclock a bit after dark it was true but the boys would be there a fire would be going and a hot supper would be ready As for lunch he pressed his hand against the protruding bundle under his jacket It was also under his shirt wrapped up in a handkerchief and lying against the naked skin It was the only way to keep the biscuits from freezing He smiled agreeably to himself as he thought of those biscuits each cut open and sopped in bacon grease and each enclosing a generous slice of fried bacon

He plunged in among the big spruce trees The trail was faint A foot of snow had fallen since the last sled had passed over and he was glad he was without a sled traveling light In fact he carried nothing but the lunch wrapped in the handkerchief He was surprised however at the cold It certainly was cold he concluded as he rubbed his numb nose and cheek-bones with his mittened hand He was a warm-whiskered man but the hair on his face did not protect the high cheek-bones and the eager nose that thrust itself aggressively into the frosty air

At the mans heels trotted a dog a big native husky the proper wolf-dog gray-coated and without any visible or temperamental difference from its brother the wild wolf The animal was depressed by the tremendous cold It knew that it was no time for

traveling Its instinct told it a truer tale than was told to the man by the mans judgment In reality it was not merely colder than fifty below zero it was colder than sixty below than seventy below It was seventy-five below zero Since the freezing point is thirty-two above zero it meant that one hundred and seven degrees of frost obtained The dog did not know anything about thermometers Possibly in its brain there was no sharp consciousness of a condition of very cold such as was in the mans brain But the brute had its instinct It experienced a vague but menacing apprehension that subdued it then made it slink along at the mans heels and that made it question eagerly every unwonted movement of the man as if expecting him to go into camp or to seek shelter somewhere and build a fire The dog had learned fire and it wanted fire or else to burrow under the snow and cuddle its warmth away from the air

The frozen moisture of its breathing had settled on its fur in a fine powder of frost and especially were its jowls muzzle and eyelashes whitened by its cry-stalled breath The mans red beard and mustache were likewise frosted but more solidly the deposit taking the form of ice and increasing with every warm moist breath he exhaled Also the man was chewing tobacco and the muzzle of ice held his lips so rigidly that he was unable to clear his chin when he expelled the juice The result was that a crystal beard of the color and solidity of amber was increasing its length on his chin If he fell down it would shatter itself like glass into brittle fragments But he did not mind the appendage It was the penalty all tobacco-chewers paid in that country and he had been out before in two cold snaps They had not been so cold as this he knew but by the spirit thermometer at Sixty Mile he knew they had been registered at fifty below and at fifty-five

He held on through the level stretch of woods for several miles crossed a wide flat of rigger-heads and dropped down a bank to the frozen bed of a

To Build a FireContinued

small stream This was Henderson Creek and he knew he was ten miles from the forks He looked at his watch It was ten oclock He was making four miles an hour and he calculated that he would arrive at the forks at half-past twelve He decided to celebrate that event by eating his lunch there

The dog dropped in again at his heels with a tail drooping discouragement as the man swung along the creek-bed The furrow of the old sled-trail was plainly visible but a dozen inches of snow covered the marks of the last runners In a month no man had come up or down that silent creek The man held steadily on He was not much given to thinking and just then particularly he had nothing to think about save that he would eat lunch at-the forks and that at six oclock he would be in camp with the boys There was nobody to talk to and had there been speech would have been impossible because of the ice-muzzle on his mouth So he continued monotonously to chew tobacco and to increase the length of his amber beard

Once in a while the thought reiterated itself that it was very cold and that he had never experienced such cold As he walked along he rubbed his cheek-bones and nose with the back of his mittened hand He did this automatically now and again changing hands But rub as he would the instant he stopped his cheek-bones went numb and the following instant the end of his nose went numb He was sure to frost his cheeks he knew that and experienced a pang of regret that he had not devised a nose-strap of the sort Bud wore in cold snaps Such a strap passed across the cheeks as well and saved them But it didnt matter much after all What were frosted cheeks A bit painful that was all they were never serious

Empty as the mans mind was of thoughts he was keenly observant and he noticed the changes in the creek the curves and bends and timber jams and always he sharply noted where he placed his feet Once coming around a bend he shied abruptly

like a startled horse curved away from the place where he had been walking and retreated several paces back along the trail The creek he knew was frozen clear to the bottom--no creek could contain water in that arctic winter--but he knew also that there were springs that bubbled out from the hillsides and ran along under the snow and on top the ice of the creek He knew that the coldest snaps never froze these springs and he knew likewise their danger They were traps They hid pools of water under the snow that might be three inches deep or three feet Sometimes a skin of ice half an inch thick covered them and in turn was covered by the snow Sometimes there were alternate layers of water and ice-skin so that when one broke through he kept on breaking through for a while sometimes wetting himself to the waist

That was why he had shied in such panic He had felt the give under his feet and heard the crackle of a snow-hidden ice-skin And to get his feet wet in such a temperature meant trouble and danger At the very least it meant delay for he would be forced to stop and build a fire and under its protection to bare his feet while he dried his socks and moccasins He stood and studied the creek-bed and its banks and decided that the flow of water came from the right He reflected a while rubbing his nose and cheeks then skirted to the left stepping gingerly and testing the footing for each step Once clear of the danger he took a fresh chew of tobacco and swung along at his four-mile gait

In the course of the next two hours he came upon several similar traps Usually the snow above the hidden pools had a sunken candied appearance that advertised the danger Once again however he had a close call and once suspecting danger he compelled the dog to go on in front The dog did not want to go It hung back until the man shoved it forward and then it went quickly across the white unbroken surface Suddenly it broke through floundered to one side and got away to firmer

To Build a FireContinued

To Build a FireContinued

footing It had wet its forefeet and legs and almost immediately the water that clung to it turned to ice It made quick efforts to lick the ice off its legs then dropped down in the snow and began to bite out the ice that had formed between the toes l his was a matter of instinct To permit the ice to remain would mean sore feet It did not know this It merely obeyed the mysterious prompting that arose from the deep crypts of its being But the man knew having achieved a judgment on the subject and he removed the mitten from his right hand and helped tear out the ice-particles He did not expose his fingers more than a minute and was astonished at the swift numbness that smote them It certainly was cold He pulled on the mitten hastily and beat the hand savagely across his chest

At twelve oclock the day was at its brightest Yet the sun was too far south an its winter journey to clear the horizon The bulge of the earth intervened between it arid Henderson Creek where the man walked under a clear sky at noon and cast no shadow At half-past twelve to the minute he arrived at the forks of the creek He was pleased at the speed he had made If he kept it up he would certainly be with the boys by six He unbuttoned his jacket and shirt and drew forth his lunch The action consumed no more than a quarter of a minute yet in that brief moment the numbness laid hold of the exposed fingers He did not put the mitten on but instead struck the fingers a dozen sharp smashes against his leg Then he sat down on a snow-covered log to eat The sting that followed upon the striking of his fingers against his leg ceased so quickly that he was startled He had had no chance to take a bite of biscuit He struck the fingers repeatedly and returned them to the mitten baring the other hand for the purpose of eating He tried to take a mouthful but the ice-muzzle prevented He had forgotten to build a fire and thaw out He chuckled at his foolishness and as he chuckled he noted the numbness creeping into the exposed fingers Also he noted that the stinging which had first come to his

toes when he sat down was already passing away He wandered whether the toes were warm or numb He moved them inside the moccasins and decided that they were numb

He pulled the mitten on hurriedly and stood up He was a bit frightened He stamped up and down until the stinging returned into the feet It certainly was cold was his thought That man from Sulphur Creek had spoken the truth when telling how cold it sometimes got in the country And he had laughed at him at the time That showed one must not be too sure of things There was no mistake about it it was cold He strode up and down stamping his feet and threshing his arms until reassured by the returning warmth Then he got out matches and proceeded to make a fire From the undergrowth where high water of the previous spring had lodged a supply of seasoned twigs he got his firewood Working carefully from a small beginning he soon had a roaring fire over which he thawed the ice from his face and in the protection of which he ate his biscuits For the moment the cold space was outwitted The dog took satisfaction in the fire stretching out close enough for warmth and far enough away to escape being singed

When the man had finished be filled his pipe and took his comfortable time over a smoke Then he pulled on his mittens settled the ear-flaps of his cap firmly about his ears and took the creek trail up the left fork The dog was disappointed and yearned back toward the fire This man did not know cold Possibly all the generations of his ancestry had been ignorant of cold of real cold of cold one hundred and seven degrees below freezing point But the dog knew all its ancestry knew and it had inherited the knowledge And it knew that it was not good to walk abroad in such fearful cold It was the time to lie snug in a hole in the snow and wait for a curtain of cloud to be drawn across the face of outer space whence this cold came On the other hand there was no keen intimacy between the dog and the man

The one was the toil-slave of the other and the only caresses it had ever received were the caresses of the whiplash and of harsh and menacing throat-sounds that threatened the whiplash So the dog made no effort to communicate its apprehension to the man It was not concerned in the welfare of the man it was for its own sake that it yearned back toward the fire But the man whistled and spoke to it with the sound of whiplashes and the dog swung in at the mans heel and followed after

The man took a chew of tobacco and proceeded to start a new amber beard Also his moist breath quickly powdered with white his mustache eyebrows and lashes There did not seem to be so many springs on the left fork of the Henderson and for half an hour the man saw no signs of any And then it happened At a place where there were no signs where the soft unbroken snow seemed to advertise solidity beneath tee man broke through It was not deep He wet himself halfway to the knees before he floundered out to the firm crust

He was angry and cursed his luck aloud He had hoped to get into camp with the boys at six oclock and this would delay him an hour for he would have to build a fire and dry out his foot-gear This was imperative at that low temperature--he knew that much and he turned aside to the bank which he climbed On top tangled in the underbrush about the trunks of several small spruce trees was a high-water deposit of dry firewood--sticks and twigs principally but also larger portions of seasoned branches and fine dry last-years grasses He threw down several large pieces on top of the snow This served for a foundation and prevented the young flame from drowning itself in the snow it otherwise would melt The flame he got by touching a match to a small shred of birch bark that he took from his pocket This burned even more readily than paper Placing it on the foundation he fed the young flame with wisps of dry grass and with the tiniest dry twigs

He worked slowly and carefully keenly aware of his danger Gradually as the flame grew stronger he increased the size of the twigs with which he fed it He squatted in the snow pulling the twigs out from their entanglement in the brush and feeding directly to the flame He knew there must be no failure When it is seventy-five below zero a man must not fail in his first attempt to build a fire--that is if his feet are wet If his feet are dry and he fails he can run along the trail for half a mile and restore his circulation But the circulation of wet and freezing feet cannot be restored by running when it is seventy-five below No matter how fast he runs the wet feet will freeze the harder

All this the man knew The old-timer on Sulphur Creek had told him about it the previous fall and now he was appreciating the advice Already all sensation had gone out of his feet To build the fire he had been forced to remove his mittens and the fingers had quickly gone numb His pace of four miles an hour had kept his heart pumping blood to the surface of his body and to all the extremities But the instant he stopped the action of the pump eased down The cold of space smote the unprotected tip of the planet and he being on that unprotected tip received the full force of the blow The blood of his body recoiled before it The blood was alive like the dog and like the dog it wanted to hide away and cover itself up from the fearful cold So long as he walked four miles an hour he pumped that blood willy-nilly to the surface but now it ebbed away and sank down into the recesses of his body The extremities were the first to feel its absence His wet feet froze the faster and his exposed fingers numbed the faster though they had not yet begun to freeze Nose and cheeks were already freezing while the skin of all his body chilled as it lost its blood

But he was safe Toes and nose and cheeks would be only touched by the frost for the fire was beginning to burn with strength He was feeding it

To Build a FireContinued

with twigs the size of his finger In another minute he would be able to feed it with branches the size of his wrier and then he could remove his wet toot-gear and while it dried he could keep his naked feet warm by the fire rubbing them at first of course with snow The fire was a success He was safe He remembered the advice of the old timer on Sulphur Creek and smiled The old-timer had been very serious in laying down the law that no man must travel alone in the Klondike after fifty below Well here he was he had had the accident he was alone and he had saved himself Those old-timers were rather womanish some of them he thought All a man had to do was to keep his head and he was all right Any man who was a man could travel alone But it was surprising the rapidity with which his cheeks and nose were freezing And he had not thought his fingers could go lifeless in so short a time Lifeless they were for he could scarcely make them move together to grip a twig and they seemed remote from his body and from him When he touched a twig he had to look and see whether or not he had hold of it The wires were pretty well down between him and his finger-ends

All of which counted for little There was the fire snapping and crackling and promising life with every dancing flame He started to untie his moccasins They were coated with ice the thick German socks were like sheaths of iron halfway to the knees and the moccasin strings were like rods of steel all twisted and knotted as by some conflagration For a moment he tugged with his numb fingers then realizing the folly of it he drew his sheath-knife

But before he could cut the strings it happened It was his own fault or rather his mistake He should not have built the fire under the spruce tree He should have built it in the open But it had been easier to pull the twigs from the brush and drop them directly on the fire Now the tree under which

he had done this carried a weight of snow on its boughs No wind had blown for weeks and each bough was fully freighted Each time he had pulled a twig he had communicated a slight agitation to the tree--an imperceptible agitation so far as he was concerned but an agitation sufficient to bring about the disaster High up in the tree one bough capsized its load of snow This fell on the boughs beneath capsizing them This process continued spreading out and involving the whole tree It grew like an avalanche and it descended without warning upon the man and the fire and the fire was blotted out Where it had burned was a mantle of fresh and disordered snow

The man was shocked It was as though he had just heard his own sentence of death For a moment he sat and stared at the spot where the fire had been Then he grew very calm Perhaps the old-timer on Sulphur Creek was right If he had only had a trail-mate he would have been in no danger now The trail-mate could have built the fire Well it was up to him to build the fire over again and this second time there must be no failure Even if he succeeded he would most likely lose some toes His feet must be badly frozen by now and there would be some time before the second fire Was ready

Such were his thoughts but he did not sit and think them He was busy all the time they were passing through his mind He made a new foundation for a fire this time in the open where no treacherous tree could blot it out Next he gathered dry grasses and tiny twigs from the high-water flotsam He could not bring his fingers together to pull them out but he was able to gather them by the handful In this way he got many rotten twigs and bits of green moss that were undesirable but it was the best he could do He worked methodically even collecting an armful of the larger branches to be used later when the fire gathered strength And all the while the dog sat and watched him a certain yearning wistfulness in its eyes for it looked upon

To Build a FireContinued

him as the fire-provider and the fire was slow in coming

When all was ready the man reached in his pocket for a second piece of birch bark He knew the bark was there and though he could not feel it with his fingers he could hear its crisp rustling as he fumbled for it Try as he would he could not clutch hold of it And all the time in his consciousness was the knowledge that each instant his feet were freezing This thought tended to put him in a panic but he fought against it and kept calm He pulled on his mittens with his teeth and threshed his arms back and forth beating his hands with all his might against his sides He did this sitting down and he stood up to do it and all the while the dog sat in the snow its wolf-brush of a tail curled around warmly over its forefeet its sharp wolf-ears pricked forward intently as it watched the man And the man as he beat and threshed with his arms and hands felt a great surge of envy as he regarded the creature that was warm ant secure in its natural covering

After a time he was aware of the first far-away signals of sensation in his beaten fingers The faint tingling grew stronger till it evolved into a stinging ache that was excruciating but which the man hailed with satisfaction He stripped the mitten from his right hand and fetched forth the birch bark The exposed fingers were quickly going numb again Next he brought out his bunch of sulphur matches But the tremendous cold had already driven the life out of his fingers In his effort to separate one match from the others the whole bunch fell in the snow He tried to pick it out of the snow but failed The dead fingers could neither touch nor clutch He was very careful He drove the thought of his freezing feet and nose and cheeks out of his mind devoting his whole soul to the matches He watched using the sense of vision in place of that of touch and when he saw his fingers on each side the bunch he dosed them--that is he willed to close them for the wires were down and the fingers did not obey He pulled

the mitten on the right hand and beat it fiercely against his knee Then with both mittened hands he scooped the bunch of matches along with much snow into his lap Yet he was no better off

After some manipulation he managed to get the bunch between the heels of his mittened hands In this fashion he carried it to his mouth The ice crackled and snapped when by a violent effort he opened his mouth He drew the lower jaw in curled the upper lip out of the way and scraped the bunch with his upper teeth in order to separate a match He succeeded in getting one which he dropped on his lap He was no better off He could not pick it up Then he devised a way He picked it up in his teeth and scratched it on his leg Twenty times he scratched before he succeeded in lighting it As it flamed he held it with his teeth to the birch bark But the burning brimstone went up his nostrils and into his lungs causing him to cough spasmodically The match fell into the snow and went out

The old-timer an Sulphur Creek was right he thought in the moment of controlled despair that ensued after fifty below a man should travel with a partner He beat his hands but failed in exciting any sensation Suddenly he bared both hands removing the mittens with his teeth He caught the whole bunch between the heels of his hands His arm muscles not being frozen enabled him to press the hand-heels tightly against the matches Then he scratched the bunch along his leg It flared into flame seventy sulphur matches at once There was no wind to blow them out He kept his head to one side to escape the strangling fumes and held the blazing bunch to the birth bark As he so held it he became aware of sensation in his hand His flesh was burning He could smell it Deep down below the surface he could feel it The sensation developed into pain that grew acute And still he endured it holding the flame of the matches clumsily to the bark that would not light readily because his own burning hands were in the way absorbing most of the flame

To Build a FireContinued

At last when he could endure no more he jerked his hands apart The blazing matches fell sizzling into the snow but the birch bark was alight He began laying dry grasses and the tiniest twigs on the flame He could not pick and choose for he had to lift the fuel between the heels of his hands Small pieces of rotten wood and green moss clung to the twigs and he bit them off as well as he could with his teeth He cherished the flame carefully and awkwardly It meant life and it must not perish The withdrawal of blood from the surface of his body now made him begin to shiver and he grew more awkward A large piece of green moss fell squarely on the little fire He tried to poke it out with his fingers but his shivering frame made him poke too far and he disrupted the nucleus of the little fire the burning grasses and tiny twigs separating and scattering He tried to poke them together again but in spite of the tenseness of the effort his shivering got away with him and the twigs were hopelessly scattered Each twig gushed a puff of smoke and went out The fire-provider had failed As he looked apathetically about him his eyes chanced on the dog sitting across the ruins of the fire from him in the snow making restless hunching movements slightly lifting one forefoot and then the other shifting its weight back and forth on them with wistful eagerness

The sight of the dog put a wild idea into his head He remembered the tale of the man caught in a blizzard who killed a steer and crawled inside the carcass and so was saved He would kill the dog and bury his hands in the warm body until the numbness went out of them Then he could build another fire He spoke to the dog calling it to him but in his voice was a strange note of fear that frightened the animal who had never known the man to speak in such way before Something was the matter and its suspicious nature sensed danger--it knew not what danger but somewhere somehow in its brain arose an apprehension of the man It flattened its ears down at the sound of the mans voice and its restless

hunching movements and the liftings and shiftings of its forefeet became more pronounced but it would not come to the man He got on his hands and knees and crawled toward the dog This unusual posture again excited suspicion and the animal sidled mincingly away

The man sat up in the snow for a moment and struggled for calmness Then he pulled on his mittens by means of his teeth and got upon his feet He glanced down at first in order to assure himself that he was really standing up for the absence of sensation in his feet left him unrelated to the earth His erect position in itself started to drive the webs of suspicion from the dogs mind and when he spoke peremptorily with the sound of whiplashes in his voice the dog rendered its customary allegiance and came to him As it came within reaching distance the man lost his control His arms flashed out to the dog and he experienced genuine surprise when he discovered that his hands could not clutch that there was neither bend nor feeling in the fingers He had forgotten for the moment that they were frozen and that they were freezing more and more All this happened quickly and before the animal could get away he encircled its body with his arms He sat down in the snow and in this fashion held the dog while it snarled and whined and struggled

But it was all he could do hold its body encircled in his arms and sit there He realized that he could not kill the dog There was no way to do it With his helpless hands he could neither draw nor hold his sheath knife nor throttle the animal He released it and it plunged wildly away with tail between its legs and still snarling It halted forty feet away and surveyed him curiously with ears sharply pricked forward The man looked down at his hands in order to locate them and found them hanging on the ends of his arms It struck him as curious that one should have to use his eyes in order to find out where his hands were He began threshing his arms back and forth beating the mittened hands against

To Build a FireContinued

his sides He did this for five minutes violently and his heart pumped enough blood up to the surface to put a stop to his shivering But no sensation was aroused in the hands He had an impression that they hung like weights on the ends of his arms but when he tried to run the impression down he could not find it

A certain fear of death dull and oppressive came to him This fear quickly became poignant as he realized that it was no longer a mere matter of freezing his fingers and toes or of losing his hands and feet but that it was a matter of life and death with the chances against him This threw him into a panic and he turned and ran up the creek-bed along the old dim trail The dog joined in behind and kept up with him He ran blindly without intention in fear such as he had never known in his life Slowly as he plowed and floundered through the snow he began to see things again the banks of the creek the old timber-jams the leafless aspens and the sky The running made him feel better He did not shiver Maybe if he ran on his feet would thaw out and anyway if he ran far enough he would reach camp and the boys Without doubt he would lose some fingers and toes and some of his face but the boys would take care of him and save the rest of him when he got there And at the same time there was another thought in his mind that said he would never get to the camp and the boys that it was too many miles away that the freezing had too great a start on him and that he would soon be stiff and dead This thought he kept in the background and refused to consider Sometimes it pushed itself forward and demanded to be heard but he thrust it back and strove to think of other things

It struck him as curious that he could run at all on feet so frozen that he could not feel them when they struck the earth and took the weigh of his body He seemed to himself to skim along above the surface and to have no connection with the earth Somewhere he had once seen a winged Mercury

and he wondered if Mercury felt as he felt when skimming over the earth

His theory of running until he reached camp and the boys had one flaw in it he lacked the endurance Several times he stumbled and finally he tottered crumpled up and fell When he tried to rise he failed He must sit and rest he decided and next time he would merely walk and keep on going As he sat and regained his breath he noted that he was feeling quite warm and comfortable He was not shivering and it even seemed that a warm glow had come to his chest and trunk And yet when he touched his nose or cheeks there was no sensation Running would not thaw them out Nor would it thaw out his hands and feet Then the thought came to him that the frozen portions of his body must be extending He tried to keep this thought down to forget it to think of something else he was aware of the panicky feeling that it caused and he was afraid of the panic But the thought asserted itself and persisted until it produced a vision of his body totally frozen This was too much and he made another wild run along the trail Once he slowed down to a walk but the thought of the freezing extending itself made him run again

And all the time the dog ran with him at his heels When he fell down a second time it curled its tad over its forefeet and sat in front of him facing him curiously eager and intent The warmth and security of the animal angered him and he cursed it till it flattened down its ears appealingly This time the shivering came more quickly upon the man He was losing in his battle with the frost It was creeping into his body from all sides The thought of it drove him on but he ran no more than a hundred feet when he staggered and pitched headlong It was his last panic When he had recovered his breath and control he sat up and entertained in his mind the conception of meeting death with dignity However the conception did not come to him in such terms His idea of it was that he had been making a fool of

To Build a FireContinued

himself running around like a chicken with its head cut off--such was the simile that occurred to him Well he was bound to freeze anyway and he might as well take it decently With this new-found peace of mind came the first glimmerings of drowsiness A good idea he thought to sleep off to death It was like salting an anesthetic Freezing was not so bad as people thought There were lots worse ways to die

He pictured the boys finding his body next day Suddenly he found himself with them coming along the trail and looking for himself And still with them he came around a turn in the trail and found himself lying in the snow He did not belong with himself any more for even then he was out of himself standing with the boys and looking at himself in the snow It certainly was cold was his thought When he got back to the States he could tell the folks what real cold was He drifted on from this to a vision of the old-timer on Sulphur Creek He could see him quite clearly warm and comfortable and smoking a pipe

You were right old boss you were right the man mumbled to the old-timer of Sulphur Creek

Then the man drowsed off into what seemed to him the most comfortable and satisfying sleep he had ever known The dog sat facing him and waiting The brief day drew to a close in a long slow twilight There were no signs of a fire to be made and besides never in the dogs experience had it known a man to sit like that in the snow and make no fire As the twilight drew on its eager yearning for the fire mastered it and with a great lifting and shifting of forefeet it whined softly then flattened its ears down in anticipation of being chidden by the man But the man remained silent Later the dog whined loudly And still later it crept close to the man and caught the scent of death This made the animal bristle and back away A little longer it delayed howling under the stars that leaped and danced and shone brightly in the cold sky Then it turned and trotted up the trail in the direction of the camp it knew where were the other food-providers and fire-providers

To Build a FireContinued

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Page 4: FitnessDigest.us Vol. 4.3 Cover

Contributors to Volume 4 issue 3

Emily Wheeler - Owner of Wheeler Event Management Emily is the race director for the Mickelson Trail Marathon and the Crazy Horse Marathon in South Dakota

Jenn Schmitt - 31 year old stay at home mom who worked as a Director of Special Education and a special education teacher prior to that Jenn has a Masters Degree in Educational Administration from Iowa State University

Brandi Shipman - Elite triathlete and cancer survivor Brandi owns and operates a professional triathlete coaching service She is a certified USA Triathlon coach and personal trainer She is one of the best in the country at answering questions on a range of topics that include V02 running science and multi-sport training plans

Vince Errichiello - An active USMS swimmer and motivational writer Vince swims for the Westmont Swim Club in Chicago Illinois Proceeds from the sales of this issue support the purchase of a score board for the pool area at the University of Illinois in Chicago

Jeremy J Taylor - From Morgan Utah Jeremy started out writing lyrics which transposed into writing poetry In the creative process he developed a creative writing theory eventually this theory became the foundation for establishing his writing and publishing interests He owns CNFI publishing

Robert LaValle - Professional photographer who owns the website CreationsPraise Robert is an expert at macro-photography

In this Issue

Short Stories10 Greatest Race14 Watch and Learn15 Dear Freestyle17 Adult Swimming26 Letrsquos Race30 Throwing at Him36 SPAM52 Swim Stories53 Exhale57 Volunteering Admission Price

Features5 Letters to the Editor6 Letter from the Publisher11 Giving it a Tri18 MTM Marathon23 To Build a Fire27 Motivation amp Inspiration32 T-shirts33 To Catch a Lunker35 TOP Tweets36 Unsung Heroes37 Ride of Silence46 Endless Pools47 Walking Stick47 My Bike51 Workout Ideas50 Open Water Numbers54 Irsquom a Survivor58 Cancer61 Reader Photos71 Classifieds

Summer 2012Volume 4 Issue 3

FitnessDigestUSStories of the humankind

trade

13 ndash Loved how the ldquoSay it to my facerdquo article in 42 pointed out that volunteers should be thanked and not criticized It is amazing how parents can sometimes be the worst examples of bad behavior

------

We agree13 ndash FitnessDigestus

------------------------------

Dear FitnessDigestus 13 I just downloaded my free eEdition to my nook Irsquoll have time to read it over the weekend------

13 Thanks Keep growing the collection More fun in each issue )) ndash FitnessDigestus

Letters to the Editor amp Live Media comments

FitnessDigestus is now available in public libraries

Ask for FitnessDigestUS

at your local libraryLocal libraries can now subscribe to FitnessDigestus using the

ISSN 2164-3997 Tell the librarian to visit httpFitnessDigestus for more information

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ndash I am not familiar with your magazine Are you associated with a golf publication also

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We often get confused with websites or blogs FitnessDigestus is closer to an eBook The companys network includes a variety of ties to independent publishers and a few large publishing corporations

13 ndash FitnessDigestus------------------------------

13 To write a letter to the editor e-mail editorFitnessDigestus orhttplivemediaFitnessDigestus Please use the e-mail that you used when you bought your most recent issue

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13 Thank you to all the readers who saved a copy of Vol 42 Irsquove dubbed it the English Channel issue because of the Bryn Dymott story Looking back Irsquom amazed at what the team put together Not only did we get a great story from Bryn Dymott English Channel swimmer but we got stories from an Olymipc Hall of Fame member Transplant Games World Champion and another contribution from Charlotte Andersen

All good stories and causes Vol 42 was such a fun run It really set the standard in many areas We got thousands of new readers through CoopNet DocStoc and Scribd We heard from a handful of people that said they enjoyed the issue With the completion of Vol 42 we are on pace for over 1 million pages read in 2012 The free issue for the quarter was the bench press world record issue Vol 41 It was a VERY popular download

Now we move onto Vol 43 Summer 2012 It is jam packed with stories and writing

13 We are settling into a good pace with this issue Itrsquos our sixth issue for public distribution and might be my favorite issue yet The contributors may not be as well known but their stories are just as fun inspiring heartfelt and entertaining

13 We have our best collection of ultra-short stories in this edition Ultra-shorts are 25-50 word works of wonderment Some of the most entertaining and humorous stories wersquove ever received Keep sending these stories to us anyway you can use the form on the homepage write a letter email phone or send us morse code - whatever works Just getrsquoem in here It is these short antidotal narratives that are some of the most popular reads in each issue

The most value comes from our feature stories though Our main feature this issue is from Texas Brandi Shipman is an elite triathlete and

Whatrsquos in StoreBy Mark Miller mmillerFitnessDigestus

LiveMediaComment on a story without having to write a letter to the editorhttpLiveMediaFitnessDigestus

LiveAdditionsA directory of multimedia resources for the current issue httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

Over 1 million pages read

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cancer survivor Her story is about the incredible comeback she made from breast cancer After battling the disease she took on the race course Her list of accomplishments on the race course are long and she is faster than ever She uses her racing to raise awareness for the American Cancer Society She has touched so many people with her racing and as a survivor That is why stories like Brandis need to be preserved digitally in the most professional way Which leads me to the topic of preservation

13 One of my jobs as publisher is to watch the current publishing trends Ive spent a lot of time lately on digital-preservation of history To communicate the importance of preservation to customers wersquove added the words gather distribute and preserve to the coopnetbiz online store I feel so strongly that stories like Brandis need to be published with preservation in mind Ironically I have a story that illustrates why

13 My grandmother is moving to a nursing home and the family was cleaning out the things she had saved One of the items was a collection of old Life magazines and

a magazine called Archer published by ADM In an amazing coincidence my father opened a Life magazine to a feature about the city we currently live in What an incredible find and the story is so much fun to read Second my family had no idea that my grandfather had been writing a column for ADMrsquos Archer magazine It is so much fun to go back and read the words he wrote in 1950 We are so lucky that my grandmother saved this collection It is priceless to our family Third I just read about Evernote a company that is asking ldquoWill the internet be around in 100 yearsrdquo I should mention now that the company has a billion dollar evaluation Their business plan is

Whatrsquos in Store Continued

For information on people restaurants and events that Mark mentions in his article visithttpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

Got a funny or inspiring story Send for our new writers exordiumentryFitnessDigestus

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2

built on the idea that websites can disappear in seconds One solution is back-ups Each duplication you make of a file increases the chances of itrsquos survival in years to come

13 It is my hope that someday people will find stories like Brandis on an old iPad or Kindle and get to read her story just like we read my grandfatherrsquos stories in Archer

13 Another first for the magazine We are taking a creative writing expert and pairing his story with a story from a US Masters swimmer The stories are about what inspires and motivates ndash how to find inspiration and motivation in your life I couldnrsquot believe how many underlying similarities there where when I placed them side-by-side

13 This issue is also our first issue that is going to include a new columnist Jen Schmitt is submitting a quarterly column for the magazine She is an inspiring mom in training ndash mom first writer second and triathlete third That is a recipe for success On top of the fact that she is a talented writer her style fits the magazines concept Her writing is

fun and she is great at finding the interesting details in lifes precious moments She brings to light many details that could easily be

overlooked When I see that talent in an athlete-writer I think to myself that they must understand hard work and suffering - because it is the suffering often times during our training that teaches us to see beauty in life Jen uses her talent to help moms find the reward

from long workouts Fittingly we have a poetic story that illustrates this link between suffering and the appreciation of life That story can be found on page 10

13 In 2008 I ran the Mickelson Trail Marathon in Deadwood South Dakota Since then Ive always felt a personal connection to it When I got word from Emily Wheeler the race director that we could get some photos and a short story from the 2012 race I was very excited Jen works closely with the legendary runner Jerry Dunn Mr Dunn is well known for his 200 marathons in the year 2000 He is Americas Marathon man He has appeared on the Today Show and has been featured in numerous magazines The chance to work with Jen and

Whatrsquos in Store Continued

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Jenn Schmitt Columnist

her team is so cool Im very thankful for the contribution Id like to include a quick side note to Emily ndash I think my next challenge will be to make that 100 miler work for me

On a whim I emailed a coordinator from the National Office for the Ride of Silence I mentioned publishing the official poem for the ride along with some photos The excitement I heard back was so positive The ride is emotional to so many people The stories of riders being hurt or killed is tragic we never want to forget them That is why education about sharing the road is a huge part of cycling safety I wont tell you more than that When you read the poem remember those that were hurt or killed while cycling The pictures we got from Robert LaVallee show the different color ribbons given to riders Red is for cyclists who knew a rider that died while cycling black is for a rider that has been injured during a ride

13 Irsquove been downloading classic (out-of-copyright) novels to my Kindle and iPad for re-reading and because I think the are important to preserve for future generations Ive downloaded the Illiad Adventures of Tom Sawyer and the original Wizard

of Oz I also found some good fiction from Jack London I think the magazinersquos readers will appreciate it It is a classic work that is about hiking ndash Think The Long Walk It is a good read with a surprise ending I hope readers will search out books and stories like this and add them to their own collection If we find more that are fitness related or have active subjects we may share them too

Whatrsquos in Store Continued

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httpwwwbrandishipmancom

com

pelling

When in the vastness of miles we find ourself not asking questions but finding answers

The fast races we ran years ago seem ugly and unforgiving

Now older and wiser and much much slower the race gives us a different story Four emotions joy anger sadness and frustration - not all at once but in a fashionable order that even makes anger a pleasant experience If it were not for the physical suffering endured for duration of the race you would perhaps experience all at once

Uncomfortable yet compelling

13 The race that when you are done and the suffering is over makes everything clearer priceless moments no longer slipping by but take the stage in life ndash in a perfect permutation

The finish helps us see there is more to do but until the next race there is no hurry Stop smell the roses Until we rise up for another challenge the story that unfolded during the race takes care of us we dont have to tell it It is written into our lives The memories and seemingly the future having been created between the aid stations and mile markers

NOT THE FASTEST RACETHE GREATESTSent from Iowa

U n c o m f o r t a b l e

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As a teenager I chose golf in high school as a sport rather than track Golfing meant enjoying a bag of chips and a can a soda while on the course Running was something I dreaded in school I used to plan how I could get out of the mile run for weeks when I knew it was almost fitness test time Now as a 31 year old stay at home mom I am running 10Ks and have a goal of completing four sprint triathlons in 2012 as well as many other 5Ks and 10Ks My five year goal is to complete an Ironman triathlon

13 Over the course of the last three years I have changed many aspects of my life I earned a Masterrsquos Degree in Education from Iowa State University I left a career as a Director of Special Education in a local school district to become a stay at home mom ndash with my two beautiful girls This change was prompted by a health scare in 2009 I was hospitalized for many days with meningitis and realized life was just too short

13 In 2011 while nursing my 4 month old my sister in law invited me to go with her to Weight Watchers I joined the next day for what was probably the 8th time but this time was different I made my goal and am a lifetime member I lost 43lbs and am healthy for the first time in my life I have Crohnrsquos Disease and am no longer taking any medications and no longer suffering the symptoms associated with the disease

In August of 2011 our hometown hero a Navy Seal was killed in action He was a huge inspiration to many people but after his death I was inspired to make a difference in our community and live my life differently He was a triathlete that had tackled the big daddy of them all and became an Ironman Realizing what he gave up so that we may have freedom inspired me to

Favo

rite

food

Kale

chip

s or

Rice

Cak

es w

ith A

lmon

d Bu

tter

Favo

rite

indu

lgen

ces

Che

x mix

Givingit aTri

FitnessDigestus columnist Jen Schmitt Rockford Iowa

Men

ingi

tis

13 In 2011 while nursing my four month old my sister in law invited me to go with her to Weight Watchers I joined the next day for what was probably the eigth time but this time was different They helped me make my goal and I became a lifetime member I lost 43lbs and Irsquom healthy for the first time in my life I also have Crohnrsquos Disease and no longer take medications nor do I suffer with the symptoms associated with the disease

13 In August of 2011 our hometown hero a Navy Seal was killed in action He was a huge inspiration to many people After his death I was inspired to make a difference in our community and to live my life differently He was a triathlete that had tackled the big daddy of them all ndash an Ironman Realizing what he gave up so that we may have freedom inspired me to continue on my fitness path by adding triathlete to my title

Givingit aTri

FitnessDigestus columnist Jen Schmitt Rockford Iowa

13 In 2011 while nursing my 4 month old my sister in law invited me to go with her to Weight Watchers I joined the next day for what was probably the 8th time but this time was different I made my goal and am a lifetime member I lost 43lbs and am healthy for the first time in my life I have Crohnrsquos Disease and am no longer taking any medications and no longer suffering the symptoms associated with the disease

In August of 2011 our hometown hero a Navy Seal was killed in action He was a huge inspiration to many people but after his death I was inspired to make a difference in our community and live my life differently He was a triathlete that had tackled the big daddy of them all and became an Ironman Realizing what he gave up so that we may have freedom inspired me to continue on my fitness path by

Favo

rite

plac

e to

run

Fos

sil amp

Prair

ie Ce

nter

Trail

s R

ockfo

rd Io

wa

Favo

rite

wor

kout

son

g S

trong

er (W

hat D

oesn

rsquot Kill Y

ou) b

y Kell

y Clar

kson

Croh

nrsquos

Dise

ase

his

deat

h

13 When I am not out training with the group that I started in my hometown ldquoFriends in Fitnessrdquo you can find me blogging at justamomgivingitatriblogspotcom studying for my personal trainer certification or spending time with my husband girls and friends I enjoy being in the outdoors whether it is just for a walk or turkey hunting in the woods I am currently the chairperson working to organize a 5K fundraiser for the PEO Chapter that I belong to in Rockford Iowa This is going to be our major fundraiser for the year and we are very excited to encourage wellness among others in our community

Givingit aTri

FitnessDigestus columnist Jen Schmitt Rockford Iowa

13 In 2011 while nursing my 4 month old my sister in law invited me to go with her to Weight Watchers I joined the next day for what was probably the 8th time but this time was different I made my goal and am a lifetime member I lost 43lbs and am healthy for the first time in my life I have Crohnrsquos Disease and am no longer taking any medications and no longer suffering the symptoms associated with the disease

In August of 2011 our hometown hero a Navy Seal was killed in action He was a huge inspiration to many people but after his death I was inspired to make a difference in our community and live my life differently He was a triathlete that had tackled the big daddy of them all and became an Ironman Realizing what he gave up so that we may have freedom inspired me to continue on my fitness path by

Favo

rite

wor

kout

acc

esso

ry G

arm

in Fo

reru

nner

310

XT

Wha

t get

s m

e ou

t of b

ed

My a

larm

on

my p

hone

tellin

g m

e to

get

to th

e po

ol an

d sw

im o

r a s

crea

ming

chil

d

Fam

ily amp

Frie

nds

Watch and LearnSent in from NIP Gym

Successful SAFE gains in

the gym

Available at select Hy-Vee stores

NO MSG

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GREAT STORY HERE FROM NIP amp Fitness 13 I was in the gym this morning doing shoulders A quiet red headed kid comes in and gets on the bench and starts benching His first set of 135 lbs had HORRIBLE technique and form I walk over and talk to him He tells me his name is Joe - age 17 - weight 205 and is a junior at CS High School and he just bought a membership to NIP amp Fitness He tells me two weeks ago he benched 185 lbs for a max I told him that was very good for is age but NOT for his build I knew he was stronger than that So I helped him shape up is technique and form Joe ndash LISTENED and WATCHED He learned that he was much stronger than a 185 pound max bench presser Today from LISTENING and WATCHING Joe bench pressed 225 X 2 ndash and that 185 pounds he maxed two weeks ago he finished his work out by doing that 185 pounds for seven reps Proper TECHNIQUE and FORM are the key to successful SAFE gains in the gym Today Joe was a perfect example CONGRATULATIONS Joe

Dear Freestyle Swim Stroke

13 You are so frustrating to me Why canrsquot we just get along When I made the decision to tackle this goal of completing a triathlon I was not even worried about you That has proven to be a mistake Some days things go so smooth between us and some mornings I spring out of bed at 430 so excited about our time together Today was not one of those days You left me feeling like thishellip

Like a wet wrung out old swimsuit

These are the reasons that I am so upset with you

1 You literally take my breath away

2 You make my shoulder hurt (Popcorn kernels currently on shoulder while typing)

3 You make me leave my warm cozy bed about two hours before I would really like to leave it

4 If I donrsquot get my butt out of bed and go at 430 AM I have to leave my family and go at 730 PM

Dear FreestyleBy Jen Schmitt Rockford Iowa

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pull

head position

exit

flutter-kick

recovery

(Yes we know ndash no cameras in the locker room No one was harmed in this photo shoot)

13 And to the very old man in the lane beside me I do not dislike you in-fact I am insanely jealous of you I donrsquot stare at you because of your body you may look hot if I was 75 but I am not I stare at you in awe of how effortlessly you move up and down the pool without a rest Someday I hope to be just like you

13 So for now as much as I would love to say we need to break up and go our separate ways I am too D stubborn to do that We will make this work and we are going to get along Here is my promise to you ndash I promise to meet-up with you two to three times a week for at least an hour to work on our relationship I promise not to cheat on you with the sidestroke although I am so much more comfortable with him I promise to keep an open mind about our relationship and give it all that I have just like I do with my friend the run

Love you (I think)

Jen

Dear FreestyleContinued

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pull

head position

exit

flutter-kick

recovery

Adult SwimmingBy Susan Dawson-cook

I have taught dozens of adults how to swim Many of them were initially either afraid of water or somewhat uncomfortable in the aquatic environment Whats worked best is to get in the water with them and do activities that show them it can be fun and safe I make sure they feel safe and secure the entire time and even say things like if you have trouble standing up after you take some strokes I will help you or just reach for my hand if you need support

13 Many beginners have this fear ndash if they are in the horizontal position swimming they wont be able to stand up One woman cried she was so overjoyed she overcame her fear and learned to take her first strokes

Find more of Susanrsquos writing and published works at httplivemediaFitnessDigestus

Body image and fitness are hot topics for both men and women The Great Fitness Experiment is my hilarious poignant embarrassing and at times heart-breaking journey to find my way through the morass of contradictory claims and information in todayrsquos health- and fitness-obsessed world

Available in paperback or in eBookhttpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

If you have trouble standing up after you

take some strokesone women cried

she was so overjoyed

If you would like future issues delivered to a Facebook Twitter or e-mail account e-mail us at infoFitnessDigestus

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2 Deadwood Mickelson Trail MarathonSunday June 2 2013

Deadwood South Dakota

13 On June 2nd we will celebrate 12 years of offering runners from around the globe the most unique running experience of their life Where else in the world can you run on a course that takes you from an abandoned mining town across railroad trestles through a mountain past monolithic rock formations beside a babbling creek and finish in Deadwoodhellipa town that is a historic landmark

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Written Emily WheelerFor more information amp video visit httpLIveAdsFitnessDigestus

ldquoWild West town known primarily for its gamblers gunslingers and gold minersrdquo

Hope to see you at the finish

This Wild West town known primarily for its gamblers gunslingers and gold miners has turned into one of the premiere destination marathon venues in the US

13 The breathtaking beauty of our course the truly outstanding team of volunteers the hospitality of everyone associated with the event and paying attention to details are just a couple of reasons yoursquoll want to toe the line on June 2nd

The Deadwood Mickelson Trail Half and Full Marathon is a point to point course

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ldquoThe breathtaking beauty of our courserdquo

WaynesSkiandCyclenetlive links to Waynersquos at httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

MTM Charity Partner

13 Habitat for Humanity is a global nonprofit Christian housing organization that has helped to build more than 500000 decent affordable houses and served 25 million people worldwide since its founding in 1976 With the help of volunteers and donations of money and materials Habitat constructs rehabilitates and preserves homes in partnership with low-income families in need Operating in nearly 80 countries and with more than 1500 affiliates in the United States Habitat also advocates for fair and just housing policies and provides training and access to resources to help families improve their shelter conditions

Shop for Name BrandItems 24 Hours a Day

beginning in the historic mining town of Rochford the first 15 miles are on a paved road At this point the course becomes the Mickelson Trail (a rails to trails project) The next 12 miles are a mixture of gentle uphill and flat terrain

13 Then the course is either downhill or flat and finishes at the historic Engine House at end of the linehellipthe Deadwood Trailhead The Half Marathon is also a point to point course starting at the 131 mile mark of the full marathon Walker Friendly

All participants will receive a Commemorative Finisherrsquos Medal

Mickelson Trail Marathon Charity Partner is the Black Hills Habitat for HumanityMake your Marathon Matter Matching Funds

Make your Marathon matter by helping create decent shelter in the Black Hills ndash take the challenge to give at least $1 per race mile Our goal is to raise $3000 in 2012 for BH Habitat for Humanity to help provide shelter for more families in the Black Hills

Registrations are capped at 3000 runners If you want to be part of the Deadwood Mickelson Trail Marathon Weekend celebration go to LiveAdsFitnessDigestus and click on the MTM Marathon URL

Hope to see you at the Finish Line - ThanksEmily Wheeler Wheeler Event Management Inc

ldquoHope to see you at the finish linerdquo

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links

DAY had broken cold and gray exceedingly cold and gray when the man turned aside from the main Yukon trail and climbed the high earth-bank where a dim and little traveled trail led eastward through the fat spruce timberland It was a steep bank and he paused for breath at the top excusing the act to himself by looking at his watch It was nine oclock There was no sun nor hint of sun though there was not a cloud in the sky It was a

clear day and yet there seemed an intangible pall over the face of things a subtle gloom that made the day dark and that was due to the absence of sun This fact did not worry the man He was used to the lack of sun It had been days since he had seen the sun and he knew that a few more-days must pass before that cheerful orb due south would just peep above the sky-line and dip immediately from view

To Build a Fire - Hiking the Yukon TrailShort story fiction Written by Jack London (1876-1916)

The man flung a look back along the way he had come The Yukon lay a mile wide and hidden under three feet of ice On top of this ice were as many feet of snow It was all pure white rolling in gentle undulations where the ice jams of the freeze-up had formed North and south as far as his eye could see it was unbroken white save for a dark hairline that curved and twisted from around the spruce-covered island to the south and that curved and twisted away into the north where it disappeared behind another spruce-covered island This dark hair-line was the trail--the main trail--that led south five hundred miles to the Chilcoot Pass Dyea and salt water and that led north seventy miles to Dawson and still on to the north a thousand miles to Nulato and finally to St Michael on Bering Sea a thousand miles and half a thousand more

But all this--the mysterious far-reaching hair-line trail The absence of sun from the sky the tremendous cold and the strangeness and weirdness of it all--made no

impression on the man It was not because he was long used to it He was a newcomer In the land a chechaquo and this was his first winter The trouble with him was that he was without imagination He was quick and alert in the things of life but only in the things and not in the significances Fifty degrees below zero meant eighty-odd degrees of frost Such fact impressed him as being cold and uncomfortable and that was all It did not lead him to meditate upon his frailty as a creature of temperature and upon mans frailty in general able only to live within certain narrow limits of heat and cold and from there on it did not lead him to the conjectural field of immortality and mans place in the universe Fifty degrees below zero stood forte bite of frost that hurt and that must be guarded against by the use of mittens ear-flaps warm moccasins and thick socks Fifty degrees below zero was to him just precisely fifty degrees below zero That there should be anything more to it than that was a thought that never entered his head

To Build a FireContinued

Continued on page 62

Stand Up Paddle BoardingWOWSUPIowacom on LiveAds

It is important from time to time to slow down to go away by yourself and simply be --Eileen Caddy

Letrsquos Race13 My son is eight and our family is very active Im just hitting my peak racing age of about 34 years old The family members all support each otherrsquos activities They are a great cheering section when my wife and I compete in races There is a popular two mile fun run in our town that we my wife and I run every year We also have for-fun races with the kids around the house or across the football field For years Ive let the eight year old win a few and others I win by just a little bit I think he is wising up to my tactics of good fatherhood One day he said ldquoDad you are letting me win but I think I can beat you fair and squarerdquo He added ldquoYoursquore not that fast Ill bet you 10 dollars I can beat you in a two mile racerdquo Wanting to teach him a lesson about spouting off and writing checks his body cant cash I took him up on it I said All right you pick a time and place We will race two miles for 10 dollars He replied You know that two mile race you and mom do every year I can race you then I agreed and he quickly added Ill need 20 years to warm-up That would make me 54 and him 28 Irsquom preparing for the loss and putting 10 dollars aside now

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Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

In my first creative experience it was through music and I was interested in developing my values of creativity I was inspired by a band named Motley Crue and the song that captured my interest was Home Sweet home Dear reader what inspires you Is it music or inspirational quote thought or ideas To express how this song motivated my interests it helped give me faith in my own creative abilities in the process I began to write lyrics I eventually began to work on different styles of writing and broaden my writing skills What types of music inspire your creative thoughts What types of other inspiration values inspire your creative thoughts

13 Getting motivated is one of the key aspects of a successful weight-loss program Without this motivation there would be no drive to get up early or to avoid eating unhealthy snacks ndash that you absolutely love Yes you can thank your motivation for that When you are looking for weight-loss motivation sometimes it is hard to find Where can you find that extra umph to make it to your goal

The benefits of finding a motivator are something that cannot be paralleled It has been said mind over matter This coincides with our principle that no matter how hard the task you can accomplish the goal given the right mindset It is important to go into a new weight-loss program with a positive mental attitude

FINDI

NG TH

EM X InspirationX

Motivation

When I was introduced to William Shakespeare I was intrigued by his creative values and I started to work on developing a different aspect of writing I then watched the movie Free Jack there was a quote by Albert Einstein Imagination is more important than knowledge I thought about the in depth values of both concepts and then I applied both concepts and defined different creative concept Do you believe that anything is possible if you believe I know that I do believe that if an individual believes deeply enough one can accomplish their goals I had to believe in my own abilities and in my dreams and ignore the negative values that were impressed by others

Anything less can potentially hinder growth towards your goal

Some of the things that you should be thinking about when looking for motivators are people with good morals and a positive attitude This is because if the people helping you do not have a positive attitude then it is also difficult for you Some great places to look for a motivator are online blogs in the gym or even in your own family I am sure that in all of these places you will see someone else trying to accomplish the same or even more difficult goals than your own

Another key to finding motivation is to let it find you You should not have to go find a reason to go do something You will do it because you wanted to not because you were forced to

X

InspirationMotivation

More simply put motivation will find you because you will see something that inspires you to make a change in yourself That change may be a weight-loss goal or something else Maybe even an academic goal The true key is to maintain that motivation until you have achieved your goal

Regards Vincent ErrichielloUSMS Swimmer

InspirationMotivation

With believing so deeply within my own abilities and the faith that I could accomplish what I set out to achieve I wrote a lyric titled Dreams Are Only Real and in believing in this concept further defining its true meaning the concept became Dreams Are Only Real Until You Dont believe

Jeremy J TaylorCNFI Publishing

himTHROWINGWritten by anonymous contributor

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13 Johnny is not the best batter in our little league Matter-of-fact he is quiet awful At practice one afternoon Johnny hit a pitch really well The coach had pitched him inside on accident far enough inside that it almost hit him Johnny got his hit by using his bat to defend himself from that arrant pitch The coach told him ldquogood hitrdquo and Johnny yelled back ldquoWell I didnrsquot want the ball to hit merdquo13 Johnny improved his batting after that He was hitting the ball almost every time he got up At one point I said to coach ldquoHow did you get Johnny to improve his batting so quicklyrdquo He replyed Im throwing the ball it AT HIM every time

Body image and fitness are hot topics for both men and women The Great Fitness Experiment is my hilarious poignant embarrassing and at times heart-breaking journey to find my way through the morass of contradictory claims and information in todayrsquos health- and fitness-obsessed world

Available in paperback or in eBookVisit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

wwwnorthiafitnesscom on LiveAdsEmail northiowafitnessgmailcom

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entryFitnessDigestus

Send u

s yo

ur T

-shi

rt

READE

R T

-shi

rts

13 I was standing on shore fishing in my favorite spot A guy Irsquove never seen at the pond gets in and starts swimming After about 25 minutes of back and forth he stops at a place about 30 yards off shore He gives me a quick look and dices down below the water

His next lap he stops in the same place looks at me again and points down at the water He finished his swim and left I picked up my gear and moved to the other side of the outlet just a few yards from where he had stopped twice Caught a lunker in the first cast

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TOP TWEETS

Iowa Cubs (IowaCubs)Thanks to all our fans who showed up for the pre-game on-field catch with dad

Louise Pineda (forerunnerGPS)The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficultyWinston Churchill quotes

Softball Darlin (Softball_Darlin)My mom told me our team was gettin white uniforms for summer amp to try not to get them dirty Uh Have you seen me play Not gonna happen

I Swim I Suffer (ISwimISuffer)thatswimmerwho If the water is in your right ear for example then jump on your right leg and lean your head to the right side while jumping

I Swim and I Know It (iSwimWithIssues)During the summer you shower 467 times at the pool 17 times at hotels and 3 times at your house Truth

Everyday Health (WomensCancer)63000 Americans will be diagnosed w malignant melanoma (the deadliest skin cancer) this year Know your risk

US Paralympics (USParalympics)Want to be introduced to Paralympic sport Attend one of the Paralympic Experiences being held throughout the countryFi

tnes

sDig

est

US v

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2

SwimSwam (swimswamnews)Congrats to KenyaSwimmer on being selected to carry the Kenya flag swimswamcom

Better than sharing on a blog Twitter or Facebook and you can share a story even if you donrsquot maintain a social-web presencePublished for ALL FitnessDigestus readers

Sign with your real name pen-name or anonymoushttpLiveMediaFitnessDigestus

13 Funnest thing SPAM about some weight-loss supplements got posted on a friendrsquos Facebook My friend is an ultra-runner I notice there was also an ad for salami recipes on the same page The recipes were right next to the SPAM about diet-pills

13 Letrsquos see ndash it sounds like the beginning of a good joke Q What do you get when a friend tries to sell you ultra-runner endorsed salami-flavored-SPAM diet-pills on Facebook Answer Sick

Unsung Heroes1 Irsquove never swam open water and wanted to do a triathlon A friend that

races open water took extra time to swim with me at a lake I was much more comfortable after that

2 I was going on vacation and needed advice on a place to swim A friend living in the area took the time to help me find people to answer my questions

3 I was over eating and had complained to my friend about it She called me twice a day for three weeks just to remind me to eat healthy

4 I usually run to and from the gym It takes about 30 minutes to run both ways I didnrsquot have enough time to get there and back before a scheduled appointment I had A friend drove me to the gym saving me about 30 minutes I was able to run home and still had time to get to my appointment

SPAM DIET

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Visit the Suburban Mommy blog and learn more about AtresiaMicrotia a birth defect of the inner earFor links to SubMommy blog httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

SUBMOMMYBLOG

On Wednesday May 16 2012 at 7 PM simultaneous rides occurred around the

USA and the world

We all ride Now we can ride as one

One day One time One world world wide

Let the silence roar

322 locations world wide

The Ride of SilenceTonight we number many but ride as one

In honor of those not with us friends

mothers fathers sisters sons

With helmets on tight and heads down low

We ride in silence cautious and slow

The wheels start spinning in the lead pack

But tonight we ride and no one attacks

The dark sunglasses cover our tears

Remembering those we held so dear

Tonights ride is to make others aware

The road is there for all to share

To those not with us or by our side

May God be your partner on your final ride

- Mike Murgas

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 50 states

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 7 Continents

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 0 words spoken

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 1 million memories

Ride of Silence

ldquoCost-effective investments in bicycling boost our economy help individuals and government agencies save money and directly address key societal challenges such as obesity and road congestion In these tough economic times our federal government can only afford to invest in solutions that solve multiple problems Bicycling fits the billrdquo ndash PeopleForBikesorg

This photo collection was taken byRobert LaVallee of Mason City IA

To see his entire collection visithttpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

Non-subscriberSign-up for delivery of

the FREE edition at coopnetbiz

It provides an outstanding aerobic workout in less than half the time we would spend in still water It has allowed us as swim coaches to observe swimmers stroke characteristics up close and to see the effects of fatigue on stroke mechanics ~ Larry L Chazy NY

Swimming is an excellent exercise and now I can swim every day because its so convenient and private I can swim when I want and how long I want Im able to have it at a temperature that is comfortable to me The small size of an Endless Pool enabled me to install a pool where I could not install a regular size one

As an aging baby boomer nutrition professional I have yearned for consistent exercise that doesnt stress joints and will enable me to attain physical fitness cardiovascular health and weight control I can eat what I want and still firm up and lose weight ~ John C Columbus OH

Endless Pools make for long swims in small places The 8x15 Endless Pool is less than regulation size but offers the same benefits as a very large pool ~ Noah H Connecticut Post

The Endless Pool is a great strength builder I am amazed at the strength of the current I now swim against I did not buy it for that reason but because of my arthritis so the strength gain is a wonderful surprise

Endless PoolsTestimonials For more information visit httpLIveAdsFitnessDigestus

s w i m m i n g s h o r t s

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Baseball Walking Stick13 My sons friend grabbed his baseball bat and said to me this is my walking stick I politely ask him why he calls it that He replied because my dad says if I hit a home run with it I donrsquot have to run the bases ndash I can walk

My Bike My mountain bike was stolen a while back and my kids were really upset Ive been riding my road bike in its place Since then Ive been careful to lock my bike up when we go to the park

13 On this occasion I did not lock-up my sonrsquos bike up with mine He looked at me quizzically and said sternly lock my bike up too I tried to explain that his bike was not as expensive and therefor didnt need to be locked up Boy that was a mistake He made me feel a little dumb when he said Dad I dont care how expensive it is Its the only bike Irsquove got

North Iowa Roads

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A LEADER inSearch Engine Optimization

Technology

Increase your visitor page views and Facebook Likes

Are you moving to a new state Already hired your mover

E-mail blind box at box02FitnessDigestus will get

you the best rates on cable phone and internet

Digital Movers

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

parent sports tipBy FitnessDigestus staff writer JGA

PAR

EN

T

TIP

Keeping Kids Focused13 Organize their thoughts Help them prioritize and make decisions based on value Even kids can understand the value of simple non-monetized choices Questions like ldquoShould I finish playing my gameboy game or pause it when they call my swimming eventrdquo

If kids are taught to make good decisions and not just find quick answers everyone wins

AugustGolf Month5th Friendship Day15th Relaxation Day25th Kiss and Make Up Day31st Trail Mix DaySeptemberLittle League Month12th Chocolate Milk Shake Day13th Positive Thinking Day16th Womenrsquos Friendship Day21st Miniature Golf DayOctoberBreast Cancer Awareness MonthNational Diabetes Month1st World Vegetarian Day4th Golf Day25th World Pasta Day

National Calendar

Au

gu

stSe

pte

mb

er

Oc

tob

er

Encourage friendships writing skills sharing thoughts and

experiencesEight different cards

YAGOTTAWANNA

Variety of pricing From single orders to bulk orders of 24 notecards

Learn more online

Stay in touch with your swimming or triathlon buddies

It is better to be safe then to try to beat the heat There are many options to stay cool and run during a hot-summer day Staying inside and running on the treadmill is a good one Remember staying safe is a top priority

Most workouts can be modified to work indoors This issuersquos workout is to do your usual run or interval set just stay inside and run it on the treadmill Visualize the different landmarks to see during your outdoor run

Coach Millerrsquos Quarterly ChallengeStay safe in the heatBy Mark Miller mmillerFitnessDigestus

A few years back we had a hot-spell similar to this yearrsquos record heat

I remember training for a long run and having to stop at the local swimming hole to cool off I literally took off my

shoes and jumped in with my running clothes on I was so hot

FitnessDigestUSEntertainment amp Inspiration

Use coupon codeldquoRAMCSPRrdquo

at puresportshopcomfor 20 OFF

Nutritional Performance Sports Drinks with Protein

OPEN WATER SWIMMING BY THE NUMBERS

In kilometers The shortest open water race included in the Fina World Championships

10107 How many miles it

is to swim from Cuba to the USA

5

1000Number of swimming strokes in a mile for a typical swimmer

31800About the number of calories it takes to swim 100 miles

LOCATED IN ST ANSGAR IOWA

Business Cards Envelopes

Letterheads Programs

Vinyl Decals Signs

Posters Invites (graduation wedding showers etc)

Flyers Brochures

T-ShirtsShorts SweatshirtsSweats

Koozies Sashes

Business Forms Placemats

Postcards And Much More

Bridgette Beyer DesignerOwner

Bring your ideas in andVisual Aspect Designs can print

andor design for you

The minimum open water distance in kilometers that is considered a swimming-

marathon

On Facebook Visit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

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Open water safety means swimming in shallow water where there is a lifeguard or using an escort

Shop for Name BrandGear

24 Hoursa Day

WaynesSkiandCyclenet

For links to Waynersquos visit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

s w i m m i n g s h o r t s

Googles

13 Swimming fans can really appreciate a 200 IM when their goggles fill with water How about an Olympian Swimming a leg of the 400 Free Relay with his goggles across his opened mouth ndash and going 45rsquos A great team swimmer an Olympian wouldnrsquot let down his teammates by throwing them off or fixing them

500 Fly13 A world class butterflyer asked if he could swim butterfly in the 500 yard freestyle during a dual meet His goal was to break five minutes After considering the competition it seemed like a great way to make him really work a hard fly swim so we agreed Problem was he swam a 502 and the opposing coach complained to the officials because he embarrassed his swimmers Oh well you canrsquot win lsquoem all

Stories sent in by Robert Steele

No-No-No13 The other morning I was teaching front-streamlines to snotty nosed 8 year olds (some are literally snotty-nosed) One boy was taking a big gulp of air and holding his breath When he lifted his head he had to exhale and inhale before submerging again Swimmers will understand this does not work very well Kids need to learn to exhale underwater The first time he did it I told him to exhale underwater The second time I stopped him looked him in the eye and reminded him to exhale underwater The third and fourth times I started to get a little frustrated ldquoJohnny you need to exhale underwater so you can breath betterrdquo The fifth time as his head popped up for a breath I quickly asked ldquoJohnny Do you even know what exhale meansrdquo as he submerged his head below the water I could see him shake his head no-no-no

Favorite Potato Chips13We try to limit the junk food the kids eat at our house For lunch one day our son wanted some potato chips I gave him 3 large chips with his sandwich He started to cry and said he wanted one more chip ldquoI wanted four chipsrdquo he screamed I took the plate back When he wasnt looking I broke a chip in half and give it back to him with four chips

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

13 My cancer story is one of uniqueness Leave it to me to do something like cancer to its fullest It did not begin with a mammogram diagnosis or a lump My journey began about 4 years ago with some suspicious activity that turned into Pagetrsquos disease of the nipple which signaled the underlying cancer On April 1st I found out about my breast cancer through a biopsy that came back as positive for Pagetrsquos disease The onslaught of tests learning and decisions were dizzying I immediately went for an evaluation of the suspicious tissue and had to begin making decisions for my mastectomy I quickly learned there is a test called the BRAC Analysis which is a genetic test for breast and ovarian cancer Finally a piece of good news for me I did not have the gene

Decisions Now it was time to make decisions about my mastectomy and how I was going to handle reconstruction I discussed my options with my boyfriend Brian friends family members and even my principalboss I read books searched the Internet and contacted people I

Brandi ShipmanCancer Survivor and elite triathlete

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

know and knew from my past that had been directly affected and that I thought might have answers for me The outpouring of love encouragement and help during this process was overwhelming After meeting with four different doctors two surgeons and two plastic surgeons I decided to go with immediate reconstruction and was lucky enough to find two wonderful doctors They were willing to work together just because I wanted them to even though they had never done so before My surgery was scheduled for mid May

Mental Toughness13 My mental preparation at this point was very important I had to scrap any idea of competing in triathlons for the rest of the year and focus on a positive attitude of getting better I stopped thinking about what I wasnrsquot going to able to do and started thinking about what I could do that I was alive and kept my mind on the fact that so many others had made it before me

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links

Part 213 I was prepared by the doctors survivors and literature to be ldquodownrdquo for several weeks after my surgery I even took the rest of the school year off My surgery went well and I was out of the hospital the next day A few friends came to visit while I was in the hospital and my principal and vice principal brought the most wonderful picture of the faculty wearing pink for me I can only imagine what it looked like at Thornton Elementary on that day in May 2009 a sea of pink all for Brandi Shipman Shortly after their visit I received a text from my friend Margie Massey My friends from the gym wore pink for me that day as well The support brought tears to my eyes I was so excited to come home and be comfortable in my own home I just wish the stupid drain that was attached could have stayed at the hospital The pain from that was worse than the pain from the mastectomy

the most

powerful picture

13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Recovery ndash May13 Once I got home I slept and watched a lot of TV Friends visited and brought yummy food and my favorites I am not supposed to eat I ate them all My friend and co-worker set up a cancer care calendar that alerted anyone who logged on when I was having a doctorrsquos appointment or when I was in need of anything I felt like royalty as everyone took care of me I think Brian secretly enjoyed the fact that he wouldnrsquot have to cook for me each night My recovery was quicker than I thought as I was doing my best to get better and get the stinkinrsquo drain out of my skin I was out walking within a week and running within 3 weeks I couldnrsquot believe my recovery I know it was from all the prayers love and good care from Brian and the loved ones around me Life was looking better each day

ldquoLife was looking

better each dayrdquo

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Part three and part

four of I am Survivor

will be published in

the next edition of

FitnessDigestus

Get the convenience of

digital-delivery

Sign-up or subscribe at

httpFitnessDigestus

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During the past 150 years we have witnessed many remarkable advances against cancer a disease known to humanity for thousands of years The advances highlighted below represent a sampling of what has been accomplished to date

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

1882 William Halsted performs the first radical mastectomy to treat breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast the lymph nodes under the arm (axillary lymph nodes) and the chest muscles behind the breast (pectoralis major and pectoralis minor muscles) are removed Radical mastectomy will remain the standard operation for breast cancer until latter half of the 20th century when the use of modified radical mastectomy becomes widely accepted

1932 David H Patey develops the modified radical mastectomy for breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast axillary lymph nodes and pectoralis minor muscle behind the breast are removed The modified radical mastectomy is less disfiguring than the radical mastectomy and will eventually replace the radical mastectomy as a standard treatment option for breast cancer

1953 James Watson and Francis Crick discover the molecular structure of DNA (the double helix)

1963 The Health Insurance Plan (HIP) of Greater New York Study begins HIP is the first randomized controlled trial of periodic breast cancer screening with mammography

1882

1932

1953

1963

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1976 The results of a randomized clinical trial show that women with early breast cancer who receive post-operative (adjuvant) combination chemotherapy with the drugs cyclophosphamide methotrexate and 5-FU have improved disease-free survival

1981 A randomized clinical trial in the United Kingdom shows for the first time that the rates of survival local recurrence and tumor metastasis among women whose breast cancer is treated with modified radical mastectomy are not substantially different from those of women who are treated with radical mastectomy

1993 An NCI-convened international workshop on screening for breast cancer reports that screening with mammography reduces breast cancer mortality among women ages 50-69 This conclusion is based on a review of published and unpublished data from eight randomized controlled trials

2004 Data from the Womens Health Initiative (WHI) study show that women who take estrogen in combination with the hormone progestin have a greater risk of developing breast cancer than women who take estrogen alone The results also show that menopausal hormone therapy with estrogen alone has no benefit in disease prevention specifically in reducing the risks of colorectal cancer coronary heart disease and dementia

1976

1981

1993

2004

Although we still have a long way to go to reduce the toll of cancer in the United States and worldwide our research and public health efforts are beginning to pay dividends

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

Volunteering vs Participating13 My girl friend and I are involved in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation The local chapter raises awareness for the cause with a fun-run each year We have volunteered to help with the race five years in a row This year we were stationed at a water table where the runners pick-up cups of water to drink Toward the end of the race there are very few runners There was a little time to chat about things We were talking about what we would wish for if we could have three wishes I told her I would wish for an end to Juvenile Diabetes and to lose 10 pounds Being nice I said ldquoyou can have my last wishrdquo She said I wish you would skip volunteering and just run this race next year

Admission Price Our aquatic center was having a promotion one night and advertised an elementary school night The kids could swim for free When we got to the pool we saw a promotional sign for the event In small lettering it read All swimmers must be accompanied by an adult We thought no big deal one of us can just stay and watch When we got to the front desk we found the lifeguard was enforcing the adult-admission price of $8

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CNFI Publishing - Products Books Chapbooks Bookmarks Plaques and Poetry Collector Cards Merchandising Products Coffee Mugs Mouse Pads Tiles 3x6 Coasters T - Shirts and Wall Plaques More info athttpliveadsFitnessDigestus

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

Featured PhotosFitnessDigestus feature

Chicago open water swim course at nighttop left

Kids race at Bicycle Blues and BBQtop right

Some team members volunteer at the local soup kitchenmiddle right

Ken Mauer loads the balls for hitting practice during a Twins baseball camp for

children 7-13 bottom right

Get your local event photos published in the next issue of FitnessDigestus E-mail

your photo to photoFitnessDigestus

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As he turned to go on he spat speculatively There was a sharp explosive crackle that startled him He spat again And again in the air before it could fall to the snow the spittle crackled He knew that at fifty below spittle crackled on the snow but this spittle had crackled in the air Undoubtedly it was colder than fifty below--how much colder he did not know But the temperature did not matter He was bound for the old claim on the left fork of Henderson Creek where the boys were already They had come over across the divide from the Indian Creek country while he had come the roundabout way to take a look at the possibilities of getting out logs in the spring from the islands in the Yukon He would be in to camp by six oclock a bit after dark it was true but the boys would be there a fire would be going and a hot supper would be ready As for lunch he pressed his hand against the protruding bundle under his jacket It was also under his shirt wrapped up in a handkerchief and lying against the naked skin It was the only way to keep the biscuits from freezing He smiled agreeably to himself as he thought of those biscuits each cut open and sopped in bacon grease and each enclosing a generous slice of fried bacon

He plunged in among the big spruce trees The trail was faint A foot of snow had fallen since the last sled had passed over and he was glad he was without a sled traveling light In fact he carried nothing but the lunch wrapped in the handkerchief He was surprised however at the cold It certainly was cold he concluded as he rubbed his numb nose and cheek-bones with his mittened hand He was a warm-whiskered man but the hair on his face did not protect the high cheek-bones and the eager nose that thrust itself aggressively into the frosty air

At the mans heels trotted a dog a big native husky the proper wolf-dog gray-coated and without any visible or temperamental difference from its brother the wild wolf The animal was depressed by the tremendous cold It knew that it was no time for

traveling Its instinct told it a truer tale than was told to the man by the mans judgment In reality it was not merely colder than fifty below zero it was colder than sixty below than seventy below It was seventy-five below zero Since the freezing point is thirty-two above zero it meant that one hundred and seven degrees of frost obtained The dog did not know anything about thermometers Possibly in its brain there was no sharp consciousness of a condition of very cold such as was in the mans brain But the brute had its instinct It experienced a vague but menacing apprehension that subdued it then made it slink along at the mans heels and that made it question eagerly every unwonted movement of the man as if expecting him to go into camp or to seek shelter somewhere and build a fire The dog had learned fire and it wanted fire or else to burrow under the snow and cuddle its warmth away from the air

The frozen moisture of its breathing had settled on its fur in a fine powder of frost and especially were its jowls muzzle and eyelashes whitened by its cry-stalled breath The mans red beard and mustache were likewise frosted but more solidly the deposit taking the form of ice and increasing with every warm moist breath he exhaled Also the man was chewing tobacco and the muzzle of ice held his lips so rigidly that he was unable to clear his chin when he expelled the juice The result was that a crystal beard of the color and solidity of amber was increasing its length on his chin If he fell down it would shatter itself like glass into brittle fragments But he did not mind the appendage It was the penalty all tobacco-chewers paid in that country and he had been out before in two cold snaps They had not been so cold as this he knew but by the spirit thermometer at Sixty Mile he knew they had been registered at fifty below and at fifty-five

He held on through the level stretch of woods for several miles crossed a wide flat of rigger-heads and dropped down a bank to the frozen bed of a

To Build a FireContinued

small stream This was Henderson Creek and he knew he was ten miles from the forks He looked at his watch It was ten oclock He was making four miles an hour and he calculated that he would arrive at the forks at half-past twelve He decided to celebrate that event by eating his lunch there

The dog dropped in again at his heels with a tail drooping discouragement as the man swung along the creek-bed The furrow of the old sled-trail was plainly visible but a dozen inches of snow covered the marks of the last runners In a month no man had come up or down that silent creek The man held steadily on He was not much given to thinking and just then particularly he had nothing to think about save that he would eat lunch at-the forks and that at six oclock he would be in camp with the boys There was nobody to talk to and had there been speech would have been impossible because of the ice-muzzle on his mouth So he continued monotonously to chew tobacco and to increase the length of his amber beard

Once in a while the thought reiterated itself that it was very cold and that he had never experienced such cold As he walked along he rubbed his cheek-bones and nose with the back of his mittened hand He did this automatically now and again changing hands But rub as he would the instant he stopped his cheek-bones went numb and the following instant the end of his nose went numb He was sure to frost his cheeks he knew that and experienced a pang of regret that he had not devised a nose-strap of the sort Bud wore in cold snaps Such a strap passed across the cheeks as well and saved them But it didnt matter much after all What were frosted cheeks A bit painful that was all they were never serious

Empty as the mans mind was of thoughts he was keenly observant and he noticed the changes in the creek the curves and bends and timber jams and always he sharply noted where he placed his feet Once coming around a bend he shied abruptly

like a startled horse curved away from the place where he had been walking and retreated several paces back along the trail The creek he knew was frozen clear to the bottom--no creek could contain water in that arctic winter--but he knew also that there were springs that bubbled out from the hillsides and ran along under the snow and on top the ice of the creek He knew that the coldest snaps never froze these springs and he knew likewise their danger They were traps They hid pools of water under the snow that might be three inches deep or three feet Sometimes a skin of ice half an inch thick covered them and in turn was covered by the snow Sometimes there were alternate layers of water and ice-skin so that when one broke through he kept on breaking through for a while sometimes wetting himself to the waist

That was why he had shied in such panic He had felt the give under his feet and heard the crackle of a snow-hidden ice-skin And to get his feet wet in such a temperature meant trouble and danger At the very least it meant delay for he would be forced to stop and build a fire and under its protection to bare his feet while he dried his socks and moccasins He stood and studied the creek-bed and its banks and decided that the flow of water came from the right He reflected a while rubbing his nose and cheeks then skirted to the left stepping gingerly and testing the footing for each step Once clear of the danger he took a fresh chew of tobacco and swung along at his four-mile gait

In the course of the next two hours he came upon several similar traps Usually the snow above the hidden pools had a sunken candied appearance that advertised the danger Once again however he had a close call and once suspecting danger he compelled the dog to go on in front The dog did not want to go It hung back until the man shoved it forward and then it went quickly across the white unbroken surface Suddenly it broke through floundered to one side and got away to firmer

To Build a FireContinued

To Build a FireContinued

footing It had wet its forefeet and legs and almost immediately the water that clung to it turned to ice It made quick efforts to lick the ice off its legs then dropped down in the snow and began to bite out the ice that had formed between the toes l his was a matter of instinct To permit the ice to remain would mean sore feet It did not know this It merely obeyed the mysterious prompting that arose from the deep crypts of its being But the man knew having achieved a judgment on the subject and he removed the mitten from his right hand and helped tear out the ice-particles He did not expose his fingers more than a minute and was astonished at the swift numbness that smote them It certainly was cold He pulled on the mitten hastily and beat the hand savagely across his chest

At twelve oclock the day was at its brightest Yet the sun was too far south an its winter journey to clear the horizon The bulge of the earth intervened between it arid Henderson Creek where the man walked under a clear sky at noon and cast no shadow At half-past twelve to the minute he arrived at the forks of the creek He was pleased at the speed he had made If he kept it up he would certainly be with the boys by six He unbuttoned his jacket and shirt and drew forth his lunch The action consumed no more than a quarter of a minute yet in that brief moment the numbness laid hold of the exposed fingers He did not put the mitten on but instead struck the fingers a dozen sharp smashes against his leg Then he sat down on a snow-covered log to eat The sting that followed upon the striking of his fingers against his leg ceased so quickly that he was startled He had had no chance to take a bite of biscuit He struck the fingers repeatedly and returned them to the mitten baring the other hand for the purpose of eating He tried to take a mouthful but the ice-muzzle prevented He had forgotten to build a fire and thaw out He chuckled at his foolishness and as he chuckled he noted the numbness creeping into the exposed fingers Also he noted that the stinging which had first come to his

toes when he sat down was already passing away He wandered whether the toes were warm or numb He moved them inside the moccasins and decided that they were numb

He pulled the mitten on hurriedly and stood up He was a bit frightened He stamped up and down until the stinging returned into the feet It certainly was cold was his thought That man from Sulphur Creek had spoken the truth when telling how cold it sometimes got in the country And he had laughed at him at the time That showed one must not be too sure of things There was no mistake about it it was cold He strode up and down stamping his feet and threshing his arms until reassured by the returning warmth Then he got out matches and proceeded to make a fire From the undergrowth where high water of the previous spring had lodged a supply of seasoned twigs he got his firewood Working carefully from a small beginning he soon had a roaring fire over which he thawed the ice from his face and in the protection of which he ate his biscuits For the moment the cold space was outwitted The dog took satisfaction in the fire stretching out close enough for warmth and far enough away to escape being singed

When the man had finished be filled his pipe and took his comfortable time over a smoke Then he pulled on his mittens settled the ear-flaps of his cap firmly about his ears and took the creek trail up the left fork The dog was disappointed and yearned back toward the fire This man did not know cold Possibly all the generations of his ancestry had been ignorant of cold of real cold of cold one hundred and seven degrees below freezing point But the dog knew all its ancestry knew and it had inherited the knowledge And it knew that it was not good to walk abroad in such fearful cold It was the time to lie snug in a hole in the snow and wait for a curtain of cloud to be drawn across the face of outer space whence this cold came On the other hand there was no keen intimacy between the dog and the man

The one was the toil-slave of the other and the only caresses it had ever received were the caresses of the whiplash and of harsh and menacing throat-sounds that threatened the whiplash So the dog made no effort to communicate its apprehension to the man It was not concerned in the welfare of the man it was for its own sake that it yearned back toward the fire But the man whistled and spoke to it with the sound of whiplashes and the dog swung in at the mans heel and followed after

The man took a chew of tobacco and proceeded to start a new amber beard Also his moist breath quickly powdered with white his mustache eyebrows and lashes There did not seem to be so many springs on the left fork of the Henderson and for half an hour the man saw no signs of any And then it happened At a place where there were no signs where the soft unbroken snow seemed to advertise solidity beneath tee man broke through It was not deep He wet himself halfway to the knees before he floundered out to the firm crust

He was angry and cursed his luck aloud He had hoped to get into camp with the boys at six oclock and this would delay him an hour for he would have to build a fire and dry out his foot-gear This was imperative at that low temperature--he knew that much and he turned aside to the bank which he climbed On top tangled in the underbrush about the trunks of several small spruce trees was a high-water deposit of dry firewood--sticks and twigs principally but also larger portions of seasoned branches and fine dry last-years grasses He threw down several large pieces on top of the snow This served for a foundation and prevented the young flame from drowning itself in the snow it otherwise would melt The flame he got by touching a match to a small shred of birch bark that he took from his pocket This burned even more readily than paper Placing it on the foundation he fed the young flame with wisps of dry grass and with the tiniest dry twigs

He worked slowly and carefully keenly aware of his danger Gradually as the flame grew stronger he increased the size of the twigs with which he fed it He squatted in the snow pulling the twigs out from their entanglement in the brush and feeding directly to the flame He knew there must be no failure When it is seventy-five below zero a man must not fail in his first attempt to build a fire--that is if his feet are wet If his feet are dry and he fails he can run along the trail for half a mile and restore his circulation But the circulation of wet and freezing feet cannot be restored by running when it is seventy-five below No matter how fast he runs the wet feet will freeze the harder

All this the man knew The old-timer on Sulphur Creek had told him about it the previous fall and now he was appreciating the advice Already all sensation had gone out of his feet To build the fire he had been forced to remove his mittens and the fingers had quickly gone numb His pace of four miles an hour had kept his heart pumping blood to the surface of his body and to all the extremities But the instant he stopped the action of the pump eased down The cold of space smote the unprotected tip of the planet and he being on that unprotected tip received the full force of the blow The blood of his body recoiled before it The blood was alive like the dog and like the dog it wanted to hide away and cover itself up from the fearful cold So long as he walked four miles an hour he pumped that blood willy-nilly to the surface but now it ebbed away and sank down into the recesses of his body The extremities were the first to feel its absence His wet feet froze the faster and his exposed fingers numbed the faster though they had not yet begun to freeze Nose and cheeks were already freezing while the skin of all his body chilled as it lost its blood

But he was safe Toes and nose and cheeks would be only touched by the frost for the fire was beginning to burn with strength He was feeding it

To Build a FireContinued

with twigs the size of his finger In another minute he would be able to feed it with branches the size of his wrier and then he could remove his wet toot-gear and while it dried he could keep his naked feet warm by the fire rubbing them at first of course with snow The fire was a success He was safe He remembered the advice of the old timer on Sulphur Creek and smiled The old-timer had been very serious in laying down the law that no man must travel alone in the Klondike after fifty below Well here he was he had had the accident he was alone and he had saved himself Those old-timers were rather womanish some of them he thought All a man had to do was to keep his head and he was all right Any man who was a man could travel alone But it was surprising the rapidity with which his cheeks and nose were freezing And he had not thought his fingers could go lifeless in so short a time Lifeless they were for he could scarcely make them move together to grip a twig and they seemed remote from his body and from him When he touched a twig he had to look and see whether or not he had hold of it The wires were pretty well down between him and his finger-ends

All of which counted for little There was the fire snapping and crackling and promising life with every dancing flame He started to untie his moccasins They were coated with ice the thick German socks were like sheaths of iron halfway to the knees and the moccasin strings were like rods of steel all twisted and knotted as by some conflagration For a moment he tugged with his numb fingers then realizing the folly of it he drew his sheath-knife

But before he could cut the strings it happened It was his own fault or rather his mistake He should not have built the fire under the spruce tree He should have built it in the open But it had been easier to pull the twigs from the brush and drop them directly on the fire Now the tree under which

he had done this carried a weight of snow on its boughs No wind had blown for weeks and each bough was fully freighted Each time he had pulled a twig he had communicated a slight agitation to the tree--an imperceptible agitation so far as he was concerned but an agitation sufficient to bring about the disaster High up in the tree one bough capsized its load of snow This fell on the boughs beneath capsizing them This process continued spreading out and involving the whole tree It grew like an avalanche and it descended without warning upon the man and the fire and the fire was blotted out Where it had burned was a mantle of fresh and disordered snow

The man was shocked It was as though he had just heard his own sentence of death For a moment he sat and stared at the spot where the fire had been Then he grew very calm Perhaps the old-timer on Sulphur Creek was right If he had only had a trail-mate he would have been in no danger now The trail-mate could have built the fire Well it was up to him to build the fire over again and this second time there must be no failure Even if he succeeded he would most likely lose some toes His feet must be badly frozen by now and there would be some time before the second fire Was ready

Such were his thoughts but he did not sit and think them He was busy all the time they were passing through his mind He made a new foundation for a fire this time in the open where no treacherous tree could blot it out Next he gathered dry grasses and tiny twigs from the high-water flotsam He could not bring his fingers together to pull them out but he was able to gather them by the handful In this way he got many rotten twigs and bits of green moss that were undesirable but it was the best he could do He worked methodically even collecting an armful of the larger branches to be used later when the fire gathered strength And all the while the dog sat and watched him a certain yearning wistfulness in its eyes for it looked upon

To Build a FireContinued

him as the fire-provider and the fire was slow in coming

When all was ready the man reached in his pocket for a second piece of birch bark He knew the bark was there and though he could not feel it with his fingers he could hear its crisp rustling as he fumbled for it Try as he would he could not clutch hold of it And all the time in his consciousness was the knowledge that each instant his feet were freezing This thought tended to put him in a panic but he fought against it and kept calm He pulled on his mittens with his teeth and threshed his arms back and forth beating his hands with all his might against his sides He did this sitting down and he stood up to do it and all the while the dog sat in the snow its wolf-brush of a tail curled around warmly over its forefeet its sharp wolf-ears pricked forward intently as it watched the man And the man as he beat and threshed with his arms and hands felt a great surge of envy as he regarded the creature that was warm ant secure in its natural covering

After a time he was aware of the first far-away signals of sensation in his beaten fingers The faint tingling grew stronger till it evolved into a stinging ache that was excruciating but which the man hailed with satisfaction He stripped the mitten from his right hand and fetched forth the birch bark The exposed fingers were quickly going numb again Next he brought out his bunch of sulphur matches But the tremendous cold had already driven the life out of his fingers In his effort to separate one match from the others the whole bunch fell in the snow He tried to pick it out of the snow but failed The dead fingers could neither touch nor clutch He was very careful He drove the thought of his freezing feet and nose and cheeks out of his mind devoting his whole soul to the matches He watched using the sense of vision in place of that of touch and when he saw his fingers on each side the bunch he dosed them--that is he willed to close them for the wires were down and the fingers did not obey He pulled

the mitten on the right hand and beat it fiercely against his knee Then with both mittened hands he scooped the bunch of matches along with much snow into his lap Yet he was no better off

After some manipulation he managed to get the bunch between the heels of his mittened hands In this fashion he carried it to his mouth The ice crackled and snapped when by a violent effort he opened his mouth He drew the lower jaw in curled the upper lip out of the way and scraped the bunch with his upper teeth in order to separate a match He succeeded in getting one which he dropped on his lap He was no better off He could not pick it up Then he devised a way He picked it up in his teeth and scratched it on his leg Twenty times he scratched before he succeeded in lighting it As it flamed he held it with his teeth to the birch bark But the burning brimstone went up his nostrils and into his lungs causing him to cough spasmodically The match fell into the snow and went out

The old-timer an Sulphur Creek was right he thought in the moment of controlled despair that ensued after fifty below a man should travel with a partner He beat his hands but failed in exciting any sensation Suddenly he bared both hands removing the mittens with his teeth He caught the whole bunch between the heels of his hands His arm muscles not being frozen enabled him to press the hand-heels tightly against the matches Then he scratched the bunch along his leg It flared into flame seventy sulphur matches at once There was no wind to blow them out He kept his head to one side to escape the strangling fumes and held the blazing bunch to the birth bark As he so held it he became aware of sensation in his hand His flesh was burning He could smell it Deep down below the surface he could feel it The sensation developed into pain that grew acute And still he endured it holding the flame of the matches clumsily to the bark that would not light readily because his own burning hands were in the way absorbing most of the flame

To Build a FireContinued

At last when he could endure no more he jerked his hands apart The blazing matches fell sizzling into the snow but the birch bark was alight He began laying dry grasses and the tiniest twigs on the flame He could not pick and choose for he had to lift the fuel between the heels of his hands Small pieces of rotten wood and green moss clung to the twigs and he bit them off as well as he could with his teeth He cherished the flame carefully and awkwardly It meant life and it must not perish The withdrawal of blood from the surface of his body now made him begin to shiver and he grew more awkward A large piece of green moss fell squarely on the little fire He tried to poke it out with his fingers but his shivering frame made him poke too far and he disrupted the nucleus of the little fire the burning grasses and tiny twigs separating and scattering He tried to poke them together again but in spite of the tenseness of the effort his shivering got away with him and the twigs were hopelessly scattered Each twig gushed a puff of smoke and went out The fire-provider had failed As he looked apathetically about him his eyes chanced on the dog sitting across the ruins of the fire from him in the snow making restless hunching movements slightly lifting one forefoot and then the other shifting its weight back and forth on them with wistful eagerness

The sight of the dog put a wild idea into his head He remembered the tale of the man caught in a blizzard who killed a steer and crawled inside the carcass and so was saved He would kill the dog and bury his hands in the warm body until the numbness went out of them Then he could build another fire He spoke to the dog calling it to him but in his voice was a strange note of fear that frightened the animal who had never known the man to speak in such way before Something was the matter and its suspicious nature sensed danger--it knew not what danger but somewhere somehow in its brain arose an apprehension of the man It flattened its ears down at the sound of the mans voice and its restless

hunching movements and the liftings and shiftings of its forefeet became more pronounced but it would not come to the man He got on his hands and knees and crawled toward the dog This unusual posture again excited suspicion and the animal sidled mincingly away

The man sat up in the snow for a moment and struggled for calmness Then he pulled on his mittens by means of his teeth and got upon his feet He glanced down at first in order to assure himself that he was really standing up for the absence of sensation in his feet left him unrelated to the earth His erect position in itself started to drive the webs of suspicion from the dogs mind and when he spoke peremptorily with the sound of whiplashes in his voice the dog rendered its customary allegiance and came to him As it came within reaching distance the man lost his control His arms flashed out to the dog and he experienced genuine surprise when he discovered that his hands could not clutch that there was neither bend nor feeling in the fingers He had forgotten for the moment that they were frozen and that they were freezing more and more All this happened quickly and before the animal could get away he encircled its body with his arms He sat down in the snow and in this fashion held the dog while it snarled and whined and struggled

But it was all he could do hold its body encircled in his arms and sit there He realized that he could not kill the dog There was no way to do it With his helpless hands he could neither draw nor hold his sheath knife nor throttle the animal He released it and it plunged wildly away with tail between its legs and still snarling It halted forty feet away and surveyed him curiously with ears sharply pricked forward The man looked down at his hands in order to locate them and found them hanging on the ends of his arms It struck him as curious that one should have to use his eyes in order to find out where his hands were He began threshing his arms back and forth beating the mittened hands against

To Build a FireContinued

his sides He did this for five minutes violently and his heart pumped enough blood up to the surface to put a stop to his shivering But no sensation was aroused in the hands He had an impression that they hung like weights on the ends of his arms but when he tried to run the impression down he could not find it

A certain fear of death dull and oppressive came to him This fear quickly became poignant as he realized that it was no longer a mere matter of freezing his fingers and toes or of losing his hands and feet but that it was a matter of life and death with the chances against him This threw him into a panic and he turned and ran up the creek-bed along the old dim trail The dog joined in behind and kept up with him He ran blindly without intention in fear such as he had never known in his life Slowly as he plowed and floundered through the snow he began to see things again the banks of the creek the old timber-jams the leafless aspens and the sky The running made him feel better He did not shiver Maybe if he ran on his feet would thaw out and anyway if he ran far enough he would reach camp and the boys Without doubt he would lose some fingers and toes and some of his face but the boys would take care of him and save the rest of him when he got there And at the same time there was another thought in his mind that said he would never get to the camp and the boys that it was too many miles away that the freezing had too great a start on him and that he would soon be stiff and dead This thought he kept in the background and refused to consider Sometimes it pushed itself forward and demanded to be heard but he thrust it back and strove to think of other things

It struck him as curious that he could run at all on feet so frozen that he could not feel them when they struck the earth and took the weigh of his body He seemed to himself to skim along above the surface and to have no connection with the earth Somewhere he had once seen a winged Mercury

and he wondered if Mercury felt as he felt when skimming over the earth

His theory of running until he reached camp and the boys had one flaw in it he lacked the endurance Several times he stumbled and finally he tottered crumpled up and fell When he tried to rise he failed He must sit and rest he decided and next time he would merely walk and keep on going As he sat and regained his breath he noted that he was feeling quite warm and comfortable He was not shivering and it even seemed that a warm glow had come to his chest and trunk And yet when he touched his nose or cheeks there was no sensation Running would not thaw them out Nor would it thaw out his hands and feet Then the thought came to him that the frozen portions of his body must be extending He tried to keep this thought down to forget it to think of something else he was aware of the panicky feeling that it caused and he was afraid of the panic But the thought asserted itself and persisted until it produced a vision of his body totally frozen This was too much and he made another wild run along the trail Once he slowed down to a walk but the thought of the freezing extending itself made him run again

And all the time the dog ran with him at his heels When he fell down a second time it curled its tad over its forefeet and sat in front of him facing him curiously eager and intent The warmth and security of the animal angered him and he cursed it till it flattened down its ears appealingly This time the shivering came more quickly upon the man He was losing in his battle with the frost It was creeping into his body from all sides The thought of it drove him on but he ran no more than a hundred feet when he staggered and pitched headlong It was his last panic When he had recovered his breath and control he sat up and entertained in his mind the conception of meeting death with dignity However the conception did not come to him in such terms His idea of it was that he had been making a fool of

To Build a FireContinued

himself running around like a chicken with its head cut off--such was the simile that occurred to him Well he was bound to freeze anyway and he might as well take it decently With this new-found peace of mind came the first glimmerings of drowsiness A good idea he thought to sleep off to death It was like salting an anesthetic Freezing was not so bad as people thought There were lots worse ways to die

He pictured the boys finding his body next day Suddenly he found himself with them coming along the trail and looking for himself And still with them he came around a turn in the trail and found himself lying in the snow He did not belong with himself any more for even then he was out of himself standing with the boys and looking at himself in the snow It certainly was cold was his thought When he got back to the States he could tell the folks what real cold was He drifted on from this to a vision of the old-timer on Sulphur Creek He could see him quite clearly warm and comfortable and smoking a pipe

You were right old boss you were right the man mumbled to the old-timer of Sulphur Creek

Then the man drowsed off into what seemed to him the most comfortable and satisfying sleep he had ever known The dog sat facing him and waiting The brief day drew to a close in a long slow twilight There were no signs of a fire to be made and besides never in the dogs experience had it known a man to sit like that in the snow and make no fire As the twilight drew on its eager yearning for the fire mastered it and with a great lifting and shifting of forefeet it whined softly then flattened its ears down in anticipation of being chidden by the man But the man remained silent Later the dog whined loudly And still later it crept close to the man and caught the scent of death This made the animal bristle and back away A little longer it delayed howling under the stars that leaped and danced and shone brightly in the cold sky Then it turned and trotted up the trail in the direction of the camp it knew where were the other food-providers and fire-providers

To Build a FireContinued

Blogs can be a lot of work to maintainTwitter only gives you 140 characters

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Stories are published for ALL FitnessDigestus readers Archived professionally and digitally in thousands of libraries

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Page 5: FitnessDigest.us Vol. 4.3 Cover

13 ndash Loved how the ldquoSay it to my facerdquo article in 42 pointed out that volunteers should be thanked and not criticized It is amazing how parents can sometimes be the worst examples of bad behavior

------

We agree13 ndash FitnessDigestus

------------------------------

Dear FitnessDigestus 13 I just downloaded my free eEdition to my nook Irsquoll have time to read it over the weekend------

13 Thanks Keep growing the collection More fun in each issue )) ndash FitnessDigestus

Letters to the Editor amp Live Media comments

FitnessDigestus is now available in public libraries

Ask for FitnessDigestUS

at your local libraryLocal libraries can now subscribe to FitnessDigestus using the

ISSN 2164-3997 Tell the librarian to visit httpFitnessDigestus for more information

------------------------------

ndash I am not familiar with your magazine Are you associated with a golf publication also

------

We often get confused with websites or blogs FitnessDigestus is closer to an eBook The companys network includes a variety of ties to independent publishers and a few large publishing corporations

13 ndash FitnessDigestus------------------------------

13 To write a letter to the editor e-mail editorFitnessDigestus orhttplivemediaFitnessDigestus Please use the e-mail that you used when you bought your most recent issue

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13 Thank you to all the readers who saved a copy of Vol 42 Irsquove dubbed it the English Channel issue because of the Bryn Dymott story Looking back Irsquom amazed at what the team put together Not only did we get a great story from Bryn Dymott English Channel swimmer but we got stories from an Olymipc Hall of Fame member Transplant Games World Champion and another contribution from Charlotte Andersen

All good stories and causes Vol 42 was such a fun run It really set the standard in many areas We got thousands of new readers through CoopNet DocStoc and Scribd We heard from a handful of people that said they enjoyed the issue With the completion of Vol 42 we are on pace for over 1 million pages read in 2012 The free issue for the quarter was the bench press world record issue Vol 41 It was a VERY popular download

Now we move onto Vol 43 Summer 2012 It is jam packed with stories and writing

13 We are settling into a good pace with this issue Itrsquos our sixth issue for public distribution and might be my favorite issue yet The contributors may not be as well known but their stories are just as fun inspiring heartfelt and entertaining

13 We have our best collection of ultra-short stories in this edition Ultra-shorts are 25-50 word works of wonderment Some of the most entertaining and humorous stories wersquove ever received Keep sending these stories to us anyway you can use the form on the homepage write a letter email phone or send us morse code - whatever works Just getrsquoem in here It is these short antidotal narratives that are some of the most popular reads in each issue

The most value comes from our feature stories though Our main feature this issue is from Texas Brandi Shipman is an elite triathlete and

Whatrsquos in StoreBy Mark Miller mmillerFitnessDigestus

LiveMediaComment on a story without having to write a letter to the editorhttpLiveMediaFitnessDigestus

LiveAdditionsA directory of multimedia resources for the current issue httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

Over 1 million pages read

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cancer survivor Her story is about the incredible comeback she made from breast cancer After battling the disease she took on the race course Her list of accomplishments on the race course are long and she is faster than ever She uses her racing to raise awareness for the American Cancer Society She has touched so many people with her racing and as a survivor That is why stories like Brandis need to be preserved digitally in the most professional way Which leads me to the topic of preservation

13 One of my jobs as publisher is to watch the current publishing trends Ive spent a lot of time lately on digital-preservation of history To communicate the importance of preservation to customers wersquove added the words gather distribute and preserve to the coopnetbiz online store I feel so strongly that stories like Brandis need to be published with preservation in mind Ironically I have a story that illustrates why

13 My grandmother is moving to a nursing home and the family was cleaning out the things she had saved One of the items was a collection of old Life magazines and

a magazine called Archer published by ADM In an amazing coincidence my father opened a Life magazine to a feature about the city we currently live in What an incredible find and the story is so much fun to read Second my family had no idea that my grandfather had been writing a column for ADMrsquos Archer magazine It is so much fun to go back and read the words he wrote in 1950 We are so lucky that my grandmother saved this collection It is priceless to our family Third I just read about Evernote a company that is asking ldquoWill the internet be around in 100 yearsrdquo I should mention now that the company has a billion dollar evaluation Their business plan is

Whatrsquos in Store Continued

For information on people restaurants and events that Mark mentions in his article visithttpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

Got a funny or inspiring story Send for our new writers exordiumentryFitnessDigestus

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built on the idea that websites can disappear in seconds One solution is back-ups Each duplication you make of a file increases the chances of itrsquos survival in years to come

13 It is my hope that someday people will find stories like Brandis on an old iPad or Kindle and get to read her story just like we read my grandfatherrsquos stories in Archer

13 Another first for the magazine We are taking a creative writing expert and pairing his story with a story from a US Masters swimmer The stories are about what inspires and motivates ndash how to find inspiration and motivation in your life I couldnrsquot believe how many underlying similarities there where when I placed them side-by-side

13 This issue is also our first issue that is going to include a new columnist Jen Schmitt is submitting a quarterly column for the magazine She is an inspiring mom in training ndash mom first writer second and triathlete third That is a recipe for success On top of the fact that she is a talented writer her style fits the magazines concept Her writing is

fun and she is great at finding the interesting details in lifes precious moments She brings to light many details that could easily be

overlooked When I see that talent in an athlete-writer I think to myself that they must understand hard work and suffering - because it is the suffering often times during our training that teaches us to see beauty in life Jen uses her talent to help moms find the reward

from long workouts Fittingly we have a poetic story that illustrates this link between suffering and the appreciation of life That story can be found on page 10

13 In 2008 I ran the Mickelson Trail Marathon in Deadwood South Dakota Since then Ive always felt a personal connection to it When I got word from Emily Wheeler the race director that we could get some photos and a short story from the 2012 race I was very excited Jen works closely with the legendary runner Jerry Dunn Mr Dunn is well known for his 200 marathons in the year 2000 He is Americas Marathon man He has appeared on the Today Show and has been featured in numerous magazines The chance to work with Jen and

Whatrsquos in Store Continued

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Jenn Schmitt Columnist

her team is so cool Im very thankful for the contribution Id like to include a quick side note to Emily ndash I think my next challenge will be to make that 100 miler work for me

On a whim I emailed a coordinator from the National Office for the Ride of Silence I mentioned publishing the official poem for the ride along with some photos The excitement I heard back was so positive The ride is emotional to so many people The stories of riders being hurt or killed is tragic we never want to forget them That is why education about sharing the road is a huge part of cycling safety I wont tell you more than that When you read the poem remember those that were hurt or killed while cycling The pictures we got from Robert LaVallee show the different color ribbons given to riders Red is for cyclists who knew a rider that died while cycling black is for a rider that has been injured during a ride

13 Irsquove been downloading classic (out-of-copyright) novels to my Kindle and iPad for re-reading and because I think the are important to preserve for future generations Ive downloaded the Illiad Adventures of Tom Sawyer and the original Wizard

of Oz I also found some good fiction from Jack London I think the magazinersquos readers will appreciate it It is a classic work that is about hiking ndash Think The Long Walk It is a good read with a surprise ending I hope readers will search out books and stories like this and add them to their own collection If we find more that are fitness related or have active subjects we may share them too

Whatrsquos in Store Continued

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httpwwwbrandishipmancom

com

pelling

When in the vastness of miles we find ourself not asking questions but finding answers

The fast races we ran years ago seem ugly and unforgiving

Now older and wiser and much much slower the race gives us a different story Four emotions joy anger sadness and frustration - not all at once but in a fashionable order that even makes anger a pleasant experience If it were not for the physical suffering endured for duration of the race you would perhaps experience all at once

Uncomfortable yet compelling

13 The race that when you are done and the suffering is over makes everything clearer priceless moments no longer slipping by but take the stage in life ndash in a perfect permutation

The finish helps us see there is more to do but until the next race there is no hurry Stop smell the roses Until we rise up for another challenge the story that unfolded during the race takes care of us we dont have to tell it It is written into our lives The memories and seemingly the future having been created between the aid stations and mile markers

NOT THE FASTEST RACETHE GREATESTSent from Iowa

U n c o m f o r t a b l e

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As a teenager I chose golf in high school as a sport rather than track Golfing meant enjoying a bag of chips and a can a soda while on the course Running was something I dreaded in school I used to plan how I could get out of the mile run for weeks when I knew it was almost fitness test time Now as a 31 year old stay at home mom I am running 10Ks and have a goal of completing four sprint triathlons in 2012 as well as many other 5Ks and 10Ks My five year goal is to complete an Ironman triathlon

13 Over the course of the last three years I have changed many aspects of my life I earned a Masterrsquos Degree in Education from Iowa State University I left a career as a Director of Special Education in a local school district to become a stay at home mom ndash with my two beautiful girls This change was prompted by a health scare in 2009 I was hospitalized for many days with meningitis and realized life was just too short

13 In 2011 while nursing my 4 month old my sister in law invited me to go with her to Weight Watchers I joined the next day for what was probably the 8th time but this time was different I made my goal and am a lifetime member I lost 43lbs and am healthy for the first time in my life I have Crohnrsquos Disease and am no longer taking any medications and no longer suffering the symptoms associated with the disease

In August of 2011 our hometown hero a Navy Seal was killed in action He was a huge inspiration to many people but after his death I was inspired to make a difference in our community and live my life differently He was a triathlete that had tackled the big daddy of them all and became an Ironman Realizing what he gave up so that we may have freedom inspired me to

Favo

rite

food

Kale

chip

s or

Rice

Cak

es w

ith A

lmon

d Bu

tter

Favo

rite

indu

lgen

ces

Che

x mix

Givingit aTri

FitnessDigestus columnist Jen Schmitt Rockford Iowa

Men

ingi

tis

13 In 2011 while nursing my four month old my sister in law invited me to go with her to Weight Watchers I joined the next day for what was probably the eigth time but this time was different They helped me make my goal and I became a lifetime member I lost 43lbs and Irsquom healthy for the first time in my life I also have Crohnrsquos Disease and no longer take medications nor do I suffer with the symptoms associated with the disease

13 In August of 2011 our hometown hero a Navy Seal was killed in action He was a huge inspiration to many people After his death I was inspired to make a difference in our community and to live my life differently He was a triathlete that had tackled the big daddy of them all ndash an Ironman Realizing what he gave up so that we may have freedom inspired me to continue on my fitness path by adding triathlete to my title

Givingit aTri

FitnessDigestus columnist Jen Schmitt Rockford Iowa

13 In 2011 while nursing my 4 month old my sister in law invited me to go with her to Weight Watchers I joined the next day for what was probably the 8th time but this time was different I made my goal and am a lifetime member I lost 43lbs and am healthy for the first time in my life I have Crohnrsquos Disease and am no longer taking any medications and no longer suffering the symptoms associated with the disease

In August of 2011 our hometown hero a Navy Seal was killed in action He was a huge inspiration to many people but after his death I was inspired to make a difference in our community and live my life differently He was a triathlete that had tackled the big daddy of them all and became an Ironman Realizing what he gave up so that we may have freedom inspired me to continue on my fitness path by

Favo

rite

plac

e to

run

Fos

sil amp

Prair

ie Ce

nter

Trail

s R

ockfo

rd Io

wa

Favo

rite

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son

g S

trong

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hat D

oesn

rsquot Kill Y

ou) b

y Kell

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13 When I am not out training with the group that I started in my hometown ldquoFriends in Fitnessrdquo you can find me blogging at justamomgivingitatriblogspotcom studying for my personal trainer certification or spending time with my husband girls and friends I enjoy being in the outdoors whether it is just for a walk or turkey hunting in the woods I am currently the chairperson working to organize a 5K fundraiser for the PEO Chapter that I belong to in Rockford Iowa This is going to be our major fundraiser for the year and we are very excited to encourage wellness among others in our community

Givingit aTri

FitnessDigestus columnist Jen Schmitt Rockford Iowa

13 In 2011 while nursing my 4 month old my sister in law invited me to go with her to Weight Watchers I joined the next day for what was probably the 8th time but this time was different I made my goal and am a lifetime member I lost 43lbs and am healthy for the first time in my life I have Crohnrsquos Disease and am no longer taking any medications and no longer suffering the symptoms associated with the disease

In August of 2011 our hometown hero a Navy Seal was killed in action He was a huge inspiration to many people but after his death I was inspired to make a difference in our community and live my life differently He was a triathlete that had tackled the big daddy of them all and became an Ironman Realizing what he gave up so that we may have freedom inspired me to continue on my fitness path by

Favo

rite

wor

kout

acc

esso

ry G

arm

in Fo

reru

nner

310

XT

Wha

t get

s m

e ou

t of b

ed

My a

larm

on

my p

hone

tellin

g m

e to

get

to th

e po

ol an

d sw

im o

r a s

crea

ming

chil

d

Fam

ily amp

Frie

nds

Watch and LearnSent in from NIP Gym

Successful SAFE gains in

the gym

Available at select Hy-Vee stores

NO MSG

LowSodium

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2

GREAT STORY HERE FROM NIP amp Fitness 13 I was in the gym this morning doing shoulders A quiet red headed kid comes in and gets on the bench and starts benching His first set of 135 lbs had HORRIBLE technique and form I walk over and talk to him He tells me his name is Joe - age 17 - weight 205 and is a junior at CS High School and he just bought a membership to NIP amp Fitness He tells me two weeks ago he benched 185 lbs for a max I told him that was very good for is age but NOT for his build I knew he was stronger than that So I helped him shape up is technique and form Joe ndash LISTENED and WATCHED He learned that he was much stronger than a 185 pound max bench presser Today from LISTENING and WATCHING Joe bench pressed 225 X 2 ndash and that 185 pounds he maxed two weeks ago he finished his work out by doing that 185 pounds for seven reps Proper TECHNIQUE and FORM are the key to successful SAFE gains in the gym Today Joe was a perfect example CONGRATULATIONS Joe

Dear Freestyle Swim Stroke

13 You are so frustrating to me Why canrsquot we just get along When I made the decision to tackle this goal of completing a triathlon I was not even worried about you That has proven to be a mistake Some days things go so smooth between us and some mornings I spring out of bed at 430 so excited about our time together Today was not one of those days You left me feeling like thishellip

Like a wet wrung out old swimsuit

These are the reasons that I am so upset with you

1 You literally take my breath away

2 You make my shoulder hurt (Popcorn kernels currently on shoulder while typing)

3 You make me leave my warm cozy bed about two hours before I would really like to leave it

4 If I donrsquot get my butt out of bed and go at 430 AM I have to leave my family and go at 730 PM

Dear FreestyleBy Jen Schmitt Rockford Iowa

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pull

head position

exit

flutter-kick

recovery

(Yes we know ndash no cameras in the locker room No one was harmed in this photo shoot)

13 And to the very old man in the lane beside me I do not dislike you in-fact I am insanely jealous of you I donrsquot stare at you because of your body you may look hot if I was 75 but I am not I stare at you in awe of how effortlessly you move up and down the pool without a rest Someday I hope to be just like you

13 So for now as much as I would love to say we need to break up and go our separate ways I am too D stubborn to do that We will make this work and we are going to get along Here is my promise to you ndash I promise to meet-up with you two to three times a week for at least an hour to work on our relationship I promise not to cheat on you with the sidestroke although I am so much more comfortable with him I promise to keep an open mind about our relationship and give it all that I have just like I do with my friend the run

Love you (I think)

Jen

Dear FreestyleContinued

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pull

head position

exit

flutter-kick

recovery

Adult SwimmingBy Susan Dawson-cook

I have taught dozens of adults how to swim Many of them were initially either afraid of water or somewhat uncomfortable in the aquatic environment Whats worked best is to get in the water with them and do activities that show them it can be fun and safe I make sure they feel safe and secure the entire time and even say things like if you have trouble standing up after you take some strokes I will help you or just reach for my hand if you need support

13 Many beginners have this fear ndash if they are in the horizontal position swimming they wont be able to stand up One woman cried she was so overjoyed she overcame her fear and learned to take her first strokes

Find more of Susanrsquos writing and published works at httplivemediaFitnessDigestus

Body image and fitness are hot topics for both men and women The Great Fitness Experiment is my hilarious poignant embarrassing and at times heart-breaking journey to find my way through the morass of contradictory claims and information in todayrsquos health- and fitness-obsessed world

Available in paperback or in eBookhttpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

If you have trouble standing up after you

take some strokesone women cried

she was so overjoyed

If you would like future issues delivered to a Facebook Twitter or e-mail account e-mail us at infoFitnessDigestus

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2 Deadwood Mickelson Trail MarathonSunday June 2 2013

Deadwood South Dakota

13 On June 2nd we will celebrate 12 years of offering runners from around the globe the most unique running experience of their life Where else in the world can you run on a course that takes you from an abandoned mining town across railroad trestles through a mountain past monolithic rock formations beside a babbling creek and finish in Deadwoodhellipa town that is a historic landmark

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Written Emily WheelerFor more information amp video visit httpLIveAdsFitnessDigestus

ldquoWild West town known primarily for its gamblers gunslingers and gold minersrdquo

Hope to see you at the finish

This Wild West town known primarily for its gamblers gunslingers and gold miners has turned into one of the premiere destination marathon venues in the US

13 The breathtaking beauty of our course the truly outstanding team of volunteers the hospitality of everyone associated with the event and paying attention to details are just a couple of reasons yoursquoll want to toe the line on June 2nd

The Deadwood Mickelson Trail Half and Full Marathon is a point to point course

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ldquoThe breathtaking beauty of our courserdquo

WaynesSkiandCyclenetlive links to Waynersquos at httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

MTM Charity Partner

13 Habitat for Humanity is a global nonprofit Christian housing organization that has helped to build more than 500000 decent affordable houses and served 25 million people worldwide since its founding in 1976 With the help of volunteers and donations of money and materials Habitat constructs rehabilitates and preserves homes in partnership with low-income families in need Operating in nearly 80 countries and with more than 1500 affiliates in the United States Habitat also advocates for fair and just housing policies and provides training and access to resources to help families improve their shelter conditions

Shop for Name BrandItems 24 Hours a Day

beginning in the historic mining town of Rochford the first 15 miles are on a paved road At this point the course becomes the Mickelson Trail (a rails to trails project) The next 12 miles are a mixture of gentle uphill and flat terrain

13 Then the course is either downhill or flat and finishes at the historic Engine House at end of the linehellipthe Deadwood Trailhead The Half Marathon is also a point to point course starting at the 131 mile mark of the full marathon Walker Friendly

All participants will receive a Commemorative Finisherrsquos Medal

Mickelson Trail Marathon Charity Partner is the Black Hills Habitat for HumanityMake your Marathon Matter Matching Funds

Make your Marathon matter by helping create decent shelter in the Black Hills ndash take the challenge to give at least $1 per race mile Our goal is to raise $3000 in 2012 for BH Habitat for Humanity to help provide shelter for more families in the Black Hills

Registrations are capped at 3000 runners If you want to be part of the Deadwood Mickelson Trail Marathon Weekend celebration go to LiveAdsFitnessDigestus and click on the MTM Marathon URL

Hope to see you at the Finish Line - ThanksEmily Wheeler Wheeler Event Management Inc

ldquoHope to see you at the finish linerdquo

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links

DAY had broken cold and gray exceedingly cold and gray when the man turned aside from the main Yukon trail and climbed the high earth-bank where a dim and little traveled trail led eastward through the fat spruce timberland It was a steep bank and he paused for breath at the top excusing the act to himself by looking at his watch It was nine oclock There was no sun nor hint of sun though there was not a cloud in the sky It was a

clear day and yet there seemed an intangible pall over the face of things a subtle gloom that made the day dark and that was due to the absence of sun This fact did not worry the man He was used to the lack of sun It had been days since he had seen the sun and he knew that a few more-days must pass before that cheerful orb due south would just peep above the sky-line and dip immediately from view

To Build a Fire - Hiking the Yukon TrailShort story fiction Written by Jack London (1876-1916)

The man flung a look back along the way he had come The Yukon lay a mile wide and hidden under three feet of ice On top of this ice were as many feet of snow It was all pure white rolling in gentle undulations where the ice jams of the freeze-up had formed North and south as far as his eye could see it was unbroken white save for a dark hairline that curved and twisted from around the spruce-covered island to the south and that curved and twisted away into the north where it disappeared behind another spruce-covered island This dark hair-line was the trail--the main trail--that led south five hundred miles to the Chilcoot Pass Dyea and salt water and that led north seventy miles to Dawson and still on to the north a thousand miles to Nulato and finally to St Michael on Bering Sea a thousand miles and half a thousand more

But all this--the mysterious far-reaching hair-line trail The absence of sun from the sky the tremendous cold and the strangeness and weirdness of it all--made no

impression on the man It was not because he was long used to it He was a newcomer In the land a chechaquo and this was his first winter The trouble with him was that he was without imagination He was quick and alert in the things of life but only in the things and not in the significances Fifty degrees below zero meant eighty-odd degrees of frost Such fact impressed him as being cold and uncomfortable and that was all It did not lead him to meditate upon his frailty as a creature of temperature and upon mans frailty in general able only to live within certain narrow limits of heat and cold and from there on it did not lead him to the conjectural field of immortality and mans place in the universe Fifty degrees below zero stood forte bite of frost that hurt and that must be guarded against by the use of mittens ear-flaps warm moccasins and thick socks Fifty degrees below zero was to him just precisely fifty degrees below zero That there should be anything more to it than that was a thought that never entered his head

To Build a FireContinued

Continued on page 62

Stand Up Paddle BoardingWOWSUPIowacom on LiveAds

It is important from time to time to slow down to go away by yourself and simply be --Eileen Caddy

Letrsquos Race13 My son is eight and our family is very active Im just hitting my peak racing age of about 34 years old The family members all support each otherrsquos activities They are a great cheering section when my wife and I compete in races There is a popular two mile fun run in our town that we my wife and I run every year We also have for-fun races with the kids around the house or across the football field For years Ive let the eight year old win a few and others I win by just a little bit I think he is wising up to my tactics of good fatherhood One day he said ldquoDad you are letting me win but I think I can beat you fair and squarerdquo He added ldquoYoursquore not that fast Ill bet you 10 dollars I can beat you in a two mile racerdquo Wanting to teach him a lesson about spouting off and writing checks his body cant cash I took him up on it I said All right you pick a time and place We will race two miles for 10 dollars He replied You know that two mile race you and mom do every year I can race you then I agreed and he quickly added Ill need 20 years to warm-up That would make me 54 and him 28 Irsquom preparing for the loss and putting 10 dollars aside now

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Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

In my first creative experience it was through music and I was interested in developing my values of creativity I was inspired by a band named Motley Crue and the song that captured my interest was Home Sweet home Dear reader what inspires you Is it music or inspirational quote thought or ideas To express how this song motivated my interests it helped give me faith in my own creative abilities in the process I began to write lyrics I eventually began to work on different styles of writing and broaden my writing skills What types of music inspire your creative thoughts What types of other inspiration values inspire your creative thoughts

13 Getting motivated is one of the key aspects of a successful weight-loss program Without this motivation there would be no drive to get up early or to avoid eating unhealthy snacks ndash that you absolutely love Yes you can thank your motivation for that When you are looking for weight-loss motivation sometimes it is hard to find Where can you find that extra umph to make it to your goal

The benefits of finding a motivator are something that cannot be paralleled It has been said mind over matter This coincides with our principle that no matter how hard the task you can accomplish the goal given the right mindset It is important to go into a new weight-loss program with a positive mental attitude

FINDI

NG TH

EM X InspirationX

Motivation

When I was introduced to William Shakespeare I was intrigued by his creative values and I started to work on developing a different aspect of writing I then watched the movie Free Jack there was a quote by Albert Einstein Imagination is more important than knowledge I thought about the in depth values of both concepts and then I applied both concepts and defined different creative concept Do you believe that anything is possible if you believe I know that I do believe that if an individual believes deeply enough one can accomplish their goals I had to believe in my own abilities and in my dreams and ignore the negative values that were impressed by others

Anything less can potentially hinder growth towards your goal

Some of the things that you should be thinking about when looking for motivators are people with good morals and a positive attitude This is because if the people helping you do not have a positive attitude then it is also difficult for you Some great places to look for a motivator are online blogs in the gym or even in your own family I am sure that in all of these places you will see someone else trying to accomplish the same or even more difficult goals than your own

Another key to finding motivation is to let it find you You should not have to go find a reason to go do something You will do it because you wanted to not because you were forced to

X

InspirationMotivation

More simply put motivation will find you because you will see something that inspires you to make a change in yourself That change may be a weight-loss goal or something else Maybe even an academic goal The true key is to maintain that motivation until you have achieved your goal

Regards Vincent ErrichielloUSMS Swimmer

InspirationMotivation

With believing so deeply within my own abilities and the faith that I could accomplish what I set out to achieve I wrote a lyric titled Dreams Are Only Real and in believing in this concept further defining its true meaning the concept became Dreams Are Only Real Until You Dont believe

Jeremy J TaylorCNFI Publishing

himTHROWINGWritten by anonymous contributor

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13 Johnny is not the best batter in our little league Matter-of-fact he is quiet awful At practice one afternoon Johnny hit a pitch really well The coach had pitched him inside on accident far enough inside that it almost hit him Johnny got his hit by using his bat to defend himself from that arrant pitch The coach told him ldquogood hitrdquo and Johnny yelled back ldquoWell I didnrsquot want the ball to hit merdquo13 Johnny improved his batting after that He was hitting the ball almost every time he got up At one point I said to coach ldquoHow did you get Johnny to improve his batting so quicklyrdquo He replyed Im throwing the ball it AT HIM every time

Body image and fitness are hot topics for both men and women The Great Fitness Experiment is my hilarious poignant embarrassing and at times heart-breaking journey to find my way through the morass of contradictory claims and information in todayrsquos health- and fitness-obsessed world

Available in paperback or in eBookVisit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

wwwnorthiafitnesscom on LiveAdsEmail northiowafitnessgmailcom

Phone 641-201-1035Strongest weight loss supplements

on the market

The Fall of Billy Hitchingsby Kirkus MacGowan

Available at Amazon

LOCATED IN ST ANSGAR IOWA

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Letterheads Programs

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Posters Invites (graduation wedding showers etc)

Flyers Brochures

T-ShirtsShorts SweatshirtsSweats

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Bridgette Beyer DesignerOwner

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Black Lab LanyardsSpecializing in customized duck and goose call lanyards for waterfowl enthusiasts

For more information on this productVisit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

FitnessDigestus is now available at

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entryFitnessDigestus

Send u

s yo

ur T

-shi

rt

READE

R T

-shi

rts

13 I was standing on shore fishing in my favorite spot A guy Irsquove never seen at the pond gets in and starts swimming After about 25 minutes of back and forth he stops at a place about 30 yards off shore He gives me a quick look and dices down below the water

His next lap he stops in the same place looks at me again and points down at the water He finished his swim and left I picked up my gear and moved to the other side of the outlet just a few yards from where he had stopped twice Caught a lunker in the first cast

Swim Signs - Lunker

BankersPromotional and Advertising Specialties

Call to order 641ndash423ndash3111

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Black Lab LanyardsSpecializing in customized duck and goose call lanyards for waterfowl enthusiastsCustomized Duck and Goose Call Lanyards

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Fly Fishing Lanyards

Visit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus for more information

TOP TWEETS

Iowa Cubs (IowaCubs)Thanks to all our fans who showed up for the pre-game on-field catch with dad

Louise Pineda (forerunnerGPS)The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficultyWinston Churchill quotes

Softball Darlin (Softball_Darlin)My mom told me our team was gettin white uniforms for summer amp to try not to get them dirty Uh Have you seen me play Not gonna happen

I Swim I Suffer (ISwimISuffer)thatswimmerwho If the water is in your right ear for example then jump on your right leg and lean your head to the right side while jumping

I Swim and I Know It (iSwimWithIssues)During the summer you shower 467 times at the pool 17 times at hotels and 3 times at your house Truth

Everyday Health (WomensCancer)63000 Americans will be diagnosed w malignant melanoma (the deadliest skin cancer) this year Know your risk

US Paralympics (USParalympics)Want to be introduced to Paralympic sport Attend one of the Paralympic Experiences being held throughout the countryFi

tnes

sDig

est

US v

olum

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2

SwimSwam (swimswamnews)Congrats to KenyaSwimmer on being selected to carry the Kenya flag swimswamcom

Better than sharing on a blog Twitter or Facebook and you can share a story even if you donrsquot maintain a social-web presencePublished for ALL FitnessDigestus readers

Sign with your real name pen-name or anonymoushttpLiveMediaFitnessDigestus

13 Funnest thing SPAM about some weight-loss supplements got posted on a friendrsquos Facebook My friend is an ultra-runner I notice there was also an ad for salami recipes on the same page The recipes were right next to the SPAM about diet-pills

13 Letrsquos see ndash it sounds like the beginning of a good joke Q What do you get when a friend tries to sell you ultra-runner endorsed salami-flavored-SPAM diet-pills on Facebook Answer Sick

Unsung Heroes1 Irsquove never swam open water and wanted to do a triathlon A friend that

races open water took extra time to swim with me at a lake I was much more comfortable after that

2 I was going on vacation and needed advice on a place to swim A friend living in the area took the time to help me find people to answer my questions

3 I was over eating and had complained to my friend about it She called me twice a day for three weeks just to remind me to eat healthy

4 I usually run to and from the gym It takes about 30 minutes to run both ways I didnrsquot have enough time to get there and back before a scheduled appointment I had A friend drove me to the gym saving me about 30 minutes I was able to run home and still had time to get to my appointment

SPAM DIET

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Visit the Suburban Mommy blog and learn more about AtresiaMicrotia a birth defect of the inner earFor links to SubMommy blog httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

SUBMOMMYBLOG

On Wednesday May 16 2012 at 7 PM simultaneous rides occurred around the

USA and the world

We all ride Now we can ride as one

One day One time One world world wide

Let the silence roar

322 locations world wide

The Ride of SilenceTonight we number many but ride as one

In honor of those not with us friends

mothers fathers sisters sons

With helmets on tight and heads down low

We ride in silence cautious and slow

The wheels start spinning in the lead pack

But tonight we ride and no one attacks

The dark sunglasses cover our tears

Remembering those we held so dear

Tonights ride is to make others aware

The road is there for all to share

To those not with us or by our side

May God be your partner on your final ride

- Mike Murgas

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 50 states

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 7 Continents

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 0 words spoken

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 1 million memories

Ride of Silence

ldquoCost-effective investments in bicycling boost our economy help individuals and government agencies save money and directly address key societal challenges such as obesity and road congestion In these tough economic times our federal government can only afford to invest in solutions that solve multiple problems Bicycling fits the billrdquo ndash PeopleForBikesorg

This photo collection was taken byRobert LaVallee of Mason City IA

To see his entire collection visithttpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

Non-subscriberSign-up for delivery of

the FREE edition at coopnetbiz

It provides an outstanding aerobic workout in less than half the time we would spend in still water It has allowed us as swim coaches to observe swimmers stroke characteristics up close and to see the effects of fatigue on stroke mechanics ~ Larry L Chazy NY

Swimming is an excellent exercise and now I can swim every day because its so convenient and private I can swim when I want and how long I want Im able to have it at a temperature that is comfortable to me The small size of an Endless Pool enabled me to install a pool where I could not install a regular size one

As an aging baby boomer nutrition professional I have yearned for consistent exercise that doesnt stress joints and will enable me to attain physical fitness cardiovascular health and weight control I can eat what I want and still firm up and lose weight ~ John C Columbus OH

Endless Pools make for long swims in small places The 8x15 Endless Pool is less than regulation size but offers the same benefits as a very large pool ~ Noah H Connecticut Post

The Endless Pool is a great strength builder I am amazed at the strength of the current I now swim against I did not buy it for that reason but because of my arthritis so the strength gain is a wonderful surprise

Endless PoolsTestimonials For more information visit httpLIveAdsFitnessDigestus

s w i m m i n g s h o r t s

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Baseball Walking Stick13 My sons friend grabbed his baseball bat and said to me this is my walking stick I politely ask him why he calls it that He replied because my dad says if I hit a home run with it I donrsquot have to run the bases ndash I can walk

My Bike My mountain bike was stolen a while back and my kids were really upset Ive been riding my road bike in its place Since then Ive been careful to lock my bike up when we go to the park

13 On this occasion I did not lock-up my sonrsquos bike up with mine He looked at me quizzically and said sternly lock my bike up too I tried to explain that his bike was not as expensive and therefor didnt need to be locked up Boy that was a mistake He made me feel a little dumb when he said Dad I dont care how expensive it is Its the only bike Irsquove got

North Iowa Roads

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A LEADER inSearch Engine Optimization

Technology

Increase your visitor page views and Facebook Likes

Are you moving to a new state Already hired your mover

E-mail blind box at box02FitnessDigestus will get

you the best rates on cable phone and internet

Digital Movers

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

parent sports tipBy FitnessDigestus staff writer JGA

PAR

EN

T

TIP

Keeping Kids Focused13 Organize their thoughts Help them prioritize and make decisions based on value Even kids can understand the value of simple non-monetized choices Questions like ldquoShould I finish playing my gameboy game or pause it when they call my swimming eventrdquo

If kids are taught to make good decisions and not just find quick answers everyone wins

AugustGolf Month5th Friendship Day15th Relaxation Day25th Kiss and Make Up Day31st Trail Mix DaySeptemberLittle League Month12th Chocolate Milk Shake Day13th Positive Thinking Day16th Womenrsquos Friendship Day21st Miniature Golf DayOctoberBreast Cancer Awareness MonthNational Diabetes Month1st World Vegetarian Day4th Golf Day25th World Pasta Day

National Calendar

Au

gu

stSe

pte

mb

er

Oc

tob

er

Encourage friendships writing skills sharing thoughts and

experiencesEight different cards

YAGOTTAWANNA

Variety of pricing From single orders to bulk orders of 24 notecards

Learn more online

Stay in touch with your swimming or triathlon buddies

It is better to be safe then to try to beat the heat There are many options to stay cool and run during a hot-summer day Staying inside and running on the treadmill is a good one Remember staying safe is a top priority

Most workouts can be modified to work indoors This issuersquos workout is to do your usual run or interval set just stay inside and run it on the treadmill Visualize the different landmarks to see during your outdoor run

Coach Millerrsquos Quarterly ChallengeStay safe in the heatBy Mark Miller mmillerFitnessDigestus

A few years back we had a hot-spell similar to this yearrsquos record heat

I remember training for a long run and having to stop at the local swimming hole to cool off I literally took off my

shoes and jumped in with my running clothes on I was so hot

FitnessDigestUSEntertainment amp Inspiration

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OPEN WATER SWIMMING BY THE NUMBERS

In kilometers The shortest open water race included in the Fina World Championships

10107 How many miles it

is to swim from Cuba to the USA

5

1000Number of swimming strokes in a mile for a typical swimmer

31800About the number of calories it takes to swim 100 miles

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andor design for you

The minimum open water distance in kilometers that is considered a swimming-

marathon

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Open water safety means swimming in shallow water where there is a lifeguard or using an escort

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s w i m m i n g s h o r t s

Googles

13 Swimming fans can really appreciate a 200 IM when their goggles fill with water How about an Olympian Swimming a leg of the 400 Free Relay with his goggles across his opened mouth ndash and going 45rsquos A great team swimmer an Olympian wouldnrsquot let down his teammates by throwing them off or fixing them

500 Fly13 A world class butterflyer asked if he could swim butterfly in the 500 yard freestyle during a dual meet His goal was to break five minutes After considering the competition it seemed like a great way to make him really work a hard fly swim so we agreed Problem was he swam a 502 and the opposing coach complained to the officials because he embarrassed his swimmers Oh well you canrsquot win lsquoem all

Stories sent in by Robert Steele

No-No-No13 The other morning I was teaching front-streamlines to snotty nosed 8 year olds (some are literally snotty-nosed) One boy was taking a big gulp of air and holding his breath When he lifted his head he had to exhale and inhale before submerging again Swimmers will understand this does not work very well Kids need to learn to exhale underwater The first time he did it I told him to exhale underwater The second time I stopped him looked him in the eye and reminded him to exhale underwater The third and fourth times I started to get a little frustrated ldquoJohnny you need to exhale underwater so you can breath betterrdquo The fifth time as his head popped up for a breath I quickly asked ldquoJohnny Do you even know what exhale meansrdquo as he submerged his head below the water I could see him shake his head no-no-no

Favorite Potato Chips13We try to limit the junk food the kids eat at our house For lunch one day our son wanted some potato chips I gave him 3 large chips with his sandwich He started to cry and said he wanted one more chip ldquoI wanted four chipsrdquo he screamed I took the plate back When he wasnt looking I broke a chip in half and give it back to him with four chips

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

13 My cancer story is one of uniqueness Leave it to me to do something like cancer to its fullest It did not begin with a mammogram diagnosis or a lump My journey began about 4 years ago with some suspicious activity that turned into Pagetrsquos disease of the nipple which signaled the underlying cancer On April 1st I found out about my breast cancer through a biopsy that came back as positive for Pagetrsquos disease The onslaught of tests learning and decisions were dizzying I immediately went for an evaluation of the suspicious tissue and had to begin making decisions for my mastectomy I quickly learned there is a test called the BRAC Analysis which is a genetic test for breast and ovarian cancer Finally a piece of good news for me I did not have the gene

Decisions Now it was time to make decisions about my mastectomy and how I was going to handle reconstruction I discussed my options with my boyfriend Brian friends family members and even my principalboss I read books searched the Internet and contacted people I

Brandi ShipmanCancer Survivor and elite triathlete

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

know and knew from my past that had been directly affected and that I thought might have answers for me The outpouring of love encouragement and help during this process was overwhelming After meeting with four different doctors two surgeons and two plastic surgeons I decided to go with immediate reconstruction and was lucky enough to find two wonderful doctors They were willing to work together just because I wanted them to even though they had never done so before My surgery was scheduled for mid May

Mental Toughness13 My mental preparation at this point was very important I had to scrap any idea of competing in triathlons for the rest of the year and focus on a positive attitude of getting better I stopped thinking about what I wasnrsquot going to able to do and started thinking about what I could do that I was alive and kept my mind on the fact that so many others had made it before me

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links

Part 213 I was prepared by the doctors survivors and literature to be ldquodownrdquo for several weeks after my surgery I even took the rest of the school year off My surgery went well and I was out of the hospital the next day A few friends came to visit while I was in the hospital and my principal and vice principal brought the most wonderful picture of the faculty wearing pink for me I can only imagine what it looked like at Thornton Elementary on that day in May 2009 a sea of pink all for Brandi Shipman Shortly after their visit I received a text from my friend Margie Massey My friends from the gym wore pink for me that day as well The support brought tears to my eyes I was so excited to come home and be comfortable in my own home I just wish the stupid drain that was attached could have stayed at the hospital The pain from that was worse than the pain from the mastectomy

the most

powerful picture

13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Recovery ndash May13 Once I got home I slept and watched a lot of TV Friends visited and brought yummy food and my favorites I am not supposed to eat I ate them all My friend and co-worker set up a cancer care calendar that alerted anyone who logged on when I was having a doctorrsquos appointment or when I was in need of anything I felt like royalty as everyone took care of me I think Brian secretly enjoyed the fact that he wouldnrsquot have to cook for me each night My recovery was quicker than I thought as I was doing my best to get better and get the stinkinrsquo drain out of my skin I was out walking within a week and running within 3 weeks I couldnrsquot believe my recovery I know it was from all the prayers love and good care from Brian and the loved ones around me Life was looking better each day

ldquoLife was looking

better each dayrdquo

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Part three and part

four of I am Survivor

will be published in

the next edition of

FitnessDigestus

Get the convenience of

digital-delivery

Sign-up or subscribe at

httpFitnessDigestus

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During the past 150 years we have witnessed many remarkable advances against cancer a disease known to humanity for thousands of years The advances highlighted below represent a sampling of what has been accomplished to date

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

1882 William Halsted performs the first radical mastectomy to treat breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast the lymph nodes under the arm (axillary lymph nodes) and the chest muscles behind the breast (pectoralis major and pectoralis minor muscles) are removed Radical mastectomy will remain the standard operation for breast cancer until latter half of the 20th century when the use of modified radical mastectomy becomes widely accepted

1932 David H Patey develops the modified radical mastectomy for breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast axillary lymph nodes and pectoralis minor muscle behind the breast are removed The modified radical mastectomy is less disfiguring than the radical mastectomy and will eventually replace the radical mastectomy as a standard treatment option for breast cancer

1953 James Watson and Francis Crick discover the molecular structure of DNA (the double helix)

1963 The Health Insurance Plan (HIP) of Greater New York Study begins HIP is the first randomized controlled trial of periodic breast cancer screening with mammography

1882

1932

1953

1963

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1976 The results of a randomized clinical trial show that women with early breast cancer who receive post-operative (adjuvant) combination chemotherapy with the drugs cyclophosphamide methotrexate and 5-FU have improved disease-free survival

1981 A randomized clinical trial in the United Kingdom shows for the first time that the rates of survival local recurrence and tumor metastasis among women whose breast cancer is treated with modified radical mastectomy are not substantially different from those of women who are treated with radical mastectomy

1993 An NCI-convened international workshop on screening for breast cancer reports that screening with mammography reduces breast cancer mortality among women ages 50-69 This conclusion is based on a review of published and unpublished data from eight randomized controlled trials

2004 Data from the Womens Health Initiative (WHI) study show that women who take estrogen in combination with the hormone progestin have a greater risk of developing breast cancer than women who take estrogen alone The results also show that menopausal hormone therapy with estrogen alone has no benefit in disease prevention specifically in reducing the risks of colorectal cancer coronary heart disease and dementia

1976

1981

1993

2004

Although we still have a long way to go to reduce the toll of cancer in the United States and worldwide our research and public health efforts are beginning to pay dividends

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

Volunteering vs Participating13 My girl friend and I are involved in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation The local chapter raises awareness for the cause with a fun-run each year We have volunteered to help with the race five years in a row This year we were stationed at a water table where the runners pick-up cups of water to drink Toward the end of the race there are very few runners There was a little time to chat about things We were talking about what we would wish for if we could have three wishes I told her I would wish for an end to Juvenile Diabetes and to lose 10 pounds Being nice I said ldquoyou can have my last wishrdquo She said I wish you would skip volunteering and just run this race next year

Admission Price Our aquatic center was having a promotion one night and advertised an elementary school night The kids could swim for free When we got to the pool we saw a promotional sign for the event In small lettering it read All swimmers must be accompanied by an adult We thought no big deal one of us can just stay and watch When we got to the front desk we found the lifeguard was enforcing the adult-admission price of $8

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CNFI Publishing - Products Books Chapbooks Bookmarks Plaques and Poetry Collector Cards Merchandising Products Coffee Mugs Mouse Pads Tiles 3x6 Coasters T - Shirts and Wall Plaques More info athttpliveadsFitnessDigestus

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

Featured PhotosFitnessDigestus feature

Chicago open water swim course at nighttop left

Kids race at Bicycle Blues and BBQtop right

Some team members volunteer at the local soup kitchenmiddle right

Ken Mauer loads the balls for hitting practice during a Twins baseball camp for

children 7-13 bottom right

Get your local event photos published in the next issue of FitnessDigestus E-mail

your photo to photoFitnessDigestus

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As he turned to go on he spat speculatively There was a sharp explosive crackle that startled him He spat again And again in the air before it could fall to the snow the spittle crackled He knew that at fifty below spittle crackled on the snow but this spittle had crackled in the air Undoubtedly it was colder than fifty below--how much colder he did not know But the temperature did not matter He was bound for the old claim on the left fork of Henderson Creek where the boys were already They had come over across the divide from the Indian Creek country while he had come the roundabout way to take a look at the possibilities of getting out logs in the spring from the islands in the Yukon He would be in to camp by six oclock a bit after dark it was true but the boys would be there a fire would be going and a hot supper would be ready As for lunch he pressed his hand against the protruding bundle under his jacket It was also under his shirt wrapped up in a handkerchief and lying against the naked skin It was the only way to keep the biscuits from freezing He smiled agreeably to himself as he thought of those biscuits each cut open and sopped in bacon grease and each enclosing a generous slice of fried bacon

He plunged in among the big spruce trees The trail was faint A foot of snow had fallen since the last sled had passed over and he was glad he was without a sled traveling light In fact he carried nothing but the lunch wrapped in the handkerchief He was surprised however at the cold It certainly was cold he concluded as he rubbed his numb nose and cheek-bones with his mittened hand He was a warm-whiskered man but the hair on his face did not protect the high cheek-bones and the eager nose that thrust itself aggressively into the frosty air

At the mans heels trotted a dog a big native husky the proper wolf-dog gray-coated and without any visible or temperamental difference from its brother the wild wolf The animal was depressed by the tremendous cold It knew that it was no time for

traveling Its instinct told it a truer tale than was told to the man by the mans judgment In reality it was not merely colder than fifty below zero it was colder than sixty below than seventy below It was seventy-five below zero Since the freezing point is thirty-two above zero it meant that one hundred and seven degrees of frost obtained The dog did not know anything about thermometers Possibly in its brain there was no sharp consciousness of a condition of very cold such as was in the mans brain But the brute had its instinct It experienced a vague but menacing apprehension that subdued it then made it slink along at the mans heels and that made it question eagerly every unwonted movement of the man as if expecting him to go into camp or to seek shelter somewhere and build a fire The dog had learned fire and it wanted fire or else to burrow under the snow and cuddle its warmth away from the air

The frozen moisture of its breathing had settled on its fur in a fine powder of frost and especially were its jowls muzzle and eyelashes whitened by its cry-stalled breath The mans red beard and mustache were likewise frosted but more solidly the deposit taking the form of ice and increasing with every warm moist breath he exhaled Also the man was chewing tobacco and the muzzle of ice held his lips so rigidly that he was unable to clear his chin when he expelled the juice The result was that a crystal beard of the color and solidity of amber was increasing its length on his chin If he fell down it would shatter itself like glass into brittle fragments But he did not mind the appendage It was the penalty all tobacco-chewers paid in that country and he had been out before in two cold snaps They had not been so cold as this he knew but by the spirit thermometer at Sixty Mile he knew they had been registered at fifty below and at fifty-five

He held on through the level stretch of woods for several miles crossed a wide flat of rigger-heads and dropped down a bank to the frozen bed of a

To Build a FireContinued

small stream This was Henderson Creek and he knew he was ten miles from the forks He looked at his watch It was ten oclock He was making four miles an hour and he calculated that he would arrive at the forks at half-past twelve He decided to celebrate that event by eating his lunch there

The dog dropped in again at his heels with a tail drooping discouragement as the man swung along the creek-bed The furrow of the old sled-trail was plainly visible but a dozen inches of snow covered the marks of the last runners In a month no man had come up or down that silent creek The man held steadily on He was not much given to thinking and just then particularly he had nothing to think about save that he would eat lunch at-the forks and that at six oclock he would be in camp with the boys There was nobody to talk to and had there been speech would have been impossible because of the ice-muzzle on his mouth So he continued monotonously to chew tobacco and to increase the length of his amber beard

Once in a while the thought reiterated itself that it was very cold and that he had never experienced such cold As he walked along he rubbed his cheek-bones and nose with the back of his mittened hand He did this automatically now and again changing hands But rub as he would the instant he stopped his cheek-bones went numb and the following instant the end of his nose went numb He was sure to frost his cheeks he knew that and experienced a pang of regret that he had not devised a nose-strap of the sort Bud wore in cold snaps Such a strap passed across the cheeks as well and saved them But it didnt matter much after all What were frosted cheeks A bit painful that was all they were never serious

Empty as the mans mind was of thoughts he was keenly observant and he noticed the changes in the creek the curves and bends and timber jams and always he sharply noted where he placed his feet Once coming around a bend he shied abruptly

like a startled horse curved away from the place where he had been walking and retreated several paces back along the trail The creek he knew was frozen clear to the bottom--no creek could contain water in that arctic winter--but he knew also that there were springs that bubbled out from the hillsides and ran along under the snow and on top the ice of the creek He knew that the coldest snaps never froze these springs and he knew likewise their danger They were traps They hid pools of water under the snow that might be three inches deep or three feet Sometimes a skin of ice half an inch thick covered them and in turn was covered by the snow Sometimes there were alternate layers of water and ice-skin so that when one broke through he kept on breaking through for a while sometimes wetting himself to the waist

That was why he had shied in such panic He had felt the give under his feet and heard the crackle of a snow-hidden ice-skin And to get his feet wet in such a temperature meant trouble and danger At the very least it meant delay for he would be forced to stop and build a fire and under its protection to bare his feet while he dried his socks and moccasins He stood and studied the creek-bed and its banks and decided that the flow of water came from the right He reflected a while rubbing his nose and cheeks then skirted to the left stepping gingerly and testing the footing for each step Once clear of the danger he took a fresh chew of tobacco and swung along at his four-mile gait

In the course of the next two hours he came upon several similar traps Usually the snow above the hidden pools had a sunken candied appearance that advertised the danger Once again however he had a close call and once suspecting danger he compelled the dog to go on in front The dog did not want to go It hung back until the man shoved it forward and then it went quickly across the white unbroken surface Suddenly it broke through floundered to one side and got away to firmer

To Build a FireContinued

To Build a FireContinued

footing It had wet its forefeet and legs and almost immediately the water that clung to it turned to ice It made quick efforts to lick the ice off its legs then dropped down in the snow and began to bite out the ice that had formed between the toes l his was a matter of instinct To permit the ice to remain would mean sore feet It did not know this It merely obeyed the mysterious prompting that arose from the deep crypts of its being But the man knew having achieved a judgment on the subject and he removed the mitten from his right hand and helped tear out the ice-particles He did not expose his fingers more than a minute and was astonished at the swift numbness that smote them It certainly was cold He pulled on the mitten hastily and beat the hand savagely across his chest

At twelve oclock the day was at its brightest Yet the sun was too far south an its winter journey to clear the horizon The bulge of the earth intervened between it arid Henderson Creek where the man walked under a clear sky at noon and cast no shadow At half-past twelve to the minute he arrived at the forks of the creek He was pleased at the speed he had made If he kept it up he would certainly be with the boys by six He unbuttoned his jacket and shirt and drew forth his lunch The action consumed no more than a quarter of a minute yet in that brief moment the numbness laid hold of the exposed fingers He did not put the mitten on but instead struck the fingers a dozen sharp smashes against his leg Then he sat down on a snow-covered log to eat The sting that followed upon the striking of his fingers against his leg ceased so quickly that he was startled He had had no chance to take a bite of biscuit He struck the fingers repeatedly and returned them to the mitten baring the other hand for the purpose of eating He tried to take a mouthful but the ice-muzzle prevented He had forgotten to build a fire and thaw out He chuckled at his foolishness and as he chuckled he noted the numbness creeping into the exposed fingers Also he noted that the stinging which had first come to his

toes when he sat down was already passing away He wandered whether the toes were warm or numb He moved them inside the moccasins and decided that they were numb

He pulled the mitten on hurriedly and stood up He was a bit frightened He stamped up and down until the stinging returned into the feet It certainly was cold was his thought That man from Sulphur Creek had spoken the truth when telling how cold it sometimes got in the country And he had laughed at him at the time That showed one must not be too sure of things There was no mistake about it it was cold He strode up and down stamping his feet and threshing his arms until reassured by the returning warmth Then he got out matches and proceeded to make a fire From the undergrowth where high water of the previous spring had lodged a supply of seasoned twigs he got his firewood Working carefully from a small beginning he soon had a roaring fire over which he thawed the ice from his face and in the protection of which he ate his biscuits For the moment the cold space was outwitted The dog took satisfaction in the fire stretching out close enough for warmth and far enough away to escape being singed

When the man had finished be filled his pipe and took his comfortable time over a smoke Then he pulled on his mittens settled the ear-flaps of his cap firmly about his ears and took the creek trail up the left fork The dog was disappointed and yearned back toward the fire This man did not know cold Possibly all the generations of his ancestry had been ignorant of cold of real cold of cold one hundred and seven degrees below freezing point But the dog knew all its ancestry knew and it had inherited the knowledge And it knew that it was not good to walk abroad in such fearful cold It was the time to lie snug in a hole in the snow and wait for a curtain of cloud to be drawn across the face of outer space whence this cold came On the other hand there was no keen intimacy between the dog and the man

The one was the toil-slave of the other and the only caresses it had ever received were the caresses of the whiplash and of harsh and menacing throat-sounds that threatened the whiplash So the dog made no effort to communicate its apprehension to the man It was not concerned in the welfare of the man it was for its own sake that it yearned back toward the fire But the man whistled and spoke to it with the sound of whiplashes and the dog swung in at the mans heel and followed after

The man took a chew of tobacco and proceeded to start a new amber beard Also his moist breath quickly powdered with white his mustache eyebrows and lashes There did not seem to be so many springs on the left fork of the Henderson and for half an hour the man saw no signs of any And then it happened At a place where there were no signs where the soft unbroken snow seemed to advertise solidity beneath tee man broke through It was not deep He wet himself halfway to the knees before he floundered out to the firm crust

He was angry and cursed his luck aloud He had hoped to get into camp with the boys at six oclock and this would delay him an hour for he would have to build a fire and dry out his foot-gear This was imperative at that low temperature--he knew that much and he turned aside to the bank which he climbed On top tangled in the underbrush about the trunks of several small spruce trees was a high-water deposit of dry firewood--sticks and twigs principally but also larger portions of seasoned branches and fine dry last-years grasses He threw down several large pieces on top of the snow This served for a foundation and prevented the young flame from drowning itself in the snow it otherwise would melt The flame he got by touching a match to a small shred of birch bark that he took from his pocket This burned even more readily than paper Placing it on the foundation he fed the young flame with wisps of dry grass and with the tiniest dry twigs

He worked slowly and carefully keenly aware of his danger Gradually as the flame grew stronger he increased the size of the twigs with which he fed it He squatted in the snow pulling the twigs out from their entanglement in the brush and feeding directly to the flame He knew there must be no failure When it is seventy-five below zero a man must not fail in his first attempt to build a fire--that is if his feet are wet If his feet are dry and he fails he can run along the trail for half a mile and restore his circulation But the circulation of wet and freezing feet cannot be restored by running when it is seventy-five below No matter how fast he runs the wet feet will freeze the harder

All this the man knew The old-timer on Sulphur Creek had told him about it the previous fall and now he was appreciating the advice Already all sensation had gone out of his feet To build the fire he had been forced to remove his mittens and the fingers had quickly gone numb His pace of four miles an hour had kept his heart pumping blood to the surface of his body and to all the extremities But the instant he stopped the action of the pump eased down The cold of space smote the unprotected tip of the planet and he being on that unprotected tip received the full force of the blow The blood of his body recoiled before it The blood was alive like the dog and like the dog it wanted to hide away and cover itself up from the fearful cold So long as he walked four miles an hour he pumped that blood willy-nilly to the surface but now it ebbed away and sank down into the recesses of his body The extremities were the first to feel its absence His wet feet froze the faster and his exposed fingers numbed the faster though they had not yet begun to freeze Nose and cheeks were already freezing while the skin of all his body chilled as it lost its blood

But he was safe Toes and nose and cheeks would be only touched by the frost for the fire was beginning to burn with strength He was feeding it

To Build a FireContinued

with twigs the size of his finger In another minute he would be able to feed it with branches the size of his wrier and then he could remove his wet toot-gear and while it dried he could keep his naked feet warm by the fire rubbing them at first of course with snow The fire was a success He was safe He remembered the advice of the old timer on Sulphur Creek and smiled The old-timer had been very serious in laying down the law that no man must travel alone in the Klondike after fifty below Well here he was he had had the accident he was alone and he had saved himself Those old-timers were rather womanish some of them he thought All a man had to do was to keep his head and he was all right Any man who was a man could travel alone But it was surprising the rapidity with which his cheeks and nose were freezing And he had not thought his fingers could go lifeless in so short a time Lifeless they were for he could scarcely make them move together to grip a twig and they seemed remote from his body and from him When he touched a twig he had to look and see whether or not he had hold of it The wires were pretty well down between him and his finger-ends

All of which counted for little There was the fire snapping and crackling and promising life with every dancing flame He started to untie his moccasins They were coated with ice the thick German socks were like sheaths of iron halfway to the knees and the moccasin strings were like rods of steel all twisted and knotted as by some conflagration For a moment he tugged with his numb fingers then realizing the folly of it he drew his sheath-knife

But before he could cut the strings it happened It was his own fault or rather his mistake He should not have built the fire under the spruce tree He should have built it in the open But it had been easier to pull the twigs from the brush and drop them directly on the fire Now the tree under which

he had done this carried a weight of snow on its boughs No wind had blown for weeks and each bough was fully freighted Each time he had pulled a twig he had communicated a slight agitation to the tree--an imperceptible agitation so far as he was concerned but an agitation sufficient to bring about the disaster High up in the tree one bough capsized its load of snow This fell on the boughs beneath capsizing them This process continued spreading out and involving the whole tree It grew like an avalanche and it descended without warning upon the man and the fire and the fire was blotted out Where it had burned was a mantle of fresh and disordered snow

The man was shocked It was as though he had just heard his own sentence of death For a moment he sat and stared at the spot where the fire had been Then he grew very calm Perhaps the old-timer on Sulphur Creek was right If he had only had a trail-mate he would have been in no danger now The trail-mate could have built the fire Well it was up to him to build the fire over again and this second time there must be no failure Even if he succeeded he would most likely lose some toes His feet must be badly frozen by now and there would be some time before the second fire Was ready

Such were his thoughts but he did not sit and think them He was busy all the time they were passing through his mind He made a new foundation for a fire this time in the open where no treacherous tree could blot it out Next he gathered dry grasses and tiny twigs from the high-water flotsam He could not bring his fingers together to pull them out but he was able to gather them by the handful In this way he got many rotten twigs and bits of green moss that were undesirable but it was the best he could do He worked methodically even collecting an armful of the larger branches to be used later when the fire gathered strength And all the while the dog sat and watched him a certain yearning wistfulness in its eyes for it looked upon

To Build a FireContinued

him as the fire-provider and the fire was slow in coming

When all was ready the man reached in his pocket for a second piece of birch bark He knew the bark was there and though he could not feel it with his fingers he could hear its crisp rustling as he fumbled for it Try as he would he could not clutch hold of it And all the time in his consciousness was the knowledge that each instant his feet were freezing This thought tended to put him in a panic but he fought against it and kept calm He pulled on his mittens with his teeth and threshed his arms back and forth beating his hands with all his might against his sides He did this sitting down and he stood up to do it and all the while the dog sat in the snow its wolf-brush of a tail curled around warmly over its forefeet its sharp wolf-ears pricked forward intently as it watched the man And the man as he beat and threshed with his arms and hands felt a great surge of envy as he regarded the creature that was warm ant secure in its natural covering

After a time he was aware of the first far-away signals of sensation in his beaten fingers The faint tingling grew stronger till it evolved into a stinging ache that was excruciating but which the man hailed with satisfaction He stripped the mitten from his right hand and fetched forth the birch bark The exposed fingers were quickly going numb again Next he brought out his bunch of sulphur matches But the tremendous cold had already driven the life out of his fingers In his effort to separate one match from the others the whole bunch fell in the snow He tried to pick it out of the snow but failed The dead fingers could neither touch nor clutch He was very careful He drove the thought of his freezing feet and nose and cheeks out of his mind devoting his whole soul to the matches He watched using the sense of vision in place of that of touch and when he saw his fingers on each side the bunch he dosed them--that is he willed to close them for the wires were down and the fingers did not obey He pulled

the mitten on the right hand and beat it fiercely against his knee Then with both mittened hands he scooped the bunch of matches along with much snow into his lap Yet he was no better off

After some manipulation he managed to get the bunch between the heels of his mittened hands In this fashion he carried it to his mouth The ice crackled and snapped when by a violent effort he opened his mouth He drew the lower jaw in curled the upper lip out of the way and scraped the bunch with his upper teeth in order to separate a match He succeeded in getting one which he dropped on his lap He was no better off He could not pick it up Then he devised a way He picked it up in his teeth and scratched it on his leg Twenty times he scratched before he succeeded in lighting it As it flamed he held it with his teeth to the birch bark But the burning brimstone went up his nostrils and into his lungs causing him to cough spasmodically The match fell into the snow and went out

The old-timer an Sulphur Creek was right he thought in the moment of controlled despair that ensued after fifty below a man should travel with a partner He beat his hands but failed in exciting any sensation Suddenly he bared both hands removing the mittens with his teeth He caught the whole bunch between the heels of his hands His arm muscles not being frozen enabled him to press the hand-heels tightly against the matches Then he scratched the bunch along his leg It flared into flame seventy sulphur matches at once There was no wind to blow them out He kept his head to one side to escape the strangling fumes and held the blazing bunch to the birth bark As he so held it he became aware of sensation in his hand His flesh was burning He could smell it Deep down below the surface he could feel it The sensation developed into pain that grew acute And still he endured it holding the flame of the matches clumsily to the bark that would not light readily because his own burning hands were in the way absorbing most of the flame

To Build a FireContinued

At last when he could endure no more he jerked his hands apart The blazing matches fell sizzling into the snow but the birch bark was alight He began laying dry grasses and the tiniest twigs on the flame He could not pick and choose for he had to lift the fuel between the heels of his hands Small pieces of rotten wood and green moss clung to the twigs and he bit them off as well as he could with his teeth He cherished the flame carefully and awkwardly It meant life and it must not perish The withdrawal of blood from the surface of his body now made him begin to shiver and he grew more awkward A large piece of green moss fell squarely on the little fire He tried to poke it out with his fingers but his shivering frame made him poke too far and he disrupted the nucleus of the little fire the burning grasses and tiny twigs separating and scattering He tried to poke them together again but in spite of the tenseness of the effort his shivering got away with him and the twigs were hopelessly scattered Each twig gushed a puff of smoke and went out The fire-provider had failed As he looked apathetically about him his eyes chanced on the dog sitting across the ruins of the fire from him in the snow making restless hunching movements slightly lifting one forefoot and then the other shifting its weight back and forth on them with wistful eagerness

The sight of the dog put a wild idea into his head He remembered the tale of the man caught in a blizzard who killed a steer and crawled inside the carcass and so was saved He would kill the dog and bury his hands in the warm body until the numbness went out of them Then he could build another fire He spoke to the dog calling it to him but in his voice was a strange note of fear that frightened the animal who had never known the man to speak in such way before Something was the matter and its suspicious nature sensed danger--it knew not what danger but somewhere somehow in its brain arose an apprehension of the man It flattened its ears down at the sound of the mans voice and its restless

hunching movements and the liftings and shiftings of its forefeet became more pronounced but it would not come to the man He got on his hands and knees and crawled toward the dog This unusual posture again excited suspicion and the animal sidled mincingly away

The man sat up in the snow for a moment and struggled for calmness Then he pulled on his mittens by means of his teeth and got upon his feet He glanced down at first in order to assure himself that he was really standing up for the absence of sensation in his feet left him unrelated to the earth His erect position in itself started to drive the webs of suspicion from the dogs mind and when he spoke peremptorily with the sound of whiplashes in his voice the dog rendered its customary allegiance and came to him As it came within reaching distance the man lost his control His arms flashed out to the dog and he experienced genuine surprise when he discovered that his hands could not clutch that there was neither bend nor feeling in the fingers He had forgotten for the moment that they were frozen and that they were freezing more and more All this happened quickly and before the animal could get away he encircled its body with his arms He sat down in the snow and in this fashion held the dog while it snarled and whined and struggled

But it was all he could do hold its body encircled in his arms and sit there He realized that he could not kill the dog There was no way to do it With his helpless hands he could neither draw nor hold his sheath knife nor throttle the animal He released it and it plunged wildly away with tail between its legs and still snarling It halted forty feet away and surveyed him curiously with ears sharply pricked forward The man looked down at his hands in order to locate them and found them hanging on the ends of his arms It struck him as curious that one should have to use his eyes in order to find out where his hands were He began threshing his arms back and forth beating the mittened hands against

To Build a FireContinued

his sides He did this for five minutes violently and his heart pumped enough blood up to the surface to put a stop to his shivering But no sensation was aroused in the hands He had an impression that they hung like weights on the ends of his arms but when he tried to run the impression down he could not find it

A certain fear of death dull and oppressive came to him This fear quickly became poignant as he realized that it was no longer a mere matter of freezing his fingers and toes or of losing his hands and feet but that it was a matter of life and death with the chances against him This threw him into a panic and he turned and ran up the creek-bed along the old dim trail The dog joined in behind and kept up with him He ran blindly without intention in fear such as he had never known in his life Slowly as he plowed and floundered through the snow he began to see things again the banks of the creek the old timber-jams the leafless aspens and the sky The running made him feel better He did not shiver Maybe if he ran on his feet would thaw out and anyway if he ran far enough he would reach camp and the boys Without doubt he would lose some fingers and toes and some of his face but the boys would take care of him and save the rest of him when he got there And at the same time there was another thought in his mind that said he would never get to the camp and the boys that it was too many miles away that the freezing had too great a start on him and that he would soon be stiff and dead This thought he kept in the background and refused to consider Sometimes it pushed itself forward and demanded to be heard but he thrust it back and strove to think of other things

It struck him as curious that he could run at all on feet so frozen that he could not feel them when they struck the earth and took the weigh of his body He seemed to himself to skim along above the surface and to have no connection with the earth Somewhere he had once seen a winged Mercury

and he wondered if Mercury felt as he felt when skimming over the earth

His theory of running until he reached camp and the boys had one flaw in it he lacked the endurance Several times he stumbled and finally he tottered crumpled up and fell When he tried to rise he failed He must sit and rest he decided and next time he would merely walk and keep on going As he sat and regained his breath he noted that he was feeling quite warm and comfortable He was not shivering and it even seemed that a warm glow had come to his chest and trunk And yet when he touched his nose or cheeks there was no sensation Running would not thaw them out Nor would it thaw out his hands and feet Then the thought came to him that the frozen portions of his body must be extending He tried to keep this thought down to forget it to think of something else he was aware of the panicky feeling that it caused and he was afraid of the panic But the thought asserted itself and persisted until it produced a vision of his body totally frozen This was too much and he made another wild run along the trail Once he slowed down to a walk but the thought of the freezing extending itself made him run again

And all the time the dog ran with him at his heels When he fell down a second time it curled its tad over its forefeet and sat in front of him facing him curiously eager and intent The warmth and security of the animal angered him and he cursed it till it flattened down its ears appealingly This time the shivering came more quickly upon the man He was losing in his battle with the frost It was creeping into his body from all sides The thought of it drove him on but he ran no more than a hundred feet when he staggered and pitched headlong It was his last panic When he had recovered his breath and control he sat up and entertained in his mind the conception of meeting death with dignity However the conception did not come to him in such terms His idea of it was that he had been making a fool of

To Build a FireContinued

himself running around like a chicken with its head cut off--such was the simile that occurred to him Well he was bound to freeze anyway and he might as well take it decently With this new-found peace of mind came the first glimmerings of drowsiness A good idea he thought to sleep off to death It was like salting an anesthetic Freezing was not so bad as people thought There were lots worse ways to die

He pictured the boys finding his body next day Suddenly he found himself with them coming along the trail and looking for himself And still with them he came around a turn in the trail and found himself lying in the snow He did not belong with himself any more for even then he was out of himself standing with the boys and looking at himself in the snow It certainly was cold was his thought When he got back to the States he could tell the folks what real cold was He drifted on from this to a vision of the old-timer on Sulphur Creek He could see him quite clearly warm and comfortable and smoking a pipe

You were right old boss you were right the man mumbled to the old-timer of Sulphur Creek

Then the man drowsed off into what seemed to him the most comfortable and satisfying sleep he had ever known The dog sat facing him and waiting The brief day drew to a close in a long slow twilight There were no signs of a fire to be made and besides never in the dogs experience had it known a man to sit like that in the snow and make no fire As the twilight drew on its eager yearning for the fire mastered it and with a great lifting and shifting of forefeet it whined softly then flattened its ears down in anticipation of being chidden by the man But the man remained silent Later the dog whined loudly And still later it crept close to the man and caught the scent of death This made the animal bristle and back away A little longer it delayed howling under the stars that leaped and danced and shone brightly in the cold sky Then it turned and trotted up the trail in the direction of the camp it knew where were the other food-providers and fire-providers

To Build a FireContinued

Blogs can be a lot of work to maintainTwitter only gives you 140 characters

Facebook is just your friends

Now you can share a story no matter your social-web status

Stories are published for ALL FitnessDigestus readers Archived professionally and digitally in thousands of libraries

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FitnessDigestUStrade Stories of the humankind

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Page 6: FitnessDigest.us Vol. 4.3 Cover

13 Thank you to all the readers who saved a copy of Vol 42 Irsquove dubbed it the English Channel issue because of the Bryn Dymott story Looking back Irsquom amazed at what the team put together Not only did we get a great story from Bryn Dymott English Channel swimmer but we got stories from an Olymipc Hall of Fame member Transplant Games World Champion and another contribution from Charlotte Andersen

All good stories and causes Vol 42 was such a fun run It really set the standard in many areas We got thousands of new readers through CoopNet DocStoc and Scribd We heard from a handful of people that said they enjoyed the issue With the completion of Vol 42 we are on pace for over 1 million pages read in 2012 The free issue for the quarter was the bench press world record issue Vol 41 It was a VERY popular download

Now we move onto Vol 43 Summer 2012 It is jam packed with stories and writing

13 We are settling into a good pace with this issue Itrsquos our sixth issue for public distribution and might be my favorite issue yet The contributors may not be as well known but their stories are just as fun inspiring heartfelt and entertaining

13 We have our best collection of ultra-short stories in this edition Ultra-shorts are 25-50 word works of wonderment Some of the most entertaining and humorous stories wersquove ever received Keep sending these stories to us anyway you can use the form on the homepage write a letter email phone or send us morse code - whatever works Just getrsquoem in here It is these short antidotal narratives that are some of the most popular reads in each issue

The most value comes from our feature stories though Our main feature this issue is from Texas Brandi Shipman is an elite triathlete and

Whatrsquos in StoreBy Mark Miller mmillerFitnessDigestus

LiveMediaComment on a story without having to write a letter to the editorhttpLiveMediaFitnessDigestus

LiveAdditionsA directory of multimedia resources for the current issue httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

Over 1 million pages read

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cancer survivor Her story is about the incredible comeback she made from breast cancer After battling the disease she took on the race course Her list of accomplishments on the race course are long and she is faster than ever She uses her racing to raise awareness for the American Cancer Society She has touched so many people with her racing and as a survivor That is why stories like Brandis need to be preserved digitally in the most professional way Which leads me to the topic of preservation

13 One of my jobs as publisher is to watch the current publishing trends Ive spent a lot of time lately on digital-preservation of history To communicate the importance of preservation to customers wersquove added the words gather distribute and preserve to the coopnetbiz online store I feel so strongly that stories like Brandis need to be published with preservation in mind Ironically I have a story that illustrates why

13 My grandmother is moving to a nursing home and the family was cleaning out the things she had saved One of the items was a collection of old Life magazines and

a magazine called Archer published by ADM In an amazing coincidence my father opened a Life magazine to a feature about the city we currently live in What an incredible find and the story is so much fun to read Second my family had no idea that my grandfather had been writing a column for ADMrsquos Archer magazine It is so much fun to go back and read the words he wrote in 1950 We are so lucky that my grandmother saved this collection It is priceless to our family Third I just read about Evernote a company that is asking ldquoWill the internet be around in 100 yearsrdquo I should mention now that the company has a billion dollar evaluation Their business plan is

Whatrsquos in Store Continued

For information on people restaurants and events that Mark mentions in his article visithttpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

Got a funny or inspiring story Send for our new writers exordiumentryFitnessDigestus

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built on the idea that websites can disappear in seconds One solution is back-ups Each duplication you make of a file increases the chances of itrsquos survival in years to come

13 It is my hope that someday people will find stories like Brandis on an old iPad or Kindle and get to read her story just like we read my grandfatherrsquos stories in Archer

13 Another first for the magazine We are taking a creative writing expert and pairing his story with a story from a US Masters swimmer The stories are about what inspires and motivates ndash how to find inspiration and motivation in your life I couldnrsquot believe how many underlying similarities there where when I placed them side-by-side

13 This issue is also our first issue that is going to include a new columnist Jen Schmitt is submitting a quarterly column for the magazine She is an inspiring mom in training ndash mom first writer second and triathlete third That is a recipe for success On top of the fact that she is a talented writer her style fits the magazines concept Her writing is

fun and she is great at finding the interesting details in lifes precious moments She brings to light many details that could easily be

overlooked When I see that talent in an athlete-writer I think to myself that they must understand hard work and suffering - because it is the suffering often times during our training that teaches us to see beauty in life Jen uses her talent to help moms find the reward

from long workouts Fittingly we have a poetic story that illustrates this link between suffering and the appreciation of life That story can be found on page 10

13 In 2008 I ran the Mickelson Trail Marathon in Deadwood South Dakota Since then Ive always felt a personal connection to it When I got word from Emily Wheeler the race director that we could get some photos and a short story from the 2012 race I was very excited Jen works closely with the legendary runner Jerry Dunn Mr Dunn is well known for his 200 marathons in the year 2000 He is Americas Marathon man He has appeared on the Today Show and has been featured in numerous magazines The chance to work with Jen and

Whatrsquos in Store Continued

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Jenn Schmitt Columnist

her team is so cool Im very thankful for the contribution Id like to include a quick side note to Emily ndash I think my next challenge will be to make that 100 miler work for me

On a whim I emailed a coordinator from the National Office for the Ride of Silence I mentioned publishing the official poem for the ride along with some photos The excitement I heard back was so positive The ride is emotional to so many people The stories of riders being hurt or killed is tragic we never want to forget them That is why education about sharing the road is a huge part of cycling safety I wont tell you more than that When you read the poem remember those that were hurt or killed while cycling The pictures we got from Robert LaVallee show the different color ribbons given to riders Red is for cyclists who knew a rider that died while cycling black is for a rider that has been injured during a ride

13 Irsquove been downloading classic (out-of-copyright) novels to my Kindle and iPad for re-reading and because I think the are important to preserve for future generations Ive downloaded the Illiad Adventures of Tom Sawyer and the original Wizard

of Oz I also found some good fiction from Jack London I think the magazinersquos readers will appreciate it It is a classic work that is about hiking ndash Think The Long Walk It is a good read with a surprise ending I hope readers will search out books and stories like this and add them to their own collection If we find more that are fitness related or have active subjects we may share them too

Whatrsquos in Store Continued

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httpwwwbrandishipmancom

com

pelling

When in the vastness of miles we find ourself not asking questions but finding answers

The fast races we ran years ago seem ugly and unforgiving

Now older and wiser and much much slower the race gives us a different story Four emotions joy anger sadness and frustration - not all at once but in a fashionable order that even makes anger a pleasant experience If it were not for the physical suffering endured for duration of the race you would perhaps experience all at once

Uncomfortable yet compelling

13 The race that when you are done and the suffering is over makes everything clearer priceless moments no longer slipping by but take the stage in life ndash in a perfect permutation

The finish helps us see there is more to do but until the next race there is no hurry Stop smell the roses Until we rise up for another challenge the story that unfolded during the race takes care of us we dont have to tell it It is written into our lives The memories and seemingly the future having been created between the aid stations and mile markers

NOT THE FASTEST RACETHE GREATESTSent from Iowa

U n c o m f o r t a b l e

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As a teenager I chose golf in high school as a sport rather than track Golfing meant enjoying a bag of chips and a can a soda while on the course Running was something I dreaded in school I used to plan how I could get out of the mile run for weeks when I knew it was almost fitness test time Now as a 31 year old stay at home mom I am running 10Ks and have a goal of completing four sprint triathlons in 2012 as well as many other 5Ks and 10Ks My five year goal is to complete an Ironman triathlon

13 Over the course of the last three years I have changed many aspects of my life I earned a Masterrsquos Degree in Education from Iowa State University I left a career as a Director of Special Education in a local school district to become a stay at home mom ndash with my two beautiful girls This change was prompted by a health scare in 2009 I was hospitalized for many days with meningitis and realized life was just too short

13 In 2011 while nursing my 4 month old my sister in law invited me to go with her to Weight Watchers I joined the next day for what was probably the 8th time but this time was different I made my goal and am a lifetime member I lost 43lbs and am healthy for the first time in my life I have Crohnrsquos Disease and am no longer taking any medications and no longer suffering the symptoms associated with the disease

In August of 2011 our hometown hero a Navy Seal was killed in action He was a huge inspiration to many people but after his death I was inspired to make a difference in our community and live my life differently He was a triathlete that had tackled the big daddy of them all and became an Ironman Realizing what he gave up so that we may have freedom inspired me to

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Givingit aTri

FitnessDigestus columnist Jen Schmitt Rockford Iowa

Men

ingi

tis

13 In 2011 while nursing my four month old my sister in law invited me to go with her to Weight Watchers I joined the next day for what was probably the eigth time but this time was different They helped me make my goal and I became a lifetime member I lost 43lbs and Irsquom healthy for the first time in my life I also have Crohnrsquos Disease and no longer take medications nor do I suffer with the symptoms associated with the disease

13 In August of 2011 our hometown hero a Navy Seal was killed in action He was a huge inspiration to many people After his death I was inspired to make a difference in our community and to live my life differently He was a triathlete that had tackled the big daddy of them all ndash an Ironman Realizing what he gave up so that we may have freedom inspired me to continue on my fitness path by adding triathlete to my title

Givingit aTri

FitnessDigestus columnist Jen Schmitt Rockford Iowa

13 In 2011 while nursing my 4 month old my sister in law invited me to go with her to Weight Watchers I joined the next day for what was probably the 8th time but this time was different I made my goal and am a lifetime member I lost 43lbs and am healthy for the first time in my life I have Crohnrsquos Disease and am no longer taking any medications and no longer suffering the symptoms associated with the disease

In August of 2011 our hometown hero a Navy Seal was killed in action He was a huge inspiration to many people but after his death I was inspired to make a difference in our community and live my life differently He was a triathlete that had tackled the big daddy of them all and became an Ironman Realizing what he gave up so that we may have freedom inspired me to continue on my fitness path by

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13 When I am not out training with the group that I started in my hometown ldquoFriends in Fitnessrdquo you can find me blogging at justamomgivingitatriblogspotcom studying for my personal trainer certification or spending time with my husband girls and friends I enjoy being in the outdoors whether it is just for a walk or turkey hunting in the woods I am currently the chairperson working to organize a 5K fundraiser for the PEO Chapter that I belong to in Rockford Iowa This is going to be our major fundraiser for the year and we are very excited to encourage wellness among others in our community

Givingit aTri

FitnessDigestus columnist Jen Schmitt Rockford Iowa

13 In 2011 while nursing my 4 month old my sister in law invited me to go with her to Weight Watchers I joined the next day for what was probably the 8th time but this time was different I made my goal and am a lifetime member I lost 43lbs and am healthy for the first time in my life I have Crohnrsquos Disease and am no longer taking any medications and no longer suffering the symptoms associated with the disease

In August of 2011 our hometown hero a Navy Seal was killed in action He was a huge inspiration to many people but after his death I was inspired to make a difference in our community and live my life differently He was a triathlete that had tackled the big daddy of them all and became an Ironman Realizing what he gave up so that we may have freedom inspired me to continue on my fitness path by

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on

my p

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tellin

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to th

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Watch and LearnSent in from NIP Gym

Successful SAFE gains in

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Available at select Hy-Vee stores

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GREAT STORY HERE FROM NIP amp Fitness 13 I was in the gym this morning doing shoulders A quiet red headed kid comes in and gets on the bench and starts benching His first set of 135 lbs had HORRIBLE technique and form I walk over and talk to him He tells me his name is Joe - age 17 - weight 205 and is a junior at CS High School and he just bought a membership to NIP amp Fitness He tells me two weeks ago he benched 185 lbs for a max I told him that was very good for is age but NOT for his build I knew he was stronger than that So I helped him shape up is technique and form Joe ndash LISTENED and WATCHED He learned that he was much stronger than a 185 pound max bench presser Today from LISTENING and WATCHING Joe bench pressed 225 X 2 ndash and that 185 pounds he maxed two weeks ago he finished his work out by doing that 185 pounds for seven reps Proper TECHNIQUE and FORM are the key to successful SAFE gains in the gym Today Joe was a perfect example CONGRATULATIONS Joe

Dear Freestyle Swim Stroke

13 You are so frustrating to me Why canrsquot we just get along When I made the decision to tackle this goal of completing a triathlon I was not even worried about you That has proven to be a mistake Some days things go so smooth between us and some mornings I spring out of bed at 430 so excited about our time together Today was not one of those days You left me feeling like thishellip

Like a wet wrung out old swimsuit

These are the reasons that I am so upset with you

1 You literally take my breath away

2 You make my shoulder hurt (Popcorn kernels currently on shoulder while typing)

3 You make me leave my warm cozy bed about two hours before I would really like to leave it

4 If I donrsquot get my butt out of bed and go at 430 AM I have to leave my family and go at 730 PM

Dear FreestyleBy Jen Schmitt Rockford Iowa

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pull

head position

exit

flutter-kick

recovery

(Yes we know ndash no cameras in the locker room No one was harmed in this photo shoot)

13 And to the very old man in the lane beside me I do not dislike you in-fact I am insanely jealous of you I donrsquot stare at you because of your body you may look hot if I was 75 but I am not I stare at you in awe of how effortlessly you move up and down the pool without a rest Someday I hope to be just like you

13 So for now as much as I would love to say we need to break up and go our separate ways I am too D stubborn to do that We will make this work and we are going to get along Here is my promise to you ndash I promise to meet-up with you two to three times a week for at least an hour to work on our relationship I promise not to cheat on you with the sidestroke although I am so much more comfortable with him I promise to keep an open mind about our relationship and give it all that I have just like I do with my friend the run

Love you (I think)

Jen

Dear FreestyleContinued

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pull

head position

exit

flutter-kick

recovery

Adult SwimmingBy Susan Dawson-cook

I have taught dozens of adults how to swim Many of them were initially either afraid of water or somewhat uncomfortable in the aquatic environment Whats worked best is to get in the water with them and do activities that show them it can be fun and safe I make sure they feel safe and secure the entire time and even say things like if you have trouble standing up after you take some strokes I will help you or just reach for my hand if you need support

13 Many beginners have this fear ndash if they are in the horizontal position swimming they wont be able to stand up One woman cried she was so overjoyed she overcame her fear and learned to take her first strokes

Find more of Susanrsquos writing and published works at httplivemediaFitnessDigestus

Body image and fitness are hot topics for both men and women The Great Fitness Experiment is my hilarious poignant embarrassing and at times heart-breaking journey to find my way through the morass of contradictory claims and information in todayrsquos health- and fitness-obsessed world

Available in paperback or in eBookhttpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

If you have trouble standing up after you

take some strokesone women cried

she was so overjoyed

If you would like future issues delivered to a Facebook Twitter or e-mail account e-mail us at infoFitnessDigestus

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2 Deadwood Mickelson Trail MarathonSunday June 2 2013

Deadwood South Dakota

13 On June 2nd we will celebrate 12 years of offering runners from around the globe the most unique running experience of their life Where else in the world can you run on a course that takes you from an abandoned mining town across railroad trestles through a mountain past monolithic rock formations beside a babbling creek and finish in Deadwoodhellipa town that is a historic landmark

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Written Emily WheelerFor more information amp video visit httpLIveAdsFitnessDigestus

ldquoWild West town known primarily for its gamblers gunslingers and gold minersrdquo

Hope to see you at the finish

This Wild West town known primarily for its gamblers gunslingers and gold miners has turned into one of the premiere destination marathon venues in the US

13 The breathtaking beauty of our course the truly outstanding team of volunteers the hospitality of everyone associated with the event and paying attention to details are just a couple of reasons yoursquoll want to toe the line on June 2nd

The Deadwood Mickelson Trail Half and Full Marathon is a point to point course

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ldquoThe breathtaking beauty of our courserdquo

WaynesSkiandCyclenetlive links to Waynersquos at httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

MTM Charity Partner

13 Habitat for Humanity is a global nonprofit Christian housing organization that has helped to build more than 500000 decent affordable houses and served 25 million people worldwide since its founding in 1976 With the help of volunteers and donations of money and materials Habitat constructs rehabilitates and preserves homes in partnership with low-income families in need Operating in nearly 80 countries and with more than 1500 affiliates in the United States Habitat also advocates for fair and just housing policies and provides training and access to resources to help families improve their shelter conditions

Shop for Name BrandItems 24 Hours a Day

beginning in the historic mining town of Rochford the first 15 miles are on a paved road At this point the course becomes the Mickelson Trail (a rails to trails project) The next 12 miles are a mixture of gentle uphill and flat terrain

13 Then the course is either downhill or flat and finishes at the historic Engine House at end of the linehellipthe Deadwood Trailhead The Half Marathon is also a point to point course starting at the 131 mile mark of the full marathon Walker Friendly

All participants will receive a Commemorative Finisherrsquos Medal

Mickelson Trail Marathon Charity Partner is the Black Hills Habitat for HumanityMake your Marathon Matter Matching Funds

Make your Marathon matter by helping create decent shelter in the Black Hills ndash take the challenge to give at least $1 per race mile Our goal is to raise $3000 in 2012 for BH Habitat for Humanity to help provide shelter for more families in the Black Hills

Registrations are capped at 3000 runners If you want to be part of the Deadwood Mickelson Trail Marathon Weekend celebration go to LiveAdsFitnessDigestus and click on the MTM Marathon URL

Hope to see you at the Finish Line - ThanksEmily Wheeler Wheeler Event Management Inc

ldquoHope to see you at the finish linerdquo

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links

DAY had broken cold and gray exceedingly cold and gray when the man turned aside from the main Yukon trail and climbed the high earth-bank where a dim and little traveled trail led eastward through the fat spruce timberland It was a steep bank and he paused for breath at the top excusing the act to himself by looking at his watch It was nine oclock There was no sun nor hint of sun though there was not a cloud in the sky It was a

clear day and yet there seemed an intangible pall over the face of things a subtle gloom that made the day dark and that was due to the absence of sun This fact did not worry the man He was used to the lack of sun It had been days since he had seen the sun and he knew that a few more-days must pass before that cheerful orb due south would just peep above the sky-line and dip immediately from view

To Build a Fire - Hiking the Yukon TrailShort story fiction Written by Jack London (1876-1916)

The man flung a look back along the way he had come The Yukon lay a mile wide and hidden under three feet of ice On top of this ice were as many feet of snow It was all pure white rolling in gentle undulations where the ice jams of the freeze-up had formed North and south as far as his eye could see it was unbroken white save for a dark hairline that curved and twisted from around the spruce-covered island to the south and that curved and twisted away into the north where it disappeared behind another spruce-covered island This dark hair-line was the trail--the main trail--that led south five hundred miles to the Chilcoot Pass Dyea and salt water and that led north seventy miles to Dawson and still on to the north a thousand miles to Nulato and finally to St Michael on Bering Sea a thousand miles and half a thousand more

But all this--the mysterious far-reaching hair-line trail The absence of sun from the sky the tremendous cold and the strangeness and weirdness of it all--made no

impression on the man It was not because he was long used to it He was a newcomer In the land a chechaquo and this was his first winter The trouble with him was that he was without imagination He was quick and alert in the things of life but only in the things and not in the significances Fifty degrees below zero meant eighty-odd degrees of frost Such fact impressed him as being cold and uncomfortable and that was all It did not lead him to meditate upon his frailty as a creature of temperature and upon mans frailty in general able only to live within certain narrow limits of heat and cold and from there on it did not lead him to the conjectural field of immortality and mans place in the universe Fifty degrees below zero stood forte bite of frost that hurt and that must be guarded against by the use of mittens ear-flaps warm moccasins and thick socks Fifty degrees below zero was to him just precisely fifty degrees below zero That there should be anything more to it than that was a thought that never entered his head

To Build a FireContinued

Continued on page 62

Stand Up Paddle BoardingWOWSUPIowacom on LiveAds

It is important from time to time to slow down to go away by yourself and simply be --Eileen Caddy

Letrsquos Race13 My son is eight and our family is very active Im just hitting my peak racing age of about 34 years old The family members all support each otherrsquos activities They are a great cheering section when my wife and I compete in races There is a popular two mile fun run in our town that we my wife and I run every year We also have for-fun races with the kids around the house or across the football field For years Ive let the eight year old win a few and others I win by just a little bit I think he is wising up to my tactics of good fatherhood One day he said ldquoDad you are letting me win but I think I can beat you fair and squarerdquo He added ldquoYoursquore not that fast Ill bet you 10 dollars I can beat you in a two mile racerdquo Wanting to teach him a lesson about spouting off and writing checks his body cant cash I took him up on it I said All right you pick a time and place We will race two miles for 10 dollars He replied You know that two mile race you and mom do every year I can race you then I agreed and he quickly added Ill need 20 years to warm-up That would make me 54 and him 28 Irsquom preparing for the loss and putting 10 dollars aside now

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Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

In my first creative experience it was through music and I was interested in developing my values of creativity I was inspired by a band named Motley Crue and the song that captured my interest was Home Sweet home Dear reader what inspires you Is it music or inspirational quote thought or ideas To express how this song motivated my interests it helped give me faith in my own creative abilities in the process I began to write lyrics I eventually began to work on different styles of writing and broaden my writing skills What types of music inspire your creative thoughts What types of other inspiration values inspire your creative thoughts

13 Getting motivated is one of the key aspects of a successful weight-loss program Without this motivation there would be no drive to get up early or to avoid eating unhealthy snacks ndash that you absolutely love Yes you can thank your motivation for that When you are looking for weight-loss motivation sometimes it is hard to find Where can you find that extra umph to make it to your goal

The benefits of finding a motivator are something that cannot be paralleled It has been said mind over matter This coincides with our principle that no matter how hard the task you can accomplish the goal given the right mindset It is important to go into a new weight-loss program with a positive mental attitude

FINDI

NG TH

EM X InspirationX

Motivation

When I was introduced to William Shakespeare I was intrigued by his creative values and I started to work on developing a different aspect of writing I then watched the movie Free Jack there was a quote by Albert Einstein Imagination is more important than knowledge I thought about the in depth values of both concepts and then I applied both concepts and defined different creative concept Do you believe that anything is possible if you believe I know that I do believe that if an individual believes deeply enough one can accomplish their goals I had to believe in my own abilities and in my dreams and ignore the negative values that were impressed by others

Anything less can potentially hinder growth towards your goal

Some of the things that you should be thinking about when looking for motivators are people with good morals and a positive attitude This is because if the people helping you do not have a positive attitude then it is also difficult for you Some great places to look for a motivator are online blogs in the gym or even in your own family I am sure that in all of these places you will see someone else trying to accomplish the same or even more difficult goals than your own

Another key to finding motivation is to let it find you You should not have to go find a reason to go do something You will do it because you wanted to not because you were forced to

X

InspirationMotivation

More simply put motivation will find you because you will see something that inspires you to make a change in yourself That change may be a weight-loss goal or something else Maybe even an academic goal The true key is to maintain that motivation until you have achieved your goal

Regards Vincent ErrichielloUSMS Swimmer

InspirationMotivation

With believing so deeply within my own abilities and the faith that I could accomplish what I set out to achieve I wrote a lyric titled Dreams Are Only Real and in believing in this concept further defining its true meaning the concept became Dreams Are Only Real Until You Dont believe

Jeremy J TaylorCNFI Publishing

himTHROWINGWritten by anonymous contributor

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13 Johnny is not the best batter in our little league Matter-of-fact he is quiet awful At practice one afternoon Johnny hit a pitch really well The coach had pitched him inside on accident far enough inside that it almost hit him Johnny got his hit by using his bat to defend himself from that arrant pitch The coach told him ldquogood hitrdquo and Johnny yelled back ldquoWell I didnrsquot want the ball to hit merdquo13 Johnny improved his batting after that He was hitting the ball almost every time he got up At one point I said to coach ldquoHow did you get Johnny to improve his batting so quicklyrdquo He replyed Im throwing the ball it AT HIM every time

Body image and fitness are hot topics for both men and women The Great Fitness Experiment is my hilarious poignant embarrassing and at times heart-breaking journey to find my way through the morass of contradictory claims and information in todayrsquos health- and fitness-obsessed world

Available in paperback or in eBookVisit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

wwwnorthiafitnesscom on LiveAdsEmail northiowafitnessgmailcom

Phone 641-201-1035Strongest weight loss supplements

on the market

The Fall of Billy Hitchingsby Kirkus MacGowan

Available at Amazon

LOCATED IN ST ANSGAR IOWA

Business Cards Envelopes

Letterheads Programs

Vinyl Decals Signs

Posters Invites (graduation wedding showers etc)

Flyers Brochures

T-ShirtsShorts SweatshirtsSweats

Koozies Sashes

Business Forms Placemats

Postcards And Much More

Bridgette Beyer DesignerOwner

Bring your ideas in andVisual Aspect Designs can print

andor design for you

Black Lab LanyardsSpecializing in customized duck and goose call lanyards for waterfowl enthusiasts

For more information on this productVisit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

FitnessDigestus is now available at

WOWSUPIOWAcom

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entryFitnessDigestus

Send u

s yo

ur T

-shi

rt

READE

R T

-shi

rts

13 I was standing on shore fishing in my favorite spot A guy Irsquove never seen at the pond gets in and starts swimming After about 25 minutes of back and forth he stops at a place about 30 yards off shore He gives me a quick look and dices down below the water

His next lap he stops in the same place looks at me again and points down at the water He finished his swim and left I picked up my gear and moved to the other side of the outlet just a few yards from where he had stopped twice Caught a lunker in the first cast

Swim Signs - Lunker

BankersPromotional and Advertising Specialties

Call to order 641ndash423ndash3111

Marathon Caps

Visors Water Bottles

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Black Lab LanyardsSpecializing in customized duck and goose call lanyards for waterfowl enthusiastsCustomized Duck and Goose Call Lanyards

Archery Bow Slings

Dog Collars and Whistle Lanyards

Fly Fishing Lanyards

Visit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus for more information

TOP TWEETS

Iowa Cubs (IowaCubs)Thanks to all our fans who showed up for the pre-game on-field catch with dad

Louise Pineda (forerunnerGPS)The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficultyWinston Churchill quotes

Softball Darlin (Softball_Darlin)My mom told me our team was gettin white uniforms for summer amp to try not to get them dirty Uh Have you seen me play Not gonna happen

I Swim I Suffer (ISwimISuffer)thatswimmerwho If the water is in your right ear for example then jump on your right leg and lean your head to the right side while jumping

I Swim and I Know It (iSwimWithIssues)During the summer you shower 467 times at the pool 17 times at hotels and 3 times at your house Truth

Everyday Health (WomensCancer)63000 Americans will be diagnosed w malignant melanoma (the deadliest skin cancer) this year Know your risk

US Paralympics (USParalympics)Want to be introduced to Paralympic sport Attend one of the Paralympic Experiences being held throughout the countryFi

tnes

sDig

est

US v

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201

2

SwimSwam (swimswamnews)Congrats to KenyaSwimmer on being selected to carry the Kenya flag swimswamcom

Better than sharing on a blog Twitter or Facebook and you can share a story even if you donrsquot maintain a social-web presencePublished for ALL FitnessDigestus readers

Sign with your real name pen-name or anonymoushttpLiveMediaFitnessDigestus

13 Funnest thing SPAM about some weight-loss supplements got posted on a friendrsquos Facebook My friend is an ultra-runner I notice there was also an ad for salami recipes on the same page The recipes were right next to the SPAM about diet-pills

13 Letrsquos see ndash it sounds like the beginning of a good joke Q What do you get when a friend tries to sell you ultra-runner endorsed salami-flavored-SPAM diet-pills on Facebook Answer Sick

Unsung Heroes1 Irsquove never swam open water and wanted to do a triathlon A friend that

races open water took extra time to swim with me at a lake I was much more comfortable after that

2 I was going on vacation and needed advice on a place to swim A friend living in the area took the time to help me find people to answer my questions

3 I was over eating and had complained to my friend about it She called me twice a day for three weeks just to remind me to eat healthy

4 I usually run to and from the gym It takes about 30 minutes to run both ways I didnrsquot have enough time to get there and back before a scheduled appointment I had A friend drove me to the gym saving me about 30 minutes I was able to run home and still had time to get to my appointment

SPAM DIET

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Visit the Suburban Mommy blog and learn more about AtresiaMicrotia a birth defect of the inner earFor links to SubMommy blog httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

SUBMOMMYBLOG

On Wednesday May 16 2012 at 7 PM simultaneous rides occurred around the

USA and the world

We all ride Now we can ride as one

One day One time One world world wide

Let the silence roar

322 locations world wide

The Ride of SilenceTonight we number many but ride as one

In honor of those not with us friends

mothers fathers sisters sons

With helmets on tight and heads down low

We ride in silence cautious and slow

The wheels start spinning in the lead pack

But tonight we ride and no one attacks

The dark sunglasses cover our tears

Remembering those we held so dear

Tonights ride is to make others aware

The road is there for all to share

To those not with us or by our side

May God be your partner on your final ride

- Mike Murgas

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 50 states

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 7 Continents

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 0 words spoken

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 1 million memories

Ride of Silence

ldquoCost-effective investments in bicycling boost our economy help individuals and government agencies save money and directly address key societal challenges such as obesity and road congestion In these tough economic times our federal government can only afford to invest in solutions that solve multiple problems Bicycling fits the billrdquo ndash PeopleForBikesorg

This photo collection was taken byRobert LaVallee of Mason City IA

To see his entire collection visithttpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

Non-subscriberSign-up for delivery of

the FREE edition at coopnetbiz

It provides an outstanding aerobic workout in less than half the time we would spend in still water It has allowed us as swim coaches to observe swimmers stroke characteristics up close and to see the effects of fatigue on stroke mechanics ~ Larry L Chazy NY

Swimming is an excellent exercise and now I can swim every day because its so convenient and private I can swim when I want and how long I want Im able to have it at a temperature that is comfortable to me The small size of an Endless Pool enabled me to install a pool where I could not install a regular size one

As an aging baby boomer nutrition professional I have yearned for consistent exercise that doesnt stress joints and will enable me to attain physical fitness cardiovascular health and weight control I can eat what I want and still firm up and lose weight ~ John C Columbus OH

Endless Pools make for long swims in small places The 8x15 Endless Pool is less than regulation size but offers the same benefits as a very large pool ~ Noah H Connecticut Post

The Endless Pool is a great strength builder I am amazed at the strength of the current I now swim against I did not buy it for that reason but because of my arthritis so the strength gain is a wonderful surprise

Endless PoolsTestimonials For more information visit httpLIveAdsFitnessDigestus

s w i m m i n g s h o r t s

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Baseball Walking Stick13 My sons friend grabbed his baseball bat and said to me this is my walking stick I politely ask him why he calls it that He replied because my dad says if I hit a home run with it I donrsquot have to run the bases ndash I can walk

My Bike My mountain bike was stolen a while back and my kids were really upset Ive been riding my road bike in its place Since then Ive been careful to lock my bike up when we go to the park

13 On this occasion I did not lock-up my sonrsquos bike up with mine He looked at me quizzically and said sternly lock my bike up too I tried to explain that his bike was not as expensive and therefor didnt need to be locked up Boy that was a mistake He made me feel a little dumb when he said Dad I dont care how expensive it is Its the only bike Irsquove got

North Iowa Roads

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A LEADER inSearch Engine Optimization

Technology

Increase your visitor page views and Facebook Likes

Are you moving to a new state Already hired your mover

E-mail blind box at box02FitnessDigestus will get

you the best rates on cable phone and internet

Digital Movers

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

parent sports tipBy FitnessDigestus staff writer JGA

PAR

EN

T

TIP

Keeping Kids Focused13 Organize their thoughts Help them prioritize and make decisions based on value Even kids can understand the value of simple non-monetized choices Questions like ldquoShould I finish playing my gameboy game or pause it when they call my swimming eventrdquo

If kids are taught to make good decisions and not just find quick answers everyone wins

AugustGolf Month5th Friendship Day15th Relaxation Day25th Kiss and Make Up Day31st Trail Mix DaySeptemberLittle League Month12th Chocolate Milk Shake Day13th Positive Thinking Day16th Womenrsquos Friendship Day21st Miniature Golf DayOctoberBreast Cancer Awareness MonthNational Diabetes Month1st World Vegetarian Day4th Golf Day25th World Pasta Day

National Calendar

Au

gu

stSe

pte

mb

er

Oc

tob

er

Encourage friendships writing skills sharing thoughts and

experiencesEight different cards

YAGOTTAWANNA

Variety of pricing From single orders to bulk orders of 24 notecards

Learn more online

Stay in touch with your swimming or triathlon buddies

It is better to be safe then to try to beat the heat There are many options to stay cool and run during a hot-summer day Staying inside and running on the treadmill is a good one Remember staying safe is a top priority

Most workouts can be modified to work indoors This issuersquos workout is to do your usual run or interval set just stay inside and run it on the treadmill Visualize the different landmarks to see during your outdoor run

Coach Millerrsquos Quarterly ChallengeStay safe in the heatBy Mark Miller mmillerFitnessDigestus

A few years back we had a hot-spell similar to this yearrsquos record heat

I remember training for a long run and having to stop at the local swimming hole to cool off I literally took off my

shoes and jumped in with my running clothes on I was so hot

FitnessDigestUSEntertainment amp Inspiration

Use coupon codeldquoRAMCSPRrdquo

at puresportshopcomfor 20 OFF

Nutritional Performance Sports Drinks with Protein

OPEN WATER SWIMMING BY THE NUMBERS

In kilometers The shortest open water race included in the Fina World Championships

10107 How many miles it

is to swim from Cuba to the USA

5

1000Number of swimming strokes in a mile for a typical swimmer

31800About the number of calories it takes to swim 100 miles

LOCATED IN ST ANSGAR IOWA

Business Cards Envelopes

Letterheads Programs

Vinyl Decals Signs

Posters Invites (graduation wedding showers etc)

Flyers Brochures

T-ShirtsShorts SweatshirtsSweats

Koozies Sashes

Business Forms Placemats

Postcards And Much More

Bridgette Beyer DesignerOwner

Bring your ideas in andVisual Aspect Designs can print

andor design for you

The minimum open water distance in kilometers that is considered a swimming-

marathon

On Facebook Visit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

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Open water safety means swimming in shallow water where there is a lifeguard or using an escort

Shop for Name BrandGear

24 Hoursa Day

WaynesSkiandCyclenet

For links to Waynersquos visit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

s w i m m i n g s h o r t s

Googles

13 Swimming fans can really appreciate a 200 IM when their goggles fill with water How about an Olympian Swimming a leg of the 400 Free Relay with his goggles across his opened mouth ndash and going 45rsquos A great team swimmer an Olympian wouldnrsquot let down his teammates by throwing them off or fixing them

500 Fly13 A world class butterflyer asked if he could swim butterfly in the 500 yard freestyle during a dual meet His goal was to break five minutes After considering the competition it seemed like a great way to make him really work a hard fly swim so we agreed Problem was he swam a 502 and the opposing coach complained to the officials because he embarrassed his swimmers Oh well you canrsquot win lsquoem all

Stories sent in by Robert Steele

No-No-No13 The other morning I was teaching front-streamlines to snotty nosed 8 year olds (some are literally snotty-nosed) One boy was taking a big gulp of air and holding his breath When he lifted his head he had to exhale and inhale before submerging again Swimmers will understand this does not work very well Kids need to learn to exhale underwater The first time he did it I told him to exhale underwater The second time I stopped him looked him in the eye and reminded him to exhale underwater The third and fourth times I started to get a little frustrated ldquoJohnny you need to exhale underwater so you can breath betterrdquo The fifth time as his head popped up for a breath I quickly asked ldquoJohnny Do you even know what exhale meansrdquo as he submerged his head below the water I could see him shake his head no-no-no

Favorite Potato Chips13We try to limit the junk food the kids eat at our house For lunch one day our son wanted some potato chips I gave him 3 large chips with his sandwich He started to cry and said he wanted one more chip ldquoI wanted four chipsrdquo he screamed I took the plate back When he wasnt looking I broke a chip in half and give it back to him with four chips

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

13 My cancer story is one of uniqueness Leave it to me to do something like cancer to its fullest It did not begin with a mammogram diagnosis or a lump My journey began about 4 years ago with some suspicious activity that turned into Pagetrsquos disease of the nipple which signaled the underlying cancer On April 1st I found out about my breast cancer through a biopsy that came back as positive for Pagetrsquos disease The onslaught of tests learning and decisions were dizzying I immediately went for an evaluation of the suspicious tissue and had to begin making decisions for my mastectomy I quickly learned there is a test called the BRAC Analysis which is a genetic test for breast and ovarian cancer Finally a piece of good news for me I did not have the gene

Decisions Now it was time to make decisions about my mastectomy and how I was going to handle reconstruction I discussed my options with my boyfriend Brian friends family members and even my principalboss I read books searched the Internet and contacted people I

Brandi ShipmanCancer Survivor and elite triathlete

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

know and knew from my past that had been directly affected and that I thought might have answers for me The outpouring of love encouragement and help during this process was overwhelming After meeting with four different doctors two surgeons and two plastic surgeons I decided to go with immediate reconstruction and was lucky enough to find two wonderful doctors They were willing to work together just because I wanted them to even though they had never done so before My surgery was scheduled for mid May

Mental Toughness13 My mental preparation at this point was very important I had to scrap any idea of competing in triathlons for the rest of the year and focus on a positive attitude of getting better I stopped thinking about what I wasnrsquot going to able to do and started thinking about what I could do that I was alive and kept my mind on the fact that so many others had made it before me

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links

Part 213 I was prepared by the doctors survivors and literature to be ldquodownrdquo for several weeks after my surgery I even took the rest of the school year off My surgery went well and I was out of the hospital the next day A few friends came to visit while I was in the hospital and my principal and vice principal brought the most wonderful picture of the faculty wearing pink for me I can only imagine what it looked like at Thornton Elementary on that day in May 2009 a sea of pink all for Brandi Shipman Shortly after their visit I received a text from my friend Margie Massey My friends from the gym wore pink for me that day as well The support brought tears to my eyes I was so excited to come home and be comfortable in my own home I just wish the stupid drain that was attached could have stayed at the hospital The pain from that was worse than the pain from the mastectomy

the most

powerful picture

13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Recovery ndash May13 Once I got home I slept and watched a lot of TV Friends visited and brought yummy food and my favorites I am not supposed to eat I ate them all My friend and co-worker set up a cancer care calendar that alerted anyone who logged on when I was having a doctorrsquos appointment or when I was in need of anything I felt like royalty as everyone took care of me I think Brian secretly enjoyed the fact that he wouldnrsquot have to cook for me each night My recovery was quicker than I thought as I was doing my best to get better and get the stinkinrsquo drain out of my skin I was out walking within a week and running within 3 weeks I couldnrsquot believe my recovery I know it was from all the prayers love and good care from Brian and the loved ones around me Life was looking better each day

ldquoLife was looking

better each dayrdquo

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Part three and part

four of I am Survivor

will be published in

the next edition of

FitnessDigestus

Get the convenience of

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During the past 150 years we have witnessed many remarkable advances against cancer a disease known to humanity for thousands of years The advances highlighted below represent a sampling of what has been accomplished to date

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

1882 William Halsted performs the first radical mastectomy to treat breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast the lymph nodes under the arm (axillary lymph nodes) and the chest muscles behind the breast (pectoralis major and pectoralis minor muscles) are removed Radical mastectomy will remain the standard operation for breast cancer until latter half of the 20th century when the use of modified radical mastectomy becomes widely accepted

1932 David H Patey develops the modified radical mastectomy for breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast axillary lymph nodes and pectoralis minor muscle behind the breast are removed The modified radical mastectomy is less disfiguring than the radical mastectomy and will eventually replace the radical mastectomy as a standard treatment option for breast cancer

1953 James Watson and Francis Crick discover the molecular structure of DNA (the double helix)

1963 The Health Insurance Plan (HIP) of Greater New York Study begins HIP is the first randomized controlled trial of periodic breast cancer screening with mammography

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1976 The results of a randomized clinical trial show that women with early breast cancer who receive post-operative (adjuvant) combination chemotherapy with the drugs cyclophosphamide methotrexate and 5-FU have improved disease-free survival

1981 A randomized clinical trial in the United Kingdom shows for the first time that the rates of survival local recurrence and tumor metastasis among women whose breast cancer is treated with modified radical mastectomy are not substantially different from those of women who are treated with radical mastectomy

1993 An NCI-convened international workshop on screening for breast cancer reports that screening with mammography reduces breast cancer mortality among women ages 50-69 This conclusion is based on a review of published and unpublished data from eight randomized controlled trials

2004 Data from the Womens Health Initiative (WHI) study show that women who take estrogen in combination with the hormone progestin have a greater risk of developing breast cancer than women who take estrogen alone The results also show that menopausal hormone therapy with estrogen alone has no benefit in disease prevention specifically in reducing the risks of colorectal cancer coronary heart disease and dementia

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Although we still have a long way to go to reduce the toll of cancer in the United States and worldwide our research and public health efforts are beginning to pay dividends

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

Volunteering vs Participating13 My girl friend and I are involved in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation The local chapter raises awareness for the cause with a fun-run each year We have volunteered to help with the race five years in a row This year we were stationed at a water table where the runners pick-up cups of water to drink Toward the end of the race there are very few runners There was a little time to chat about things We were talking about what we would wish for if we could have three wishes I told her I would wish for an end to Juvenile Diabetes and to lose 10 pounds Being nice I said ldquoyou can have my last wishrdquo She said I wish you would skip volunteering and just run this race next year

Admission Price Our aquatic center was having a promotion one night and advertised an elementary school night The kids could swim for free When we got to the pool we saw a promotional sign for the event In small lettering it read All swimmers must be accompanied by an adult We thought no big deal one of us can just stay and watch When we got to the front desk we found the lifeguard was enforcing the adult-admission price of $8

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CNFI Publishing - Products Books Chapbooks Bookmarks Plaques and Poetry Collector Cards Merchandising Products Coffee Mugs Mouse Pads Tiles 3x6 Coasters T - Shirts and Wall Plaques More info athttpliveadsFitnessDigestus

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

Featured PhotosFitnessDigestus feature

Chicago open water swim course at nighttop left

Kids race at Bicycle Blues and BBQtop right

Some team members volunteer at the local soup kitchenmiddle right

Ken Mauer loads the balls for hitting practice during a Twins baseball camp for

children 7-13 bottom right

Get your local event photos published in the next issue of FitnessDigestus E-mail

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As he turned to go on he spat speculatively There was a sharp explosive crackle that startled him He spat again And again in the air before it could fall to the snow the spittle crackled He knew that at fifty below spittle crackled on the snow but this spittle had crackled in the air Undoubtedly it was colder than fifty below--how much colder he did not know But the temperature did not matter He was bound for the old claim on the left fork of Henderson Creek where the boys were already They had come over across the divide from the Indian Creek country while he had come the roundabout way to take a look at the possibilities of getting out logs in the spring from the islands in the Yukon He would be in to camp by six oclock a bit after dark it was true but the boys would be there a fire would be going and a hot supper would be ready As for lunch he pressed his hand against the protruding bundle under his jacket It was also under his shirt wrapped up in a handkerchief and lying against the naked skin It was the only way to keep the biscuits from freezing He smiled agreeably to himself as he thought of those biscuits each cut open and sopped in bacon grease and each enclosing a generous slice of fried bacon

He plunged in among the big spruce trees The trail was faint A foot of snow had fallen since the last sled had passed over and he was glad he was without a sled traveling light In fact he carried nothing but the lunch wrapped in the handkerchief He was surprised however at the cold It certainly was cold he concluded as he rubbed his numb nose and cheek-bones with his mittened hand He was a warm-whiskered man but the hair on his face did not protect the high cheek-bones and the eager nose that thrust itself aggressively into the frosty air

At the mans heels trotted a dog a big native husky the proper wolf-dog gray-coated and without any visible or temperamental difference from its brother the wild wolf The animal was depressed by the tremendous cold It knew that it was no time for

traveling Its instinct told it a truer tale than was told to the man by the mans judgment In reality it was not merely colder than fifty below zero it was colder than sixty below than seventy below It was seventy-five below zero Since the freezing point is thirty-two above zero it meant that one hundred and seven degrees of frost obtained The dog did not know anything about thermometers Possibly in its brain there was no sharp consciousness of a condition of very cold such as was in the mans brain But the brute had its instinct It experienced a vague but menacing apprehension that subdued it then made it slink along at the mans heels and that made it question eagerly every unwonted movement of the man as if expecting him to go into camp or to seek shelter somewhere and build a fire The dog had learned fire and it wanted fire or else to burrow under the snow and cuddle its warmth away from the air

The frozen moisture of its breathing had settled on its fur in a fine powder of frost and especially were its jowls muzzle and eyelashes whitened by its cry-stalled breath The mans red beard and mustache were likewise frosted but more solidly the deposit taking the form of ice and increasing with every warm moist breath he exhaled Also the man was chewing tobacco and the muzzle of ice held his lips so rigidly that he was unable to clear his chin when he expelled the juice The result was that a crystal beard of the color and solidity of amber was increasing its length on his chin If he fell down it would shatter itself like glass into brittle fragments But he did not mind the appendage It was the penalty all tobacco-chewers paid in that country and he had been out before in two cold snaps They had not been so cold as this he knew but by the spirit thermometer at Sixty Mile he knew they had been registered at fifty below and at fifty-five

He held on through the level stretch of woods for several miles crossed a wide flat of rigger-heads and dropped down a bank to the frozen bed of a

To Build a FireContinued

small stream This was Henderson Creek and he knew he was ten miles from the forks He looked at his watch It was ten oclock He was making four miles an hour and he calculated that he would arrive at the forks at half-past twelve He decided to celebrate that event by eating his lunch there

The dog dropped in again at his heels with a tail drooping discouragement as the man swung along the creek-bed The furrow of the old sled-trail was plainly visible but a dozen inches of snow covered the marks of the last runners In a month no man had come up or down that silent creek The man held steadily on He was not much given to thinking and just then particularly he had nothing to think about save that he would eat lunch at-the forks and that at six oclock he would be in camp with the boys There was nobody to talk to and had there been speech would have been impossible because of the ice-muzzle on his mouth So he continued monotonously to chew tobacco and to increase the length of his amber beard

Once in a while the thought reiterated itself that it was very cold and that he had never experienced such cold As he walked along he rubbed his cheek-bones and nose with the back of his mittened hand He did this automatically now and again changing hands But rub as he would the instant he stopped his cheek-bones went numb and the following instant the end of his nose went numb He was sure to frost his cheeks he knew that and experienced a pang of regret that he had not devised a nose-strap of the sort Bud wore in cold snaps Such a strap passed across the cheeks as well and saved them But it didnt matter much after all What were frosted cheeks A bit painful that was all they were never serious

Empty as the mans mind was of thoughts he was keenly observant and he noticed the changes in the creek the curves and bends and timber jams and always he sharply noted where he placed his feet Once coming around a bend he shied abruptly

like a startled horse curved away from the place where he had been walking and retreated several paces back along the trail The creek he knew was frozen clear to the bottom--no creek could contain water in that arctic winter--but he knew also that there were springs that bubbled out from the hillsides and ran along under the snow and on top the ice of the creek He knew that the coldest snaps never froze these springs and he knew likewise their danger They were traps They hid pools of water under the snow that might be three inches deep or three feet Sometimes a skin of ice half an inch thick covered them and in turn was covered by the snow Sometimes there were alternate layers of water and ice-skin so that when one broke through he kept on breaking through for a while sometimes wetting himself to the waist

That was why he had shied in such panic He had felt the give under his feet and heard the crackle of a snow-hidden ice-skin And to get his feet wet in such a temperature meant trouble and danger At the very least it meant delay for he would be forced to stop and build a fire and under its protection to bare his feet while he dried his socks and moccasins He stood and studied the creek-bed and its banks and decided that the flow of water came from the right He reflected a while rubbing his nose and cheeks then skirted to the left stepping gingerly and testing the footing for each step Once clear of the danger he took a fresh chew of tobacco and swung along at his four-mile gait

In the course of the next two hours he came upon several similar traps Usually the snow above the hidden pools had a sunken candied appearance that advertised the danger Once again however he had a close call and once suspecting danger he compelled the dog to go on in front The dog did not want to go It hung back until the man shoved it forward and then it went quickly across the white unbroken surface Suddenly it broke through floundered to one side and got away to firmer

To Build a FireContinued

To Build a FireContinued

footing It had wet its forefeet and legs and almost immediately the water that clung to it turned to ice It made quick efforts to lick the ice off its legs then dropped down in the snow and began to bite out the ice that had formed between the toes l his was a matter of instinct To permit the ice to remain would mean sore feet It did not know this It merely obeyed the mysterious prompting that arose from the deep crypts of its being But the man knew having achieved a judgment on the subject and he removed the mitten from his right hand and helped tear out the ice-particles He did not expose his fingers more than a minute and was astonished at the swift numbness that smote them It certainly was cold He pulled on the mitten hastily and beat the hand savagely across his chest

At twelve oclock the day was at its brightest Yet the sun was too far south an its winter journey to clear the horizon The bulge of the earth intervened between it arid Henderson Creek where the man walked under a clear sky at noon and cast no shadow At half-past twelve to the minute he arrived at the forks of the creek He was pleased at the speed he had made If he kept it up he would certainly be with the boys by six He unbuttoned his jacket and shirt and drew forth his lunch The action consumed no more than a quarter of a minute yet in that brief moment the numbness laid hold of the exposed fingers He did not put the mitten on but instead struck the fingers a dozen sharp smashes against his leg Then he sat down on a snow-covered log to eat The sting that followed upon the striking of his fingers against his leg ceased so quickly that he was startled He had had no chance to take a bite of biscuit He struck the fingers repeatedly and returned them to the mitten baring the other hand for the purpose of eating He tried to take a mouthful but the ice-muzzle prevented He had forgotten to build a fire and thaw out He chuckled at his foolishness and as he chuckled he noted the numbness creeping into the exposed fingers Also he noted that the stinging which had first come to his

toes when he sat down was already passing away He wandered whether the toes were warm or numb He moved them inside the moccasins and decided that they were numb

He pulled the mitten on hurriedly and stood up He was a bit frightened He stamped up and down until the stinging returned into the feet It certainly was cold was his thought That man from Sulphur Creek had spoken the truth when telling how cold it sometimes got in the country And he had laughed at him at the time That showed one must not be too sure of things There was no mistake about it it was cold He strode up and down stamping his feet and threshing his arms until reassured by the returning warmth Then he got out matches and proceeded to make a fire From the undergrowth where high water of the previous spring had lodged a supply of seasoned twigs he got his firewood Working carefully from a small beginning he soon had a roaring fire over which he thawed the ice from his face and in the protection of which he ate his biscuits For the moment the cold space was outwitted The dog took satisfaction in the fire stretching out close enough for warmth and far enough away to escape being singed

When the man had finished be filled his pipe and took his comfortable time over a smoke Then he pulled on his mittens settled the ear-flaps of his cap firmly about his ears and took the creek trail up the left fork The dog was disappointed and yearned back toward the fire This man did not know cold Possibly all the generations of his ancestry had been ignorant of cold of real cold of cold one hundred and seven degrees below freezing point But the dog knew all its ancestry knew and it had inherited the knowledge And it knew that it was not good to walk abroad in such fearful cold It was the time to lie snug in a hole in the snow and wait for a curtain of cloud to be drawn across the face of outer space whence this cold came On the other hand there was no keen intimacy between the dog and the man

The one was the toil-slave of the other and the only caresses it had ever received were the caresses of the whiplash and of harsh and menacing throat-sounds that threatened the whiplash So the dog made no effort to communicate its apprehension to the man It was not concerned in the welfare of the man it was for its own sake that it yearned back toward the fire But the man whistled and spoke to it with the sound of whiplashes and the dog swung in at the mans heel and followed after

The man took a chew of tobacco and proceeded to start a new amber beard Also his moist breath quickly powdered with white his mustache eyebrows and lashes There did not seem to be so many springs on the left fork of the Henderson and for half an hour the man saw no signs of any And then it happened At a place where there were no signs where the soft unbroken snow seemed to advertise solidity beneath tee man broke through It was not deep He wet himself halfway to the knees before he floundered out to the firm crust

He was angry and cursed his luck aloud He had hoped to get into camp with the boys at six oclock and this would delay him an hour for he would have to build a fire and dry out his foot-gear This was imperative at that low temperature--he knew that much and he turned aside to the bank which he climbed On top tangled in the underbrush about the trunks of several small spruce trees was a high-water deposit of dry firewood--sticks and twigs principally but also larger portions of seasoned branches and fine dry last-years grasses He threw down several large pieces on top of the snow This served for a foundation and prevented the young flame from drowning itself in the snow it otherwise would melt The flame he got by touching a match to a small shred of birch bark that he took from his pocket This burned even more readily than paper Placing it on the foundation he fed the young flame with wisps of dry grass and with the tiniest dry twigs

He worked slowly and carefully keenly aware of his danger Gradually as the flame grew stronger he increased the size of the twigs with which he fed it He squatted in the snow pulling the twigs out from their entanglement in the brush and feeding directly to the flame He knew there must be no failure When it is seventy-five below zero a man must not fail in his first attempt to build a fire--that is if his feet are wet If his feet are dry and he fails he can run along the trail for half a mile and restore his circulation But the circulation of wet and freezing feet cannot be restored by running when it is seventy-five below No matter how fast he runs the wet feet will freeze the harder

All this the man knew The old-timer on Sulphur Creek had told him about it the previous fall and now he was appreciating the advice Already all sensation had gone out of his feet To build the fire he had been forced to remove his mittens and the fingers had quickly gone numb His pace of four miles an hour had kept his heart pumping blood to the surface of his body and to all the extremities But the instant he stopped the action of the pump eased down The cold of space smote the unprotected tip of the planet and he being on that unprotected tip received the full force of the blow The blood of his body recoiled before it The blood was alive like the dog and like the dog it wanted to hide away and cover itself up from the fearful cold So long as he walked four miles an hour he pumped that blood willy-nilly to the surface but now it ebbed away and sank down into the recesses of his body The extremities were the first to feel its absence His wet feet froze the faster and his exposed fingers numbed the faster though they had not yet begun to freeze Nose and cheeks were already freezing while the skin of all his body chilled as it lost its blood

But he was safe Toes and nose and cheeks would be only touched by the frost for the fire was beginning to burn with strength He was feeding it

To Build a FireContinued

with twigs the size of his finger In another minute he would be able to feed it with branches the size of his wrier and then he could remove his wet toot-gear and while it dried he could keep his naked feet warm by the fire rubbing them at first of course with snow The fire was a success He was safe He remembered the advice of the old timer on Sulphur Creek and smiled The old-timer had been very serious in laying down the law that no man must travel alone in the Klondike after fifty below Well here he was he had had the accident he was alone and he had saved himself Those old-timers were rather womanish some of them he thought All a man had to do was to keep his head and he was all right Any man who was a man could travel alone But it was surprising the rapidity with which his cheeks and nose were freezing And he had not thought his fingers could go lifeless in so short a time Lifeless they were for he could scarcely make them move together to grip a twig and they seemed remote from his body and from him When he touched a twig he had to look and see whether or not he had hold of it The wires were pretty well down between him and his finger-ends

All of which counted for little There was the fire snapping and crackling and promising life with every dancing flame He started to untie his moccasins They were coated with ice the thick German socks were like sheaths of iron halfway to the knees and the moccasin strings were like rods of steel all twisted and knotted as by some conflagration For a moment he tugged with his numb fingers then realizing the folly of it he drew his sheath-knife

But before he could cut the strings it happened It was his own fault or rather his mistake He should not have built the fire under the spruce tree He should have built it in the open But it had been easier to pull the twigs from the brush and drop them directly on the fire Now the tree under which

he had done this carried a weight of snow on its boughs No wind had blown for weeks and each bough was fully freighted Each time he had pulled a twig he had communicated a slight agitation to the tree--an imperceptible agitation so far as he was concerned but an agitation sufficient to bring about the disaster High up in the tree one bough capsized its load of snow This fell on the boughs beneath capsizing them This process continued spreading out and involving the whole tree It grew like an avalanche and it descended without warning upon the man and the fire and the fire was blotted out Where it had burned was a mantle of fresh and disordered snow

The man was shocked It was as though he had just heard his own sentence of death For a moment he sat and stared at the spot where the fire had been Then he grew very calm Perhaps the old-timer on Sulphur Creek was right If he had only had a trail-mate he would have been in no danger now The trail-mate could have built the fire Well it was up to him to build the fire over again and this second time there must be no failure Even if he succeeded he would most likely lose some toes His feet must be badly frozen by now and there would be some time before the second fire Was ready

Such were his thoughts but he did not sit and think them He was busy all the time they were passing through his mind He made a new foundation for a fire this time in the open where no treacherous tree could blot it out Next he gathered dry grasses and tiny twigs from the high-water flotsam He could not bring his fingers together to pull them out but he was able to gather them by the handful In this way he got many rotten twigs and bits of green moss that were undesirable but it was the best he could do He worked methodically even collecting an armful of the larger branches to be used later when the fire gathered strength And all the while the dog sat and watched him a certain yearning wistfulness in its eyes for it looked upon

To Build a FireContinued

him as the fire-provider and the fire was slow in coming

When all was ready the man reached in his pocket for a second piece of birch bark He knew the bark was there and though he could not feel it with his fingers he could hear its crisp rustling as he fumbled for it Try as he would he could not clutch hold of it And all the time in his consciousness was the knowledge that each instant his feet were freezing This thought tended to put him in a panic but he fought against it and kept calm He pulled on his mittens with his teeth and threshed his arms back and forth beating his hands with all his might against his sides He did this sitting down and he stood up to do it and all the while the dog sat in the snow its wolf-brush of a tail curled around warmly over its forefeet its sharp wolf-ears pricked forward intently as it watched the man And the man as he beat and threshed with his arms and hands felt a great surge of envy as he regarded the creature that was warm ant secure in its natural covering

After a time he was aware of the first far-away signals of sensation in his beaten fingers The faint tingling grew stronger till it evolved into a stinging ache that was excruciating but which the man hailed with satisfaction He stripped the mitten from his right hand and fetched forth the birch bark The exposed fingers were quickly going numb again Next he brought out his bunch of sulphur matches But the tremendous cold had already driven the life out of his fingers In his effort to separate one match from the others the whole bunch fell in the snow He tried to pick it out of the snow but failed The dead fingers could neither touch nor clutch He was very careful He drove the thought of his freezing feet and nose and cheeks out of his mind devoting his whole soul to the matches He watched using the sense of vision in place of that of touch and when he saw his fingers on each side the bunch he dosed them--that is he willed to close them for the wires were down and the fingers did not obey He pulled

the mitten on the right hand and beat it fiercely against his knee Then with both mittened hands he scooped the bunch of matches along with much snow into his lap Yet he was no better off

After some manipulation he managed to get the bunch between the heels of his mittened hands In this fashion he carried it to his mouth The ice crackled and snapped when by a violent effort he opened his mouth He drew the lower jaw in curled the upper lip out of the way and scraped the bunch with his upper teeth in order to separate a match He succeeded in getting one which he dropped on his lap He was no better off He could not pick it up Then he devised a way He picked it up in his teeth and scratched it on his leg Twenty times he scratched before he succeeded in lighting it As it flamed he held it with his teeth to the birch bark But the burning brimstone went up his nostrils and into his lungs causing him to cough spasmodically The match fell into the snow and went out

The old-timer an Sulphur Creek was right he thought in the moment of controlled despair that ensued after fifty below a man should travel with a partner He beat his hands but failed in exciting any sensation Suddenly he bared both hands removing the mittens with his teeth He caught the whole bunch between the heels of his hands His arm muscles not being frozen enabled him to press the hand-heels tightly against the matches Then he scratched the bunch along his leg It flared into flame seventy sulphur matches at once There was no wind to blow them out He kept his head to one side to escape the strangling fumes and held the blazing bunch to the birth bark As he so held it he became aware of sensation in his hand His flesh was burning He could smell it Deep down below the surface he could feel it The sensation developed into pain that grew acute And still he endured it holding the flame of the matches clumsily to the bark that would not light readily because his own burning hands were in the way absorbing most of the flame

To Build a FireContinued

At last when he could endure no more he jerked his hands apart The blazing matches fell sizzling into the snow but the birch bark was alight He began laying dry grasses and the tiniest twigs on the flame He could not pick and choose for he had to lift the fuel between the heels of his hands Small pieces of rotten wood and green moss clung to the twigs and he bit them off as well as he could with his teeth He cherished the flame carefully and awkwardly It meant life and it must not perish The withdrawal of blood from the surface of his body now made him begin to shiver and he grew more awkward A large piece of green moss fell squarely on the little fire He tried to poke it out with his fingers but his shivering frame made him poke too far and he disrupted the nucleus of the little fire the burning grasses and tiny twigs separating and scattering He tried to poke them together again but in spite of the tenseness of the effort his shivering got away with him and the twigs were hopelessly scattered Each twig gushed a puff of smoke and went out The fire-provider had failed As he looked apathetically about him his eyes chanced on the dog sitting across the ruins of the fire from him in the snow making restless hunching movements slightly lifting one forefoot and then the other shifting its weight back and forth on them with wistful eagerness

The sight of the dog put a wild idea into his head He remembered the tale of the man caught in a blizzard who killed a steer and crawled inside the carcass and so was saved He would kill the dog and bury his hands in the warm body until the numbness went out of them Then he could build another fire He spoke to the dog calling it to him but in his voice was a strange note of fear that frightened the animal who had never known the man to speak in such way before Something was the matter and its suspicious nature sensed danger--it knew not what danger but somewhere somehow in its brain arose an apprehension of the man It flattened its ears down at the sound of the mans voice and its restless

hunching movements and the liftings and shiftings of its forefeet became more pronounced but it would not come to the man He got on his hands and knees and crawled toward the dog This unusual posture again excited suspicion and the animal sidled mincingly away

The man sat up in the snow for a moment and struggled for calmness Then he pulled on his mittens by means of his teeth and got upon his feet He glanced down at first in order to assure himself that he was really standing up for the absence of sensation in his feet left him unrelated to the earth His erect position in itself started to drive the webs of suspicion from the dogs mind and when he spoke peremptorily with the sound of whiplashes in his voice the dog rendered its customary allegiance and came to him As it came within reaching distance the man lost his control His arms flashed out to the dog and he experienced genuine surprise when he discovered that his hands could not clutch that there was neither bend nor feeling in the fingers He had forgotten for the moment that they were frozen and that they were freezing more and more All this happened quickly and before the animal could get away he encircled its body with his arms He sat down in the snow and in this fashion held the dog while it snarled and whined and struggled

But it was all he could do hold its body encircled in his arms and sit there He realized that he could not kill the dog There was no way to do it With his helpless hands he could neither draw nor hold his sheath knife nor throttle the animal He released it and it plunged wildly away with tail between its legs and still snarling It halted forty feet away and surveyed him curiously with ears sharply pricked forward The man looked down at his hands in order to locate them and found them hanging on the ends of his arms It struck him as curious that one should have to use his eyes in order to find out where his hands were He began threshing his arms back and forth beating the mittened hands against

To Build a FireContinued

his sides He did this for five minutes violently and his heart pumped enough blood up to the surface to put a stop to his shivering But no sensation was aroused in the hands He had an impression that they hung like weights on the ends of his arms but when he tried to run the impression down he could not find it

A certain fear of death dull and oppressive came to him This fear quickly became poignant as he realized that it was no longer a mere matter of freezing his fingers and toes or of losing his hands and feet but that it was a matter of life and death with the chances against him This threw him into a panic and he turned and ran up the creek-bed along the old dim trail The dog joined in behind and kept up with him He ran blindly without intention in fear such as he had never known in his life Slowly as he plowed and floundered through the snow he began to see things again the banks of the creek the old timber-jams the leafless aspens and the sky The running made him feel better He did not shiver Maybe if he ran on his feet would thaw out and anyway if he ran far enough he would reach camp and the boys Without doubt he would lose some fingers and toes and some of his face but the boys would take care of him and save the rest of him when he got there And at the same time there was another thought in his mind that said he would never get to the camp and the boys that it was too many miles away that the freezing had too great a start on him and that he would soon be stiff and dead This thought he kept in the background and refused to consider Sometimes it pushed itself forward and demanded to be heard but he thrust it back and strove to think of other things

It struck him as curious that he could run at all on feet so frozen that he could not feel them when they struck the earth and took the weigh of his body He seemed to himself to skim along above the surface and to have no connection with the earth Somewhere he had once seen a winged Mercury

and he wondered if Mercury felt as he felt when skimming over the earth

His theory of running until he reached camp and the boys had one flaw in it he lacked the endurance Several times he stumbled and finally he tottered crumpled up and fell When he tried to rise he failed He must sit and rest he decided and next time he would merely walk and keep on going As he sat and regained his breath he noted that he was feeling quite warm and comfortable He was not shivering and it even seemed that a warm glow had come to his chest and trunk And yet when he touched his nose or cheeks there was no sensation Running would not thaw them out Nor would it thaw out his hands and feet Then the thought came to him that the frozen portions of his body must be extending He tried to keep this thought down to forget it to think of something else he was aware of the panicky feeling that it caused and he was afraid of the panic But the thought asserted itself and persisted until it produced a vision of his body totally frozen This was too much and he made another wild run along the trail Once he slowed down to a walk but the thought of the freezing extending itself made him run again

And all the time the dog ran with him at his heels When he fell down a second time it curled its tad over its forefeet and sat in front of him facing him curiously eager and intent The warmth and security of the animal angered him and he cursed it till it flattened down its ears appealingly This time the shivering came more quickly upon the man He was losing in his battle with the frost It was creeping into his body from all sides The thought of it drove him on but he ran no more than a hundred feet when he staggered and pitched headlong It was his last panic When he had recovered his breath and control he sat up and entertained in his mind the conception of meeting death with dignity However the conception did not come to him in such terms His idea of it was that he had been making a fool of

To Build a FireContinued

himself running around like a chicken with its head cut off--such was the simile that occurred to him Well he was bound to freeze anyway and he might as well take it decently With this new-found peace of mind came the first glimmerings of drowsiness A good idea he thought to sleep off to death It was like salting an anesthetic Freezing was not so bad as people thought There were lots worse ways to die

He pictured the boys finding his body next day Suddenly he found himself with them coming along the trail and looking for himself And still with them he came around a turn in the trail and found himself lying in the snow He did not belong with himself any more for even then he was out of himself standing with the boys and looking at himself in the snow It certainly was cold was his thought When he got back to the States he could tell the folks what real cold was He drifted on from this to a vision of the old-timer on Sulphur Creek He could see him quite clearly warm and comfortable and smoking a pipe

You were right old boss you were right the man mumbled to the old-timer of Sulphur Creek

Then the man drowsed off into what seemed to him the most comfortable and satisfying sleep he had ever known The dog sat facing him and waiting The brief day drew to a close in a long slow twilight There were no signs of a fire to be made and besides never in the dogs experience had it known a man to sit like that in the snow and make no fire As the twilight drew on its eager yearning for the fire mastered it and with a great lifting and shifting of forefeet it whined softly then flattened its ears down in anticipation of being chidden by the man But the man remained silent Later the dog whined loudly And still later it crept close to the man and caught the scent of death This made the animal bristle and back away A little longer it delayed howling under the stars that leaped and danced and shone brightly in the cold sky Then it turned and trotted up the trail in the direction of the camp it knew where were the other food-providers and fire-providers

To Build a FireContinued

Blogs can be a lot of work to maintainTwitter only gives you 140 characters

Facebook is just your friends

Now you can share a story no matter your social-web status

Stories are published for ALL FitnessDigestus readers Archived professionally and digitally in thousands of libraries

Sign with your real name pen-name or anonymousItrsquos easy and professional Go to httpLiveMediaFitnessDigestus

FitnessDigestUStrade Stories of the humankind

Make Htory

BENEFITS OF OUR CLASSIFIEDS

bull Free for FitnessDigestus customers or subscribersbull Your offer is delivered to the potential buyersbull No false or fake adsbull Selling to FitnessDigestus subscribers is safer with our blind box e-mail addresses

Check out eBay store for deals on gear Visit eBaycom and

search ldquoFitness Digestrdquo

Organic apple wood for healthy grilling $2lb+shipping

Includes instructions on how to get real apple wood flavor on a

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PLACE AN AD Customers who have bought an issue of FitnessDigestus in the last 12 months can place an ad for free Just e-mail your ad of up to 140 characters to classifiedadFitnessDigestus or text it to (641) 583-2407 Your ad will appear in the next issue

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20 OFFUse the couponcode RAMCSPRShop at PureSportShopcom

Nutritional Performance Sports Drinks with Protein

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Page 7: FitnessDigest.us Vol. 4.3 Cover

cancer survivor Her story is about the incredible comeback she made from breast cancer After battling the disease she took on the race course Her list of accomplishments on the race course are long and she is faster than ever She uses her racing to raise awareness for the American Cancer Society She has touched so many people with her racing and as a survivor That is why stories like Brandis need to be preserved digitally in the most professional way Which leads me to the topic of preservation

13 One of my jobs as publisher is to watch the current publishing trends Ive spent a lot of time lately on digital-preservation of history To communicate the importance of preservation to customers wersquove added the words gather distribute and preserve to the coopnetbiz online store I feel so strongly that stories like Brandis need to be published with preservation in mind Ironically I have a story that illustrates why

13 My grandmother is moving to a nursing home and the family was cleaning out the things she had saved One of the items was a collection of old Life magazines and

a magazine called Archer published by ADM In an amazing coincidence my father opened a Life magazine to a feature about the city we currently live in What an incredible find and the story is so much fun to read Second my family had no idea that my grandfather had been writing a column for ADMrsquos Archer magazine It is so much fun to go back and read the words he wrote in 1950 We are so lucky that my grandmother saved this collection It is priceless to our family Third I just read about Evernote a company that is asking ldquoWill the internet be around in 100 yearsrdquo I should mention now that the company has a billion dollar evaluation Their business plan is

Whatrsquos in Store Continued

For information on people restaurants and events that Mark mentions in his article visithttpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

Got a funny or inspiring story Send for our new writers exordiumentryFitnessDigestus

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2

built on the idea that websites can disappear in seconds One solution is back-ups Each duplication you make of a file increases the chances of itrsquos survival in years to come

13 It is my hope that someday people will find stories like Brandis on an old iPad or Kindle and get to read her story just like we read my grandfatherrsquos stories in Archer

13 Another first for the magazine We are taking a creative writing expert and pairing his story with a story from a US Masters swimmer The stories are about what inspires and motivates ndash how to find inspiration and motivation in your life I couldnrsquot believe how many underlying similarities there where when I placed them side-by-side

13 This issue is also our first issue that is going to include a new columnist Jen Schmitt is submitting a quarterly column for the magazine She is an inspiring mom in training ndash mom first writer second and triathlete third That is a recipe for success On top of the fact that she is a talented writer her style fits the magazines concept Her writing is

fun and she is great at finding the interesting details in lifes precious moments She brings to light many details that could easily be

overlooked When I see that talent in an athlete-writer I think to myself that they must understand hard work and suffering - because it is the suffering often times during our training that teaches us to see beauty in life Jen uses her talent to help moms find the reward

from long workouts Fittingly we have a poetic story that illustrates this link between suffering and the appreciation of life That story can be found on page 10

13 In 2008 I ran the Mickelson Trail Marathon in Deadwood South Dakota Since then Ive always felt a personal connection to it When I got word from Emily Wheeler the race director that we could get some photos and a short story from the 2012 race I was very excited Jen works closely with the legendary runner Jerry Dunn Mr Dunn is well known for his 200 marathons in the year 2000 He is Americas Marathon man He has appeared on the Today Show and has been featured in numerous magazines The chance to work with Jen and

Whatrsquos in Store Continued

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Jenn Schmitt Columnist

her team is so cool Im very thankful for the contribution Id like to include a quick side note to Emily ndash I think my next challenge will be to make that 100 miler work for me

On a whim I emailed a coordinator from the National Office for the Ride of Silence I mentioned publishing the official poem for the ride along with some photos The excitement I heard back was so positive The ride is emotional to so many people The stories of riders being hurt or killed is tragic we never want to forget them That is why education about sharing the road is a huge part of cycling safety I wont tell you more than that When you read the poem remember those that were hurt or killed while cycling The pictures we got from Robert LaVallee show the different color ribbons given to riders Red is for cyclists who knew a rider that died while cycling black is for a rider that has been injured during a ride

13 Irsquove been downloading classic (out-of-copyright) novels to my Kindle and iPad for re-reading and because I think the are important to preserve for future generations Ive downloaded the Illiad Adventures of Tom Sawyer and the original Wizard

of Oz I also found some good fiction from Jack London I think the magazinersquos readers will appreciate it It is a classic work that is about hiking ndash Think The Long Walk It is a good read with a surprise ending I hope readers will search out books and stories like this and add them to their own collection If we find more that are fitness related or have active subjects we may share them too

Whatrsquos in Store Continued

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httpwwwbrandishipmancom

com

pelling

When in the vastness of miles we find ourself not asking questions but finding answers

The fast races we ran years ago seem ugly and unforgiving

Now older and wiser and much much slower the race gives us a different story Four emotions joy anger sadness and frustration - not all at once but in a fashionable order that even makes anger a pleasant experience If it were not for the physical suffering endured for duration of the race you would perhaps experience all at once

Uncomfortable yet compelling

13 The race that when you are done and the suffering is over makes everything clearer priceless moments no longer slipping by but take the stage in life ndash in a perfect permutation

The finish helps us see there is more to do but until the next race there is no hurry Stop smell the roses Until we rise up for another challenge the story that unfolded during the race takes care of us we dont have to tell it It is written into our lives The memories and seemingly the future having been created between the aid stations and mile markers

NOT THE FASTEST RACETHE GREATESTSent from Iowa

U n c o m f o r t a b l e

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As a teenager I chose golf in high school as a sport rather than track Golfing meant enjoying a bag of chips and a can a soda while on the course Running was something I dreaded in school I used to plan how I could get out of the mile run for weeks when I knew it was almost fitness test time Now as a 31 year old stay at home mom I am running 10Ks and have a goal of completing four sprint triathlons in 2012 as well as many other 5Ks and 10Ks My five year goal is to complete an Ironman triathlon

13 Over the course of the last three years I have changed many aspects of my life I earned a Masterrsquos Degree in Education from Iowa State University I left a career as a Director of Special Education in a local school district to become a stay at home mom ndash with my two beautiful girls This change was prompted by a health scare in 2009 I was hospitalized for many days with meningitis and realized life was just too short

13 In 2011 while nursing my 4 month old my sister in law invited me to go with her to Weight Watchers I joined the next day for what was probably the 8th time but this time was different I made my goal and am a lifetime member I lost 43lbs and am healthy for the first time in my life I have Crohnrsquos Disease and am no longer taking any medications and no longer suffering the symptoms associated with the disease

In August of 2011 our hometown hero a Navy Seal was killed in action He was a huge inspiration to many people but after his death I was inspired to make a difference in our community and live my life differently He was a triathlete that had tackled the big daddy of them all and became an Ironman Realizing what he gave up so that we may have freedom inspired me to

Favo

rite

food

Kale

chip

s or

Rice

Cak

es w

ith A

lmon

d Bu

tter

Favo

rite

indu

lgen

ces

Che

x mix

Givingit aTri

FitnessDigestus columnist Jen Schmitt Rockford Iowa

Men

ingi

tis

13 In 2011 while nursing my four month old my sister in law invited me to go with her to Weight Watchers I joined the next day for what was probably the eigth time but this time was different They helped me make my goal and I became a lifetime member I lost 43lbs and Irsquom healthy for the first time in my life I also have Crohnrsquos Disease and no longer take medications nor do I suffer with the symptoms associated with the disease

13 In August of 2011 our hometown hero a Navy Seal was killed in action He was a huge inspiration to many people After his death I was inspired to make a difference in our community and to live my life differently He was a triathlete that had tackled the big daddy of them all ndash an Ironman Realizing what he gave up so that we may have freedom inspired me to continue on my fitness path by adding triathlete to my title

Givingit aTri

FitnessDigestus columnist Jen Schmitt Rockford Iowa

13 In 2011 while nursing my 4 month old my sister in law invited me to go with her to Weight Watchers I joined the next day for what was probably the 8th time but this time was different I made my goal and am a lifetime member I lost 43lbs and am healthy for the first time in my life I have Crohnrsquos Disease and am no longer taking any medications and no longer suffering the symptoms associated with the disease

In August of 2011 our hometown hero a Navy Seal was killed in action He was a huge inspiration to many people but after his death I was inspired to make a difference in our community and live my life differently He was a triathlete that had tackled the big daddy of them all and became an Ironman Realizing what he gave up so that we may have freedom inspired me to continue on my fitness path by

Favo

rite

plac

e to

run

Fos

sil amp

Prair

ie Ce

nter

Trail

s R

ockfo

rd Io

wa

Favo

rite

wor

kout

son

g S

trong

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hat D

oesn

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ou) b

y Kell

y Clar

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Croh

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Dise

ase

his

deat

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13 When I am not out training with the group that I started in my hometown ldquoFriends in Fitnessrdquo you can find me blogging at justamomgivingitatriblogspotcom studying for my personal trainer certification or spending time with my husband girls and friends I enjoy being in the outdoors whether it is just for a walk or turkey hunting in the woods I am currently the chairperson working to organize a 5K fundraiser for the PEO Chapter that I belong to in Rockford Iowa This is going to be our major fundraiser for the year and we are very excited to encourage wellness among others in our community

Givingit aTri

FitnessDigestus columnist Jen Schmitt Rockford Iowa

13 In 2011 while nursing my 4 month old my sister in law invited me to go with her to Weight Watchers I joined the next day for what was probably the 8th time but this time was different I made my goal and am a lifetime member I lost 43lbs and am healthy for the first time in my life I have Crohnrsquos Disease and am no longer taking any medications and no longer suffering the symptoms associated with the disease

In August of 2011 our hometown hero a Navy Seal was killed in action He was a huge inspiration to many people but after his death I was inspired to make a difference in our community and live my life differently He was a triathlete that had tackled the big daddy of them all and became an Ironman Realizing what he gave up so that we may have freedom inspired me to continue on my fitness path by

Favo

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acc

esso

ry G

arm

in Fo

reru

nner

310

XT

Wha

t get

s m

e ou

t of b

ed

My a

larm

on

my p

hone

tellin

g m

e to

get

to th

e po

ol an

d sw

im o

r a s

crea

ming

chil

d

Fam

ily amp

Frie

nds

Watch and LearnSent in from NIP Gym

Successful SAFE gains in

the gym

Available at select Hy-Vee stores

NO MSG

LowSodium

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GREAT STORY HERE FROM NIP amp Fitness 13 I was in the gym this morning doing shoulders A quiet red headed kid comes in and gets on the bench and starts benching His first set of 135 lbs had HORRIBLE technique and form I walk over and talk to him He tells me his name is Joe - age 17 - weight 205 and is a junior at CS High School and he just bought a membership to NIP amp Fitness He tells me two weeks ago he benched 185 lbs for a max I told him that was very good for is age but NOT for his build I knew he was stronger than that So I helped him shape up is technique and form Joe ndash LISTENED and WATCHED He learned that he was much stronger than a 185 pound max bench presser Today from LISTENING and WATCHING Joe bench pressed 225 X 2 ndash and that 185 pounds he maxed two weeks ago he finished his work out by doing that 185 pounds for seven reps Proper TECHNIQUE and FORM are the key to successful SAFE gains in the gym Today Joe was a perfect example CONGRATULATIONS Joe

Dear Freestyle Swim Stroke

13 You are so frustrating to me Why canrsquot we just get along When I made the decision to tackle this goal of completing a triathlon I was not even worried about you That has proven to be a mistake Some days things go so smooth between us and some mornings I spring out of bed at 430 so excited about our time together Today was not one of those days You left me feeling like thishellip

Like a wet wrung out old swimsuit

These are the reasons that I am so upset with you

1 You literally take my breath away

2 You make my shoulder hurt (Popcorn kernels currently on shoulder while typing)

3 You make me leave my warm cozy bed about two hours before I would really like to leave it

4 If I donrsquot get my butt out of bed and go at 430 AM I have to leave my family and go at 730 PM

Dear FreestyleBy Jen Schmitt Rockford Iowa

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pull

head position

exit

flutter-kick

recovery

(Yes we know ndash no cameras in the locker room No one was harmed in this photo shoot)

13 And to the very old man in the lane beside me I do not dislike you in-fact I am insanely jealous of you I donrsquot stare at you because of your body you may look hot if I was 75 but I am not I stare at you in awe of how effortlessly you move up and down the pool without a rest Someday I hope to be just like you

13 So for now as much as I would love to say we need to break up and go our separate ways I am too D stubborn to do that We will make this work and we are going to get along Here is my promise to you ndash I promise to meet-up with you two to three times a week for at least an hour to work on our relationship I promise not to cheat on you with the sidestroke although I am so much more comfortable with him I promise to keep an open mind about our relationship and give it all that I have just like I do with my friend the run

Love you (I think)

Jen

Dear FreestyleContinued

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pull

head position

exit

flutter-kick

recovery

Adult SwimmingBy Susan Dawson-cook

I have taught dozens of adults how to swim Many of them were initially either afraid of water or somewhat uncomfortable in the aquatic environment Whats worked best is to get in the water with them and do activities that show them it can be fun and safe I make sure they feel safe and secure the entire time and even say things like if you have trouble standing up after you take some strokes I will help you or just reach for my hand if you need support

13 Many beginners have this fear ndash if they are in the horizontal position swimming they wont be able to stand up One woman cried she was so overjoyed she overcame her fear and learned to take her first strokes

Find more of Susanrsquos writing and published works at httplivemediaFitnessDigestus

Body image and fitness are hot topics for both men and women The Great Fitness Experiment is my hilarious poignant embarrassing and at times heart-breaking journey to find my way through the morass of contradictory claims and information in todayrsquos health- and fitness-obsessed world

Available in paperback or in eBookhttpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

If you have trouble standing up after you

take some strokesone women cried

she was so overjoyed

If you would like future issues delivered to a Facebook Twitter or e-mail account e-mail us at infoFitnessDigestus

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2 Deadwood Mickelson Trail MarathonSunday June 2 2013

Deadwood South Dakota

13 On June 2nd we will celebrate 12 years of offering runners from around the globe the most unique running experience of their life Where else in the world can you run on a course that takes you from an abandoned mining town across railroad trestles through a mountain past monolithic rock formations beside a babbling creek and finish in Deadwoodhellipa town that is a historic landmark

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Written Emily WheelerFor more information amp video visit httpLIveAdsFitnessDigestus

ldquoWild West town known primarily for its gamblers gunslingers and gold minersrdquo

Hope to see you at the finish

This Wild West town known primarily for its gamblers gunslingers and gold miners has turned into one of the premiere destination marathon venues in the US

13 The breathtaking beauty of our course the truly outstanding team of volunteers the hospitality of everyone associated with the event and paying attention to details are just a couple of reasons yoursquoll want to toe the line on June 2nd

The Deadwood Mickelson Trail Half and Full Marathon is a point to point course

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ldquoThe breathtaking beauty of our courserdquo

WaynesSkiandCyclenetlive links to Waynersquos at httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

MTM Charity Partner

13 Habitat for Humanity is a global nonprofit Christian housing organization that has helped to build more than 500000 decent affordable houses and served 25 million people worldwide since its founding in 1976 With the help of volunteers and donations of money and materials Habitat constructs rehabilitates and preserves homes in partnership with low-income families in need Operating in nearly 80 countries and with more than 1500 affiliates in the United States Habitat also advocates for fair and just housing policies and provides training and access to resources to help families improve their shelter conditions

Shop for Name BrandItems 24 Hours a Day

beginning in the historic mining town of Rochford the first 15 miles are on a paved road At this point the course becomes the Mickelson Trail (a rails to trails project) The next 12 miles are a mixture of gentle uphill and flat terrain

13 Then the course is either downhill or flat and finishes at the historic Engine House at end of the linehellipthe Deadwood Trailhead The Half Marathon is also a point to point course starting at the 131 mile mark of the full marathon Walker Friendly

All participants will receive a Commemorative Finisherrsquos Medal

Mickelson Trail Marathon Charity Partner is the Black Hills Habitat for HumanityMake your Marathon Matter Matching Funds

Make your Marathon matter by helping create decent shelter in the Black Hills ndash take the challenge to give at least $1 per race mile Our goal is to raise $3000 in 2012 for BH Habitat for Humanity to help provide shelter for more families in the Black Hills

Registrations are capped at 3000 runners If you want to be part of the Deadwood Mickelson Trail Marathon Weekend celebration go to LiveAdsFitnessDigestus and click on the MTM Marathon URL

Hope to see you at the Finish Line - ThanksEmily Wheeler Wheeler Event Management Inc

ldquoHope to see you at the finish linerdquo

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links

DAY had broken cold and gray exceedingly cold and gray when the man turned aside from the main Yukon trail and climbed the high earth-bank where a dim and little traveled trail led eastward through the fat spruce timberland It was a steep bank and he paused for breath at the top excusing the act to himself by looking at his watch It was nine oclock There was no sun nor hint of sun though there was not a cloud in the sky It was a

clear day and yet there seemed an intangible pall over the face of things a subtle gloom that made the day dark and that was due to the absence of sun This fact did not worry the man He was used to the lack of sun It had been days since he had seen the sun and he knew that a few more-days must pass before that cheerful orb due south would just peep above the sky-line and dip immediately from view

To Build a Fire - Hiking the Yukon TrailShort story fiction Written by Jack London (1876-1916)

The man flung a look back along the way he had come The Yukon lay a mile wide and hidden under three feet of ice On top of this ice were as many feet of snow It was all pure white rolling in gentle undulations where the ice jams of the freeze-up had formed North and south as far as his eye could see it was unbroken white save for a dark hairline that curved and twisted from around the spruce-covered island to the south and that curved and twisted away into the north where it disappeared behind another spruce-covered island This dark hair-line was the trail--the main trail--that led south five hundred miles to the Chilcoot Pass Dyea and salt water and that led north seventy miles to Dawson and still on to the north a thousand miles to Nulato and finally to St Michael on Bering Sea a thousand miles and half a thousand more

But all this--the mysterious far-reaching hair-line trail The absence of sun from the sky the tremendous cold and the strangeness and weirdness of it all--made no

impression on the man It was not because he was long used to it He was a newcomer In the land a chechaquo and this was his first winter The trouble with him was that he was without imagination He was quick and alert in the things of life but only in the things and not in the significances Fifty degrees below zero meant eighty-odd degrees of frost Such fact impressed him as being cold and uncomfortable and that was all It did not lead him to meditate upon his frailty as a creature of temperature and upon mans frailty in general able only to live within certain narrow limits of heat and cold and from there on it did not lead him to the conjectural field of immortality and mans place in the universe Fifty degrees below zero stood forte bite of frost that hurt and that must be guarded against by the use of mittens ear-flaps warm moccasins and thick socks Fifty degrees below zero was to him just precisely fifty degrees below zero That there should be anything more to it than that was a thought that never entered his head

To Build a FireContinued

Continued on page 62

Stand Up Paddle BoardingWOWSUPIowacom on LiveAds

It is important from time to time to slow down to go away by yourself and simply be --Eileen Caddy

Letrsquos Race13 My son is eight and our family is very active Im just hitting my peak racing age of about 34 years old The family members all support each otherrsquos activities They are a great cheering section when my wife and I compete in races There is a popular two mile fun run in our town that we my wife and I run every year We also have for-fun races with the kids around the house or across the football field For years Ive let the eight year old win a few and others I win by just a little bit I think he is wising up to my tactics of good fatherhood One day he said ldquoDad you are letting me win but I think I can beat you fair and squarerdquo He added ldquoYoursquore not that fast Ill bet you 10 dollars I can beat you in a two mile racerdquo Wanting to teach him a lesson about spouting off and writing checks his body cant cash I took him up on it I said All right you pick a time and place We will race two miles for 10 dollars He replied You know that two mile race you and mom do every year I can race you then I agreed and he quickly added Ill need 20 years to warm-up That would make me 54 and him 28 Irsquom preparing for the loss and putting 10 dollars aside now

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Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

In my first creative experience it was through music and I was interested in developing my values of creativity I was inspired by a band named Motley Crue and the song that captured my interest was Home Sweet home Dear reader what inspires you Is it music or inspirational quote thought or ideas To express how this song motivated my interests it helped give me faith in my own creative abilities in the process I began to write lyrics I eventually began to work on different styles of writing and broaden my writing skills What types of music inspire your creative thoughts What types of other inspiration values inspire your creative thoughts

13 Getting motivated is one of the key aspects of a successful weight-loss program Without this motivation there would be no drive to get up early or to avoid eating unhealthy snacks ndash that you absolutely love Yes you can thank your motivation for that When you are looking for weight-loss motivation sometimes it is hard to find Where can you find that extra umph to make it to your goal

The benefits of finding a motivator are something that cannot be paralleled It has been said mind over matter This coincides with our principle that no matter how hard the task you can accomplish the goal given the right mindset It is important to go into a new weight-loss program with a positive mental attitude

FINDI

NG TH

EM X InspirationX

Motivation

When I was introduced to William Shakespeare I was intrigued by his creative values and I started to work on developing a different aspect of writing I then watched the movie Free Jack there was a quote by Albert Einstein Imagination is more important than knowledge I thought about the in depth values of both concepts and then I applied both concepts and defined different creative concept Do you believe that anything is possible if you believe I know that I do believe that if an individual believes deeply enough one can accomplish their goals I had to believe in my own abilities and in my dreams and ignore the negative values that were impressed by others

Anything less can potentially hinder growth towards your goal

Some of the things that you should be thinking about when looking for motivators are people with good morals and a positive attitude This is because if the people helping you do not have a positive attitude then it is also difficult for you Some great places to look for a motivator are online blogs in the gym or even in your own family I am sure that in all of these places you will see someone else trying to accomplish the same or even more difficult goals than your own

Another key to finding motivation is to let it find you You should not have to go find a reason to go do something You will do it because you wanted to not because you were forced to

X

InspirationMotivation

More simply put motivation will find you because you will see something that inspires you to make a change in yourself That change may be a weight-loss goal or something else Maybe even an academic goal The true key is to maintain that motivation until you have achieved your goal

Regards Vincent ErrichielloUSMS Swimmer

InspirationMotivation

With believing so deeply within my own abilities and the faith that I could accomplish what I set out to achieve I wrote a lyric titled Dreams Are Only Real and in believing in this concept further defining its true meaning the concept became Dreams Are Only Real Until You Dont believe

Jeremy J TaylorCNFI Publishing

himTHROWINGWritten by anonymous contributor

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13 Johnny is not the best batter in our little league Matter-of-fact he is quiet awful At practice one afternoon Johnny hit a pitch really well The coach had pitched him inside on accident far enough inside that it almost hit him Johnny got his hit by using his bat to defend himself from that arrant pitch The coach told him ldquogood hitrdquo and Johnny yelled back ldquoWell I didnrsquot want the ball to hit merdquo13 Johnny improved his batting after that He was hitting the ball almost every time he got up At one point I said to coach ldquoHow did you get Johnny to improve his batting so quicklyrdquo He replyed Im throwing the ball it AT HIM every time

Body image and fitness are hot topics for both men and women The Great Fitness Experiment is my hilarious poignant embarrassing and at times heart-breaking journey to find my way through the morass of contradictory claims and information in todayrsquos health- and fitness-obsessed world

Available in paperback or in eBookVisit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

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Phone 641-201-1035Strongest weight loss supplements

on the market

The Fall of Billy Hitchingsby Kirkus MacGowan

Available at Amazon

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Posters Invites (graduation wedding showers etc)

Flyers Brochures

T-ShirtsShorts SweatshirtsSweats

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Postcards And Much More

Bridgette Beyer DesignerOwner

Bring your ideas in andVisual Aspect Designs can print

andor design for you

Black Lab LanyardsSpecializing in customized duck and goose call lanyards for waterfowl enthusiasts

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FitnessDigestus is now available at

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entryFitnessDigestus

Send u

s yo

ur T

-shi

rt

READE

R T

-shi

rts

13 I was standing on shore fishing in my favorite spot A guy Irsquove never seen at the pond gets in and starts swimming After about 25 minutes of back and forth he stops at a place about 30 yards off shore He gives me a quick look and dices down below the water

His next lap he stops in the same place looks at me again and points down at the water He finished his swim and left I picked up my gear and moved to the other side of the outlet just a few yards from where he had stopped twice Caught a lunker in the first cast

Swim Signs - Lunker

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TOP TWEETS

Iowa Cubs (IowaCubs)Thanks to all our fans who showed up for the pre-game on-field catch with dad

Louise Pineda (forerunnerGPS)The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficultyWinston Churchill quotes

Softball Darlin (Softball_Darlin)My mom told me our team was gettin white uniforms for summer amp to try not to get them dirty Uh Have you seen me play Not gonna happen

I Swim I Suffer (ISwimISuffer)thatswimmerwho If the water is in your right ear for example then jump on your right leg and lean your head to the right side while jumping

I Swim and I Know It (iSwimWithIssues)During the summer you shower 467 times at the pool 17 times at hotels and 3 times at your house Truth

Everyday Health (WomensCancer)63000 Americans will be diagnosed w malignant melanoma (the deadliest skin cancer) this year Know your risk

US Paralympics (USParalympics)Want to be introduced to Paralympic sport Attend one of the Paralympic Experiences being held throughout the countryFi

tnes

sDig

est

US v

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2

SwimSwam (swimswamnews)Congrats to KenyaSwimmer on being selected to carry the Kenya flag swimswamcom

Better than sharing on a blog Twitter or Facebook and you can share a story even if you donrsquot maintain a social-web presencePublished for ALL FitnessDigestus readers

Sign with your real name pen-name or anonymoushttpLiveMediaFitnessDigestus

13 Funnest thing SPAM about some weight-loss supplements got posted on a friendrsquos Facebook My friend is an ultra-runner I notice there was also an ad for salami recipes on the same page The recipes were right next to the SPAM about diet-pills

13 Letrsquos see ndash it sounds like the beginning of a good joke Q What do you get when a friend tries to sell you ultra-runner endorsed salami-flavored-SPAM diet-pills on Facebook Answer Sick

Unsung Heroes1 Irsquove never swam open water and wanted to do a triathlon A friend that

races open water took extra time to swim with me at a lake I was much more comfortable after that

2 I was going on vacation and needed advice on a place to swim A friend living in the area took the time to help me find people to answer my questions

3 I was over eating and had complained to my friend about it She called me twice a day for three weeks just to remind me to eat healthy

4 I usually run to and from the gym It takes about 30 minutes to run both ways I didnrsquot have enough time to get there and back before a scheduled appointment I had A friend drove me to the gym saving me about 30 minutes I was able to run home and still had time to get to my appointment

SPAM DIET

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Visit the Suburban Mommy blog and learn more about AtresiaMicrotia a birth defect of the inner earFor links to SubMommy blog httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

SUBMOMMYBLOG

On Wednesday May 16 2012 at 7 PM simultaneous rides occurred around the

USA and the world

We all ride Now we can ride as one

One day One time One world world wide

Let the silence roar

322 locations world wide

The Ride of SilenceTonight we number many but ride as one

In honor of those not with us friends

mothers fathers sisters sons

With helmets on tight and heads down low

We ride in silence cautious and slow

The wheels start spinning in the lead pack

But tonight we ride and no one attacks

The dark sunglasses cover our tears

Remembering those we held so dear

Tonights ride is to make others aware

The road is there for all to share

To those not with us or by our side

May God be your partner on your final ride

- Mike Murgas

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 50 states

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 7 Continents

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 0 words spoken

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 1 million memories

Ride of Silence

ldquoCost-effective investments in bicycling boost our economy help individuals and government agencies save money and directly address key societal challenges such as obesity and road congestion In these tough economic times our federal government can only afford to invest in solutions that solve multiple problems Bicycling fits the billrdquo ndash PeopleForBikesorg

This photo collection was taken byRobert LaVallee of Mason City IA

To see his entire collection visithttpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

Non-subscriberSign-up for delivery of

the FREE edition at coopnetbiz

It provides an outstanding aerobic workout in less than half the time we would spend in still water It has allowed us as swim coaches to observe swimmers stroke characteristics up close and to see the effects of fatigue on stroke mechanics ~ Larry L Chazy NY

Swimming is an excellent exercise and now I can swim every day because its so convenient and private I can swim when I want and how long I want Im able to have it at a temperature that is comfortable to me The small size of an Endless Pool enabled me to install a pool where I could not install a regular size one

As an aging baby boomer nutrition professional I have yearned for consistent exercise that doesnt stress joints and will enable me to attain physical fitness cardiovascular health and weight control I can eat what I want and still firm up and lose weight ~ John C Columbus OH

Endless Pools make for long swims in small places The 8x15 Endless Pool is less than regulation size but offers the same benefits as a very large pool ~ Noah H Connecticut Post

The Endless Pool is a great strength builder I am amazed at the strength of the current I now swim against I did not buy it for that reason but because of my arthritis so the strength gain is a wonderful surprise

Endless PoolsTestimonials For more information visit httpLIveAdsFitnessDigestus

s w i m m i n g s h o r t s

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Baseball Walking Stick13 My sons friend grabbed his baseball bat and said to me this is my walking stick I politely ask him why he calls it that He replied because my dad says if I hit a home run with it I donrsquot have to run the bases ndash I can walk

My Bike My mountain bike was stolen a while back and my kids were really upset Ive been riding my road bike in its place Since then Ive been careful to lock my bike up when we go to the park

13 On this occasion I did not lock-up my sonrsquos bike up with mine He looked at me quizzically and said sternly lock my bike up too I tried to explain that his bike was not as expensive and therefor didnt need to be locked up Boy that was a mistake He made me feel a little dumb when he said Dad I dont care how expensive it is Its the only bike Irsquove got

North Iowa Roads

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A LEADER inSearch Engine Optimization

Technology

Increase your visitor page views and Facebook Likes

Are you moving to a new state Already hired your mover

E-mail blind box at box02FitnessDigestus will get

you the best rates on cable phone and internet

Digital Movers

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

parent sports tipBy FitnessDigestus staff writer JGA

PAR

EN

T

TIP

Keeping Kids Focused13 Organize their thoughts Help them prioritize and make decisions based on value Even kids can understand the value of simple non-monetized choices Questions like ldquoShould I finish playing my gameboy game or pause it when they call my swimming eventrdquo

If kids are taught to make good decisions and not just find quick answers everyone wins

AugustGolf Month5th Friendship Day15th Relaxation Day25th Kiss and Make Up Day31st Trail Mix DaySeptemberLittle League Month12th Chocolate Milk Shake Day13th Positive Thinking Day16th Womenrsquos Friendship Day21st Miniature Golf DayOctoberBreast Cancer Awareness MonthNational Diabetes Month1st World Vegetarian Day4th Golf Day25th World Pasta Day

National Calendar

Au

gu

stSe

pte

mb

er

Oc

tob

er

Encourage friendships writing skills sharing thoughts and

experiencesEight different cards

YAGOTTAWANNA

Variety of pricing From single orders to bulk orders of 24 notecards

Learn more online

Stay in touch with your swimming or triathlon buddies

It is better to be safe then to try to beat the heat There are many options to stay cool and run during a hot-summer day Staying inside and running on the treadmill is a good one Remember staying safe is a top priority

Most workouts can be modified to work indoors This issuersquos workout is to do your usual run or interval set just stay inside and run it on the treadmill Visualize the different landmarks to see during your outdoor run

Coach Millerrsquos Quarterly ChallengeStay safe in the heatBy Mark Miller mmillerFitnessDigestus

A few years back we had a hot-spell similar to this yearrsquos record heat

I remember training for a long run and having to stop at the local swimming hole to cool off I literally took off my

shoes and jumped in with my running clothes on I was so hot

FitnessDigestUSEntertainment amp Inspiration

Use coupon codeldquoRAMCSPRrdquo

at puresportshopcomfor 20 OFF

Nutritional Performance Sports Drinks with Protein

OPEN WATER SWIMMING BY THE NUMBERS

In kilometers The shortest open water race included in the Fina World Championships

10107 How many miles it

is to swim from Cuba to the USA

5

1000Number of swimming strokes in a mile for a typical swimmer

31800About the number of calories it takes to swim 100 miles

LOCATED IN ST ANSGAR IOWA

Business Cards Envelopes

Letterheads Programs

Vinyl Decals Signs

Posters Invites (graduation wedding showers etc)

Flyers Brochures

T-ShirtsShorts SweatshirtsSweats

Koozies Sashes

Business Forms Placemats

Postcards And Much More

Bridgette Beyer DesignerOwner

Bring your ideas in andVisual Aspect Designs can print

andor design for you

The minimum open water distance in kilometers that is considered a swimming-

marathon

On Facebook Visit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

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Open water safety means swimming in shallow water where there is a lifeguard or using an escort

Shop for Name BrandGear

24 Hoursa Day

WaynesSkiandCyclenet

For links to Waynersquos visit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

s w i m m i n g s h o r t s

Googles

13 Swimming fans can really appreciate a 200 IM when their goggles fill with water How about an Olympian Swimming a leg of the 400 Free Relay with his goggles across his opened mouth ndash and going 45rsquos A great team swimmer an Olympian wouldnrsquot let down his teammates by throwing them off or fixing them

500 Fly13 A world class butterflyer asked if he could swim butterfly in the 500 yard freestyle during a dual meet His goal was to break five minutes After considering the competition it seemed like a great way to make him really work a hard fly swim so we agreed Problem was he swam a 502 and the opposing coach complained to the officials because he embarrassed his swimmers Oh well you canrsquot win lsquoem all

Stories sent in by Robert Steele

No-No-No13 The other morning I was teaching front-streamlines to snotty nosed 8 year olds (some are literally snotty-nosed) One boy was taking a big gulp of air and holding his breath When he lifted his head he had to exhale and inhale before submerging again Swimmers will understand this does not work very well Kids need to learn to exhale underwater The first time he did it I told him to exhale underwater The second time I stopped him looked him in the eye and reminded him to exhale underwater The third and fourth times I started to get a little frustrated ldquoJohnny you need to exhale underwater so you can breath betterrdquo The fifth time as his head popped up for a breath I quickly asked ldquoJohnny Do you even know what exhale meansrdquo as he submerged his head below the water I could see him shake his head no-no-no

Favorite Potato Chips13We try to limit the junk food the kids eat at our house For lunch one day our son wanted some potato chips I gave him 3 large chips with his sandwich He started to cry and said he wanted one more chip ldquoI wanted four chipsrdquo he screamed I took the plate back When he wasnt looking I broke a chip in half and give it back to him with four chips

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

13 My cancer story is one of uniqueness Leave it to me to do something like cancer to its fullest It did not begin with a mammogram diagnosis or a lump My journey began about 4 years ago with some suspicious activity that turned into Pagetrsquos disease of the nipple which signaled the underlying cancer On April 1st I found out about my breast cancer through a biopsy that came back as positive for Pagetrsquos disease The onslaught of tests learning and decisions were dizzying I immediately went for an evaluation of the suspicious tissue and had to begin making decisions for my mastectomy I quickly learned there is a test called the BRAC Analysis which is a genetic test for breast and ovarian cancer Finally a piece of good news for me I did not have the gene

Decisions Now it was time to make decisions about my mastectomy and how I was going to handle reconstruction I discussed my options with my boyfriend Brian friends family members and even my principalboss I read books searched the Internet and contacted people I

Brandi ShipmanCancer Survivor and elite triathlete

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

know and knew from my past that had been directly affected and that I thought might have answers for me The outpouring of love encouragement and help during this process was overwhelming After meeting with four different doctors two surgeons and two plastic surgeons I decided to go with immediate reconstruction and was lucky enough to find two wonderful doctors They were willing to work together just because I wanted them to even though they had never done so before My surgery was scheduled for mid May

Mental Toughness13 My mental preparation at this point was very important I had to scrap any idea of competing in triathlons for the rest of the year and focus on a positive attitude of getting better I stopped thinking about what I wasnrsquot going to able to do and started thinking about what I could do that I was alive and kept my mind on the fact that so many others had made it before me

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links

Part 213 I was prepared by the doctors survivors and literature to be ldquodownrdquo for several weeks after my surgery I even took the rest of the school year off My surgery went well and I was out of the hospital the next day A few friends came to visit while I was in the hospital and my principal and vice principal brought the most wonderful picture of the faculty wearing pink for me I can only imagine what it looked like at Thornton Elementary on that day in May 2009 a sea of pink all for Brandi Shipman Shortly after their visit I received a text from my friend Margie Massey My friends from the gym wore pink for me that day as well The support brought tears to my eyes I was so excited to come home and be comfortable in my own home I just wish the stupid drain that was attached could have stayed at the hospital The pain from that was worse than the pain from the mastectomy

the most

powerful picture

13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Recovery ndash May13 Once I got home I slept and watched a lot of TV Friends visited and brought yummy food and my favorites I am not supposed to eat I ate them all My friend and co-worker set up a cancer care calendar that alerted anyone who logged on when I was having a doctorrsquos appointment or when I was in need of anything I felt like royalty as everyone took care of me I think Brian secretly enjoyed the fact that he wouldnrsquot have to cook for me each night My recovery was quicker than I thought as I was doing my best to get better and get the stinkinrsquo drain out of my skin I was out walking within a week and running within 3 weeks I couldnrsquot believe my recovery I know it was from all the prayers love and good care from Brian and the loved ones around me Life was looking better each day

ldquoLife was looking

better each dayrdquo

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Part three and part

four of I am Survivor

will be published in

the next edition of

FitnessDigestus

Get the convenience of

digital-delivery

Sign-up or subscribe at

httpFitnessDigestus

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During the past 150 years we have witnessed many remarkable advances against cancer a disease known to humanity for thousands of years The advances highlighted below represent a sampling of what has been accomplished to date

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

1882 William Halsted performs the first radical mastectomy to treat breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast the lymph nodes under the arm (axillary lymph nodes) and the chest muscles behind the breast (pectoralis major and pectoralis minor muscles) are removed Radical mastectomy will remain the standard operation for breast cancer until latter half of the 20th century when the use of modified radical mastectomy becomes widely accepted

1932 David H Patey develops the modified radical mastectomy for breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast axillary lymph nodes and pectoralis minor muscle behind the breast are removed The modified radical mastectomy is less disfiguring than the radical mastectomy and will eventually replace the radical mastectomy as a standard treatment option for breast cancer

1953 James Watson and Francis Crick discover the molecular structure of DNA (the double helix)

1963 The Health Insurance Plan (HIP) of Greater New York Study begins HIP is the first randomized controlled trial of periodic breast cancer screening with mammography

1882

1932

1953

1963

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1976 The results of a randomized clinical trial show that women with early breast cancer who receive post-operative (adjuvant) combination chemotherapy with the drugs cyclophosphamide methotrexate and 5-FU have improved disease-free survival

1981 A randomized clinical trial in the United Kingdom shows for the first time that the rates of survival local recurrence and tumor metastasis among women whose breast cancer is treated with modified radical mastectomy are not substantially different from those of women who are treated with radical mastectomy

1993 An NCI-convened international workshop on screening for breast cancer reports that screening with mammography reduces breast cancer mortality among women ages 50-69 This conclusion is based on a review of published and unpublished data from eight randomized controlled trials

2004 Data from the Womens Health Initiative (WHI) study show that women who take estrogen in combination with the hormone progestin have a greater risk of developing breast cancer than women who take estrogen alone The results also show that menopausal hormone therapy with estrogen alone has no benefit in disease prevention specifically in reducing the risks of colorectal cancer coronary heart disease and dementia

1976

1981

1993

2004

Although we still have a long way to go to reduce the toll of cancer in the United States and worldwide our research and public health efforts are beginning to pay dividends

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

Volunteering vs Participating13 My girl friend and I are involved in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation The local chapter raises awareness for the cause with a fun-run each year We have volunteered to help with the race five years in a row This year we were stationed at a water table where the runners pick-up cups of water to drink Toward the end of the race there are very few runners There was a little time to chat about things We were talking about what we would wish for if we could have three wishes I told her I would wish for an end to Juvenile Diabetes and to lose 10 pounds Being nice I said ldquoyou can have my last wishrdquo She said I wish you would skip volunteering and just run this race next year

Admission Price Our aquatic center was having a promotion one night and advertised an elementary school night The kids could swim for free When we got to the pool we saw a promotional sign for the event In small lettering it read All swimmers must be accompanied by an adult We thought no big deal one of us can just stay and watch When we got to the front desk we found the lifeguard was enforcing the adult-admission price of $8

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CNFI Publishing - Products Books Chapbooks Bookmarks Plaques and Poetry Collector Cards Merchandising Products Coffee Mugs Mouse Pads Tiles 3x6 Coasters T - Shirts and Wall Plaques More info athttpliveadsFitnessDigestus

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

Featured PhotosFitnessDigestus feature

Chicago open water swim course at nighttop left

Kids race at Bicycle Blues and BBQtop right

Some team members volunteer at the local soup kitchenmiddle right

Ken Mauer loads the balls for hitting practice during a Twins baseball camp for

children 7-13 bottom right

Get your local event photos published in the next issue of FitnessDigestus E-mail

your photo to photoFitnessDigestus

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As he turned to go on he spat speculatively There was a sharp explosive crackle that startled him He spat again And again in the air before it could fall to the snow the spittle crackled He knew that at fifty below spittle crackled on the snow but this spittle had crackled in the air Undoubtedly it was colder than fifty below--how much colder he did not know But the temperature did not matter He was bound for the old claim on the left fork of Henderson Creek where the boys were already They had come over across the divide from the Indian Creek country while he had come the roundabout way to take a look at the possibilities of getting out logs in the spring from the islands in the Yukon He would be in to camp by six oclock a bit after dark it was true but the boys would be there a fire would be going and a hot supper would be ready As for lunch he pressed his hand against the protruding bundle under his jacket It was also under his shirt wrapped up in a handkerchief and lying against the naked skin It was the only way to keep the biscuits from freezing He smiled agreeably to himself as he thought of those biscuits each cut open and sopped in bacon grease and each enclosing a generous slice of fried bacon

He plunged in among the big spruce trees The trail was faint A foot of snow had fallen since the last sled had passed over and he was glad he was without a sled traveling light In fact he carried nothing but the lunch wrapped in the handkerchief He was surprised however at the cold It certainly was cold he concluded as he rubbed his numb nose and cheek-bones with his mittened hand He was a warm-whiskered man but the hair on his face did not protect the high cheek-bones and the eager nose that thrust itself aggressively into the frosty air

At the mans heels trotted a dog a big native husky the proper wolf-dog gray-coated and without any visible or temperamental difference from its brother the wild wolf The animal was depressed by the tremendous cold It knew that it was no time for

traveling Its instinct told it a truer tale than was told to the man by the mans judgment In reality it was not merely colder than fifty below zero it was colder than sixty below than seventy below It was seventy-five below zero Since the freezing point is thirty-two above zero it meant that one hundred and seven degrees of frost obtained The dog did not know anything about thermometers Possibly in its brain there was no sharp consciousness of a condition of very cold such as was in the mans brain But the brute had its instinct It experienced a vague but menacing apprehension that subdued it then made it slink along at the mans heels and that made it question eagerly every unwonted movement of the man as if expecting him to go into camp or to seek shelter somewhere and build a fire The dog had learned fire and it wanted fire or else to burrow under the snow and cuddle its warmth away from the air

The frozen moisture of its breathing had settled on its fur in a fine powder of frost and especially were its jowls muzzle and eyelashes whitened by its cry-stalled breath The mans red beard and mustache were likewise frosted but more solidly the deposit taking the form of ice and increasing with every warm moist breath he exhaled Also the man was chewing tobacco and the muzzle of ice held his lips so rigidly that he was unable to clear his chin when he expelled the juice The result was that a crystal beard of the color and solidity of amber was increasing its length on his chin If he fell down it would shatter itself like glass into brittle fragments But he did not mind the appendage It was the penalty all tobacco-chewers paid in that country and he had been out before in two cold snaps They had not been so cold as this he knew but by the spirit thermometer at Sixty Mile he knew they had been registered at fifty below and at fifty-five

He held on through the level stretch of woods for several miles crossed a wide flat of rigger-heads and dropped down a bank to the frozen bed of a

To Build a FireContinued

small stream This was Henderson Creek and he knew he was ten miles from the forks He looked at his watch It was ten oclock He was making four miles an hour and he calculated that he would arrive at the forks at half-past twelve He decided to celebrate that event by eating his lunch there

The dog dropped in again at his heels with a tail drooping discouragement as the man swung along the creek-bed The furrow of the old sled-trail was plainly visible but a dozen inches of snow covered the marks of the last runners In a month no man had come up or down that silent creek The man held steadily on He was not much given to thinking and just then particularly he had nothing to think about save that he would eat lunch at-the forks and that at six oclock he would be in camp with the boys There was nobody to talk to and had there been speech would have been impossible because of the ice-muzzle on his mouth So he continued monotonously to chew tobacco and to increase the length of his amber beard

Once in a while the thought reiterated itself that it was very cold and that he had never experienced such cold As he walked along he rubbed his cheek-bones and nose with the back of his mittened hand He did this automatically now and again changing hands But rub as he would the instant he stopped his cheek-bones went numb and the following instant the end of his nose went numb He was sure to frost his cheeks he knew that and experienced a pang of regret that he had not devised a nose-strap of the sort Bud wore in cold snaps Such a strap passed across the cheeks as well and saved them But it didnt matter much after all What were frosted cheeks A bit painful that was all they were never serious

Empty as the mans mind was of thoughts he was keenly observant and he noticed the changes in the creek the curves and bends and timber jams and always he sharply noted where he placed his feet Once coming around a bend he shied abruptly

like a startled horse curved away from the place where he had been walking and retreated several paces back along the trail The creek he knew was frozen clear to the bottom--no creek could contain water in that arctic winter--but he knew also that there were springs that bubbled out from the hillsides and ran along under the snow and on top the ice of the creek He knew that the coldest snaps never froze these springs and he knew likewise their danger They were traps They hid pools of water under the snow that might be three inches deep or three feet Sometimes a skin of ice half an inch thick covered them and in turn was covered by the snow Sometimes there were alternate layers of water and ice-skin so that when one broke through he kept on breaking through for a while sometimes wetting himself to the waist

That was why he had shied in such panic He had felt the give under his feet and heard the crackle of a snow-hidden ice-skin And to get his feet wet in such a temperature meant trouble and danger At the very least it meant delay for he would be forced to stop and build a fire and under its protection to bare his feet while he dried his socks and moccasins He stood and studied the creek-bed and its banks and decided that the flow of water came from the right He reflected a while rubbing his nose and cheeks then skirted to the left stepping gingerly and testing the footing for each step Once clear of the danger he took a fresh chew of tobacco and swung along at his four-mile gait

In the course of the next two hours he came upon several similar traps Usually the snow above the hidden pools had a sunken candied appearance that advertised the danger Once again however he had a close call and once suspecting danger he compelled the dog to go on in front The dog did not want to go It hung back until the man shoved it forward and then it went quickly across the white unbroken surface Suddenly it broke through floundered to one side and got away to firmer

To Build a FireContinued

To Build a FireContinued

footing It had wet its forefeet and legs and almost immediately the water that clung to it turned to ice It made quick efforts to lick the ice off its legs then dropped down in the snow and began to bite out the ice that had formed between the toes l his was a matter of instinct To permit the ice to remain would mean sore feet It did not know this It merely obeyed the mysterious prompting that arose from the deep crypts of its being But the man knew having achieved a judgment on the subject and he removed the mitten from his right hand and helped tear out the ice-particles He did not expose his fingers more than a minute and was astonished at the swift numbness that smote them It certainly was cold He pulled on the mitten hastily and beat the hand savagely across his chest

At twelve oclock the day was at its brightest Yet the sun was too far south an its winter journey to clear the horizon The bulge of the earth intervened between it arid Henderson Creek where the man walked under a clear sky at noon and cast no shadow At half-past twelve to the minute he arrived at the forks of the creek He was pleased at the speed he had made If he kept it up he would certainly be with the boys by six He unbuttoned his jacket and shirt and drew forth his lunch The action consumed no more than a quarter of a minute yet in that brief moment the numbness laid hold of the exposed fingers He did not put the mitten on but instead struck the fingers a dozen sharp smashes against his leg Then he sat down on a snow-covered log to eat The sting that followed upon the striking of his fingers against his leg ceased so quickly that he was startled He had had no chance to take a bite of biscuit He struck the fingers repeatedly and returned them to the mitten baring the other hand for the purpose of eating He tried to take a mouthful but the ice-muzzle prevented He had forgotten to build a fire and thaw out He chuckled at his foolishness and as he chuckled he noted the numbness creeping into the exposed fingers Also he noted that the stinging which had first come to his

toes when he sat down was already passing away He wandered whether the toes were warm or numb He moved them inside the moccasins and decided that they were numb

He pulled the mitten on hurriedly and stood up He was a bit frightened He stamped up and down until the stinging returned into the feet It certainly was cold was his thought That man from Sulphur Creek had spoken the truth when telling how cold it sometimes got in the country And he had laughed at him at the time That showed one must not be too sure of things There was no mistake about it it was cold He strode up and down stamping his feet and threshing his arms until reassured by the returning warmth Then he got out matches and proceeded to make a fire From the undergrowth where high water of the previous spring had lodged a supply of seasoned twigs he got his firewood Working carefully from a small beginning he soon had a roaring fire over which he thawed the ice from his face and in the protection of which he ate his biscuits For the moment the cold space was outwitted The dog took satisfaction in the fire stretching out close enough for warmth and far enough away to escape being singed

When the man had finished be filled his pipe and took his comfortable time over a smoke Then he pulled on his mittens settled the ear-flaps of his cap firmly about his ears and took the creek trail up the left fork The dog was disappointed and yearned back toward the fire This man did not know cold Possibly all the generations of his ancestry had been ignorant of cold of real cold of cold one hundred and seven degrees below freezing point But the dog knew all its ancestry knew and it had inherited the knowledge And it knew that it was not good to walk abroad in such fearful cold It was the time to lie snug in a hole in the snow and wait for a curtain of cloud to be drawn across the face of outer space whence this cold came On the other hand there was no keen intimacy between the dog and the man

The one was the toil-slave of the other and the only caresses it had ever received were the caresses of the whiplash and of harsh and menacing throat-sounds that threatened the whiplash So the dog made no effort to communicate its apprehension to the man It was not concerned in the welfare of the man it was for its own sake that it yearned back toward the fire But the man whistled and spoke to it with the sound of whiplashes and the dog swung in at the mans heel and followed after

The man took a chew of tobacco and proceeded to start a new amber beard Also his moist breath quickly powdered with white his mustache eyebrows and lashes There did not seem to be so many springs on the left fork of the Henderson and for half an hour the man saw no signs of any And then it happened At a place where there were no signs where the soft unbroken snow seemed to advertise solidity beneath tee man broke through It was not deep He wet himself halfway to the knees before he floundered out to the firm crust

He was angry and cursed his luck aloud He had hoped to get into camp with the boys at six oclock and this would delay him an hour for he would have to build a fire and dry out his foot-gear This was imperative at that low temperature--he knew that much and he turned aside to the bank which he climbed On top tangled in the underbrush about the trunks of several small spruce trees was a high-water deposit of dry firewood--sticks and twigs principally but also larger portions of seasoned branches and fine dry last-years grasses He threw down several large pieces on top of the snow This served for a foundation and prevented the young flame from drowning itself in the snow it otherwise would melt The flame he got by touching a match to a small shred of birch bark that he took from his pocket This burned even more readily than paper Placing it on the foundation he fed the young flame with wisps of dry grass and with the tiniest dry twigs

He worked slowly and carefully keenly aware of his danger Gradually as the flame grew stronger he increased the size of the twigs with which he fed it He squatted in the snow pulling the twigs out from their entanglement in the brush and feeding directly to the flame He knew there must be no failure When it is seventy-five below zero a man must not fail in his first attempt to build a fire--that is if his feet are wet If his feet are dry and he fails he can run along the trail for half a mile and restore his circulation But the circulation of wet and freezing feet cannot be restored by running when it is seventy-five below No matter how fast he runs the wet feet will freeze the harder

All this the man knew The old-timer on Sulphur Creek had told him about it the previous fall and now he was appreciating the advice Already all sensation had gone out of his feet To build the fire he had been forced to remove his mittens and the fingers had quickly gone numb His pace of four miles an hour had kept his heart pumping blood to the surface of his body and to all the extremities But the instant he stopped the action of the pump eased down The cold of space smote the unprotected tip of the planet and he being on that unprotected tip received the full force of the blow The blood of his body recoiled before it The blood was alive like the dog and like the dog it wanted to hide away and cover itself up from the fearful cold So long as he walked four miles an hour he pumped that blood willy-nilly to the surface but now it ebbed away and sank down into the recesses of his body The extremities were the first to feel its absence His wet feet froze the faster and his exposed fingers numbed the faster though they had not yet begun to freeze Nose and cheeks were already freezing while the skin of all his body chilled as it lost its blood

But he was safe Toes and nose and cheeks would be only touched by the frost for the fire was beginning to burn with strength He was feeding it

To Build a FireContinued

with twigs the size of his finger In another minute he would be able to feed it with branches the size of his wrier and then he could remove his wet toot-gear and while it dried he could keep his naked feet warm by the fire rubbing them at first of course with snow The fire was a success He was safe He remembered the advice of the old timer on Sulphur Creek and smiled The old-timer had been very serious in laying down the law that no man must travel alone in the Klondike after fifty below Well here he was he had had the accident he was alone and he had saved himself Those old-timers were rather womanish some of them he thought All a man had to do was to keep his head and he was all right Any man who was a man could travel alone But it was surprising the rapidity with which his cheeks and nose were freezing And he had not thought his fingers could go lifeless in so short a time Lifeless they were for he could scarcely make them move together to grip a twig and they seemed remote from his body and from him When he touched a twig he had to look and see whether or not he had hold of it The wires were pretty well down between him and his finger-ends

All of which counted for little There was the fire snapping and crackling and promising life with every dancing flame He started to untie his moccasins They were coated with ice the thick German socks were like sheaths of iron halfway to the knees and the moccasin strings were like rods of steel all twisted and knotted as by some conflagration For a moment he tugged with his numb fingers then realizing the folly of it he drew his sheath-knife

But before he could cut the strings it happened It was his own fault or rather his mistake He should not have built the fire under the spruce tree He should have built it in the open But it had been easier to pull the twigs from the brush and drop them directly on the fire Now the tree under which

he had done this carried a weight of snow on its boughs No wind had blown for weeks and each bough was fully freighted Each time he had pulled a twig he had communicated a slight agitation to the tree--an imperceptible agitation so far as he was concerned but an agitation sufficient to bring about the disaster High up in the tree one bough capsized its load of snow This fell on the boughs beneath capsizing them This process continued spreading out and involving the whole tree It grew like an avalanche and it descended without warning upon the man and the fire and the fire was blotted out Where it had burned was a mantle of fresh and disordered snow

The man was shocked It was as though he had just heard his own sentence of death For a moment he sat and stared at the spot where the fire had been Then he grew very calm Perhaps the old-timer on Sulphur Creek was right If he had only had a trail-mate he would have been in no danger now The trail-mate could have built the fire Well it was up to him to build the fire over again and this second time there must be no failure Even if he succeeded he would most likely lose some toes His feet must be badly frozen by now and there would be some time before the second fire Was ready

Such were his thoughts but he did not sit and think them He was busy all the time they were passing through his mind He made a new foundation for a fire this time in the open where no treacherous tree could blot it out Next he gathered dry grasses and tiny twigs from the high-water flotsam He could not bring his fingers together to pull them out but he was able to gather them by the handful In this way he got many rotten twigs and bits of green moss that were undesirable but it was the best he could do He worked methodically even collecting an armful of the larger branches to be used later when the fire gathered strength And all the while the dog sat and watched him a certain yearning wistfulness in its eyes for it looked upon

To Build a FireContinued

him as the fire-provider and the fire was slow in coming

When all was ready the man reached in his pocket for a second piece of birch bark He knew the bark was there and though he could not feel it with his fingers he could hear its crisp rustling as he fumbled for it Try as he would he could not clutch hold of it And all the time in his consciousness was the knowledge that each instant his feet were freezing This thought tended to put him in a panic but he fought against it and kept calm He pulled on his mittens with his teeth and threshed his arms back and forth beating his hands with all his might against his sides He did this sitting down and he stood up to do it and all the while the dog sat in the snow its wolf-brush of a tail curled around warmly over its forefeet its sharp wolf-ears pricked forward intently as it watched the man And the man as he beat and threshed with his arms and hands felt a great surge of envy as he regarded the creature that was warm ant secure in its natural covering

After a time he was aware of the first far-away signals of sensation in his beaten fingers The faint tingling grew stronger till it evolved into a stinging ache that was excruciating but which the man hailed with satisfaction He stripped the mitten from his right hand and fetched forth the birch bark The exposed fingers were quickly going numb again Next he brought out his bunch of sulphur matches But the tremendous cold had already driven the life out of his fingers In his effort to separate one match from the others the whole bunch fell in the snow He tried to pick it out of the snow but failed The dead fingers could neither touch nor clutch He was very careful He drove the thought of his freezing feet and nose and cheeks out of his mind devoting his whole soul to the matches He watched using the sense of vision in place of that of touch and when he saw his fingers on each side the bunch he dosed them--that is he willed to close them for the wires were down and the fingers did not obey He pulled

the mitten on the right hand and beat it fiercely against his knee Then with both mittened hands he scooped the bunch of matches along with much snow into his lap Yet he was no better off

After some manipulation he managed to get the bunch between the heels of his mittened hands In this fashion he carried it to his mouth The ice crackled and snapped when by a violent effort he opened his mouth He drew the lower jaw in curled the upper lip out of the way and scraped the bunch with his upper teeth in order to separate a match He succeeded in getting one which he dropped on his lap He was no better off He could not pick it up Then he devised a way He picked it up in his teeth and scratched it on his leg Twenty times he scratched before he succeeded in lighting it As it flamed he held it with his teeth to the birch bark But the burning brimstone went up his nostrils and into his lungs causing him to cough spasmodically The match fell into the snow and went out

The old-timer an Sulphur Creek was right he thought in the moment of controlled despair that ensued after fifty below a man should travel with a partner He beat his hands but failed in exciting any sensation Suddenly he bared both hands removing the mittens with his teeth He caught the whole bunch between the heels of his hands His arm muscles not being frozen enabled him to press the hand-heels tightly against the matches Then he scratched the bunch along his leg It flared into flame seventy sulphur matches at once There was no wind to blow them out He kept his head to one side to escape the strangling fumes and held the blazing bunch to the birth bark As he so held it he became aware of sensation in his hand His flesh was burning He could smell it Deep down below the surface he could feel it The sensation developed into pain that grew acute And still he endured it holding the flame of the matches clumsily to the bark that would not light readily because his own burning hands were in the way absorbing most of the flame

To Build a FireContinued

At last when he could endure no more he jerked his hands apart The blazing matches fell sizzling into the snow but the birch bark was alight He began laying dry grasses and the tiniest twigs on the flame He could not pick and choose for he had to lift the fuel between the heels of his hands Small pieces of rotten wood and green moss clung to the twigs and he bit them off as well as he could with his teeth He cherished the flame carefully and awkwardly It meant life and it must not perish The withdrawal of blood from the surface of his body now made him begin to shiver and he grew more awkward A large piece of green moss fell squarely on the little fire He tried to poke it out with his fingers but his shivering frame made him poke too far and he disrupted the nucleus of the little fire the burning grasses and tiny twigs separating and scattering He tried to poke them together again but in spite of the tenseness of the effort his shivering got away with him and the twigs were hopelessly scattered Each twig gushed a puff of smoke and went out The fire-provider had failed As he looked apathetically about him his eyes chanced on the dog sitting across the ruins of the fire from him in the snow making restless hunching movements slightly lifting one forefoot and then the other shifting its weight back and forth on them with wistful eagerness

The sight of the dog put a wild idea into his head He remembered the tale of the man caught in a blizzard who killed a steer and crawled inside the carcass and so was saved He would kill the dog and bury his hands in the warm body until the numbness went out of them Then he could build another fire He spoke to the dog calling it to him but in his voice was a strange note of fear that frightened the animal who had never known the man to speak in such way before Something was the matter and its suspicious nature sensed danger--it knew not what danger but somewhere somehow in its brain arose an apprehension of the man It flattened its ears down at the sound of the mans voice and its restless

hunching movements and the liftings and shiftings of its forefeet became more pronounced but it would not come to the man He got on his hands and knees and crawled toward the dog This unusual posture again excited suspicion and the animal sidled mincingly away

The man sat up in the snow for a moment and struggled for calmness Then he pulled on his mittens by means of his teeth and got upon his feet He glanced down at first in order to assure himself that he was really standing up for the absence of sensation in his feet left him unrelated to the earth His erect position in itself started to drive the webs of suspicion from the dogs mind and when he spoke peremptorily with the sound of whiplashes in his voice the dog rendered its customary allegiance and came to him As it came within reaching distance the man lost his control His arms flashed out to the dog and he experienced genuine surprise when he discovered that his hands could not clutch that there was neither bend nor feeling in the fingers He had forgotten for the moment that they were frozen and that they were freezing more and more All this happened quickly and before the animal could get away he encircled its body with his arms He sat down in the snow and in this fashion held the dog while it snarled and whined and struggled

But it was all he could do hold its body encircled in his arms and sit there He realized that he could not kill the dog There was no way to do it With his helpless hands he could neither draw nor hold his sheath knife nor throttle the animal He released it and it plunged wildly away with tail between its legs and still snarling It halted forty feet away and surveyed him curiously with ears sharply pricked forward The man looked down at his hands in order to locate them and found them hanging on the ends of his arms It struck him as curious that one should have to use his eyes in order to find out where his hands were He began threshing his arms back and forth beating the mittened hands against

To Build a FireContinued

his sides He did this for five minutes violently and his heart pumped enough blood up to the surface to put a stop to his shivering But no sensation was aroused in the hands He had an impression that they hung like weights on the ends of his arms but when he tried to run the impression down he could not find it

A certain fear of death dull and oppressive came to him This fear quickly became poignant as he realized that it was no longer a mere matter of freezing his fingers and toes or of losing his hands and feet but that it was a matter of life and death with the chances against him This threw him into a panic and he turned and ran up the creek-bed along the old dim trail The dog joined in behind and kept up with him He ran blindly without intention in fear such as he had never known in his life Slowly as he plowed and floundered through the snow he began to see things again the banks of the creek the old timber-jams the leafless aspens and the sky The running made him feel better He did not shiver Maybe if he ran on his feet would thaw out and anyway if he ran far enough he would reach camp and the boys Without doubt he would lose some fingers and toes and some of his face but the boys would take care of him and save the rest of him when he got there And at the same time there was another thought in his mind that said he would never get to the camp and the boys that it was too many miles away that the freezing had too great a start on him and that he would soon be stiff and dead This thought he kept in the background and refused to consider Sometimes it pushed itself forward and demanded to be heard but he thrust it back and strove to think of other things

It struck him as curious that he could run at all on feet so frozen that he could not feel them when they struck the earth and took the weigh of his body He seemed to himself to skim along above the surface and to have no connection with the earth Somewhere he had once seen a winged Mercury

and he wondered if Mercury felt as he felt when skimming over the earth

His theory of running until he reached camp and the boys had one flaw in it he lacked the endurance Several times he stumbled and finally he tottered crumpled up and fell When he tried to rise he failed He must sit and rest he decided and next time he would merely walk and keep on going As he sat and regained his breath he noted that he was feeling quite warm and comfortable He was not shivering and it even seemed that a warm glow had come to his chest and trunk And yet when he touched his nose or cheeks there was no sensation Running would not thaw them out Nor would it thaw out his hands and feet Then the thought came to him that the frozen portions of his body must be extending He tried to keep this thought down to forget it to think of something else he was aware of the panicky feeling that it caused and he was afraid of the panic But the thought asserted itself and persisted until it produced a vision of his body totally frozen This was too much and he made another wild run along the trail Once he slowed down to a walk but the thought of the freezing extending itself made him run again

And all the time the dog ran with him at his heels When he fell down a second time it curled its tad over its forefeet and sat in front of him facing him curiously eager and intent The warmth and security of the animal angered him and he cursed it till it flattened down its ears appealingly This time the shivering came more quickly upon the man He was losing in his battle with the frost It was creeping into his body from all sides The thought of it drove him on but he ran no more than a hundred feet when he staggered and pitched headlong It was his last panic When he had recovered his breath and control he sat up and entertained in his mind the conception of meeting death with dignity However the conception did not come to him in such terms His idea of it was that he had been making a fool of

To Build a FireContinued

himself running around like a chicken with its head cut off--such was the simile that occurred to him Well he was bound to freeze anyway and he might as well take it decently With this new-found peace of mind came the first glimmerings of drowsiness A good idea he thought to sleep off to death It was like salting an anesthetic Freezing was not so bad as people thought There were lots worse ways to die

He pictured the boys finding his body next day Suddenly he found himself with them coming along the trail and looking for himself And still with them he came around a turn in the trail and found himself lying in the snow He did not belong with himself any more for even then he was out of himself standing with the boys and looking at himself in the snow It certainly was cold was his thought When he got back to the States he could tell the folks what real cold was He drifted on from this to a vision of the old-timer on Sulphur Creek He could see him quite clearly warm and comfortable and smoking a pipe

You were right old boss you were right the man mumbled to the old-timer of Sulphur Creek

Then the man drowsed off into what seemed to him the most comfortable and satisfying sleep he had ever known The dog sat facing him and waiting The brief day drew to a close in a long slow twilight There were no signs of a fire to be made and besides never in the dogs experience had it known a man to sit like that in the snow and make no fire As the twilight drew on its eager yearning for the fire mastered it and with a great lifting and shifting of forefeet it whined softly then flattened its ears down in anticipation of being chidden by the man But the man remained silent Later the dog whined loudly And still later it crept close to the man and caught the scent of death This made the animal bristle and back away A little longer it delayed howling under the stars that leaped and danced and shone brightly in the cold sky Then it turned and trotted up the trail in the direction of the camp it knew where were the other food-providers and fire-providers

To Build a FireContinued

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Page 8: FitnessDigest.us Vol. 4.3 Cover

built on the idea that websites can disappear in seconds One solution is back-ups Each duplication you make of a file increases the chances of itrsquos survival in years to come

13 It is my hope that someday people will find stories like Brandis on an old iPad or Kindle and get to read her story just like we read my grandfatherrsquos stories in Archer

13 Another first for the magazine We are taking a creative writing expert and pairing his story with a story from a US Masters swimmer The stories are about what inspires and motivates ndash how to find inspiration and motivation in your life I couldnrsquot believe how many underlying similarities there where when I placed them side-by-side

13 This issue is also our first issue that is going to include a new columnist Jen Schmitt is submitting a quarterly column for the magazine She is an inspiring mom in training ndash mom first writer second and triathlete third That is a recipe for success On top of the fact that she is a talented writer her style fits the magazines concept Her writing is

fun and she is great at finding the interesting details in lifes precious moments She brings to light many details that could easily be

overlooked When I see that talent in an athlete-writer I think to myself that they must understand hard work and suffering - because it is the suffering often times during our training that teaches us to see beauty in life Jen uses her talent to help moms find the reward

from long workouts Fittingly we have a poetic story that illustrates this link between suffering and the appreciation of life That story can be found on page 10

13 In 2008 I ran the Mickelson Trail Marathon in Deadwood South Dakota Since then Ive always felt a personal connection to it When I got word from Emily Wheeler the race director that we could get some photos and a short story from the 2012 race I was very excited Jen works closely with the legendary runner Jerry Dunn Mr Dunn is well known for his 200 marathons in the year 2000 He is Americas Marathon man He has appeared on the Today Show and has been featured in numerous magazines The chance to work with Jen and

Whatrsquos in Store Continued

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Jenn Schmitt Columnist

her team is so cool Im very thankful for the contribution Id like to include a quick side note to Emily ndash I think my next challenge will be to make that 100 miler work for me

On a whim I emailed a coordinator from the National Office for the Ride of Silence I mentioned publishing the official poem for the ride along with some photos The excitement I heard back was so positive The ride is emotional to so many people The stories of riders being hurt or killed is tragic we never want to forget them That is why education about sharing the road is a huge part of cycling safety I wont tell you more than that When you read the poem remember those that were hurt or killed while cycling The pictures we got from Robert LaVallee show the different color ribbons given to riders Red is for cyclists who knew a rider that died while cycling black is for a rider that has been injured during a ride

13 Irsquove been downloading classic (out-of-copyright) novels to my Kindle and iPad for re-reading and because I think the are important to preserve for future generations Ive downloaded the Illiad Adventures of Tom Sawyer and the original Wizard

of Oz I also found some good fiction from Jack London I think the magazinersquos readers will appreciate it It is a classic work that is about hiking ndash Think The Long Walk It is a good read with a surprise ending I hope readers will search out books and stories like this and add them to their own collection If we find more that are fitness related or have active subjects we may share them too

Whatrsquos in Store Continued

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httpwwwbrandishipmancom

com

pelling

When in the vastness of miles we find ourself not asking questions but finding answers

The fast races we ran years ago seem ugly and unforgiving

Now older and wiser and much much slower the race gives us a different story Four emotions joy anger sadness and frustration - not all at once but in a fashionable order that even makes anger a pleasant experience If it were not for the physical suffering endured for duration of the race you would perhaps experience all at once

Uncomfortable yet compelling

13 The race that when you are done and the suffering is over makes everything clearer priceless moments no longer slipping by but take the stage in life ndash in a perfect permutation

The finish helps us see there is more to do but until the next race there is no hurry Stop smell the roses Until we rise up for another challenge the story that unfolded during the race takes care of us we dont have to tell it It is written into our lives The memories and seemingly the future having been created between the aid stations and mile markers

NOT THE FASTEST RACETHE GREATESTSent from Iowa

U n c o m f o r t a b l e

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As a teenager I chose golf in high school as a sport rather than track Golfing meant enjoying a bag of chips and a can a soda while on the course Running was something I dreaded in school I used to plan how I could get out of the mile run for weeks when I knew it was almost fitness test time Now as a 31 year old stay at home mom I am running 10Ks and have a goal of completing four sprint triathlons in 2012 as well as many other 5Ks and 10Ks My five year goal is to complete an Ironman triathlon

13 Over the course of the last three years I have changed many aspects of my life I earned a Masterrsquos Degree in Education from Iowa State University I left a career as a Director of Special Education in a local school district to become a stay at home mom ndash with my two beautiful girls This change was prompted by a health scare in 2009 I was hospitalized for many days with meningitis and realized life was just too short

13 In 2011 while nursing my 4 month old my sister in law invited me to go with her to Weight Watchers I joined the next day for what was probably the 8th time but this time was different I made my goal and am a lifetime member I lost 43lbs and am healthy for the first time in my life I have Crohnrsquos Disease and am no longer taking any medications and no longer suffering the symptoms associated with the disease

In August of 2011 our hometown hero a Navy Seal was killed in action He was a huge inspiration to many people but after his death I was inspired to make a difference in our community and live my life differently He was a triathlete that had tackled the big daddy of them all and became an Ironman Realizing what he gave up so that we may have freedom inspired me to

Favo

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Givingit aTri

FitnessDigestus columnist Jen Schmitt Rockford Iowa

Men

ingi

tis

13 In 2011 while nursing my four month old my sister in law invited me to go with her to Weight Watchers I joined the next day for what was probably the eigth time but this time was different They helped me make my goal and I became a lifetime member I lost 43lbs and Irsquom healthy for the first time in my life I also have Crohnrsquos Disease and no longer take medications nor do I suffer with the symptoms associated with the disease

13 In August of 2011 our hometown hero a Navy Seal was killed in action He was a huge inspiration to many people After his death I was inspired to make a difference in our community and to live my life differently He was a triathlete that had tackled the big daddy of them all ndash an Ironman Realizing what he gave up so that we may have freedom inspired me to continue on my fitness path by adding triathlete to my title

Givingit aTri

FitnessDigestus columnist Jen Schmitt Rockford Iowa

13 In 2011 while nursing my 4 month old my sister in law invited me to go with her to Weight Watchers I joined the next day for what was probably the 8th time but this time was different I made my goal and am a lifetime member I lost 43lbs and am healthy for the first time in my life I have Crohnrsquos Disease and am no longer taking any medications and no longer suffering the symptoms associated with the disease

In August of 2011 our hometown hero a Navy Seal was killed in action He was a huge inspiration to many people but after his death I was inspired to make a difference in our community and live my life differently He was a triathlete that had tackled the big daddy of them all and became an Ironman Realizing what he gave up so that we may have freedom inspired me to continue on my fitness path by

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run

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ie Ce

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wa

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13 When I am not out training with the group that I started in my hometown ldquoFriends in Fitnessrdquo you can find me blogging at justamomgivingitatriblogspotcom studying for my personal trainer certification or spending time with my husband girls and friends I enjoy being in the outdoors whether it is just for a walk or turkey hunting in the woods I am currently the chairperson working to organize a 5K fundraiser for the PEO Chapter that I belong to in Rockford Iowa This is going to be our major fundraiser for the year and we are very excited to encourage wellness among others in our community

Givingit aTri

FitnessDigestus columnist Jen Schmitt Rockford Iowa

13 In 2011 while nursing my 4 month old my sister in law invited me to go with her to Weight Watchers I joined the next day for what was probably the 8th time but this time was different I made my goal and am a lifetime member I lost 43lbs and am healthy for the first time in my life I have Crohnrsquos Disease and am no longer taking any medications and no longer suffering the symptoms associated with the disease

In August of 2011 our hometown hero a Navy Seal was killed in action He was a huge inspiration to many people but after his death I was inspired to make a difference in our community and live my life differently He was a triathlete that had tackled the big daddy of them all and became an Ironman Realizing what he gave up so that we may have freedom inspired me to continue on my fitness path by

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ry G

arm

in Fo

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nner

310

XT

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t get

s m

e ou

t of b

ed

My a

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on

my p

hone

tellin

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e to

get

to th

e po

ol an

d sw

im o

r a s

crea

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Fam

ily amp

Frie

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Watch and LearnSent in from NIP Gym

Successful SAFE gains in

the gym

Available at select Hy-Vee stores

NO MSG

LowSodium

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GREAT STORY HERE FROM NIP amp Fitness 13 I was in the gym this morning doing shoulders A quiet red headed kid comes in and gets on the bench and starts benching His first set of 135 lbs had HORRIBLE technique and form I walk over and talk to him He tells me his name is Joe - age 17 - weight 205 and is a junior at CS High School and he just bought a membership to NIP amp Fitness He tells me two weeks ago he benched 185 lbs for a max I told him that was very good for is age but NOT for his build I knew he was stronger than that So I helped him shape up is technique and form Joe ndash LISTENED and WATCHED He learned that he was much stronger than a 185 pound max bench presser Today from LISTENING and WATCHING Joe bench pressed 225 X 2 ndash and that 185 pounds he maxed two weeks ago he finished his work out by doing that 185 pounds for seven reps Proper TECHNIQUE and FORM are the key to successful SAFE gains in the gym Today Joe was a perfect example CONGRATULATIONS Joe

Dear Freestyle Swim Stroke

13 You are so frustrating to me Why canrsquot we just get along When I made the decision to tackle this goal of completing a triathlon I was not even worried about you That has proven to be a mistake Some days things go so smooth between us and some mornings I spring out of bed at 430 so excited about our time together Today was not one of those days You left me feeling like thishellip

Like a wet wrung out old swimsuit

These are the reasons that I am so upset with you

1 You literally take my breath away

2 You make my shoulder hurt (Popcorn kernels currently on shoulder while typing)

3 You make me leave my warm cozy bed about two hours before I would really like to leave it

4 If I donrsquot get my butt out of bed and go at 430 AM I have to leave my family and go at 730 PM

Dear FreestyleBy Jen Schmitt Rockford Iowa

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pull

head position

exit

flutter-kick

recovery

(Yes we know ndash no cameras in the locker room No one was harmed in this photo shoot)

13 And to the very old man in the lane beside me I do not dislike you in-fact I am insanely jealous of you I donrsquot stare at you because of your body you may look hot if I was 75 but I am not I stare at you in awe of how effortlessly you move up and down the pool without a rest Someday I hope to be just like you

13 So for now as much as I would love to say we need to break up and go our separate ways I am too D stubborn to do that We will make this work and we are going to get along Here is my promise to you ndash I promise to meet-up with you two to three times a week for at least an hour to work on our relationship I promise not to cheat on you with the sidestroke although I am so much more comfortable with him I promise to keep an open mind about our relationship and give it all that I have just like I do with my friend the run

Love you (I think)

Jen

Dear FreestyleContinued

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pull

head position

exit

flutter-kick

recovery

Adult SwimmingBy Susan Dawson-cook

I have taught dozens of adults how to swim Many of them were initially either afraid of water or somewhat uncomfortable in the aquatic environment Whats worked best is to get in the water with them and do activities that show them it can be fun and safe I make sure they feel safe and secure the entire time and even say things like if you have trouble standing up after you take some strokes I will help you or just reach for my hand if you need support

13 Many beginners have this fear ndash if they are in the horizontal position swimming they wont be able to stand up One woman cried she was so overjoyed she overcame her fear and learned to take her first strokes

Find more of Susanrsquos writing and published works at httplivemediaFitnessDigestus

Body image and fitness are hot topics for both men and women The Great Fitness Experiment is my hilarious poignant embarrassing and at times heart-breaking journey to find my way through the morass of contradictory claims and information in todayrsquos health- and fitness-obsessed world

Available in paperback or in eBookhttpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

If you have trouble standing up after you

take some strokesone women cried

she was so overjoyed

If you would like future issues delivered to a Facebook Twitter or e-mail account e-mail us at infoFitnessDigestus

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2 Deadwood Mickelson Trail MarathonSunday June 2 2013

Deadwood South Dakota

13 On June 2nd we will celebrate 12 years of offering runners from around the globe the most unique running experience of their life Where else in the world can you run on a course that takes you from an abandoned mining town across railroad trestles through a mountain past monolithic rock formations beside a babbling creek and finish in Deadwoodhellipa town that is a historic landmark

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Written Emily WheelerFor more information amp video visit httpLIveAdsFitnessDigestus

ldquoWild West town known primarily for its gamblers gunslingers and gold minersrdquo

Hope to see you at the finish

This Wild West town known primarily for its gamblers gunslingers and gold miners has turned into one of the premiere destination marathon venues in the US

13 The breathtaking beauty of our course the truly outstanding team of volunteers the hospitality of everyone associated with the event and paying attention to details are just a couple of reasons yoursquoll want to toe the line on June 2nd

The Deadwood Mickelson Trail Half and Full Marathon is a point to point course

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ldquoThe breathtaking beauty of our courserdquo

WaynesSkiandCyclenetlive links to Waynersquos at httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

MTM Charity Partner

13 Habitat for Humanity is a global nonprofit Christian housing organization that has helped to build more than 500000 decent affordable houses and served 25 million people worldwide since its founding in 1976 With the help of volunteers and donations of money and materials Habitat constructs rehabilitates and preserves homes in partnership with low-income families in need Operating in nearly 80 countries and with more than 1500 affiliates in the United States Habitat also advocates for fair and just housing policies and provides training and access to resources to help families improve their shelter conditions

Shop for Name BrandItems 24 Hours a Day

beginning in the historic mining town of Rochford the first 15 miles are on a paved road At this point the course becomes the Mickelson Trail (a rails to trails project) The next 12 miles are a mixture of gentle uphill and flat terrain

13 Then the course is either downhill or flat and finishes at the historic Engine House at end of the linehellipthe Deadwood Trailhead The Half Marathon is also a point to point course starting at the 131 mile mark of the full marathon Walker Friendly

All participants will receive a Commemorative Finisherrsquos Medal

Mickelson Trail Marathon Charity Partner is the Black Hills Habitat for HumanityMake your Marathon Matter Matching Funds

Make your Marathon matter by helping create decent shelter in the Black Hills ndash take the challenge to give at least $1 per race mile Our goal is to raise $3000 in 2012 for BH Habitat for Humanity to help provide shelter for more families in the Black Hills

Registrations are capped at 3000 runners If you want to be part of the Deadwood Mickelson Trail Marathon Weekend celebration go to LiveAdsFitnessDigestus and click on the MTM Marathon URL

Hope to see you at the Finish Line - ThanksEmily Wheeler Wheeler Event Management Inc

ldquoHope to see you at the finish linerdquo

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links

DAY had broken cold and gray exceedingly cold and gray when the man turned aside from the main Yukon trail and climbed the high earth-bank where a dim and little traveled trail led eastward through the fat spruce timberland It was a steep bank and he paused for breath at the top excusing the act to himself by looking at his watch It was nine oclock There was no sun nor hint of sun though there was not a cloud in the sky It was a

clear day and yet there seemed an intangible pall over the face of things a subtle gloom that made the day dark and that was due to the absence of sun This fact did not worry the man He was used to the lack of sun It had been days since he had seen the sun and he knew that a few more-days must pass before that cheerful orb due south would just peep above the sky-line and dip immediately from view

To Build a Fire - Hiking the Yukon TrailShort story fiction Written by Jack London (1876-1916)

The man flung a look back along the way he had come The Yukon lay a mile wide and hidden under three feet of ice On top of this ice were as many feet of snow It was all pure white rolling in gentle undulations where the ice jams of the freeze-up had formed North and south as far as his eye could see it was unbroken white save for a dark hairline that curved and twisted from around the spruce-covered island to the south and that curved and twisted away into the north where it disappeared behind another spruce-covered island This dark hair-line was the trail--the main trail--that led south five hundred miles to the Chilcoot Pass Dyea and salt water and that led north seventy miles to Dawson and still on to the north a thousand miles to Nulato and finally to St Michael on Bering Sea a thousand miles and half a thousand more

But all this--the mysterious far-reaching hair-line trail The absence of sun from the sky the tremendous cold and the strangeness and weirdness of it all--made no

impression on the man It was not because he was long used to it He was a newcomer In the land a chechaquo and this was his first winter The trouble with him was that he was without imagination He was quick and alert in the things of life but only in the things and not in the significances Fifty degrees below zero meant eighty-odd degrees of frost Such fact impressed him as being cold and uncomfortable and that was all It did not lead him to meditate upon his frailty as a creature of temperature and upon mans frailty in general able only to live within certain narrow limits of heat and cold and from there on it did not lead him to the conjectural field of immortality and mans place in the universe Fifty degrees below zero stood forte bite of frost that hurt and that must be guarded against by the use of mittens ear-flaps warm moccasins and thick socks Fifty degrees below zero was to him just precisely fifty degrees below zero That there should be anything more to it than that was a thought that never entered his head

To Build a FireContinued

Continued on page 62

Stand Up Paddle BoardingWOWSUPIowacom on LiveAds

It is important from time to time to slow down to go away by yourself and simply be --Eileen Caddy

Letrsquos Race13 My son is eight and our family is very active Im just hitting my peak racing age of about 34 years old The family members all support each otherrsquos activities They are a great cheering section when my wife and I compete in races There is a popular two mile fun run in our town that we my wife and I run every year We also have for-fun races with the kids around the house or across the football field For years Ive let the eight year old win a few and others I win by just a little bit I think he is wising up to my tactics of good fatherhood One day he said ldquoDad you are letting me win but I think I can beat you fair and squarerdquo He added ldquoYoursquore not that fast Ill bet you 10 dollars I can beat you in a two mile racerdquo Wanting to teach him a lesson about spouting off and writing checks his body cant cash I took him up on it I said All right you pick a time and place We will race two miles for 10 dollars He replied You know that two mile race you and mom do every year I can race you then I agreed and he quickly added Ill need 20 years to warm-up That would make me 54 and him 28 Irsquom preparing for the loss and putting 10 dollars aside now

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Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

In my first creative experience it was through music and I was interested in developing my values of creativity I was inspired by a band named Motley Crue and the song that captured my interest was Home Sweet home Dear reader what inspires you Is it music or inspirational quote thought or ideas To express how this song motivated my interests it helped give me faith in my own creative abilities in the process I began to write lyrics I eventually began to work on different styles of writing and broaden my writing skills What types of music inspire your creative thoughts What types of other inspiration values inspire your creative thoughts

13 Getting motivated is one of the key aspects of a successful weight-loss program Without this motivation there would be no drive to get up early or to avoid eating unhealthy snacks ndash that you absolutely love Yes you can thank your motivation for that When you are looking for weight-loss motivation sometimes it is hard to find Where can you find that extra umph to make it to your goal

The benefits of finding a motivator are something that cannot be paralleled It has been said mind over matter This coincides with our principle that no matter how hard the task you can accomplish the goal given the right mindset It is important to go into a new weight-loss program with a positive mental attitude

FINDI

NG TH

EM X InspirationX

Motivation

When I was introduced to William Shakespeare I was intrigued by his creative values and I started to work on developing a different aspect of writing I then watched the movie Free Jack there was a quote by Albert Einstein Imagination is more important than knowledge I thought about the in depth values of both concepts and then I applied both concepts and defined different creative concept Do you believe that anything is possible if you believe I know that I do believe that if an individual believes deeply enough one can accomplish their goals I had to believe in my own abilities and in my dreams and ignore the negative values that were impressed by others

Anything less can potentially hinder growth towards your goal

Some of the things that you should be thinking about when looking for motivators are people with good morals and a positive attitude This is because if the people helping you do not have a positive attitude then it is also difficult for you Some great places to look for a motivator are online blogs in the gym or even in your own family I am sure that in all of these places you will see someone else trying to accomplish the same or even more difficult goals than your own

Another key to finding motivation is to let it find you You should not have to go find a reason to go do something You will do it because you wanted to not because you were forced to

X

InspirationMotivation

More simply put motivation will find you because you will see something that inspires you to make a change in yourself That change may be a weight-loss goal or something else Maybe even an academic goal The true key is to maintain that motivation until you have achieved your goal

Regards Vincent ErrichielloUSMS Swimmer

InspirationMotivation

With believing so deeply within my own abilities and the faith that I could accomplish what I set out to achieve I wrote a lyric titled Dreams Are Only Real and in believing in this concept further defining its true meaning the concept became Dreams Are Only Real Until You Dont believe

Jeremy J TaylorCNFI Publishing

himTHROWINGWritten by anonymous contributor

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13 Johnny is not the best batter in our little league Matter-of-fact he is quiet awful At practice one afternoon Johnny hit a pitch really well The coach had pitched him inside on accident far enough inside that it almost hit him Johnny got his hit by using his bat to defend himself from that arrant pitch The coach told him ldquogood hitrdquo and Johnny yelled back ldquoWell I didnrsquot want the ball to hit merdquo13 Johnny improved his batting after that He was hitting the ball almost every time he got up At one point I said to coach ldquoHow did you get Johnny to improve his batting so quicklyrdquo He replyed Im throwing the ball it AT HIM every time

Body image and fitness are hot topics for both men and women The Great Fitness Experiment is my hilarious poignant embarrassing and at times heart-breaking journey to find my way through the morass of contradictory claims and information in todayrsquos health- and fitness-obsessed world

Available in paperback or in eBookVisit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

wwwnorthiafitnesscom on LiveAdsEmail northiowafitnessgmailcom

Phone 641-201-1035Strongest weight loss supplements

on the market

The Fall of Billy Hitchingsby Kirkus MacGowan

Available at Amazon

LOCATED IN ST ANSGAR IOWA

Business Cards Envelopes

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Black Lab LanyardsSpecializing in customized duck and goose call lanyards for waterfowl enthusiasts

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FitnessDigestus is now available at

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entryFitnessDigestus

Send u

s yo

ur T

-shi

rt

READE

R T

-shi

rts

13 I was standing on shore fishing in my favorite spot A guy Irsquove never seen at the pond gets in and starts swimming After about 25 minutes of back and forth he stops at a place about 30 yards off shore He gives me a quick look and dices down below the water

His next lap he stops in the same place looks at me again and points down at the water He finished his swim and left I picked up my gear and moved to the other side of the outlet just a few yards from where he had stopped twice Caught a lunker in the first cast

Swim Signs - Lunker

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Call to order 641ndash423ndash3111

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Fitn

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TOP TWEETS

Iowa Cubs (IowaCubs)Thanks to all our fans who showed up for the pre-game on-field catch with dad

Louise Pineda (forerunnerGPS)The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficultyWinston Churchill quotes

Softball Darlin (Softball_Darlin)My mom told me our team was gettin white uniforms for summer amp to try not to get them dirty Uh Have you seen me play Not gonna happen

I Swim I Suffer (ISwimISuffer)thatswimmerwho If the water is in your right ear for example then jump on your right leg and lean your head to the right side while jumping

I Swim and I Know It (iSwimWithIssues)During the summer you shower 467 times at the pool 17 times at hotels and 3 times at your house Truth

Everyday Health (WomensCancer)63000 Americans will be diagnosed w malignant melanoma (the deadliest skin cancer) this year Know your risk

US Paralympics (USParalympics)Want to be introduced to Paralympic sport Attend one of the Paralympic Experiences being held throughout the countryFi

tnes

sDig

est

US v

olum

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SwimSwam (swimswamnews)Congrats to KenyaSwimmer on being selected to carry the Kenya flag swimswamcom

Better than sharing on a blog Twitter or Facebook and you can share a story even if you donrsquot maintain a social-web presencePublished for ALL FitnessDigestus readers

Sign with your real name pen-name or anonymoushttpLiveMediaFitnessDigestus

13 Funnest thing SPAM about some weight-loss supplements got posted on a friendrsquos Facebook My friend is an ultra-runner I notice there was also an ad for salami recipes on the same page The recipes were right next to the SPAM about diet-pills

13 Letrsquos see ndash it sounds like the beginning of a good joke Q What do you get when a friend tries to sell you ultra-runner endorsed salami-flavored-SPAM diet-pills on Facebook Answer Sick

Unsung Heroes1 Irsquove never swam open water and wanted to do a triathlon A friend that

races open water took extra time to swim with me at a lake I was much more comfortable after that

2 I was going on vacation and needed advice on a place to swim A friend living in the area took the time to help me find people to answer my questions

3 I was over eating and had complained to my friend about it She called me twice a day for three weeks just to remind me to eat healthy

4 I usually run to and from the gym It takes about 30 minutes to run both ways I didnrsquot have enough time to get there and back before a scheduled appointment I had A friend drove me to the gym saving me about 30 minutes I was able to run home and still had time to get to my appointment

SPAM DIET

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Visit the Suburban Mommy blog and learn more about AtresiaMicrotia a birth defect of the inner earFor links to SubMommy blog httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

SUBMOMMYBLOG

On Wednesday May 16 2012 at 7 PM simultaneous rides occurred around the

USA and the world

We all ride Now we can ride as one

One day One time One world world wide

Let the silence roar

322 locations world wide

The Ride of SilenceTonight we number many but ride as one

In honor of those not with us friends

mothers fathers sisters sons

With helmets on tight and heads down low

We ride in silence cautious and slow

The wheels start spinning in the lead pack

But tonight we ride and no one attacks

The dark sunglasses cover our tears

Remembering those we held so dear

Tonights ride is to make others aware

The road is there for all to share

To those not with us or by our side

May God be your partner on your final ride

- Mike Murgas

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 50 states

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 7 Continents

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 0 words spoken

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 1 million memories

Ride of Silence

ldquoCost-effective investments in bicycling boost our economy help individuals and government agencies save money and directly address key societal challenges such as obesity and road congestion In these tough economic times our federal government can only afford to invest in solutions that solve multiple problems Bicycling fits the billrdquo ndash PeopleForBikesorg

This photo collection was taken byRobert LaVallee of Mason City IA

To see his entire collection visithttpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

Non-subscriberSign-up for delivery of

the FREE edition at coopnetbiz

It provides an outstanding aerobic workout in less than half the time we would spend in still water It has allowed us as swim coaches to observe swimmers stroke characteristics up close and to see the effects of fatigue on stroke mechanics ~ Larry L Chazy NY

Swimming is an excellent exercise and now I can swim every day because its so convenient and private I can swim when I want and how long I want Im able to have it at a temperature that is comfortable to me The small size of an Endless Pool enabled me to install a pool where I could not install a regular size one

As an aging baby boomer nutrition professional I have yearned for consistent exercise that doesnt stress joints and will enable me to attain physical fitness cardiovascular health and weight control I can eat what I want and still firm up and lose weight ~ John C Columbus OH

Endless Pools make for long swims in small places The 8x15 Endless Pool is less than regulation size but offers the same benefits as a very large pool ~ Noah H Connecticut Post

The Endless Pool is a great strength builder I am amazed at the strength of the current I now swim against I did not buy it for that reason but because of my arthritis so the strength gain is a wonderful surprise

Endless PoolsTestimonials For more information visit httpLIveAdsFitnessDigestus

s w i m m i n g s h o r t s

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Baseball Walking Stick13 My sons friend grabbed his baseball bat and said to me this is my walking stick I politely ask him why he calls it that He replied because my dad says if I hit a home run with it I donrsquot have to run the bases ndash I can walk

My Bike My mountain bike was stolen a while back and my kids were really upset Ive been riding my road bike in its place Since then Ive been careful to lock my bike up when we go to the park

13 On this occasion I did not lock-up my sonrsquos bike up with mine He looked at me quizzically and said sternly lock my bike up too I tried to explain that his bike was not as expensive and therefor didnt need to be locked up Boy that was a mistake He made me feel a little dumb when he said Dad I dont care how expensive it is Its the only bike Irsquove got

North Iowa Roads

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A LEADER inSearch Engine Optimization

Technology

Increase your visitor page views and Facebook Likes

Are you moving to a new state Already hired your mover

E-mail blind box at box02FitnessDigestus will get

you the best rates on cable phone and internet

Digital Movers

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

parent sports tipBy FitnessDigestus staff writer JGA

PAR

EN

T

TIP

Keeping Kids Focused13 Organize their thoughts Help them prioritize and make decisions based on value Even kids can understand the value of simple non-monetized choices Questions like ldquoShould I finish playing my gameboy game or pause it when they call my swimming eventrdquo

If kids are taught to make good decisions and not just find quick answers everyone wins

AugustGolf Month5th Friendship Day15th Relaxation Day25th Kiss and Make Up Day31st Trail Mix DaySeptemberLittle League Month12th Chocolate Milk Shake Day13th Positive Thinking Day16th Womenrsquos Friendship Day21st Miniature Golf DayOctoberBreast Cancer Awareness MonthNational Diabetes Month1st World Vegetarian Day4th Golf Day25th World Pasta Day

National Calendar

Au

gu

stSe

pte

mb

er

Oc

tob

er

Encourage friendships writing skills sharing thoughts and

experiencesEight different cards

YAGOTTAWANNA

Variety of pricing From single orders to bulk orders of 24 notecards

Learn more online

Stay in touch with your swimming or triathlon buddies

It is better to be safe then to try to beat the heat There are many options to stay cool and run during a hot-summer day Staying inside and running on the treadmill is a good one Remember staying safe is a top priority

Most workouts can be modified to work indoors This issuersquos workout is to do your usual run or interval set just stay inside and run it on the treadmill Visualize the different landmarks to see during your outdoor run

Coach Millerrsquos Quarterly ChallengeStay safe in the heatBy Mark Miller mmillerFitnessDigestus

A few years back we had a hot-spell similar to this yearrsquos record heat

I remember training for a long run and having to stop at the local swimming hole to cool off I literally took off my

shoes and jumped in with my running clothes on I was so hot

FitnessDigestUSEntertainment amp Inspiration

Use coupon codeldquoRAMCSPRrdquo

at puresportshopcomfor 20 OFF

Nutritional Performance Sports Drinks with Protein

OPEN WATER SWIMMING BY THE NUMBERS

In kilometers The shortest open water race included in the Fina World Championships

10107 How many miles it

is to swim from Cuba to the USA

5

1000Number of swimming strokes in a mile for a typical swimmer

31800About the number of calories it takes to swim 100 miles

LOCATED IN ST ANSGAR IOWA

Business Cards Envelopes

Letterheads Programs

Vinyl Decals Signs

Posters Invites (graduation wedding showers etc)

Flyers Brochures

T-ShirtsShorts SweatshirtsSweats

Koozies Sashes

Business Forms Placemats

Postcards And Much More

Bridgette Beyer DesignerOwner

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andor design for you

The minimum open water distance in kilometers that is considered a swimming-

marathon

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Open water safety means swimming in shallow water where there is a lifeguard or using an escort

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24 Hoursa Day

WaynesSkiandCyclenet

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s w i m m i n g s h o r t s

Googles

13 Swimming fans can really appreciate a 200 IM when their goggles fill with water How about an Olympian Swimming a leg of the 400 Free Relay with his goggles across his opened mouth ndash and going 45rsquos A great team swimmer an Olympian wouldnrsquot let down his teammates by throwing them off or fixing them

500 Fly13 A world class butterflyer asked if he could swim butterfly in the 500 yard freestyle during a dual meet His goal was to break five minutes After considering the competition it seemed like a great way to make him really work a hard fly swim so we agreed Problem was he swam a 502 and the opposing coach complained to the officials because he embarrassed his swimmers Oh well you canrsquot win lsquoem all

Stories sent in by Robert Steele

No-No-No13 The other morning I was teaching front-streamlines to snotty nosed 8 year olds (some are literally snotty-nosed) One boy was taking a big gulp of air and holding his breath When he lifted his head he had to exhale and inhale before submerging again Swimmers will understand this does not work very well Kids need to learn to exhale underwater The first time he did it I told him to exhale underwater The second time I stopped him looked him in the eye and reminded him to exhale underwater The third and fourth times I started to get a little frustrated ldquoJohnny you need to exhale underwater so you can breath betterrdquo The fifth time as his head popped up for a breath I quickly asked ldquoJohnny Do you even know what exhale meansrdquo as he submerged his head below the water I could see him shake his head no-no-no

Favorite Potato Chips13We try to limit the junk food the kids eat at our house For lunch one day our son wanted some potato chips I gave him 3 large chips with his sandwich He started to cry and said he wanted one more chip ldquoI wanted four chipsrdquo he screamed I took the plate back When he wasnt looking I broke a chip in half and give it back to him with four chips

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

13 My cancer story is one of uniqueness Leave it to me to do something like cancer to its fullest It did not begin with a mammogram diagnosis or a lump My journey began about 4 years ago with some suspicious activity that turned into Pagetrsquos disease of the nipple which signaled the underlying cancer On April 1st I found out about my breast cancer through a biopsy that came back as positive for Pagetrsquos disease The onslaught of tests learning and decisions were dizzying I immediately went for an evaluation of the suspicious tissue and had to begin making decisions for my mastectomy I quickly learned there is a test called the BRAC Analysis which is a genetic test for breast and ovarian cancer Finally a piece of good news for me I did not have the gene

Decisions Now it was time to make decisions about my mastectomy and how I was going to handle reconstruction I discussed my options with my boyfriend Brian friends family members and even my principalboss I read books searched the Internet and contacted people I

Brandi ShipmanCancer Survivor and elite triathlete

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

know and knew from my past that had been directly affected and that I thought might have answers for me The outpouring of love encouragement and help during this process was overwhelming After meeting with four different doctors two surgeons and two plastic surgeons I decided to go with immediate reconstruction and was lucky enough to find two wonderful doctors They were willing to work together just because I wanted them to even though they had never done so before My surgery was scheduled for mid May

Mental Toughness13 My mental preparation at this point was very important I had to scrap any idea of competing in triathlons for the rest of the year and focus on a positive attitude of getting better I stopped thinking about what I wasnrsquot going to able to do and started thinking about what I could do that I was alive and kept my mind on the fact that so many others had made it before me

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links

Part 213 I was prepared by the doctors survivors and literature to be ldquodownrdquo for several weeks after my surgery I even took the rest of the school year off My surgery went well and I was out of the hospital the next day A few friends came to visit while I was in the hospital and my principal and vice principal brought the most wonderful picture of the faculty wearing pink for me I can only imagine what it looked like at Thornton Elementary on that day in May 2009 a sea of pink all for Brandi Shipman Shortly after their visit I received a text from my friend Margie Massey My friends from the gym wore pink for me that day as well The support brought tears to my eyes I was so excited to come home and be comfortable in my own home I just wish the stupid drain that was attached could have stayed at the hospital The pain from that was worse than the pain from the mastectomy

the most

powerful picture

13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Recovery ndash May13 Once I got home I slept and watched a lot of TV Friends visited and brought yummy food and my favorites I am not supposed to eat I ate them all My friend and co-worker set up a cancer care calendar that alerted anyone who logged on when I was having a doctorrsquos appointment or when I was in need of anything I felt like royalty as everyone took care of me I think Brian secretly enjoyed the fact that he wouldnrsquot have to cook for me each night My recovery was quicker than I thought as I was doing my best to get better and get the stinkinrsquo drain out of my skin I was out walking within a week and running within 3 weeks I couldnrsquot believe my recovery I know it was from all the prayers love and good care from Brian and the loved ones around me Life was looking better each day

ldquoLife was looking

better each dayrdquo

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Part three and part

four of I am Survivor

will be published in

the next edition of

FitnessDigestus

Get the convenience of

digital-delivery

Sign-up or subscribe at

httpFitnessDigestus

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During the past 150 years we have witnessed many remarkable advances against cancer a disease known to humanity for thousands of years The advances highlighted below represent a sampling of what has been accomplished to date

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

1882 William Halsted performs the first radical mastectomy to treat breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast the lymph nodes under the arm (axillary lymph nodes) and the chest muscles behind the breast (pectoralis major and pectoralis minor muscles) are removed Radical mastectomy will remain the standard operation for breast cancer until latter half of the 20th century when the use of modified radical mastectomy becomes widely accepted

1932 David H Patey develops the modified radical mastectomy for breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast axillary lymph nodes and pectoralis minor muscle behind the breast are removed The modified radical mastectomy is less disfiguring than the radical mastectomy and will eventually replace the radical mastectomy as a standard treatment option for breast cancer

1953 James Watson and Francis Crick discover the molecular structure of DNA (the double helix)

1963 The Health Insurance Plan (HIP) of Greater New York Study begins HIP is the first randomized controlled trial of periodic breast cancer screening with mammography

1882

1932

1953

1963

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1976 The results of a randomized clinical trial show that women with early breast cancer who receive post-operative (adjuvant) combination chemotherapy with the drugs cyclophosphamide methotrexate and 5-FU have improved disease-free survival

1981 A randomized clinical trial in the United Kingdom shows for the first time that the rates of survival local recurrence and tumor metastasis among women whose breast cancer is treated with modified radical mastectomy are not substantially different from those of women who are treated with radical mastectomy

1993 An NCI-convened international workshop on screening for breast cancer reports that screening with mammography reduces breast cancer mortality among women ages 50-69 This conclusion is based on a review of published and unpublished data from eight randomized controlled trials

2004 Data from the Womens Health Initiative (WHI) study show that women who take estrogen in combination with the hormone progestin have a greater risk of developing breast cancer than women who take estrogen alone The results also show that menopausal hormone therapy with estrogen alone has no benefit in disease prevention specifically in reducing the risks of colorectal cancer coronary heart disease and dementia

1976

1981

1993

2004

Although we still have a long way to go to reduce the toll of cancer in the United States and worldwide our research and public health efforts are beginning to pay dividends

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

Volunteering vs Participating13 My girl friend and I are involved in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation The local chapter raises awareness for the cause with a fun-run each year We have volunteered to help with the race five years in a row This year we were stationed at a water table where the runners pick-up cups of water to drink Toward the end of the race there are very few runners There was a little time to chat about things We were talking about what we would wish for if we could have three wishes I told her I would wish for an end to Juvenile Diabetes and to lose 10 pounds Being nice I said ldquoyou can have my last wishrdquo She said I wish you would skip volunteering and just run this race next year

Admission Price Our aquatic center was having a promotion one night and advertised an elementary school night The kids could swim for free When we got to the pool we saw a promotional sign for the event In small lettering it read All swimmers must be accompanied by an adult We thought no big deal one of us can just stay and watch When we got to the front desk we found the lifeguard was enforcing the adult-admission price of $8

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CNFI Publishing - Products Books Chapbooks Bookmarks Plaques and Poetry Collector Cards Merchandising Products Coffee Mugs Mouse Pads Tiles 3x6 Coasters T - Shirts and Wall Plaques More info athttpliveadsFitnessDigestus

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

Featured PhotosFitnessDigestus feature

Chicago open water swim course at nighttop left

Kids race at Bicycle Blues and BBQtop right

Some team members volunteer at the local soup kitchenmiddle right

Ken Mauer loads the balls for hitting practice during a Twins baseball camp for

children 7-13 bottom right

Get your local event photos published in the next issue of FitnessDigestus E-mail

your photo to photoFitnessDigestus

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As he turned to go on he spat speculatively There was a sharp explosive crackle that startled him He spat again And again in the air before it could fall to the snow the spittle crackled He knew that at fifty below spittle crackled on the snow but this spittle had crackled in the air Undoubtedly it was colder than fifty below--how much colder he did not know But the temperature did not matter He was bound for the old claim on the left fork of Henderson Creek where the boys were already They had come over across the divide from the Indian Creek country while he had come the roundabout way to take a look at the possibilities of getting out logs in the spring from the islands in the Yukon He would be in to camp by six oclock a bit after dark it was true but the boys would be there a fire would be going and a hot supper would be ready As for lunch he pressed his hand against the protruding bundle under his jacket It was also under his shirt wrapped up in a handkerchief and lying against the naked skin It was the only way to keep the biscuits from freezing He smiled agreeably to himself as he thought of those biscuits each cut open and sopped in bacon grease and each enclosing a generous slice of fried bacon

He plunged in among the big spruce trees The trail was faint A foot of snow had fallen since the last sled had passed over and he was glad he was without a sled traveling light In fact he carried nothing but the lunch wrapped in the handkerchief He was surprised however at the cold It certainly was cold he concluded as he rubbed his numb nose and cheek-bones with his mittened hand He was a warm-whiskered man but the hair on his face did not protect the high cheek-bones and the eager nose that thrust itself aggressively into the frosty air

At the mans heels trotted a dog a big native husky the proper wolf-dog gray-coated and without any visible or temperamental difference from its brother the wild wolf The animal was depressed by the tremendous cold It knew that it was no time for

traveling Its instinct told it a truer tale than was told to the man by the mans judgment In reality it was not merely colder than fifty below zero it was colder than sixty below than seventy below It was seventy-five below zero Since the freezing point is thirty-two above zero it meant that one hundred and seven degrees of frost obtained The dog did not know anything about thermometers Possibly in its brain there was no sharp consciousness of a condition of very cold such as was in the mans brain But the brute had its instinct It experienced a vague but menacing apprehension that subdued it then made it slink along at the mans heels and that made it question eagerly every unwonted movement of the man as if expecting him to go into camp or to seek shelter somewhere and build a fire The dog had learned fire and it wanted fire or else to burrow under the snow and cuddle its warmth away from the air

The frozen moisture of its breathing had settled on its fur in a fine powder of frost and especially were its jowls muzzle and eyelashes whitened by its cry-stalled breath The mans red beard and mustache were likewise frosted but more solidly the deposit taking the form of ice and increasing with every warm moist breath he exhaled Also the man was chewing tobacco and the muzzle of ice held his lips so rigidly that he was unable to clear his chin when he expelled the juice The result was that a crystal beard of the color and solidity of amber was increasing its length on his chin If he fell down it would shatter itself like glass into brittle fragments But he did not mind the appendage It was the penalty all tobacco-chewers paid in that country and he had been out before in two cold snaps They had not been so cold as this he knew but by the spirit thermometer at Sixty Mile he knew they had been registered at fifty below and at fifty-five

He held on through the level stretch of woods for several miles crossed a wide flat of rigger-heads and dropped down a bank to the frozen bed of a

To Build a FireContinued

small stream This was Henderson Creek and he knew he was ten miles from the forks He looked at his watch It was ten oclock He was making four miles an hour and he calculated that he would arrive at the forks at half-past twelve He decided to celebrate that event by eating his lunch there

The dog dropped in again at his heels with a tail drooping discouragement as the man swung along the creek-bed The furrow of the old sled-trail was plainly visible but a dozen inches of snow covered the marks of the last runners In a month no man had come up or down that silent creek The man held steadily on He was not much given to thinking and just then particularly he had nothing to think about save that he would eat lunch at-the forks and that at six oclock he would be in camp with the boys There was nobody to talk to and had there been speech would have been impossible because of the ice-muzzle on his mouth So he continued monotonously to chew tobacco and to increase the length of his amber beard

Once in a while the thought reiterated itself that it was very cold and that he had never experienced such cold As he walked along he rubbed his cheek-bones and nose with the back of his mittened hand He did this automatically now and again changing hands But rub as he would the instant he stopped his cheek-bones went numb and the following instant the end of his nose went numb He was sure to frost his cheeks he knew that and experienced a pang of regret that he had not devised a nose-strap of the sort Bud wore in cold snaps Such a strap passed across the cheeks as well and saved them But it didnt matter much after all What were frosted cheeks A bit painful that was all they were never serious

Empty as the mans mind was of thoughts he was keenly observant and he noticed the changes in the creek the curves and bends and timber jams and always he sharply noted where he placed his feet Once coming around a bend he shied abruptly

like a startled horse curved away from the place where he had been walking and retreated several paces back along the trail The creek he knew was frozen clear to the bottom--no creek could contain water in that arctic winter--but he knew also that there were springs that bubbled out from the hillsides and ran along under the snow and on top the ice of the creek He knew that the coldest snaps never froze these springs and he knew likewise their danger They were traps They hid pools of water under the snow that might be three inches deep or three feet Sometimes a skin of ice half an inch thick covered them and in turn was covered by the snow Sometimes there were alternate layers of water and ice-skin so that when one broke through he kept on breaking through for a while sometimes wetting himself to the waist

That was why he had shied in such panic He had felt the give under his feet and heard the crackle of a snow-hidden ice-skin And to get his feet wet in such a temperature meant trouble and danger At the very least it meant delay for he would be forced to stop and build a fire and under its protection to bare his feet while he dried his socks and moccasins He stood and studied the creek-bed and its banks and decided that the flow of water came from the right He reflected a while rubbing his nose and cheeks then skirted to the left stepping gingerly and testing the footing for each step Once clear of the danger he took a fresh chew of tobacco and swung along at his four-mile gait

In the course of the next two hours he came upon several similar traps Usually the snow above the hidden pools had a sunken candied appearance that advertised the danger Once again however he had a close call and once suspecting danger he compelled the dog to go on in front The dog did not want to go It hung back until the man shoved it forward and then it went quickly across the white unbroken surface Suddenly it broke through floundered to one side and got away to firmer

To Build a FireContinued

To Build a FireContinued

footing It had wet its forefeet and legs and almost immediately the water that clung to it turned to ice It made quick efforts to lick the ice off its legs then dropped down in the snow and began to bite out the ice that had formed between the toes l his was a matter of instinct To permit the ice to remain would mean sore feet It did not know this It merely obeyed the mysterious prompting that arose from the deep crypts of its being But the man knew having achieved a judgment on the subject and he removed the mitten from his right hand and helped tear out the ice-particles He did not expose his fingers more than a minute and was astonished at the swift numbness that smote them It certainly was cold He pulled on the mitten hastily and beat the hand savagely across his chest

At twelve oclock the day was at its brightest Yet the sun was too far south an its winter journey to clear the horizon The bulge of the earth intervened between it arid Henderson Creek where the man walked under a clear sky at noon and cast no shadow At half-past twelve to the minute he arrived at the forks of the creek He was pleased at the speed he had made If he kept it up he would certainly be with the boys by six He unbuttoned his jacket and shirt and drew forth his lunch The action consumed no more than a quarter of a minute yet in that brief moment the numbness laid hold of the exposed fingers He did not put the mitten on but instead struck the fingers a dozen sharp smashes against his leg Then he sat down on a snow-covered log to eat The sting that followed upon the striking of his fingers against his leg ceased so quickly that he was startled He had had no chance to take a bite of biscuit He struck the fingers repeatedly and returned them to the mitten baring the other hand for the purpose of eating He tried to take a mouthful but the ice-muzzle prevented He had forgotten to build a fire and thaw out He chuckled at his foolishness and as he chuckled he noted the numbness creeping into the exposed fingers Also he noted that the stinging which had first come to his

toes when he sat down was already passing away He wandered whether the toes were warm or numb He moved them inside the moccasins and decided that they were numb

He pulled the mitten on hurriedly and stood up He was a bit frightened He stamped up and down until the stinging returned into the feet It certainly was cold was his thought That man from Sulphur Creek had spoken the truth when telling how cold it sometimes got in the country And he had laughed at him at the time That showed one must not be too sure of things There was no mistake about it it was cold He strode up and down stamping his feet and threshing his arms until reassured by the returning warmth Then he got out matches and proceeded to make a fire From the undergrowth where high water of the previous spring had lodged a supply of seasoned twigs he got his firewood Working carefully from a small beginning he soon had a roaring fire over which he thawed the ice from his face and in the protection of which he ate his biscuits For the moment the cold space was outwitted The dog took satisfaction in the fire stretching out close enough for warmth and far enough away to escape being singed

When the man had finished be filled his pipe and took his comfortable time over a smoke Then he pulled on his mittens settled the ear-flaps of his cap firmly about his ears and took the creek trail up the left fork The dog was disappointed and yearned back toward the fire This man did not know cold Possibly all the generations of his ancestry had been ignorant of cold of real cold of cold one hundred and seven degrees below freezing point But the dog knew all its ancestry knew and it had inherited the knowledge And it knew that it was not good to walk abroad in such fearful cold It was the time to lie snug in a hole in the snow and wait for a curtain of cloud to be drawn across the face of outer space whence this cold came On the other hand there was no keen intimacy between the dog and the man

The one was the toil-slave of the other and the only caresses it had ever received were the caresses of the whiplash and of harsh and menacing throat-sounds that threatened the whiplash So the dog made no effort to communicate its apprehension to the man It was not concerned in the welfare of the man it was for its own sake that it yearned back toward the fire But the man whistled and spoke to it with the sound of whiplashes and the dog swung in at the mans heel and followed after

The man took a chew of tobacco and proceeded to start a new amber beard Also his moist breath quickly powdered with white his mustache eyebrows and lashes There did not seem to be so many springs on the left fork of the Henderson and for half an hour the man saw no signs of any And then it happened At a place where there were no signs where the soft unbroken snow seemed to advertise solidity beneath tee man broke through It was not deep He wet himself halfway to the knees before he floundered out to the firm crust

He was angry and cursed his luck aloud He had hoped to get into camp with the boys at six oclock and this would delay him an hour for he would have to build a fire and dry out his foot-gear This was imperative at that low temperature--he knew that much and he turned aside to the bank which he climbed On top tangled in the underbrush about the trunks of several small spruce trees was a high-water deposit of dry firewood--sticks and twigs principally but also larger portions of seasoned branches and fine dry last-years grasses He threw down several large pieces on top of the snow This served for a foundation and prevented the young flame from drowning itself in the snow it otherwise would melt The flame he got by touching a match to a small shred of birch bark that he took from his pocket This burned even more readily than paper Placing it on the foundation he fed the young flame with wisps of dry grass and with the tiniest dry twigs

He worked slowly and carefully keenly aware of his danger Gradually as the flame grew stronger he increased the size of the twigs with which he fed it He squatted in the snow pulling the twigs out from their entanglement in the brush and feeding directly to the flame He knew there must be no failure When it is seventy-five below zero a man must not fail in his first attempt to build a fire--that is if his feet are wet If his feet are dry and he fails he can run along the trail for half a mile and restore his circulation But the circulation of wet and freezing feet cannot be restored by running when it is seventy-five below No matter how fast he runs the wet feet will freeze the harder

All this the man knew The old-timer on Sulphur Creek had told him about it the previous fall and now he was appreciating the advice Already all sensation had gone out of his feet To build the fire he had been forced to remove his mittens and the fingers had quickly gone numb His pace of four miles an hour had kept his heart pumping blood to the surface of his body and to all the extremities But the instant he stopped the action of the pump eased down The cold of space smote the unprotected tip of the planet and he being on that unprotected tip received the full force of the blow The blood of his body recoiled before it The blood was alive like the dog and like the dog it wanted to hide away and cover itself up from the fearful cold So long as he walked four miles an hour he pumped that blood willy-nilly to the surface but now it ebbed away and sank down into the recesses of his body The extremities were the first to feel its absence His wet feet froze the faster and his exposed fingers numbed the faster though they had not yet begun to freeze Nose and cheeks were already freezing while the skin of all his body chilled as it lost its blood

But he was safe Toes and nose and cheeks would be only touched by the frost for the fire was beginning to burn with strength He was feeding it

To Build a FireContinued

with twigs the size of his finger In another minute he would be able to feed it with branches the size of his wrier and then he could remove his wet toot-gear and while it dried he could keep his naked feet warm by the fire rubbing them at first of course with snow The fire was a success He was safe He remembered the advice of the old timer on Sulphur Creek and smiled The old-timer had been very serious in laying down the law that no man must travel alone in the Klondike after fifty below Well here he was he had had the accident he was alone and he had saved himself Those old-timers were rather womanish some of them he thought All a man had to do was to keep his head and he was all right Any man who was a man could travel alone But it was surprising the rapidity with which his cheeks and nose were freezing And he had not thought his fingers could go lifeless in so short a time Lifeless they were for he could scarcely make them move together to grip a twig and they seemed remote from his body and from him When he touched a twig he had to look and see whether or not he had hold of it The wires were pretty well down between him and his finger-ends

All of which counted for little There was the fire snapping and crackling and promising life with every dancing flame He started to untie his moccasins They were coated with ice the thick German socks were like sheaths of iron halfway to the knees and the moccasin strings were like rods of steel all twisted and knotted as by some conflagration For a moment he tugged with his numb fingers then realizing the folly of it he drew his sheath-knife

But before he could cut the strings it happened It was his own fault or rather his mistake He should not have built the fire under the spruce tree He should have built it in the open But it had been easier to pull the twigs from the brush and drop them directly on the fire Now the tree under which

he had done this carried a weight of snow on its boughs No wind had blown for weeks and each bough was fully freighted Each time he had pulled a twig he had communicated a slight agitation to the tree--an imperceptible agitation so far as he was concerned but an agitation sufficient to bring about the disaster High up in the tree one bough capsized its load of snow This fell on the boughs beneath capsizing them This process continued spreading out and involving the whole tree It grew like an avalanche and it descended without warning upon the man and the fire and the fire was blotted out Where it had burned was a mantle of fresh and disordered snow

The man was shocked It was as though he had just heard his own sentence of death For a moment he sat and stared at the spot where the fire had been Then he grew very calm Perhaps the old-timer on Sulphur Creek was right If he had only had a trail-mate he would have been in no danger now The trail-mate could have built the fire Well it was up to him to build the fire over again and this second time there must be no failure Even if he succeeded he would most likely lose some toes His feet must be badly frozen by now and there would be some time before the second fire Was ready

Such were his thoughts but he did not sit and think them He was busy all the time they were passing through his mind He made a new foundation for a fire this time in the open where no treacherous tree could blot it out Next he gathered dry grasses and tiny twigs from the high-water flotsam He could not bring his fingers together to pull them out but he was able to gather them by the handful In this way he got many rotten twigs and bits of green moss that were undesirable but it was the best he could do He worked methodically even collecting an armful of the larger branches to be used later when the fire gathered strength And all the while the dog sat and watched him a certain yearning wistfulness in its eyes for it looked upon

To Build a FireContinued

him as the fire-provider and the fire was slow in coming

When all was ready the man reached in his pocket for a second piece of birch bark He knew the bark was there and though he could not feel it with his fingers he could hear its crisp rustling as he fumbled for it Try as he would he could not clutch hold of it And all the time in his consciousness was the knowledge that each instant his feet were freezing This thought tended to put him in a panic but he fought against it and kept calm He pulled on his mittens with his teeth and threshed his arms back and forth beating his hands with all his might against his sides He did this sitting down and he stood up to do it and all the while the dog sat in the snow its wolf-brush of a tail curled around warmly over its forefeet its sharp wolf-ears pricked forward intently as it watched the man And the man as he beat and threshed with his arms and hands felt a great surge of envy as he regarded the creature that was warm ant secure in its natural covering

After a time he was aware of the first far-away signals of sensation in his beaten fingers The faint tingling grew stronger till it evolved into a stinging ache that was excruciating but which the man hailed with satisfaction He stripped the mitten from his right hand and fetched forth the birch bark The exposed fingers were quickly going numb again Next he brought out his bunch of sulphur matches But the tremendous cold had already driven the life out of his fingers In his effort to separate one match from the others the whole bunch fell in the snow He tried to pick it out of the snow but failed The dead fingers could neither touch nor clutch He was very careful He drove the thought of his freezing feet and nose and cheeks out of his mind devoting his whole soul to the matches He watched using the sense of vision in place of that of touch and when he saw his fingers on each side the bunch he dosed them--that is he willed to close them for the wires were down and the fingers did not obey He pulled

the mitten on the right hand and beat it fiercely against his knee Then with both mittened hands he scooped the bunch of matches along with much snow into his lap Yet he was no better off

After some manipulation he managed to get the bunch between the heels of his mittened hands In this fashion he carried it to his mouth The ice crackled and snapped when by a violent effort he opened his mouth He drew the lower jaw in curled the upper lip out of the way and scraped the bunch with his upper teeth in order to separate a match He succeeded in getting one which he dropped on his lap He was no better off He could not pick it up Then he devised a way He picked it up in his teeth and scratched it on his leg Twenty times he scratched before he succeeded in lighting it As it flamed he held it with his teeth to the birch bark But the burning brimstone went up his nostrils and into his lungs causing him to cough spasmodically The match fell into the snow and went out

The old-timer an Sulphur Creek was right he thought in the moment of controlled despair that ensued after fifty below a man should travel with a partner He beat his hands but failed in exciting any sensation Suddenly he bared both hands removing the mittens with his teeth He caught the whole bunch between the heels of his hands His arm muscles not being frozen enabled him to press the hand-heels tightly against the matches Then he scratched the bunch along his leg It flared into flame seventy sulphur matches at once There was no wind to blow them out He kept his head to one side to escape the strangling fumes and held the blazing bunch to the birth bark As he so held it he became aware of sensation in his hand His flesh was burning He could smell it Deep down below the surface he could feel it The sensation developed into pain that grew acute And still he endured it holding the flame of the matches clumsily to the bark that would not light readily because his own burning hands were in the way absorbing most of the flame

To Build a FireContinued

At last when he could endure no more he jerked his hands apart The blazing matches fell sizzling into the snow but the birch bark was alight He began laying dry grasses and the tiniest twigs on the flame He could not pick and choose for he had to lift the fuel between the heels of his hands Small pieces of rotten wood and green moss clung to the twigs and he bit them off as well as he could with his teeth He cherished the flame carefully and awkwardly It meant life and it must not perish The withdrawal of blood from the surface of his body now made him begin to shiver and he grew more awkward A large piece of green moss fell squarely on the little fire He tried to poke it out with his fingers but his shivering frame made him poke too far and he disrupted the nucleus of the little fire the burning grasses and tiny twigs separating and scattering He tried to poke them together again but in spite of the tenseness of the effort his shivering got away with him and the twigs were hopelessly scattered Each twig gushed a puff of smoke and went out The fire-provider had failed As he looked apathetically about him his eyes chanced on the dog sitting across the ruins of the fire from him in the snow making restless hunching movements slightly lifting one forefoot and then the other shifting its weight back and forth on them with wistful eagerness

The sight of the dog put a wild idea into his head He remembered the tale of the man caught in a blizzard who killed a steer and crawled inside the carcass and so was saved He would kill the dog and bury his hands in the warm body until the numbness went out of them Then he could build another fire He spoke to the dog calling it to him but in his voice was a strange note of fear that frightened the animal who had never known the man to speak in such way before Something was the matter and its suspicious nature sensed danger--it knew not what danger but somewhere somehow in its brain arose an apprehension of the man It flattened its ears down at the sound of the mans voice and its restless

hunching movements and the liftings and shiftings of its forefeet became more pronounced but it would not come to the man He got on his hands and knees and crawled toward the dog This unusual posture again excited suspicion and the animal sidled mincingly away

The man sat up in the snow for a moment and struggled for calmness Then he pulled on his mittens by means of his teeth and got upon his feet He glanced down at first in order to assure himself that he was really standing up for the absence of sensation in his feet left him unrelated to the earth His erect position in itself started to drive the webs of suspicion from the dogs mind and when he spoke peremptorily with the sound of whiplashes in his voice the dog rendered its customary allegiance and came to him As it came within reaching distance the man lost his control His arms flashed out to the dog and he experienced genuine surprise when he discovered that his hands could not clutch that there was neither bend nor feeling in the fingers He had forgotten for the moment that they were frozen and that they were freezing more and more All this happened quickly and before the animal could get away he encircled its body with his arms He sat down in the snow and in this fashion held the dog while it snarled and whined and struggled

But it was all he could do hold its body encircled in his arms and sit there He realized that he could not kill the dog There was no way to do it With his helpless hands he could neither draw nor hold his sheath knife nor throttle the animal He released it and it plunged wildly away with tail between its legs and still snarling It halted forty feet away and surveyed him curiously with ears sharply pricked forward The man looked down at his hands in order to locate them and found them hanging on the ends of his arms It struck him as curious that one should have to use his eyes in order to find out where his hands were He began threshing his arms back and forth beating the mittened hands against

To Build a FireContinued

his sides He did this for five minutes violently and his heart pumped enough blood up to the surface to put a stop to his shivering But no sensation was aroused in the hands He had an impression that they hung like weights on the ends of his arms but when he tried to run the impression down he could not find it

A certain fear of death dull and oppressive came to him This fear quickly became poignant as he realized that it was no longer a mere matter of freezing his fingers and toes or of losing his hands and feet but that it was a matter of life and death with the chances against him This threw him into a panic and he turned and ran up the creek-bed along the old dim trail The dog joined in behind and kept up with him He ran blindly without intention in fear such as he had never known in his life Slowly as he plowed and floundered through the snow he began to see things again the banks of the creek the old timber-jams the leafless aspens and the sky The running made him feel better He did not shiver Maybe if he ran on his feet would thaw out and anyway if he ran far enough he would reach camp and the boys Without doubt he would lose some fingers and toes and some of his face but the boys would take care of him and save the rest of him when he got there And at the same time there was another thought in his mind that said he would never get to the camp and the boys that it was too many miles away that the freezing had too great a start on him and that he would soon be stiff and dead This thought he kept in the background and refused to consider Sometimes it pushed itself forward and demanded to be heard but he thrust it back and strove to think of other things

It struck him as curious that he could run at all on feet so frozen that he could not feel them when they struck the earth and took the weigh of his body He seemed to himself to skim along above the surface and to have no connection with the earth Somewhere he had once seen a winged Mercury

and he wondered if Mercury felt as he felt when skimming over the earth

His theory of running until he reached camp and the boys had one flaw in it he lacked the endurance Several times he stumbled and finally he tottered crumpled up and fell When he tried to rise he failed He must sit and rest he decided and next time he would merely walk and keep on going As he sat and regained his breath he noted that he was feeling quite warm and comfortable He was not shivering and it even seemed that a warm glow had come to his chest and trunk And yet when he touched his nose or cheeks there was no sensation Running would not thaw them out Nor would it thaw out his hands and feet Then the thought came to him that the frozen portions of his body must be extending He tried to keep this thought down to forget it to think of something else he was aware of the panicky feeling that it caused and he was afraid of the panic But the thought asserted itself and persisted until it produced a vision of his body totally frozen This was too much and he made another wild run along the trail Once he slowed down to a walk but the thought of the freezing extending itself made him run again

And all the time the dog ran with him at his heels When he fell down a second time it curled its tad over its forefeet and sat in front of him facing him curiously eager and intent The warmth and security of the animal angered him and he cursed it till it flattened down its ears appealingly This time the shivering came more quickly upon the man He was losing in his battle with the frost It was creeping into his body from all sides The thought of it drove him on but he ran no more than a hundred feet when he staggered and pitched headlong It was his last panic When he had recovered his breath and control he sat up and entertained in his mind the conception of meeting death with dignity However the conception did not come to him in such terms His idea of it was that he had been making a fool of

To Build a FireContinued

himself running around like a chicken with its head cut off--such was the simile that occurred to him Well he was bound to freeze anyway and he might as well take it decently With this new-found peace of mind came the first glimmerings of drowsiness A good idea he thought to sleep off to death It was like salting an anesthetic Freezing was not so bad as people thought There were lots worse ways to die

He pictured the boys finding his body next day Suddenly he found himself with them coming along the trail and looking for himself And still with them he came around a turn in the trail and found himself lying in the snow He did not belong with himself any more for even then he was out of himself standing with the boys and looking at himself in the snow It certainly was cold was his thought When he got back to the States he could tell the folks what real cold was He drifted on from this to a vision of the old-timer on Sulphur Creek He could see him quite clearly warm and comfortable and smoking a pipe

You were right old boss you were right the man mumbled to the old-timer of Sulphur Creek

Then the man drowsed off into what seemed to him the most comfortable and satisfying sleep he had ever known The dog sat facing him and waiting The brief day drew to a close in a long slow twilight There were no signs of a fire to be made and besides never in the dogs experience had it known a man to sit like that in the snow and make no fire As the twilight drew on its eager yearning for the fire mastered it and with a great lifting and shifting of forefeet it whined softly then flattened its ears down in anticipation of being chidden by the man But the man remained silent Later the dog whined loudly And still later it crept close to the man and caught the scent of death This made the animal bristle and back away A little longer it delayed howling under the stars that leaped and danced and shone brightly in the cold sky Then it turned and trotted up the trail in the direction of the camp it knew where were the other food-providers and fire-providers

To Build a FireContinued

Blogs can be a lot of work to maintainTwitter only gives you 140 characters

Facebook is just your friends

Now you can share a story no matter your social-web status

Stories are published for ALL FitnessDigestus readers Archived professionally and digitally in thousands of libraries

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Page 9: FitnessDigest.us Vol. 4.3 Cover

her team is so cool Im very thankful for the contribution Id like to include a quick side note to Emily ndash I think my next challenge will be to make that 100 miler work for me

On a whim I emailed a coordinator from the National Office for the Ride of Silence I mentioned publishing the official poem for the ride along with some photos The excitement I heard back was so positive The ride is emotional to so many people The stories of riders being hurt or killed is tragic we never want to forget them That is why education about sharing the road is a huge part of cycling safety I wont tell you more than that When you read the poem remember those that were hurt or killed while cycling The pictures we got from Robert LaVallee show the different color ribbons given to riders Red is for cyclists who knew a rider that died while cycling black is for a rider that has been injured during a ride

13 Irsquove been downloading classic (out-of-copyright) novels to my Kindle and iPad for re-reading and because I think the are important to preserve for future generations Ive downloaded the Illiad Adventures of Tom Sawyer and the original Wizard

of Oz I also found some good fiction from Jack London I think the magazinersquos readers will appreciate it It is a classic work that is about hiking ndash Think The Long Walk It is a good read with a surprise ending I hope readers will search out books and stories like this and add them to their own collection If we find more that are fitness related or have active subjects we may share them too

Whatrsquos in Store Continued

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httpwwwbrandishipmancom

com

pelling

When in the vastness of miles we find ourself not asking questions but finding answers

The fast races we ran years ago seem ugly and unforgiving

Now older and wiser and much much slower the race gives us a different story Four emotions joy anger sadness and frustration - not all at once but in a fashionable order that even makes anger a pleasant experience If it were not for the physical suffering endured for duration of the race you would perhaps experience all at once

Uncomfortable yet compelling

13 The race that when you are done and the suffering is over makes everything clearer priceless moments no longer slipping by but take the stage in life ndash in a perfect permutation

The finish helps us see there is more to do but until the next race there is no hurry Stop smell the roses Until we rise up for another challenge the story that unfolded during the race takes care of us we dont have to tell it It is written into our lives The memories and seemingly the future having been created between the aid stations and mile markers

NOT THE FASTEST RACETHE GREATESTSent from Iowa

U n c o m f o r t a b l e

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As a teenager I chose golf in high school as a sport rather than track Golfing meant enjoying a bag of chips and a can a soda while on the course Running was something I dreaded in school I used to plan how I could get out of the mile run for weeks when I knew it was almost fitness test time Now as a 31 year old stay at home mom I am running 10Ks and have a goal of completing four sprint triathlons in 2012 as well as many other 5Ks and 10Ks My five year goal is to complete an Ironman triathlon

13 Over the course of the last three years I have changed many aspects of my life I earned a Masterrsquos Degree in Education from Iowa State University I left a career as a Director of Special Education in a local school district to become a stay at home mom ndash with my two beautiful girls This change was prompted by a health scare in 2009 I was hospitalized for many days with meningitis and realized life was just too short

13 In 2011 while nursing my 4 month old my sister in law invited me to go with her to Weight Watchers I joined the next day for what was probably the 8th time but this time was different I made my goal and am a lifetime member I lost 43lbs and am healthy for the first time in my life I have Crohnrsquos Disease and am no longer taking any medications and no longer suffering the symptoms associated with the disease

In August of 2011 our hometown hero a Navy Seal was killed in action He was a huge inspiration to many people but after his death I was inspired to make a difference in our community and live my life differently He was a triathlete that had tackled the big daddy of them all and became an Ironman Realizing what he gave up so that we may have freedom inspired me to

Favo

rite

food

Kale

chip

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Rice

Cak

es w

ith A

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ces

Che

x mix

Givingit aTri

FitnessDigestus columnist Jen Schmitt Rockford Iowa

Men

ingi

tis

13 In 2011 while nursing my four month old my sister in law invited me to go with her to Weight Watchers I joined the next day for what was probably the eigth time but this time was different They helped me make my goal and I became a lifetime member I lost 43lbs and Irsquom healthy for the first time in my life I also have Crohnrsquos Disease and no longer take medications nor do I suffer with the symptoms associated with the disease

13 In August of 2011 our hometown hero a Navy Seal was killed in action He was a huge inspiration to many people After his death I was inspired to make a difference in our community and to live my life differently He was a triathlete that had tackled the big daddy of them all ndash an Ironman Realizing what he gave up so that we may have freedom inspired me to continue on my fitness path by adding triathlete to my title

Givingit aTri

FitnessDigestus columnist Jen Schmitt Rockford Iowa

13 In 2011 while nursing my 4 month old my sister in law invited me to go with her to Weight Watchers I joined the next day for what was probably the 8th time but this time was different I made my goal and am a lifetime member I lost 43lbs and am healthy for the first time in my life I have Crohnrsquos Disease and am no longer taking any medications and no longer suffering the symptoms associated with the disease

In August of 2011 our hometown hero a Navy Seal was killed in action He was a huge inspiration to many people but after his death I was inspired to make a difference in our community and live my life differently He was a triathlete that had tackled the big daddy of them all and became an Ironman Realizing what he gave up so that we may have freedom inspired me to continue on my fitness path by

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run

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sil amp

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13 When I am not out training with the group that I started in my hometown ldquoFriends in Fitnessrdquo you can find me blogging at justamomgivingitatriblogspotcom studying for my personal trainer certification or spending time with my husband girls and friends I enjoy being in the outdoors whether it is just for a walk or turkey hunting in the woods I am currently the chairperson working to organize a 5K fundraiser for the PEO Chapter that I belong to in Rockford Iowa This is going to be our major fundraiser for the year and we are very excited to encourage wellness among others in our community

Givingit aTri

FitnessDigestus columnist Jen Schmitt Rockford Iowa

13 In 2011 while nursing my 4 month old my sister in law invited me to go with her to Weight Watchers I joined the next day for what was probably the 8th time but this time was different I made my goal and am a lifetime member I lost 43lbs and am healthy for the first time in my life I have Crohnrsquos Disease and am no longer taking any medications and no longer suffering the symptoms associated with the disease

In August of 2011 our hometown hero a Navy Seal was killed in action He was a huge inspiration to many people but after his death I was inspired to make a difference in our community and live my life differently He was a triathlete that had tackled the big daddy of them all and became an Ironman Realizing what he gave up so that we may have freedom inspired me to continue on my fitness path by

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in Fo

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t get

s m

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ed

My a

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on

my p

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tellin

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e to

get

to th

e po

ol an

d sw

im o

r a s

crea

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chil

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Fam

ily amp

Frie

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Watch and LearnSent in from NIP Gym

Successful SAFE gains in

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Available at select Hy-Vee stores

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GREAT STORY HERE FROM NIP amp Fitness 13 I was in the gym this morning doing shoulders A quiet red headed kid comes in and gets on the bench and starts benching His first set of 135 lbs had HORRIBLE technique and form I walk over and talk to him He tells me his name is Joe - age 17 - weight 205 and is a junior at CS High School and he just bought a membership to NIP amp Fitness He tells me two weeks ago he benched 185 lbs for a max I told him that was very good for is age but NOT for his build I knew he was stronger than that So I helped him shape up is technique and form Joe ndash LISTENED and WATCHED He learned that he was much stronger than a 185 pound max bench presser Today from LISTENING and WATCHING Joe bench pressed 225 X 2 ndash and that 185 pounds he maxed two weeks ago he finished his work out by doing that 185 pounds for seven reps Proper TECHNIQUE and FORM are the key to successful SAFE gains in the gym Today Joe was a perfect example CONGRATULATIONS Joe

Dear Freestyle Swim Stroke

13 You are so frustrating to me Why canrsquot we just get along When I made the decision to tackle this goal of completing a triathlon I was not even worried about you That has proven to be a mistake Some days things go so smooth between us and some mornings I spring out of bed at 430 so excited about our time together Today was not one of those days You left me feeling like thishellip

Like a wet wrung out old swimsuit

These are the reasons that I am so upset with you

1 You literally take my breath away

2 You make my shoulder hurt (Popcorn kernels currently on shoulder while typing)

3 You make me leave my warm cozy bed about two hours before I would really like to leave it

4 If I donrsquot get my butt out of bed and go at 430 AM I have to leave my family and go at 730 PM

Dear FreestyleBy Jen Schmitt Rockford Iowa

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pull

head position

exit

flutter-kick

recovery

(Yes we know ndash no cameras in the locker room No one was harmed in this photo shoot)

13 And to the very old man in the lane beside me I do not dislike you in-fact I am insanely jealous of you I donrsquot stare at you because of your body you may look hot if I was 75 but I am not I stare at you in awe of how effortlessly you move up and down the pool without a rest Someday I hope to be just like you

13 So for now as much as I would love to say we need to break up and go our separate ways I am too D stubborn to do that We will make this work and we are going to get along Here is my promise to you ndash I promise to meet-up with you two to three times a week for at least an hour to work on our relationship I promise not to cheat on you with the sidestroke although I am so much more comfortable with him I promise to keep an open mind about our relationship and give it all that I have just like I do with my friend the run

Love you (I think)

Jen

Dear FreestyleContinued

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pull

head position

exit

flutter-kick

recovery

Adult SwimmingBy Susan Dawson-cook

I have taught dozens of adults how to swim Many of them were initially either afraid of water or somewhat uncomfortable in the aquatic environment Whats worked best is to get in the water with them and do activities that show them it can be fun and safe I make sure they feel safe and secure the entire time and even say things like if you have trouble standing up after you take some strokes I will help you or just reach for my hand if you need support

13 Many beginners have this fear ndash if they are in the horizontal position swimming they wont be able to stand up One woman cried she was so overjoyed she overcame her fear and learned to take her first strokes

Find more of Susanrsquos writing and published works at httplivemediaFitnessDigestus

Body image and fitness are hot topics for both men and women The Great Fitness Experiment is my hilarious poignant embarrassing and at times heart-breaking journey to find my way through the morass of contradictory claims and information in todayrsquos health- and fitness-obsessed world

Available in paperback or in eBookhttpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

If you have trouble standing up after you

take some strokesone women cried

she was so overjoyed

If you would like future issues delivered to a Facebook Twitter or e-mail account e-mail us at infoFitnessDigestus

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2 Deadwood Mickelson Trail MarathonSunday June 2 2013

Deadwood South Dakota

13 On June 2nd we will celebrate 12 years of offering runners from around the globe the most unique running experience of their life Where else in the world can you run on a course that takes you from an abandoned mining town across railroad trestles through a mountain past monolithic rock formations beside a babbling creek and finish in Deadwoodhellipa town that is a historic landmark

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Written Emily WheelerFor more information amp video visit httpLIveAdsFitnessDigestus

ldquoWild West town known primarily for its gamblers gunslingers and gold minersrdquo

Hope to see you at the finish

This Wild West town known primarily for its gamblers gunslingers and gold miners has turned into one of the premiere destination marathon venues in the US

13 The breathtaking beauty of our course the truly outstanding team of volunteers the hospitality of everyone associated with the event and paying attention to details are just a couple of reasons yoursquoll want to toe the line on June 2nd

The Deadwood Mickelson Trail Half and Full Marathon is a point to point course

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ldquoThe breathtaking beauty of our courserdquo

WaynesSkiandCyclenetlive links to Waynersquos at httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

MTM Charity Partner

13 Habitat for Humanity is a global nonprofit Christian housing organization that has helped to build more than 500000 decent affordable houses and served 25 million people worldwide since its founding in 1976 With the help of volunteers and donations of money and materials Habitat constructs rehabilitates and preserves homes in partnership with low-income families in need Operating in nearly 80 countries and with more than 1500 affiliates in the United States Habitat also advocates for fair and just housing policies and provides training and access to resources to help families improve their shelter conditions

Shop for Name BrandItems 24 Hours a Day

beginning in the historic mining town of Rochford the first 15 miles are on a paved road At this point the course becomes the Mickelson Trail (a rails to trails project) The next 12 miles are a mixture of gentle uphill and flat terrain

13 Then the course is either downhill or flat and finishes at the historic Engine House at end of the linehellipthe Deadwood Trailhead The Half Marathon is also a point to point course starting at the 131 mile mark of the full marathon Walker Friendly

All participants will receive a Commemorative Finisherrsquos Medal

Mickelson Trail Marathon Charity Partner is the Black Hills Habitat for HumanityMake your Marathon Matter Matching Funds

Make your Marathon matter by helping create decent shelter in the Black Hills ndash take the challenge to give at least $1 per race mile Our goal is to raise $3000 in 2012 for BH Habitat for Humanity to help provide shelter for more families in the Black Hills

Registrations are capped at 3000 runners If you want to be part of the Deadwood Mickelson Trail Marathon Weekend celebration go to LiveAdsFitnessDigestus and click on the MTM Marathon URL

Hope to see you at the Finish Line - ThanksEmily Wheeler Wheeler Event Management Inc

ldquoHope to see you at the finish linerdquo

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links

DAY had broken cold and gray exceedingly cold and gray when the man turned aside from the main Yukon trail and climbed the high earth-bank where a dim and little traveled trail led eastward through the fat spruce timberland It was a steep bank and he paused for breath at the top excusing the act to himself by looking at his watch It was nine oclock There was no sun nor hint of sun though there was not a cloud in the sky It was a

clear day and yet there seemed an intangible pall over the face of things a subtle gloom that made the day dark and that was due to the absence of sun This fact did not worry the man He was used to the lack of sun It had been days since he had seen the sun and he knew that a few more-days must pass before that cheerful orb due south would just peep above the sky-line and dip immediately from view

To Build a Fire - Hiking the Yukon TrailShort story fiction Written by Jack London (1876-1916)

The man flung a look back along the way he had come The Yukon lay a mile wide and hidden under three feet of ice On top of this ice were as many feet of snow It was all pure white rolling in gentle undulations where the ice jams of the freeze-up had formed North and south as far as his eye could see it was unbroken white save for a dark hairline that curved and twisted from around the spruce-covered island to the south and that curved and twisted away into the north where it disappeared behind another spruce-covered island This dark hair-line was the trail--the main trail--that led south five hundred miles to the Chilcoot Pass Dyea and salt water and that led north seventy miles to Dawson and still on to the north a thousand miles to Nulato and finally to St Michael on Bering Sea a thousand miles and half a thousand more

But all this--the mysterious far-reaching hair-line trail The absence of sun from the sky the tremendous cold and the strangeness and weirdness of it all--made no

impression on the man It was not because he was long used to it He was a newcomer In the land a chechaquo and this was his first winter The trouble with him was that he was without imagination He was quick and alert in the things of life but only in the things and not in the significances Fifty degrees below zero meant eighty-odd degrees of frost Such fact impressed him as being cold and uncomfortable and that was all It did not lead him to meditate upon his frailty as a creature of temperature and upon mans frailty in general able only to live within certain narrow limits of heat and cold and from there on it did not lead him to the conjectural field of immortality and mans place in the universe Fifty degrees below zero stood forte bite of frost that hurt and that must be guarded against by the use of mittens ear-flaps warm moccasins and thick socks Fifty degrees below zero was to him just precisely fifty degrees below zero That there should be anything more to it than that was a thought that never entered his head

To Build a FireContinued

Continued on page 62

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It is important from time to time to slow down to go away by yourself and simply be --Eileen Caddy

Letrsquos Race13 My son is eight and our family is very active Im just hitting my peak racing age of about 34 years old The family members all support each otherrsquos activities They are a great cheering section when my wife and I compete in races There is a popular two mile fun run in our town that we my wife and I run every year We also have for-fun races with the kids around the house or across the football field For years Ive let the eight year old win a few and others I win by just a little bit I think he is wising up to my tactics of good fatherhood One day he said ldquoDad you are letting me win but I think I can beat you fair and squarerdquo He added ldquoYoursquore not that fast Ill bet you 10 dollars I can beat you in a two mile racerdquo Wanting to teach him a lesson about spouting off and writing checks his body cant cash I took him up on it I said All right you pick a time and place We will race two miles for 10 dollars He replied You know that two mile race you and mom do every year I can race you then I agreed and he quickly added Ill need 20 years to warm-up That would make me 54 and him 28 Irsquom preparing for the loss and putting 10 dollars aside now

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Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

In my first creative experience it was through music and I was interested in developing my values of creativity I was inspired by a band named Motley Crue and the song that captured my interest was Home Sweet home Dear reader what inspires you Is it music or inspirational quote thought or ideas To express how this song motivated my interests it helped give me faith in my own creative abilities in the process I began to write lyrics I eventually began to work on different styles of writing and broaden my writing skills What types of music inspire your creative thoughts What types of other inspiration values inspire your creative thoughts

13 Getting motivated is one of the key aspects of a successful weight-loss program Without this motivation there would be no drive to get up early or to avoid eating unhealthy snacks ndash that you absolutely love Yes you can thank your motivation for that When you are looking for weight-loss motivation sometimes it is hard to find Where can you find that extra umph to make it to your goal

The benefits of finding a motivator are something that cannot be paralleled It has been said mind over matter This coincides with our principle that no matter how hard the task you can accomplish the goal given the right mindset It is important to go into a new weight-loss program with a positive mental attitude

FINDI

NG TH

EM X InspirationX

Motivation

When I was introduced to William Shakespeare I was intrigued by his creative values and I started to work on developing a different aspect of writing I then watched the movie Free Jack there was a quote by Albert Einstein Imagination is more important than knowledge I thought about the in depth values of both concepts and then I applied both concepts and defined different creative concept Do you believe that anything is possible if you believe I know that I do believe that if an individual believes deeply enough one can accomplish their goals I had to believe in my own abilities and in my dreams and ignore the negative values that were impressed by others

Anything less can potentially hinder growth towards your goal

Some of the things that you should be thinking about when looking for motivators are people with good morals and a positive attitude This is because if the people helping you do not have a positive attitude then it is also difficult for you Some great places to look for a motivator are online blogs in the gym or even in your own family I am sure that in all of these places you will see someone else trying to accomplish the same or even more difficult goals than your own

Another key to finding motivation is to let it find you You should not have to go find a reason to go do something You will do it because you wanted to not because you were forced to

X

InspirationMotivation

More simply put motivation will find you because you will see something that inspires you to make a change in yourself That change may be a weight-loss goal or something else Maybe even an academic goal The true key is to maintain that motivation until you have achieved your goal

Regards Vincent ErrichielloUSMS Swimmer

InspirationMotivation

With believing so deeply within my own abilities and the faith that I could accomplish what I set out to achieve I wrote a lyric titled Dreams Are Only Real and in believing in this concept further defining its true meaning the concept became Dreams Are Only Real Until You Dont believe

Jeremy J TaylorCNFI Publishing

himTHROWINGWritten by anonymous contributor

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13 Johnny is not the best batter in our little league Matter-of-fact he is quiet awful At practice one afternoon Johnny hit a pitch really well The coach had pitched him inside on accident far enough inside that it almost hit him Johnny got his hit by using his bat to defend himself from that arrant pitch The coach told him ldquogood hitrdquo and Johnny yelled back ldquoWell I didnrsquot want the ball to hit merdquo13 Johnny improved his batting after that He was hitting the ball almost every time he got up At one point I said to coach ldquoHow did you get Johnny to improve his batting so quicklyrdquo He replyed Im throwing the ball it AT HIM every time

Body image and fitness are hot topics for both men and women The Great Fitness Experiment is my hilarious poignant embarrassing and at times heart-breaking journey to find my way through the morass of contradictory claims and information in todayrsquos health- and fitness-obsessed world

Available in paperback or in eBookVisit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

wwwnorthiafitnesscom on LiveAdsEmail northiowafitnessgmailcom

Phone 641-201-1035Strongest weight loss supplements

on the market

The Fall of Billy Hitchingsby Kirkus MacGowan

Available at Amazon

LOCATED IN ST ANSGAR IOWA

Business Cards Envelopes

Letterheads Programs

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Posters Invites (graduation wedding showers etc)

Flyers Brochures

T-ShirtsShorts SweatshirtsSweats

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Business Forms Placemats

Postcards And Much More

Bridgette Beyer DesignerOwner

Bring your ideas in andVisual Aspect Designs can print

andor design for you

Black Lab LanyardsSpecializing in customized duck and goose call lanyards for waterfowl enthusiasts

For more information on this productVisit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

FitnessDigestus is now available at

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entryFitnessDigestus

Send u

s yo

ur T

-shi

rt

READE

R T

-shi

rts

13 I was standing on shore fishing in my favorite spot A guy Irsquove never seen at the pond gets in and starts swimming After about 25 minutes of back and forth he stops at a place about 30 yards off shore He gives me a quick look and dices down below the water

His next lap he stops in the same place looks at me again and points down at the water He finished his swim and left I picked up my gear and moved to the other side of the outlet just a few yards from where he had stopped twice Caught a lunker in the first cast

Swim Signs - Lunker

BankersPromotional and Advertising Specialties

Call to order 641ndash423ndash3111

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TOP TWEETS

Iowa Cubs (IowaCubs)Thanks to all our fans who showed up for the pre-game on-field catch with dad

Louise Pineda (forerunnerGPS)The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficultyWinston Churchill quotes

Softball Darlin (Softball_Darlin)My mom told me our team was gettin white uniforms for summer amp to try not to get them dirty Uh Have you seen me play Not gonna happen

I Swim I Suffer (ISwimISuffer)thatswimmerwho If the water is in your right ear for example then jump on your right leg and lean your head to the right side while jumping

I Swim and I Know It (iSwimWithIssues)During the summer you shower 467 times at the pool 17 times at hotels and 3 times at your house Truth

Everyday Health (WomensCancer)63000 Americans will be diagnosed w malignant melanoma (the deadliest skin cancer) this year Know your risk

US Paralympics (USParalympics)Want to be introduced to Paralympic sport Attend one of the Paralympic Experiences being held throughout the countryFi

tnes

sDig

est

US v

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2

SwimSwam (swimswamnews)Congrats to KenyaSwimmer on being selected to carry the Kenya flag swimswamcom

Better than sharing on a blog Twitter or Facebook and you can share a story even if you donrsquot maintain a social-web presencePublished for ALL FitnessDigestus readers

Sign with your real name pen-name or anonymoushttpLiveMediaFitnessDigestus

13 Funnest thing SPAM about some weight-loss supplements got posted on a friendrsquos Facebook My friend is an ultra-runner I notice there was also an ad for salami recipes on the same page The recipes were right next to the SPAM about diet-pills

13 Letrsquos see ndash it sounds like the beginning of a good joke Q What do you get when a friend tries to sell you ultra-runner endorsed salami-flavored-SPAM diet-pills on Facebook Answer Sick

Unsung Heroes1 Irsquove never swam open water and wanted to do a triathlon A friend that

races open water took extra time to swim with me at a lake I was much more comfortable after that

2 I was going on vacation and needed advice on a place to swim A friend living in the area took the time to help me find people to answer my questions

3 I was over eating and had complained to my friend about it She called me twice a day for three weeks just to remind me to eat healthy

4 I usually run to and from the gym It takes about 30 minutes to run both ways I didnrsquot have enough time to get there and back before a scheduled appointment I had A friend drove me to the gym saving me about 30 minutes I was able to run home and still had time to get to my appointment

SPAM DIET

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Visit the Suburban Mommy blog and learn more about AtresiaMicrotia a birth defect of the inner earFor links to SubMommy blog httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

SUBMOMMYBLOG

On Wednesday May 16 2012 at 7 PM simultaneous rides occurred around the

USA and the world

We all ride Now we can ride as one

One day One time One world world wide

Let the silence roar

322 locations world wide

The Ride of SilenceTonight we number many but ride as one

In honor of those not with us friends

mothers fathers sisters sons

With helmets on tight and heads down low

We ride in silence cautious and slow

The wheels start spinning in the lead pack

But tonight we ride and no one attacks

The dark sunglasses cover our tears

Remembering those we held so dear

Tonights ride is to make others aware

The road is there for all to share

To those not with us or by our side

May God be your partner on your final ride

- Mike Murgas

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 50 states

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 7 Continents

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 0 words spoken

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 1 million memories

Ride of Silence

ldquoCost-effective investments in bicycling boost our economy help individuals and government agencies save money and directly address key societal challenges such as obesity and road congestion In these tough economic times our federal government can only afford to invest in solutions that solve multiple problems Bicycling fits the billrdquo ndash PeopleForBikesorg

This photo collection was taken byRobert LaVallee of Mason City IA

To see his entire collection visithttpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

Non-subscriberSign-up for delivery of

the FREE edition at coopnetbiz

It provides an outstanding aerobic workout in less than half the time we would spend in still water It has allowed us as swim coaches to observe swimmers stroke characteristics up close and to see the effects of fatigue on stroke mechanics ~ Larry L Chazy NY

Swimming is an excellent exercise and now I can swim every day because its so convenient and private I can swim when I want and how long I want Im able to have it at a temperature that is comfortable to me The small size of an Endless Pool enabled me to install a pool where I could not install a regular size one

As an aging baby boomer nutrition professional I have yearned for consistent exercise that doesnt stress joints and will enable me to attain physical fitness cardiovascular health and weight control I can eat what I want and still firm up and lose weight ~ John C Columbus OH

Endless Pools make for long swims in small places The 8x15 Endless Pool is less than regulation size but offers the same benefits as a very large pool ~ Noah H Connecticut Post

The Endless Pool is a great strength builder I am amazed at the strength of the current I now swim against I did not buy it for that reason but because of my arthritis so the strength gain is a wonderful surprise

Endless PoolsTestimonials For more information visit httpLIveAdsFitnessDigestus

s w i m m i n g s h o r t s

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Baseball Walking Stick13 My sons friend grabbed his baseball bat and said to me this is my walking stick I politely ask him why he calls it that He replied because my dad says if I hit a home run with it I donrsquot have to run the bases ndash I can walk

My Bike My mountain bike was stolen a while back and my kids were really upset Ive been riding my road bike in its place Since then Ive been careful to lock my bike up when we go to the park

13 On this occasion I did not lock-up my sonrsquos bike up with mine He looked at me quizzically and said sternly lock my bike up too I tried to explain that his bike was not as expensive and therefor didnt need to be locked up Boy that was a mistake He made me feel a little dumb when he said Dad I dont care how expensive it is Its the only bike Irsquove got

North Iowa Roads

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A LEADER inSearch Engine Optimization

Technology

Increase your visitor page views and Facebook Likes

Are you moving to a new state Already hired your mover

E-mail blind box at box02FitnessDigestus will get

you the best rates on cable phone and internet

Digital Movers

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

parent sports tipBy FitnessDigestus staff writer JGA

PAR

EN

T

TIP

Keeping Kids Focused13 Organize their thoughts Help them prioritize and make decisions based on value Even kids can understand the value of simple non-monetized choices Questions like ldquoShould I finish playing my gameboy game or pause it when they call my swimming eventrdquo

If kids are taught to make good decisions and not just find quick answers everyone wins

AugustGolf Month5th Friendship Day15th Relaxation Day25th Kiss and Make Up Day31st Trail Mix DaySeptemberLittle League Month12th Chocolate Milk Shake Day13th Positive Thinking Day16th Womenrsquos Friendship Day21st Miniature Golf DayOctoberBreast Cancer Awareness MonthNational Diabetes Month1st World Vegetarian Day4th Golf Day25th World Pasta Day

National Calendar

Au

gu

stSe

pte

mb

er

Oc

tob

er

Encourage friendships writing skills sharing thoughts and

experiencesEight different cards

YAGOTTAWANNA

Variety of pricing From single orders to bulk orders of 24 notecards

Learn more online

Stay in touch with your swimming or triathlon buddies

It is better to be safe then to try to beat the heat There are many options to stay cool and run during a hot-summer day Staying inside and running on the treadmill is a good one Remember staying safe is a top priority

Most workouts can be modified to work indoors This issuersquos workout is to do your usual run or interval set just stay inside and run it on the treadmill Visualize the different landmarks to see during your outdoor run

Coach Millerrsquos Quarterly ChallengeStay safe in the heatBy Mark Miller mmillerFitnessDigestus

A few years back we had a hot-spell similar to this yearrsquos record heat

I remember training for a long run and having to stop at the local swimming hole to cool off I literally took off my

shoes and jumped in with my running clothes on I was so hot

FitnessDigestUSEntertainment amp Inspiration

Use coupon codeldquoRAMCSPRrdquo

at puresportshopcomfor 20 OFF

Nutritional Performance Sports Drinks with Protein

OPEN WATER SWIMMING BY THE NUMBERS

In kilometers The shortest open water race included in the Fina World Championships

10107 How many miles it

is to swim from Cuba to the USA

5

1000Number of swimming strokes in a mile for a typical swimmer

31800About the number of calories it takes to swim 100 miles

LOCATED IN ST ANSGAR IOWA

Business Cards Envelopes

Letterheads Programs

Vinyl Decals Signs

Posters Invites (graduation wedding showers etc)

Flyers Brochures

T-ShirtsShorts SweatshirtsSweats

Koozies Sashes

Business Forms Placemats

Postcards And Much More

Bridgette Beyer DesignerOwner

Bring your ideas in andVisual Aspect Designs can print

andor design for you

The minimum open water distance in kilometers that is considered a swimming-

marathon

On Facebook Visit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

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Open water safety means swimming in shallow water where there is a lifeguard or using an escort

Shop for Name BrandGear

24 Hoursa Day

WaynesSkiandCyclenet

For links to Waynersquos visit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

s w i m m i n g s h o r t s

Googles

13 Swimming fans can really appreciate a 200 IM when their goggles fill with water How about an Olympian Swimming a leg of the 400 Free Relay with his goggles across his opened mouth ndash and going 45rsquos A great team swimmer an Olympian wouldnrsquot let down his teammates by throwing them off or fixing them

500 Fly13 A world class butterflyer asked if he could swim butterfly in the 500 yard freestyle during a dual meet His goal was to break five minutes After considering the competition it seemed like a great way to make him really work a hard fly swim so we agreed Problem was he swam a 502 and the opposing coach complained to the officials because he embarrassed his swimmers Oh well you canrsquot win lsquoem all

Stories sent in by Robert Steele

No-No-No13 The other morning I was teaching front-streamlines to snotty nosed 8 year olds (some are literally snotty-nosed) One boy was taking a big gulp of air and holding his breath When he lifted his head he had to exhale and inhale before submerging again Swimmers will understand this does not work very well Kids need to learn to exhale underwater The first time he did it I told him to exhale underwater The second time I stopped him looked him in the eye and reminded him to exhale underwater The third and fourth times I started to get a little frustrated ldquoJohnny you need to exhale underwater so you can breath betterrdquo The fifth time as his head popped up for a breath I quickly asked ldquoJohnny Do you even know what exhale meansrdquo as he submerged his head below the water I could see him shake his head no-no-no

Favorite Potato Chips13We try to limit the junk food the kids eat at our house For lunch one day our son wanted some potato chips I gave him 3 large chips with his sandwich He started to cry and said he wanted one more chip ldquoI wanted four chipsrdquo he screamed I took the plate back When he wasnt looking I broke a chip in half and give it back to him with four chips

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

13 My cancer story is one of uniqueness Leave it to me to do something like cancer to its fullest It did not begin with a mammogram diagnosis or a lump My journey began about 4 years ago with some suspicious activity that turned into Pagetrsquos disease of the nipple which signaled the underlying cancer On April 1st I found out about my breast cancer through a biopsy that came back as positive for Pagetrsquos disease The onslaught of tests learning and decisions were dizzying I immediately went for an evaluation of the suspicious tissue and had to begin making decisions for my mastectomy I quickly learned there is a test called the BRAC Analysis which is a genetic test for breast and ovarian cancer Finally a piece of good news for me I did not have the gene

Decisions Now it was time to make decisions about my mastectomy and how I was going to handle reconstruction I discussed my options with my boyfriend Brian friends family members and even my principalboss I read books searched the Internet and contacted people I

Brandi ShipmanCancer Survivor and elite triathlete

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

know and knew from my past that had been directly affected and that I thought might have answers for me The outpouring of love encouragement and help during this process was overwhelming After meeting with four different doctors two surgeons and two plastic surgeons I decided to go with immediate reconstruction and was lucky enough to find two wonderful doctors They were willing to work together just because I wanted them to even though they had never done so before My surgery was scheduled for mid May

Mental Toughness13 My mental preparation at this point was very important I had to scrap any idea of competing in triathlons for the rest of the year and focus on a positive attitude of getting better I stopped thinking about what I wasnrsquot going to able to do and started thinking about what I could do that I was alive and kept my mind on the fact that so many others had made it before me

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links

Part 213 I was prepared by the doctors survivors and literature to be ldquodownrdquo for several weeks after my surgery I even took the rest of the school year off My surgery went well and I was out of the hospital the next day A few friends came to visit while I was in the hospital and my principal and vice principal brought the most wonderful picture of the faculty wearing pink for me I can only imagine what it looked like at Thornton Elementary on that day in May 2009 a sea of pink all for Brandi Shipman Shortly after their visit I received a text from my friend Margie Massey My friends from the gym wore pink for me that day as well The support brought tears to my eyes I was so excited to come home and be comfortable in my own home I just wish the stupid drain that was attached could have stayed at the hospital The pain from that was worse than the pain from the mastectomy

the most

powerful picture

13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Recovery ndash May13 Once I got home I slept and watched a lot of TV Friends visited and brought yummy food and my favorites I am not supposed to eat I ate them all My friend and co-worker set up a cancer care calendar that alerted anyone who logged on when I was having a doctorrsquos appointment or when I was in need of anything I felt like royalty as everyone took care of me I think Brian secretly enjoyed the fact that he wouldnrsquot have to cook for me each night My recovery was quicker than I thought as I was doing my best to get better and get the stinkinrsquo drain out of my skin I was out walking within a week and running within 3 weeks I couldnrsquot believe my recovery I know it was from all the prayers love and good care from Brian and the loved ones around me Life was looking better each day

ldquoLife was looking

better each dayrdquo

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Part three and part

four of I am Survivor

will be published in

the next edition of

FitnessDigestus

Get the convenience of

digital-delivery

Sign-up or subscribe at

httpFitnessDigestus

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During the past 150 years we have witnessed many remarkable advances against cancer a disease known to humanity for thousands of years The advances highlighted below represent a sampling of what has been accomplished to date

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

1882 William Halsted performs the first radical mastectomy to treat breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast the lymph nodes under the arm (axillary lymph nodes) and the chest muscles behind the breast (pectoralis major and pectoralis minor muscles) are removed Radical mastectomy will remain the standard operation for breast cancer until latter half of the 20th century when the use of modified radical mastectomy becomes widely accepted

1932 David H Patey develops the modified radical mastectomy for breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast axillary lymph nodes and pectoralis minor muscle behind the breast are removed The modified radical mastectomy is less disfiguring than the radical mastectomy and will eventually replace the radical mastectomy as a standard treatment option for breast cancer

1953 James Watson and Francis Crick discover the molecular structure of DNA (the double helix)

1963 The Health Insurance Plan (HIP) of Greater New York Study begins HIP is the first randomized controlled trial of periodic breast cancer screening with mammography

1882

1932

1953

1963

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1976 The results of a randomized clinical trial show that women with early breast cancer who receive post-operative (adjuvant) combination chemotherapy with the drugs cyclophosphamide methotrexate and 5-FU have improved disease-free survival

1981 A randomized clinical trial in the United Kingdom shows for the first time that the rates of survival local recurrence and tumor metastasis among women whose breast cancer is treated with modified radical mastectomy are not substantially different from those of women who are treated with radical mastectomy

1993 An NCI-convened international workshop on screening for breast cancer reports that screening with mammography reduces breast cancer mortality among women ages 50-69 This conclusion is based on a review of published and unpublished data from eight randomized controlled trials

2004 Data from the Womens Health Initiative (WHI) study show that women who take estrogen in combination with the hormone progestin have a greater risk of developing breast cancer than women who take estrogen alone The results also show that menopausal hormone therapy with estrogen alone has no benefit in disease prevention specifically in reducing the risks of colorectal cancer coronary heart disease and dementia

1976

1981

1993

2004

Although we still have a long way to go to reduce the toll of cancer in the United States and worldwide our research and public health efforts are beginning to pay dividends

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

Volunteering vs Participating13 My girl friend and I are involved in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation The local chapter raises awareness for the cause with a fun-run each year We have volunteered to help with the race five years in a row This year we were stationed at a water table where the runners pick-up cups of water to drink Toward the end of the race there are very few runners There was a little time to chat about things We were talking about what we would wish for if we could have three wishes I told her I would wish for an end to Juvenile Diabetes and to lose 10 pounds Being nice I said ldquoyou can have my last wishrdquo She said I wish you would skip volunteering and just run this race next year

Admission Price Our aquatic center was having a promotion one night and advertised an elementary school night The kids could swim for free When we got to the pool we saw a promotional sign for the event In small lettering it read All swimmers must be accompanied by an adult We thought no big deal one of us can just stay and watch When we got to the front desk we found the lifeguard was enforcing the adult-admission price of $8

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CNFI Publishing - Products Books Chapbooks Bookmarks Plaques and Poetry Collector Cards Merchandising Products Coffee Mugs Mouse Pads Tiles 3x6 Coasters T - Shirts and Wall Plaques More info athttpliveadsFitnessDigestus

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

Featured PhotosFitnessDigestus feature

Chicago open water swim course at nighttop left

Kids race at Bicycle Blues and BBQtop right

Some team members volunteer at the local soup kitchenmiddle right

Ken Mauer loads the balls for hitting practice during a Twins baseball camp for

children 7-13 bottom right

Get your local event photos published in the next issue of FitnessDigestus E-mail

your photo to photoFitnessDigestus

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As he turned to go on he spat speculatively There was a sharp explosive crackle that startled him He spat again And again in the air before it could fall to the snow the spittle crackled He knew that at fifty below spittle crackled on the snow but this spittle had crackled in the air Undoubtedly it was colder than fifty below--how much colder he did not know But the temperature did not matter He was bound for the old claim on the left fork of Henderson Creek where the boys were already They had come over across the divide from the Indian Creek country while he had come the roundabout way to take a look at the possibilities of getting out logs in the spring from the islands in the Yukon He would be in to camp by six oclock a bit after dark it was true but the boys would be there a fire would be going and a hot supper would be ready As for lunch he pressed his hand against the protruding bundle under his jacket It was also under his shirt wrapped up in a handkerchief and lying against the naked skin It was the only way to keep the biscuits from freezing He smiled agreeably to himself as he thought of those biscuits each cut open and sopped in bacon grease and each enclosing a generous slice of fried bacon

He plunged in among the big spruce trees The trail was faint A foot of snow had fallen since the last sled had passed over and he was glad he was without a sled traveling light In fact he carried nothing but the lunch wrapped in the handkerchief He was surprised however at the cold It certainly was cold he concluded as he rubbed his numb nose and cheek-bones with his mittened hand He was a warm-whiskered man but the hair on his face did not protect the high cheek-bones and the eager nose that thrust itself aggressively into the frosty air

At the mans heels trotted a dog a big native husky the proper wolf-dog gray-coated and without any visible or temperamental difference from its brother the wild wolf The animal was depressed by the tremendous cold It knew that it was no time for

traveling Its instinct told it a truer tale than was told to the man by the mans judgment In reality it was not merely colder than fifty below zero it was colder than sixty below than seventy below It was seventy-five below zero Since the freezing point is thirty-two above zero it meant that one hundred and seven degrees of frost obtained The dog did not know anything about thermometers Possibly in its brain there was no sharp consciousness of a condition of very cold such as was in the mans brain But the brute had its instinct It experienced a vague but menacing apprehension that subdued it then made it slink along at the mans heels and that made it question eagerly every unwonted movement of the man as if expecting him to go into camp or to seek shelter somewhere and build a fire The dog had learned fire and it wanted fire or else to burrow under the snow and cuddle its warmth away from the air

The frozen moisture of its breathing had settled on its fur in a fine powder of frost and especially were its jowls muzzle and eyelashes whitened by its cry-stalled breath The mans red beard and mustache were likewise frosted but more solidly the deposit taking the form of ice and increasing with every warm moist breath he exhaled Also the man was chewing tobacco and the muzzle of ice held his lips so rigidly that he was unable to clear his chin when he expelled the juice The result was that a crystal beard of the color and solidity of amber was increasing its length on his chin If he fell down it would shatter itself like glass into brittle fragments But he did not mind the appendage It was the penalty all tobacco-chewers paid in that country and he had been out before in two cold snaps They had not been so cold as this he knew but by the spirit thermometer at Sixty Mile he knew they had been registered at fifty below and at fifty-five

He held on through the level stretch of woods for several miles crossed a wide flat of rigger-heads and dropped down a bank to the frozen bed of a

To Build a FireContinued

small stream This was Henderson Creek and he knew he was ten miles from the forks He looked at his watch It was ten oclock He was making four miles an hour and he calculated that he would arrive at the forks at half-past twelve He decided to celebrate that event by eating his lunch there

The dog dropped in again at his heels with a tail drooping discouragement as the man swung along the creek-bed The furrow of the old sled-trail was plainly visible but a dozen inches of snow covered the marks of the last runners In a month no man had come up or down that silent creek The man held steadily on He was not much given to thinking and just then particularly he had nothing to think about save that he would eat lunch at-the forks and that at six oclock he would be in camp with the boys There was nobody to talk to and had there been speech would have been impossible because of the ice-muzzle on his mouth So he continued monotonously to chew tobacco and to increase the length of his amber beard

Once in a while the thought reiterated itself that it was very cold and that he had never experienced such cold As he walked along he rubbed his cheek-bones and nose with the back of his mittened hand He did this automatically now and again changing hands But rub as he would the instant he stopped his cheek-bones went numb and the following instant the end of his nose went numb He was sure to frost his cheeks he knew that and experienced a pang of regret that he had not devised a nose-strap of the sort Bud wore in cold snaps Such a strap passed across the cheeks as well and saved them But it didnt matter much after all What were frosted cheeks A bit painful that was all they were never serious

Empty as the mans mind was of thoughts he was keenly observant and he noticed the changes in the creek the curves and bends and timber jams and always he sharply noted where he placed his feet Once coming around a bend he shied abruptly

like a startled horse curved away from the place where he had been walking and retreated several paces back along the trail The creek he knew was frozen clear to the bottom--no creek could contain water in that arctic winter--but he knew also that there were springs that bubbled out from the hillsides and ran along under the snow and on top the ice of the creek He knew that the coldest snaps never froze these springs and he knew likewise their danger They were traps They hid pools of water under the snow that might be three inches deep or three feet Sometimes a skin of ice half an inch thick covered them and in turn was covered by the snow Sometimes there were alternate layers of water and ice-skin so that when one broke through he kept on breaking through for a while sometimes wetting himself to the waist

That was why he had shied in such panic He had felt the give under his feet and heard the crackle of a snow-hidden ice-skin And to get his feet wet in such a temperature meant trouble and danger At the very least it meant delay for he would be forced to stop and build a fire and under its protection to bare his feet while he dried his socks and moccasins He stood and studied the creek-bed and its banks and decided that the flow of water came from the right He reflected a while rubbing his nose and cheeks then skirted to the left stepping gingerly and testing the footing for each step Once clear of the danger he took a fresh chew of tobacco and swung along at his four-mile gait

In the course of the next two hours he came upon several similar traps Usually the snow above the hidden pools had a sunken candied appearance that advertised the danger Once again however he had a close call and once suspecting danger he compelled the dog to go on in front The dog did not want to go It hung back until the man shoved it forward and then it went quickly across the white unbroken surface Suddenly it broke through floundered to one side and got away to firmer

To Build a FireContinued

To Build a FireContinued

footing It had wet its forefeet and legs and almost immediately the water that clung to it turned to ice It made quick efforts to lick the ice off its legs then dropped down in the snow and began to bite out the ice that had formed between the toes l his was a matter of instinct To permit the ice to remain would mean sore feet It did not know this It merely obeyed the mysterious prompting that arose from the deep crypts of its being But the man knew having achieved a judgment on the subject and he removed the mitten from his right hand and helped tear out the ice-particles He did not expose his fingers more than a minute and was astonished at the swift numbness that smote them It certainly was cold He pulled on the mitten hastily and beat the hand savagely across his chest

At twelve oclock the day was at its brightest Yet the sun was too far south an its winter journey to clear the horizon The bulge of the earth intervened between it arid Henderson Creek where the man walked under a clear sky at noon and cast no shadow At half-past twelve to the minute he arrived at the forks of the creek He was pleased at the speed he had made If he kept it up he would certainly be with the boys by six He unbuttoned his jacket and shirt and drew forth his lunch The action consumed no more than a quarter of a minute yet in that brief moment the numbness laid hold of the exposed fingers He did not put the mitten on but instead struck the fingers a dozen sharp smashes against his leg Then he sat down on a snow-covered log to eat The sting that followed upon the striking of his fingers against his leg ceased so quickly that he was startled He had had no chance to take a bite of biscuit He struck the fingers repeatedly and returned them to the mitten baring the other hand for the purpose of eating He tried to take a mouthful but the ice-muzzle prevented He had forgotten to build a fire and thaw out He chuckled at his foolishness and as he chuckled he noted the numbness creeping into the exposed fingers Also he noted that the stinging which had first come to his

toes when he sat down was already passing away He wandered whether the toes were warm or numb He moved them inside the moccasins and decided that they were numb

He pulled the mitten on hurriedly and stood up He was a bit frightened He stamped up and down until the stinging returned into the feet It certainly was cold was his thought That man from Sulphur Creek had spoken the truth when telling how cold it sometimes got in the country And he had laughed at him at the time That showed one must not be too sure of things There was no mistake about it it was cold He strode up and down stamping his feet and threshing his arms until reassured by the returning warmth Then he got out matches and proceeded to make a fire From the undergrowth where high water of the previous spring had lodged a supply of seasoned twigs he got his firewood Working carefully from a small beginning he soon had a roaring fire over which he thawed the ice from his face and in the protection of which he ate his biscuits For the moment the cold space was outwitted The dog took satisfaction in the fire stretching out close enough for warmth and far enough away to escape being singed

When the man had finished be filled his pipe and took his comfortable time over a smoke Then he pulled on his mittens settled the ear-flaps of his cap firmly about his ears and took the creek trail up the left fork The dog was disappointed and yearned back toward the fire This man did not know cold Possibly all the generations of his ancestry had been ignorant of cold of real cold of cold one hundred and seven degrees below freezing point But the dog knew all its ancestry knew and it had inherited the knowledge And it knew that it was not good to walk abroad in such fearful cold It was the time to lie snug in a hole in the snow and wait for a curtain of cloud to be drawn across the face of outer space whence this cold came On the other hand there was no keen intimacy between the dog and the man

The one was the toil-slave of the other and the only caresses it had ever received were the caresses of the whiplash and of harsh and menacing throat-sounds that threatened the whiplash So the dog made no effort to communicate its apprehension to the man It was not concerned in the welfare of the man it was for its own sake that it yearned back toward the fire But the man whistled and spoke to it with the sound of whiplashes and the dog swung in at the mans heel and followed after

The man took a chew of tobacco and proceeded to start a new amber beard Also his moist breath quickly powdered with white his mustache eyebrows and lashes There did not seem to be so many springs on the left fork of the Henderson and for half an hour the man saw no signs of any And then it happened At a place where there were no signs where the soft unbroken snow seemed to advertise solidity beneath tee man broke through It was not deep He wet himself halfway to the knees before he floundered out to the firm crust

He was angry and cursed his luck aloud He had hoped to get into camp with the boys at six oclock and this would delay him an hour for he would have to build a fire and dry out his foot-gear This was imperative at that low temperature--he knew that much and he turned aside to the bank which he climbed On top tangled in the underbrush about the trunks of several small spruce trees was a high-water deposit of dry firewood--sticks and twigs principally but also larger portions of seasoned branches and fine dry last-years grasses He threw down several large pieces on top of the snow This served for a foundation and prevented the young flame from drowning itself in the snow it otherwise would melt The flame he got by touching a match to a small shred of birch bark that he took from his pocket This burned even more readily than paper Placing it on the foundation he fed the young flame with wisps of dry grass and with the tiniest dry twigs

He worked slowly and carefully keenly aware of his danger Gradually as the flame grew stronger he increased the size of the twigs with which he fed it He squatted in the snow pulling the twigs out from their entanglement in the brush and feeding directly to the flame He knew there must be no failure When it is seventy-five below zero a man must not fail in his first attempt to build a fire--that is if his feet are wet If his feet are dry and he fails he can run along the trail for half a mile and restore his circulation But the circulation of wet and freezing feet cannot be restored by running when it is seventy-five below No matter how fast he runs the wet feet will freeze the harder

All this the man knew The old-timer on Sulphur Creek had told him about it the previous fall and now he was appreciating the advice Already all sensation had gone out of his feet To build the fire he had been forced to remove his mittens and the fingers had quickly gone numb His pace of four miles an hour had kept his heart pumping blood to the surface of his body and to all the extremities But the instant he stopped the action of the pump eased down The cold of space smote the unprotected tip of the planet and he being on that unprotected tip received the full force of the blow The blood of his body recoiled before it The blood was alive like the dog and like the dog it wanted to hide away and cover itself up from the fearful cold So long as he walked four miles an hour he pumped that blood willy-nilly to the surface but now it ebbed away and sank down into the recesses of his body The extremities were the first to feel its absence His wet feet froze the faster and his exposed fingers numbed the faster though they had not yet begun to freeze Nose and cheeks were already freezing while the skin of all his body chilled as it lost its blood

But he was safe Toes and nose and cheeks would be only touched by the frost for the fire was beginning to burn with strength He was feeding it

To Build a FireContinued

with twigs the size of his finger In another minute he would be able to feed it with branches the size of his wrier and then he could remove his wet toot-gear and while it dried he could keep his naked feet warm by the fire rubbing them at first of course with snow The fire was a success He was safe He remembered the advice of the old timer on Sulphur Creek and smiled The old-timer had been very serious in laying down the law that no man must travel alone in the Klondike after fifty below Well here he was he had had the accident he was alone and he had saved himself Those old-timers were rather womanish some of them he thought All a man had to do was to keep his head and he was all right Any man who was a man could travel alone But it was surprising the rapidity with which his cheeks and nose were freezing And he had not thought his fingers could go lifeless in so short a time Lifeless they were for he could scarcely make them move together to grip a twig and they seemed remote from his body and from him When he touched a twig he had to look and see whether or not he had hold of it The wires were pretty well down between him and his finger-ends

All of which counted for little There was the fire snapping and crackling and promising life with every dancing flame He started to untie his moccasins They were coated with ice the thick German socks were like sheaths of iron halfway to the knees and the moccasin strings were like rods of steel all twisted and knotted as by some conflagration For a moment he tugged with his numb fingers then realizing the folly of it he drew his sheath-knife

But before he could cut the strings it happened It was his own fault or rather his mistake He should not have built the fire under the spruce tree He should have built it in the open But it had been easier to pull the twigs from the brush and drop them directly on the fire Now the tree under which

he had done this carried a weight of snow on its boughs No wind had blown for weeks and each bough was fully freighted Each time he had pulled a twig he had communicated a slight agitation to the tree--an imperceptible agitation so far as he was concerned but an agitation sufficient to bring about the disaster High up in the tree one bough capsized its load of snow This fell on the boughs beneath capsizing them This process continued spreading out and involving the whole tree It grew like an avalanche and it descended without warning upon the man and the fire and the fire was blotted out Where it had burned was a mantle of fresh and disordered snow

The man was shocked It was as though he had just heard his own sentence of death For a moment he sat and stared at the spot where the fire had been Then he grew very calm Perhaps the old-timer on Sulphur Creek was right If he had only had a trail-mate he would have been in no danger now The trail-mate could have built the fire Well it was up to him to build the fire over again and this second time there must be no failure Even if he succeeded he would most likely lose some toes His feet must be badly frozen by now and there would be some time before the second fire Was ready

Such were his thoughts but he did not sit and think them He was busy all the time they were passing through his mind He made a new foundation for a fire this time in the open where no treacherous tree could blot it out Next he gathered dry grasses and tiny twigs from the high-water flotsam He could not bring his fingers together to pull them out but he was able to gather them by the handful In this way he got many rotten twigs and bits of green moss that were undesirable but it was the best he could do He worked methodically even collecting an armful of the larger branches to be used later when the fire gathered strength And all the while the dog sat and watched him a certain yearning wistfulness in its eyes for it looked upon

To Build a FireContinued

him as the fire-provider and the fire was slow in coming

When all was ready the man reached in his pocket for a second piece of birch bark He knew the bark was there and though he could not feel it with his fingers he could hear its crisp rustling as he fumbled for it Try as he would he could not clutch hold of it And all the time in his consciousness was the knowledge that each instant his feet were freezing This thought tended to put him in a panic but he fought against it and kept calm He pulled on his mittens with his teeth and threshed his arms back and forth beating his hands with all his might against his sides He did this sitting down and he stood up to do it and all the while the dog sat in the snow its wolf-brush of a tail curled around warmly over its forefeet its sharp wolf-ears pricked forward intently as it watched the man And the man as he beat and threshed with his arms and hands felt a great surge of envy as he regarded the creature that was warm ant secure in its natural covering

After a time he was aware of the first far-away signals of sensation in his beaten fingers The faint tingling grew stronger till it evolved into a stinging ache that was excruciating but which the man hailed with satisfaction He stripped the mitten from his right hand and fetched forth the birch bark The exposed fingers were quickly going numb again Next he brought out his bunch of sulphur matches But the tremendous cold had already driven the life out of his fingers In his effort to separate one match from the others the whole bunch fell in the snow He tried to pick it out of the snow but failed The dead fingers could neither touch nor clutch He was very careful He drove the thought of his freezing feet and nose and cheeks out of his mind devoting his whole soul to the matches He watched using the sense of vision in place of that of touch and when he saw his fingers on each side the bunch he dosed them--that is he willed to close them for the wires were down and the fingers did not obey He pulled

the mitten on the right hand and beat it fiercely against his knee Then with both mittened hands he scooped the bunch of matches along with much snow into his lap Yet he was no better off

After some manipulation he managed to get the bunch between the heels of his mittened hands In this fashion he carried it to his mouth The ice crackled and snapped when by a violent effort he opened his mouth He drew the lower jaw in curled the upper lip out of the way and scraped the bunch with his upper teeth in order to separate a match He succeeded in getting one which he dropped on his lap He was no better off He could not pick it up Then he devised a way He picked it up in his teeth and scratched it on his leg Twenty times he scratched before he succeeded in lighting it As it flamed he held it with his teeth to the birch bark But the burning brimstone went up his nostrils and into his lungs causing him to cough spasmodically The match fell into the snow and went out

The old-timer an Sulphur Creek was right he thought in the moment of controlled despair that ensued after fifty below a man should travel with a partner He beat his hands but failed in exciting any sensation Suddenly he bared both hands removing the mittens with his teeth He caught the whole bunch between the heels of his hands His arm muscles not being frozen enabled him to press the hand-heels tightly against the matches Then he scratched the bunch along his leg It flared into flame seventy sulphur matches at once There was no wind to blow them out He kept his head to one side to escape the strangling fumes and held the blazing bunch to the birth bark As he so held it he became aware of sensation in his hand His flesh was burning He could smell it Deep down below the surface he could feel it The sensation developed into pain that grew acute And still he endured it holding the flame of the matches clumsily to the bark that would not light readily because his own burning hands were in the way absorbing most of the flame

To Build a FireContinued

At last when he could endure no more he jerked his hands apart The blazing matches fell sizzling into the snow but the birch bark was alight He began laying dry grasses and the tiniest twigs on the flame He could not pick and choose for he had to lift the fuel between the heels of his hands Small pieces of rotten wood and green moss clung to the twigs and he bit them off as well as he could with his teeth He cherished the flame carefully and awkwardly It meant life and it must not perish The withdrawal of blood from the surface of his body now made him begin to shiver and he grew more awkward A large piece of green moss fell squarely on the little fire He tried to poke it out with his fingers but his shivering frame made him poke too far and he disrupted the nucleus of the little fire the burning grasses and tiny twigs separating and scattering He tried to poke them together again but in spite of the tenseness of the effort his shivering got away with him and the twigs were hopelessly scattered Each twig gushed a puff of smoke and went out The fire-provider had failed As he looked apathetically about him his eyes chanced on the dog sitting across the ruins of the fire from him in the snow making restless hunching movements slightly lifting one forefoot and then the other shifting its weight back and forth on them with wistful eagerness

The sight of the dog put a wild idea into his head He remembered the tale of the man caught in a blizzard who killed a steer and crawled inside the carcass and so was saved He would kill the dog and bury his hands in the warm body until the numbness went out of them Then he could build another fire He spoke to the dog calling it to him but in his voice was a strange note of fear that frightened the animal who had never known the man to speak in such way before Something was the matter and its suspicious nature sensed danger--it knew not what danger but somewhere somehow in its brain arose an apprehension of the man It flattened its ears down at the sound of the mans voice and its restless

hunching movements and the liftings and shiftings of its forefeet became more pronounced but it would not come to the man He got on his hands and knees and crawled toward the dog This unusual posture again excited suspicion and the animal sidled mincingly away

The man sat up in the snow for a moment and struggled for calmness Then he pulled on his mittens by means of his teeth and got upon his feet He glanced down at first in order to assure himself that he was really standing up for the absence of sensation in his feet left him unrelated to the earth His erect position in itself started to drive the webs of suspicion from the dogs mind and when he spoke peremptorily with the sound of whiplashes in his voice the dog rendered its customary allegiance and came to him As it came within reaching distance the man lost his control His arms flashed out to the dog and he experienced genuine surprise when he discovered that his hands could not clutch that there was neither bend nor feeling in the fingers He had forgotten for the moment that they were frozen and that they were freezing more and more All this happened quickly and before the animal could get away he encircled its body with his arms He sat down in the snow and in this fashion held the dog while it snarled and whined and struggled

But it was all he could do hold its body encircled in his arms and sit there He realized that he could not kill the dog There was no way to do it With his helpless hands he could neither draw nor hold his sheath knife nor throttle the animal He released it and it plunged wildly away with tail between its legs and still snarling It halted forty feet away and surveyed him curiously with ears sharply pricked forward The man looked down at his hands in order to locate them and found them hanging on the ends of his arms It struck him as curious that one should have to use his eyes in order to find out where his hands were He began threshing his arms back and forth beating the mittened hands against

To Build a FireContinued

his sides He did this for five minutes violently and his heart pumped enough blood up to the surface to put a stop to his shivering But no sensation was aroused in the hands He had an impression that they hung like weights on the ends of his arms but when he tried to run the impression down he could not find it

A certain fear of death dull and oppressive came to him This fear quickly became poignant as he realized that it was no longer a mere matter of freezing his fingers and toes or of losing his hands and feet but that it was a matter of life and death with the chances against him This threw him into a panic and he turned and ran up the creek-bed along the old dim trail The dog joined in behind and kept up with him He ran blindly without intention in fear such as he had never known in his life Slowly as he plowed and floundered through the snow he began to see things again the banks of the creek the old timber-jams the leafless aspens and the sky The running made him feel better He did not shiver Maybe if he ran on his feet would thaw out and anyway if he ran far enough he would reach camp and the boys Without doubt he would lose some fingers and toes and some of his face but the boys would take care of him and save the rest of him when he got there And at the same time there was another thought in his mind that said he would never get to the camp and the boys that it was too many miles away that the freezing had too great a start on him and that he would soon be stiff and dead This thought he kept in the background and refused to consider Sometimes it pushed itself forward and demanded to be heard but he thrust it back and strove to think of other things

It struck him as curious that he could run at all on feet so frozen that he could not feel them when they struck the earth and took the weigh of his body He seemed to himself to skim along above the surface and to have no connection with the earth Somewhere he had once seen a winged Mercury

and he wondered if Mercury felt as he felt when skimming over the earth

His theory of running until he reached camp and the boys had one flaw in it he lacked the endurance Several times he stumbled and finally he tottered crumpled up and fell When he tried to rise he failed He must sit and rest he decided and next time he would merely walk and keep on going As he sat and regained his breath he noted that he was feeling quite warm and comfortable He was not shivering and it even seemed that a warm glow had come to his chest and trunk And yet when he touched his nose or cheeks there was no sensation Running would not thaw them out Nor would it thaw out his hands and feet Then the thought came to him that the frozen portions of his body must be extending He tried to keep this thought down to forget it to think of something else he was aware of the panicky feeling that it caused and he was afraid of the panic But the thought asserted itself and persisted until it produced a vision of his body totally frozen This was too much and he made another wild run along the trail Once he slowed down to a walk but the thought of the freezing extending itself made him run again

And all the time the dog ran with him at his heels When he fell down a second time it curled its tad over its forefeet and sat in front of him facing him curiously eager and intent The warmth and security of the animal angered him and he cursed it till it flattened down its ears appealingly This time the shivering came more quickly upon the man He was losing in his battle with the frost It was creeping into his body from all sides The thought of it drove him on but he ran no more than a hundred feet when he staggered and pitched headlong It was his last panic When he had recovered his breath and control he sat up and entertained in his mind the conception of meeting death with dignity However the conception did not come to him in such terms His idea of it was that he had been making a fool of

To Build a FireContinued

himself running around like a chicken with its head cut off--such was the simile that occurred to him Well he was bound to freeze anyway and he might as well take it decently With this new-found peace of mind came the first glimmerings of drowsiness A good idea he thought to sleep off to death It was like salting an anesthetic Freezing was not so bad as people thought There were lots worse ways to die

He pictured the boys finding his body next day Suddenly he found himself with them coming along the trail and looking for himself And still with them he came around a turn in the trail and found himself lying in the snow He did not belong with himself any more for even then he was out of himself standing with the boys and looking at himself in the snow It certainly was cold was his thought When he got back to the States he could tell the folks what real cold was He drifted on from this to a vision of the old-timer on Sulphur Creek He could see him quite clearly warm and comfortable and smoking a pipe

You were right old boss you were right the man mumbled to the old-timer of Sulphur Creek

Then the man drowsed off into what seemed to him the most comfortable and satisfying sleep he had ever known The dog sat facing him and waiting The brief day drew to a close in a long slow twilight There were no signs of a fire to be made and besides never in the dogs experience had it known a man to sit like that in the snow and make no fire As the twilight drew on its eager yearning for the fire mastered it and with a great lifting and shifting of forefeet it whined softly then flattened its ears down in anticipation of being chidden by the man But the man remained silent Later the dog whined loudly And still later it crept close to the man and caught the scent of death This made the animal bristle and back away A little longer it delayed howling under the stars that leaped and danced and shone brightly in the cold sky Then it turned and trotted up the trail in the direction of the camp it knew where were the other food-providers and fire-providers

To Build a FireContinued

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Page 10: FitnessDigest.us Vol. 4.3 Cover

com

pelling

When in the vastness of miles we find ourself not asking questions but finding answers

The fast races we ran years ago seem ugly and unforgiving

Now older and wiser and much much slower the race gives us a different story Four emotions joy anger sadness and frustration - not all at once but in a fashionable order that even makes anger a pleasant experience If it were not for the physical suffering endured for duration of the race you would perhaps experience all at once

Uncomfortable yet compelling

13 The race that when you are done and the suffering is over makes everything clearer priceless moments no longer slipping by but take the stage in life ndash in a perfect permutation

The finish helps us see there is more to do but until the next race there is no hurry Stop smell the roses Until we rise up for another challenge the story that unfolded during the race takes care of us we dont have to tell it It is written into our lives The memories and seemingly the future having been created between the aid stations and mile markers

NOT THE FASTEST RACETHE GREATESTSent from Iowa

U n c o m f o r t a b l e

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As a teenager I chose golf in high school as a sport rather than track Golfing meant enjoying a bag of chips and a can a soda while on the course Running was something I dreaded in school I used to plan how I could get out of the mile run for weeks when I knew it was almost fitness test time Now as a 31 year old stay at home mom I am running 10Ks and have a goal of completing four sprint triathlons in 2012 as well as many other 5Ks and 10Ks My five year goal is to complete an Ironman triathlon

13 Over the course of the last three years I have changed many aspects of my life I earned a Masterrsquos Degree in Education from Iowa State University I left a career as a Director of Special Education in a local school district to become a stay at home mom ndash with my two beautiful girls This change was prompted by a health scare in 2009 I was hospitalized for many days with meningitis and realized life was just too short

13 In 2011 while nursing my 4 month old my sister in law invited me to go with her to Weight Watchers I joined the next day for what was probably the 8th time but this time was different I made my goal and am a lifetime member I lost 43lbs and am healthy for the first time in my life I have Crohnrsquos Disease and am no longer taking any medications and no longer suffering the symptoms associated with the disease

In August of 2011 our hometown hero a Navy Seal was killed in action He was a huge inspiration to many people but after his death I was inspired to make a difference in our community and live my life differently He was a triathlete that had tackled the big daddy of them all and became an Ironman Realizing what he gave up so that we may have freedom inspired me to

Favo

rite

food

Kale

chip

s or

Rice

Cak

es w

ith A

lmon

d Bu

tter

Favo

rite

indu

lgen

ces

Che

x mix

Givingit aTri

FitnessDigestus columnist Jen Schmitt Rockford Iowa

Men

ingi

tis

13 In 2011 while nursing my four month old my sister in law invited me to go with her to Weight Watchers I joined the next day for what was probably the eigth time but this time was different They helped me make my goal and I became a lifetime member I lost 43lbs and Irsquom healthy for the first time in my life I also have Crohnrsquos Disease and no longer take medications nor do I suffer with the symptoms associated with the disease

13 In August of 2011 our hometown hero a Navy Seal was killed in action He was a huge inspiration to many people After his death I was inspired to make a difference in our community and to live my life differently He was a triathlete that had tackled the big daddy of them all ndash an Ironman Realizing what he gave up so that we may have freedom inspired me to continue on my fitness path by adding triathlete to my title

Givingit aTri

FitnessDigestus columnist Jen Schmitt Rockford Iowa

13 In 2011 while nursing my 4 month old my sister in law invited me to go with her to Weight Watchers I joined the next day for what was probably the 8th time but this time was different I made my goal and am a lifetime member I lost 43lbs and am healthy for the first time in my life I have Crohnrsquos Disease and am no longer taking any medications and no longer suffering the symptoms associated with the disease

In August of 2011 our hometown hero a Navy Seal was killed in action He was a huge inspiration to many people but after his death I was inspired to make a difference in our community and live my life differently He was a triathlete that had tackled the big daddy of them all and became an Ironman Realizing what he gave up so that we may have freedom inspired me to continue on my fitness path by

Favo

rite

plac

e to

run

Fos

sil amp

Prair

ie Ce

nter

Trail

s R

ockfo

rd Io

wa

Favo

rite

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son

g S

trong

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hat D

oesn

rsquot Kill Y

ou) b

y Kell

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13 When I am not out training with the group that I started in my hometown ldquoFriends in Fitnessrdquo you can find me blogging at justamomgivingitatriblogspotcom studying for my personal trainer certification or spending time with my husband girls and friends I enjoy being in the outdoors whether it is just for a walk or turkey hunting in the woods I am currently the chairperson working to organize a 5K fundraiser for the PEO Chapter that I belong to in Rockford Iowa This is going to be our major fundraiser for the year and we are very excited to encourage wellness among others in our community

Givingit aTri

FitnessDigestus columnist Jen Schmitt Rockford Iowa

13 In 2011 while nursing my 4 month old my sister in law invited me to go with her to Weight Watchers I joined the next day for what was probably the 8th time but this time was different I made my goal and am a lifetime member I lost 43lbs and am healthy for the first time in my life I have Crohnrsquos Disease and am no longer taking any medications and no longer suffering the symptoms associated with the disease

In August of 2011 our hometown hero a Navy Seal was killed in action He was a huge inspiration to many people but after his death I was inspired to make a difference in our community and live my life differently He was a triathlete that had tackled the big daddy of them all and became an Ironman Realizing what he gave up so that we may have freedom inspired me to continue on my fitness path by

Favo

rite

wor

kout

acc

esso

ry G

arm

in Fo

reru

nner

310

XT

Wha

t get

s m

e ou

t of b

ed

My a

larm

on

my p

hone

tellin

g m

e to

get

to th

e po

ol an

d sw

im o

r a s

crea

ming

chil

d

Fam

ily amp

Frie

nds

Watch and LearnSent in from NIP Gym

Successful SAFE gains in

the gym

Available at select Hy-Vee stores

NO MSG

LowSodium

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2

GREAT STORY HERE FROM NIP amp Fitness 13 I was in the gym this morning doing shoulders A quiet red headed kid comes in and gets on the bench and starts benching His first set of 135 lbs had HORRIBLE technique and form I walk over and talk to him He tells me his name is Joe - age 17 - weight 205 and is a junior at CS High School and he just bought a membership to NIP amp Fitness He tells me two weeks ago he benched 185 lbs for a max I told him that was very good for is age but NOT for his build I knew he was stronger than that So I helped him shape up is technique and form Joe ndash LISTENED and WATCHED He learned that he was much stronger than a 185 pound max bench presser Today from LISTENING and WATCHING Joe bench pressed 225 X 2 ndash and that 185 pounds he maxed two weeks ago he finished his work out by doing that 185 pounds for seven reps Proper TECHNIQUE and FORM are the key to successful SAFE gains in the gym Today Joe was a perfect example CONGRATULATIONS Joe

Dear Freestyle Swim Stroke

13 You are so frustrating to me Why canrsquot we just get along When I made the decision to tackle this goal of completing a triathlon I was not even worried about you That has proven to be a mistake Some days things go so smooth between us and some mornings I spring out of bed at 430 so excited about our time together Today was not one of those days You left me feeling like thishellip

Like a wet wrung out old swimsuit

These are the reasons that I am so upset with you

1 You literally take my breath away

2 You make my shoulder hurt (Popcorn kernels currently on shoulder while typing)

3 You make me leave my warm cozy bed about two hours before I would really like to leave it

4 If I donrsquot get my butt out of bed and go at 430 AM I have to leave my family and go at 730 PM

Dear FreestyleBy Jen Schmitt Rockford Iowa

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pull

head position

exit

flutter-kick

recovery

(Yes we know ndash no cameras in the locker room No one was harmed in this photo shoot)

13 And to the very old man in the lane beside me I do not dislike you in-fact I am insanely jealous of you I donrsquot stare at you because of your body you may look hot if I was 75 but I am not I stare at you in awe of how effortlessly you move up and down the pool without a rest Someday I hope to be just like you

13 So for now as much as I would love to say we need to break up and go our separate ways I am too D stubborn to do that We will make this work and we are going to get along Here is my promise to you ndash I promise to meet-up with you two to three times a week for at least an hour to work on our relationship I promise not to cheat on you with the sidestroke although I am so much more comfortable with him I promise to keep an open mind about our relationship and give it all that I have just like I do with my friend the run

Love you (I think)

Jen

Dear FreestyleContinued

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pull

head position

exit

flutter-kick

recovery

Adult SwimmingBy Susan Dawson-cook

I have taught dozens of adults how to swim Many of them were initially either afraid of water or somewhat uncomfortable in the aquatic environment Whats worked best is to get in the water with them and do activities that show them it can be fun and safe I make sure they feel safe and secure the entire time and even say things like if you have trouble standing up after you take some strokes I will help you or just reach for my hand if you need support

13 Many beginners have this fear ndash if they are in the horizontal position swimming they wont be able to stand up One woman cried she was so overjoyed she overcame her fear and learned to take her first strokes

Find more of Susanrsquos writing and published works at httplivemediaFitnessDigestus

Body image and fitness are hot topics for both men and women The Great Fitness Experiment is my hilarious poignant embarrassing and at times heart-breaking journey to find my way through the morass of contradictory claims and information in todayrsquos health- and fitness-obsessed world

Available in paperback or in eBookhttpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

If you have trouble standing up after you

take some strokesone women cried

she was so overjoyed

If you would like future issues delivered to a Facebook Twitter or e-mail account e-mail us at infoFitnessDigestus

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2 Deadwood Mickelson Trail MarathonSunday June 2 2013

Deadwood South Dakota

13 On June 2nd we will celebrate 12 years of offering runners from around the globe the most unique running experience of their life Where else in the world can you run on a course that takes you from an abandoned mining town across railroad trestles through a mountain past monolithic rock formations beside a babbling creek and finish in Deadwoodhellipa town that is a historic landmark

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Written Emily WheelerFor more information amp video visit httpLIveAdsFitnessDigestus

ldquoWild West town known primarily for its gamblers gunslingers and gold minersrdquo

Hope to see you at the finish

This Wild West town known primarily for its gamblers gunslingers and gold miners has turned into one of the premiere destination marathon venues in the US

13 The breathtaking beauty of our course the truly outstanding team of volunteers the hospitality of everyone associated with the event and paying attention to details are just a couple of reasons yoursquoll want to toe the line on June 2nd

The Deadwood Mickelson Trail Half and Full Marathon is a point to point course

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ldquoThe breathtaking beauty of our courserdquo

WaynesSkiandCyclenetlive links to Waynersquos at httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

MTM Charity Partner

13 Habitat for Humanity is a global nonprofit Christian housing organization that has helped to build more than 500000 decent affordable houses and served 25 million people worldwide since its founding in 1976 With the help of volunteers and donations of money and materials Habitat constructs rehabilitates and preserves homes in partnership with low-income families in need Operating in nearly 80 countries and with more than 1500 affiliates in the United States Habitat also advocates for fair and just housing policies and provides training and access to resources to help families improve their shelter conditions

Shop for Name BrandItems 24 Hours a Day

beginning in the historic mining town of Rochford the first 15 miles are on a paved road At this point the course becomes the Mickelson Trail (a rails to trails project) The next 12 miles are a mixture of gentle uphill and flat terrain

13 Then the course is either downhill or flat and finishes at the historic Engine House at end of the linehellipthe Deadwood Trailhead The Half Marathon is also a point to point course starting at the 131 mile mark of the full marathon Walker Friendly

All participants will receive a Commemorative Finisherrsquos Medal

Mickelson Trail Marathon Charity Partner is the Black Hills Habitat for HumanityMake your Marathon Matter Matching Funds

Make your Marathon matter by helping create decent shelter in the Black Hills ndash take the challenge to give at least $1 per race mile Our goal is to raise $3000 in 2012 for BH Habitat for Humanity to help provide shelter for more families in the Black Hills

Registrations are capped at 3000 runners If you want to be part of the Deadwood Mickelson Trail Marathon Weekend celebration go to LiveAdsFitnessDigestus and click on the MTM Marathon URL

Hope to see you at the Finish Line - ThanksEmily Wheeler Wheeler Event Management Inc

ldquoHope to see you at the finish linerdquo

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links

DAY had broken cold and gray exceedingly cold and gray when the man turned aside from the main Yukon trail and climbed the high earth-bank where a dim and little traveled trail led eastward through the fat spruce timberland It was a steep bank and he paused for breath at the top excusing the act to himself by looking at his watch It was nine oclock There was no sun nor hint of sun though there was not a cloud in the sky It was a

clear day and yet there seemed an intangible pall over the face of things a subtle gloom that made the day dark and that was due to the absence of sun This fact did not worry the man He was used to the lack of sun It had been days since he had seen the sun and he knew that a few more-days must pass before that cheerful orb due south would just peep above the sky-line and dip immediately from view

To Build a Fire - Hiking the Yukon TrailShort story fiction Written by Jack London (1876-1916)

The man flung a look back along the way he had come The Yukon lay a mile wide and hidden under three feet of ice On top of this ice were as many feet of snow It was all pure white rolling in gentle undulations where the ice jams of the freeze-up had formed North and south as far as his eye could see it was unbroken white save for a dark hairline that curved and twisted from around the spruce-covered island to the south and that curved and twisted away into the north where it disappeared behind another spruce-covered island This dark hair-line was the trail--the main trail--that led south five hundred miles to the Chilcoot Pass Dyea and salt water and that led north seventy miles to Dawson and still on to the north a thousand miles to Nulato and finally to St Michael on Bering Sea a thousand miles and half a thousand more

But all this--the mysterious far-reaching hair-line trail The absence of sun from the sky the tremendous cold and the strangeness and weirdness of it all--made no

impression on the man It was not because he was long used to it He was a newcomer In the land a chechaquo and this was his first winter The trouble with him was that he was without imagination He was quick and alert in the things of life but only in the things and not in the significances Fifty degrees below zero meant eighty-odd degrees of frost Such fact impressed him as being cold and uncomfortable and that was all It did not lead him to meditate upon his frailty as a creature of temperature and upon mans frailty in general able only to live within certain narrow limits of heat and cold and from there on it did not lead him to the conjectural field of immortality and mans place in the universe Fifty degrees below zero stood forte bite of frost that hurt and that must be guarded against by the use of mittens ear-flaps warm moccasins and thick socks Fifty degrees below zero was to him just precisely fifty degrees below zero That there should be anything more to it than that was a thought that never entered his head

To Build a FireContinued

Continued on page 62

Stand Up Paddle BoardingWOWSUPIowacom on LiveAds

It is important from time to time to slow down to go away by yourself and simply be --Eileen Caddy

Letrsquos Race13 My son is eight and our family is very active Im just hitting my peak racing age of about 34 years old The family members all support each otherrsquos activities They are a great cheering section when my wife and I compete in races There is a popular two mile fun run in our town that we my wife and I run every year We also have for-fun races with the kids around the house or across the football field For years Ive let the eight year old win a few and others I win by just a little bit I think he is wising up to my tactics of good fatherhood One day he said ldquoDad you are letting me win but I think I can beat you fair and squarerdquo He added ldquoYoursquore not that fast Ill bet you 10 dollars I can beat you in a two mile racerdquo Wanting to teach him a lesson about spouting off and writing checks his body cant cash I took him up on it I said All right you pick a time and place We will race two miles for 10 dollars He replied You know that two mile race you and mom do every year I can race you then I agreed and he quickly added Ill need 20 years to warm-up That would make me 54 and him 28 Irsquom preparing for the loss and putting 10 dollars aside now

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Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

In my first creative experience it was through music and I was interested in developing my values of creativity I was inspired by a band named Motley Crue and the song that captured my interest was Home Sweet home Dear reader what inspires you Is it music or inspirational quote thought or ideas To express how this song motivated my interests it helped give me faith in my own creative abilities in the process I began to write lyrics I eventually began to work on different styles of writing and broaden my writing skills What types of music inspire your creative thoughts What types of other inspiration values inspire your creative thoughts

13 Getting motivated is one of the key aspects of a successful weight-loss program Without this motivation there would be no drive to get up early or to avoid eating unhealthy snacks ndash that you absolutely love Yes you can thank your motivation for that When you are looking for weight-loss motivation sometimes it is hard to find Where can you find that extra umph to make it to your goal

The benefits of finding a motivator are something that cannot be paralleled It has been said mind over matter This coincides with our principle that no matter how hard the task you can accomplish the goal given the right mindset It is important to go into a new weight-loss program with a positive mental attitude

FINDI

NG TH

EM X InspirationX

Motivation

When I was introduced to William Shakespeare I was intrigued by his creative values and I started to work on developing a different aspect of writing I then watched the movie Free Jack there was a quote by Albert Einstein Imagination is more important than knowledge I thought about the in depth values of both concepts and then I applied both concepts and defined different creative concept Do you believe that anything is possible if you believe I know that I do believe that if an individual believes deeply enough one can accomplish their goals I had to believe in my own abilities and in my dreams and ignore the negative values that were impressed by others

Anything less can potentially hinder growth towards your goal

Some of the things that you should be thinking about when looking for motivators are people with good morals and a positive attitude This is because if the people helping you do not have a positive attitude then it is also difficult for you Some great places to look for a motivator are online blogs in the gym or even in your own family I am sure that in all of these places you will see someone else trying to accomplish the same or even more difficult goals than your own

Another key to finding motivation is to let it find you You should not have to go find a reason to go do something You will do it because you wanted to not because you were forced to

X

InspirationMotivation

More simply put motivation will find you because you will see something that inspires you to make a change in yourself That change may be a weight-loss goal or something else Maybe even an academic goal The true key is to maintain that motivation until you have achieved your goal

Regards Vincent ErrichielloUSMS Swimmer

InspirationMotivation

With believing so deeply within my own abilities and the faith that I could accomplish what I set out to achieve I wrote a lyric titled Dreams Are Only Real and in believing in this concept further defining its true meaning the concept became Dreams Are Only Real Until You Dont believe

Jeremy J TaylorCNFI Publishing

himTHROWINGWritten by anonymous contributor

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13 Johnny is not the best batter in our little league Matter-of-fact he is quiet awful At practice one afternoon Johnny hit a pitch really well The coach had pitched him inside on accident far enough inside that it almost hit him Johnny got his hit by using his bat to defend himself from that arrant pitch The coach told him ldquogood hitrdquo and Johnny yelled back ldquoWell I didnrsquot want the ball to hit merdquo13 Johnny improved his batting after that He was hitting the ball almost every time he got up At one point I said to coach ldquoHow did you get Johnny to improve his batting so quicklyrdquo He replyed Im throwing the ball it AT HIM every time

Body image and fitness are hot topics for both men and women The Great Fitness Experiment is my hilarious poignant embarrassing and at times heart-breaking journey to find my way through the morass of contradictory claims and information in todayrsquos health- and fitness-obsessed world

Available in paperback or in eBookVisit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

wwwnorthiafitnesscom on LiveAdsEmail northiowafitnessgmailcom

Phone 641-201-1035Strongest weight loss supplements

on the market

The Fall of Billy Hitchingsby Kirkus MacGowan

Available at Amazon

LOCATED IN ST ANSGAR IOWA

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Letterheads Programs

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Posters Invites (graduation wedding showers etc)

Flyers Brochures

T-ShirtsShorts SweatshirtsSweats

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Bridgette Beyer DesignerOwner

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Black Lab LanyardsSpecializing in customized duck and goose call lanyards for waterfowl enthusiasts

For more information on this productVisit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

FitnessDigestus is now available at

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entryFitnessDigestus

Send u

s yo

ur T

-shi

rt

READE

R T

-shi

rts

13 I was standing on shore fishing in my favorite spot A guy Irsquove never seen at the pond gets in and starts swimming After about 25 minutes of back and forth he stops at a place about 30 yards off shore He gives me a quick look and dices down below the water

His next lap he stops in the same place looks at me again and points down at the water He finished his swim and left I picked up my gear and moved to the other side of the outlet just a few yards from where he had stopped twice Caught a lunker in the first cast

Swim Signs - Lunker

BankersPromotional and Advertising Specialties

Call to order 641ndash423ndash3111

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Black Lab LanyardsSpecializing in customized duck and goose call lanyards for waterfowl enthusiastsCustomized Duck and Goose Call Lanyards

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Fly Fishing Lanyards

Visit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus for more information

TOP TWEETS

Iowa Cubs (IowaCubs)Thanks to all our fans who showed up for the pre-game on-field catch with dad

Louise Pineda (forerunnerGPS)The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficultyWinston Churchill quotes

Softball Darlin (Softball_Darlin)My mom told me our team was gettin white uniforms for summer amp to try not to get them dirty Uh Have you seen me play Not gonna happen

I Swim I Suffer (ISwimISuffer)thatswimmerwho If the water is in your right ear for example then jump on your right leg and lean your head to the right side while jumping

I Swim and I Know It (iSwimWithIssues)During the summer you shower 467 times at the pool 17 times at hotels and 3 times at your house Truth

Everyday Health (WomensCancer)63000 Americans will be diagnosed w malignant melanoma (the deadliest skin cancer) this year Know your risk

US Paralympics (USParalympics)Want to be introduced to Paralympic sport Attend one of the Paralympic Experiences being held throughout the countryFi

tnes

sDig

est

US v

olum

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2

SwimSwam (swimswamnews)Congrats to KenyaSwimmer on being selected to carry the Kenya flag swimswamcom

Better than sharing on a blog Twitter or Facebook and you can share a story even if you donrsquot maintain a social-web presencePublished for ALL FitnessDigestus readers

Sign with your real name pen-name or anonymoushttpLiveMediaFitnessDigestus

13 Funnest thing SPAM about some weight-loss supplements got posted on a friendrsquos Facebook My friend is an ultra-runner I notice there was also an ad for salami recipes on the same page The recipes were right next to the SPAM about diet-pills

13 Letrsquos see ndash it sounds like the beginning of a good joke Q What do you get when a friend tries to sell you ultra-runner endorsed salami-flavored-SPAM diet-pills on Facebook Answer Sick

Unsung Heroes1 Irsquove never swam open water and wanted to do a triathlon A friend that

races open water took extra time to swim with me at a lake I was much more comfortable after that

2 I was going on vacation and needed advice on a place to swim A friend living in the area took the time to help me find people to answer my questions

3 I was over eating and had complained to my friend about it She called me twice a day for three weeks just to remind me to eat healthy

4 I usually run to and from the gym It takes about 30 minutes to run both ways I didnrsquot have enough time to get there and back before a scheduled appointment I had A friend drove me to the gym saving me about 30 minutes I was able to run home and still had time to get to my appointment

SPAM DIET

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Visit the Suburban Mommy blog and learn more about AtresiaMicrotia a birth defect of the inner earFor links to SubMommy blog httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

SUBMOMMYBLOG

On Wednesday May 16 2012 at 7 PM simultaneous rides occurred around the

USA and the world

We all ride Now we can ride as one

One day One time One world world wide

Let the silence roar

322 locations world wide

The Ride of SilenceTonight we number many but ride as one

In honor of those not with us friends

mothers fathers sisters sons

With helmets on tight and heads down low

We ride in silence cautious and slow

The wheels start spinning in the lead pack

But tonight we ride and no one attacks

The dark sunglasses cover our tears

Remembering those we held so dear

Tonights ride is to make others aware

The road is there for all to share

To those not with us or by our side

May God be your partner on your final ride

- Mike Murgas

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 50 states

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 7 Continents

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 0 words spoken

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 1 million memories

Ride of Silence

ldquoCost-effective investments in bicycling boost our economy help individuals and government agencies save money and directly address key societal challenges such as obesity and road congestion In these tough economic times our federal government can only afford to invest in solutions that solve multiple problems Bicycling fits the billrdquo ndash PeopleForBikesorg

This photo collection was taken byRobert LaVallee of Mason City IA

To see his entire collection visithttpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

Non-subscriberSign-up for delivery of

the FREE edition at coopnetbiz

It provides an outstanding aerobic workout in less than half the time we would spend in still water It has allowed us as swim coaches to observe swimmers stroke characteristics up close and to see the effects of fatigue on stroke mechanics ~ Larry L Chazy NY

Swimming is an excellent exercise and now I can swim every day because its so convenient and private I can swim when I want and how long I want Im able to have it at a temperature that is comfortable to me The small size of an Endless Pool enabled me to install a pool where I could not install a regular size one

As an aging baby boomer nutrition professional I have yearned for consistent exercise that doesnt stress joints and will enable me to attain physical fitness cardiovascular health and weight control I can eat what I want and still firm up and lose weight ~ John C Columbus OH

Endless Pools make for long swims in small places The 8x15 Endless Pool is less than regulation size but offers the same benefits as a very large pool ~ Noah H Connecticut Post

The Endless Pool is a great strength builder I am amazed at the strength of the current I now swim against I did not buy it for that reason but because of my arthritis so the strength gain is a wonderful surprise

Endless PoolsTestimonials For more information visit httpLIveAdsFitnessDigestus

s w i m m i n g s h o r t s

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Baseball Walking Stick13 My sons friend grabbed his baseball bat and said to me this is my walking stick I politely ask him why he calls it that He replied because my dad says if I hit a home run with it I donrsquot have to run the bases ndash I can walk

My Bike My mountain bike was stolen a while back and my kids were really upset Ive been riding my road bike in its place Since then Ive been careful to lock my bike up when we go to the park

13 On this occasion I did not lock-up my sonrsquos bike up with mine He looked at me quizzically and said sternly lock my bike up too I tried to explain that his bike was not as expensive and therefor didnt need to be locked up Boy that was a mistake He made me feel a little dumb when he said Dad I dont care how expensive it is Its the only bike Irsquove got

North Iowa Roads

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A LEADER inSearch Engine Optimization

Technology

Increase your visitor page views and Facebook Likes

Are you moving to a new state Already hired your mover

E-mail blind box at box02FitnessDigestus will get

you the best rates on cable phone and internet

Digital Movers

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

parent sports tipBy FitnessDigestus staff writer JGA

PAR

EN

T

TIP

Keeping Kids Focused13 Organize their thoughts Help them prioritize and make decisions based on value Even kids can understand the value of simple non-monetized choices Questions like ldquoShould I finish playing my gameboy game or pause it when they call my swimming eventrdquo

If kids are taught to make good decisions and not just find quick answers everyone wins

AugustGolf Month5th Friendship Day15th Relaxation Day25th Kiss and Make Up Day31st Trail Mix DaySeptemberLittle League Month12th Chocolate Milk Shake Day13th Positive Thinking Day16th Womenrsquos Friendship Day21st Miniature Golf DayOctoberBreast Cancer Awareness MonthNational Diabetes Month1st World Vegetarian Day4th Golf Day25th World Pasta Day

National Calendar

Au

gu

stSe

pte

mb

er

Oc

tob

er

Encourage friendships writing skills sharing thoughts and

experiencesEight different cards

YAGOTTAWANNA

Variety of pricing From single orders to bulk orders of 24 notecards

Learn more online

Stay in touch with your swimming or triathlon buddies

It is better to be safe then to try to beat the heat There are many options to stay cool and run during a hot-summer day Staying inside and running on the treadmill is a good one Remember staying safe is a top priority

Most workouts can be modified to work indoors This issuersquos workout is to do your usual run or interval set just stay inside and run it on the treadmill Visualize the different landmarks to see during your outdoor run

Coach Millerrsquos Quarterly ChallengeStay safe in the heatBy Mark Miller mmillerFitnessDigestus

A few years back we had a hot-spell similar to this yearrsquos record heat

I remember training for a long run and having to stop at the local swimming hole to cool off I literally took off my

shoes and jumped in with my running clothes on I was so hot

FitnessDigestUSEntertainment amp Inspiration

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OPEN WATER SWIMMING BY THE NUMBERS

In kilometers The shortest open water race included in the Fina World Championships

10107 How many miles it

is to swim from Cuba to the USA

5

1000Number of swimming strokes in a mile for a typical swimmer

31800About the number of calories it takes to swim 100 miles

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andor design for you

The minimum open water distance in kilometers that is considered a swimming-

marathon

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Open water safety means swimming in shallow water where there is a lifeguard or using an escort

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s w i m m i n g s h o r t s

Googles

13 Swimming fans can really appreciate a 200 IM when their goggles fill with water How about an Olympian Swimming a leg of the 400 Free Relay with his goggles across his opened mouth ndash and going 45rsquos A great team swimmer an Olympian wouldnrsquot let down his teammates by throwing them off or fixing them

500 Fly13 A world class butterflyer asked if he could swim butterfly in the 500 yard freestyle during a dual meet His goal was to break five minutes After considering the competition it seemed like a great way to make him really work a hard fly swim so we agreed Problem was he swam a 502 and the opposing coach complained to the officials because he embarrassed his swimmers Oh well you canrsquot win lsquoem all

Stories sent in by Robert Steele

No-No-No13 The other morning I was teaching front-streamlines to snotty nosed 8 year olds (some are literally snotty-nosed) One boy was taking a big gulp of air and holding his breath When he lifted his head he had to exhale and inhale before submerging again Swimmers will understand this does not work very well Kids need to learn to exhale underwater The first time he did it I told him to exhale underwater The second time I stopped him looked him in the eye and reminded him to exhale underwater The third and fourth times I started to get a little frustrated ldquoJohnny you need to exhale underwater so you can breath betterrdquo The fifth time as his head popped up for a breath I quickly asked ldquoJohnny Do you even know what exhale meansrdquo as he submerged his head below the water I could see him shake his head no-no-no

Favorite Potato Chips13We try to limit the junk food the kids eat at our house For lunch one day our son wanted some potato chips I gave him 3 large chips with his sandwich He started to cry and said he wanted one more chip ldquoI wanted four chipsrdquo he screamed I took the plate back When he wasnt looking I broke a chip in half and give it back to him with four chips

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

13 My cancer story is one of uniqueness Leave it to me to do something like cancer to its fullest It did not begin with a mammogram diagnosis or a lump My journey began about 4 years ago with some suspicious activity that turned into Pagetrsquos disease of the nipple which signaled the underlying cancer On April 1st I found out about my breast cancer through a biopsy that came back as positive for Pagetrsquos disease The onslaught of tests learning and decisions were dizzying I immediately went for an evaluation of the suspicious tissue and had to begin making decisions for my mastectomy I quickly learned there is a test called the BRAC Analysis which is a genetic test for breast and ovarian cancer Finally a piece of good news for me I did not have the gene

Decisions Now it was time to make decisions about my mastectomy and how I was going to handle reconstruction I discussed my options with my boyfriend Brian friends family members and even my principalboss I read books searched the Internet and contacted people I

Brandi ShipmanCancer Survivor and elite triathlete

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

know and knew from my past that had been directly affected and that I thought might have answers for me The outpouring of love encouragement and help during this process was overwhelming After meeting with four different doctors two surgeons and two plastic surgeons I decided to go with immediate reconstruction and was lucky enough to find two wonderful doctors They were willing to work together just because I wanted them to even though they had never done so before My surgery was scheduled for mid May

Mental Toughness13 My mental preparation at this point was very important I had to scrap any idea of competing in triathlons for the rest of the year and focus on a positive attitude of getting better I stopped thinking about what I wasnrsquot going to able to do and started thinking about what I could do that I was alive and kept my mind on the fact that so many others had made it before me

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links

Part 213 I was prepared by the doctors survivors and literature to be ldquodownrdquo for several weeks after my surgery I even took the rest of the school year off My surgery went well and I was out of the hospital the next day A few friends came to visit while I was in the hospital and my principal and vice principal brought the most wonderful picture of the faculty wearing pink for me I can only imagine what it looked like at Thornton Elementary on that day in May 2009 a sea of pink all for Brandi Shipman Shortly after their visit I received a text from my friend Margie Massey My friends from the gym wore pink for me that day as well The support brought tears to my eyes I was so excited to come home and be comfortable in my own home I just wish the stupid drain that was attached could have stayed at the hospital The pain from that was worse than the pain from the mastectomy

the most

powerful picture

13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Recovery ndash May13 Once I got home I slept and watched a lot of TV Friends visited and brought yummy food and my favorites I am not supposed to eat I ate them all My friend and co-worker set up a cancer care calendar that alerted anyone who logged on when I was having a doctorrsquos appointment or when I was in need of anything I felt like royalty as everyone took care of me I think Brian secretly enjoyed the fact that he wouldnrsquot have to cook for me each night My recovery was quicker than I thought as I was doing my best to get better and get the stinkinrsquo drain out of my skin I was out walking within a week and running within 3 weeks I couldnrsquot believe my recovery I know it was from all the prayers love and good care from Brian and the loved ones around me Life was looking better each day

ldquoLife was looking

better each dayrdquo

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Part three and part

four of I am Survivor

will be published in

the next edition of

FitnessDigestus

Get the convenience of

digital-delivery

Sign-up or subscribe at

httpFitnessDigestus

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During the past 150 years we have witnessed many remarkable advances against cancer a disease known to humanity for thousands of years The advances highlighted below represent a sampling of what has been accomplished to date

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

1882 William Halsted performs the first radical mastectomy to treat breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast the lymph nodes under the arm (axillary lymph nodes) and the chest muscles behind the breast (pectoralis major and pectoralis minor muscles) are removed Radical mastectomy will remain the standard operation for breast cancer until latter half of the 20th century when the use of modified radical mastectomy becomes widely accepted

1932 David H Patey develops the modified radical mastectomy for breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast axillary lymph nodes and pectoralis minor muscle behind the breast are removed The modified radical mastectomy is less disfiguring than the radical mastectomy and will eventually replace the radical mastectomy as a standard treatment option for breast cancer

1953 James Watson and Francis Crick discover the molecular structure of DNA (the double helix)

1963 The Health Insurance Plan (HIP) of Greater New York Study begins HIP is the first randomized controlled trial of periodic breast cancer screening with mammography

1882

1932

1953

1963

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1976 The results of a randomized clinical trial show that women with early breast cancer who receive post-operative (adjuvant) combination chemotherapy with the drugs cyclophosphamide methotrexate and 5-FU have improved disease-free survival

1981 A randomized clinical trial in the United Kingdom shows for the first time that the rates of survival local recurrence and tumor metastasis among women whose breast cancer is treated with modified radical mastectomy are not substantially different from those of women who are treated with radical mastectomy

1993 An NCI-convened international workshop on screening for breast cancer reports that screening with mammography reduces breast cancer mortality among women ages 50-69 This conclusion is based on a review of published and unpublished data from eight randomized controlled trials

2004 Data from the Womens Health Initiative (WHI) study show that women who take estrogen in combination with the hormone progestin have a greater risk of developing breast cancer than women who take estrogen alone The results also show that menopausal hormone therapy with estrogen alone has no benefit in disease prevention specifically in reducing the risks of colorectal cancer coronary heart disease and dementia

1976

1981

1993

2004

Although we still have a long way to go to reduce the toll of cancer in the United States and worldwide our research and public health efforts are beginning to pay dividends

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

Volunteering vs Participating13 My girl friend and I are involved in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation The local chapter raises awareness for the cause with a fun-run each year We have volunteered to help with the race five years in a row This year we were stationed at a water table where the runners pick-up cups of water to drink Toward the end of the race there are very few runners There was a little time to chat about things We were talking about what we would wish for if we could have three wishes I told her I would wish for an end to Juvenile Diabetes and to lose 10 pounds Being nice I said ldquoyou can have my last wishrdquo She said I wish you would skip volunteering and just run this race next year

Admission Price Our aquatic center was having a promotion one night and advertised an elementary school night The kids could swim for free When we got to the pool we saw a promotional sign for the event In small lettering it read All swimmers must be accompanied by an adult We thought no big deal one of us can just stay and watch When we got to the front desk we found the lifeguard was enforcing the adult-admission price of $8

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CNFI Publishing - Products Books Chapbooks Bookmarks Plaques and Poetry Collector Cards Merchandising Products Coffee Mugs Mouse Pads Tiles 3x6 Coasters T - Shirts and Wall Plaques More info athttpliveadsFitnessDigestus

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

Featured PhotosFitnessDigestus feature

Chicago open water swim course at nighttop left

Kids race at Bicycle Blues and BBQtop right

Some team members volunteer at the local soup kitchenmiddle right

Ken Mauer loads the balls for hitting practice during a Twins baseball camp for

children 7-13 bottom right

Get your local event photos published in the next issue of FitnessDigestus E-mail

your photo to photoFitnessDigestus

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As he turned to go on he spat speculatively There was a sharp explosive crackle that startled him He spat again And again in the air before it could fall to the snow the spittle crackled He knew that at fifty below spittle crackled on the snow but this spittle had crackled in the air Undoubtedly it was colder than fifty below--how much colder he did not know But the temperature did not matter He was bound for the old claim on the left fork of Henderson Creek where the boys were already They had come over across the divide from the Indian Creek country while he had come the roundabout way to take a look at the possibilities of getting out logs in the spring from the islands in the Yukon He would be in to camp by six oclock a bit after dark it was true but the boys would be there a fire would be going and a hot supper would be ready As for lunch he pressed his hand against the protruding bundle under his jacket It was also under his shirt wrapped up in a handkerchief and lying against the naked skin It was the only way to keep the biscuits from freezing He smiled agreeably to himself as he thought of those biscuits each cut open and sopped in bacon grease and each enclosing a generous slice of fried bacon

He plunged in among the big spruce trees The trail was faint A foot of snow had fallen since the last sled had passed over and he was glad he was without a sled traveling light In fact he carried nothing but the lunch wrapped in the handkerchief He was surprised however at the cold It certainly was cold he concluded as he rubbed his numb nose and cheek-bones with his mittened hand He was a warm-whiskered man but the hair on his face did not protect the high cheek-bones and the eager nose that thrust itself aggressively into the frosty air

At the mans heels trotted a dog a big native husky the proper wolf-dog gray-coated and without any visible or temperamental difference from its brother the wild wolf The animal was depressed by the tremendous cold It knew that it was no time for

traveling Its instinct told it a truer tale than was told to the man by the mans judgment In reality it was not merely colder than fifty below zero it was colder than sixty below than seventy below It was seventy-five below zero Since the freezing point is thirty-two above zero it meant that one hundred and seven degrees of frost obtained The dog did not know anything about thermometers Possibly in its brain there was no sharp consciousness of a condition of very cold such as was in the mans brain But the brute had its instinct It experienced a vague but menacing apprehension that subdued it then made it slink along at the mans heels and that made it question eagerly every unwonted movement of the man as if expecting him to go into camp or to seek shelter somewhere and build a fire The dog had learned fire and it wanted fire or else to burrow under the snow and cuddle its warmth away from the air

The frozen moisture of its breathing had settled on its fur in a fine powder of frost and especially were its jowls muzzle and eyelashes whitened by its cry-stalled breath The mans red beard and mustache were likewise frosted but more solidly the deposit taking the form of ice and increasing with every warm moist breath he exhaled Also the man was chewing tobacco and the muzzle of ice held his lips so rigidly that he was unable to clear his chin when he expelled the juice The result was that a crystal beard of the color and solidity of amber was increasing its length on his chin If he fell down it would shatter itself like glass into brittle fragments But he did not mind the appendage It was the penalty all tobacco-chewers paid in that country and he had been out before in two cold snaps They had not been so cold as this he knew but by the spirit thermometer at Sixty Mile he knew they had been registered at fifty below and at fifty-five

He held on through the level stretch of woods for several miles crossed a wide flat of rigger-heads and dropped down a bank to the frozen bed of a

To Build a FireContinued

small stream This was Henderson Creek and he knew he was ten miles from the forks He looked at his watch It was ten oclock He was making four miles an hour and he calculated that he would arrive at the forks at half-past twelve He decided to celebrate that event by eating his lunch there

The dog dropped in again at his heels with a tail drooping discouragement as the man swung along the creek-bed The furrow of the old sled-trail was plainly visible but a dozen inches of snow covered the marks of the last runners In a month no man had come up or down that silent creek The man held steadily on He was not much given to thinking and just then particularly he had nothing to think about save that he would eat lunch at-the forks and that at six oclock he would be in camp with the boys There was nobody to talk to and had there been speech would have been impossible because of the ice-muzzle on his mouth So he continued monotonously to chew tobacco and to increase the length of his amber beard

Once in a while the thought reiterated itself that it was very cold and that he had never experienced such cold As he walked along he rubbed his cheek-bones and nose with the back of his mittened hand He did this automatically now and again changing hands But rub as he would the instant he stopped his cheek-bones went numb and the following instant the end of his nose went numb He was sure to frost his cheeks he knew that and experienced a pang of regret that he had not devised a nose-strap of the sort Bud wore in cold snaps Such a strap passed across the cheeks as well and saved them But it didnt matter much after all What were frosted cheeks A bit painful that was all they were never serious

Empty as the mans mind was of thoughts he was keenly observant and he noticed the changes in the creek the curves and bends and timber jams and always he sharply noted where he placed his feet Once coming around a bend he shied abruptly

like a startled horse curved away from the place where he had been walking and retreated several paces back along the trail The creek he knew was frozen clear to the bottom--no creek could contain water in that arctic winter--but he knew also that there were springs that bubbled out from the hillsides and ran along under the snow and on top the ice of the creek He knew that the coldest snaps never froze these springs and he knew likewise their danger They were traps They hid pools of water under the snow that might be three inches deep or three feet Sometimes a skin of ice half an inch thick covered them and in turn was covered by the snow Sometimes there were alternate layers of water and ice-skin so that when one broke through he kept on breaking through for a while sometimes wetting himself to the waist

That was why he had shied in such panic He had felt the give under his feet and heard the crackle of a snow-hidden ice-skin And to get his feet wet in such a temperature meant trouble and danger At the very least it meant delay for he would be forced to stop and build a fire and under its protection to bare his feet while he dried his socks and moccasins He stood and studied the creek-bed and its banks and decided that the flow of water came from the right He reflected a while rubbing his nose and cheeks then skirted to the left stepping gingerly and testing the footing for each step Once clear of the danger he took a fresh chew of tobacco and swung along at his four-mile gait

In the course of the next two hours he came upon several similar traps Usually the snow above the hidden pools had a sunken candied appearance that advertised the danger Once again however he had a close call and once suspecting danger he compelled the dog to go on in front The dog did not want to go It hung back until the man shoved it forward and then it went quickly across the white unbroken surface Suddenly it broke through floundered to one side and got away to firmer

To Build a FireContinued

To Build a FireContinued

footing It had wet its forefeet and legs and almost immediately the water that clung to it turned to ice It made quick efforts to lick the ice off its legs then dropped down in the snow and began to bite out the ice that had formed between the toes l his was a matter of instinct To permit the ice to remain would mean sore feet It did not know this It merely obeyed the mysterious prompting that arose from the deep crypts of its being But the man knew having achieved a judgment on the subject and he removed the mitten from his right hand and helped tear out the ice-particles He did not expose his fingers more than a minute and was astonished at the swift numbness that smote them It certainly was cold He pulled on the mitten hastily and beat the hand savagely across his chest

At twelve oclock the day was at its brightest Yet the sun was too far south an its winter journey to clear the horizon The bulge of the earth intervened between it arid Henderson Creek where the man walked under a clear sky at noon and cast no shadow At half-past twelve to the minute he arrived at the forks of the creek He was pleased at the speed he had made If he kept it up he would certainly be with the boys by six He unbuttoned his jacket and shirt and drew forth his lunch The action consumed no more than a quarter of a minute yet in that brief moment the numbness laid hold of the exposed fingers He did not put the mitten on but instead struck the fingers a dozen sharp smashes against his leg Then he sat down on a snow-covered log to eat The sting that followed upon the striking of his fingers against his leg ceased so quickly that he was startled He had had no chance to take a bite of biscuit He struck the fingers repeatedly and returned them to the mitten baring the other hand for the purpose of eating He tried to take a mouthful but the ice-muzzle prevented He had forgotten to build a fire and thaw out He chuckled at his foolishness and as he chuckled he noted the numbness creeping into the exposed fingers Also he noted that the stinging which had first come to his

toes when he sat down was already passing away He wandered whether the toes were warm or numb He moved them inside the moccasins and decided that they were numb

He pulled the mitten on hurriedly and stood up He was a bit frightened He stamped up and down until the stinging returned into the feet It certainly was cold was his thought That man from Sulphur Creek had spoken the truth when telling how cold it sometimes got in the country And he had laughed at him at the time That showed one must not be too sure of things There was no mistake about it it was cold He strode up and down stamping his feet and threshing his arms until reassured by the returning warmth Then he got out matches and proceeded to make a fire From the undergrowth where high water of the previous spring had lodged a supply of seasoned twigs he got his firewood Working carefully from a small beginning he soon had a roaring fire over which he thawed the ice from his face and in the protection of which he ate his biscuits For the moment the cold space was outwitted The dog took satisfaction in the fire stretching out close enough for warmth and far enough away to escape being singed

When the man had finished be filled his pipe and took his comfortable time over a smoke Then he pulled on his mittens settled the ear-flaps of his cap firmly about his ears and took the creek trail up the left fork The dog was disappointed and yearned back toward the fire This man did not know cold Possibly all the generations of his ancestry had been ignorant of cold of real cold of cold one hundred and seven degrees below freezing point But the dog knew all its ancestry knew and it had inherited the knowledge And it knew that it was not good to walk abroad in such fearful cold It was the time to lie snug in a hole in the snow and wait for a curtain of cloud to be drawn across the face of outer space whence this cold came On the other hand there was no keen intimacy between the dog and the man

The one was the toil-slave of the other and the only caresses it had ever received were the caresses of the whiplash and of harsh and menacing throat-sounds that threatened the whiplash So the dog made no effort to communicate its apprehension to the man It was not concerned in the welfare of the man it was for its own sake that it yearned back toward the fire But the man whistled and spoke to it with the sound of whiplashes and the dog swung in at the mans heel and followed after

The man took a chew of tobacco and proceeded to start a new amber beard Also his moist breath quickly powdered with white his mustache eyebrows and lashes There did not seem to be so many springs on the left fork of the Henderson and for half an hour the man saw no signs of any And then it happened At a place where there were no signs where the soft unbroken snow seemed to advertise solidity beneath tee man broke through It was not deep He wet himself halfway to the knees before he floundered out to the firm crust

He was angry and cursed his luck aloud He had hoped to get into camp with the boys at six oclock and this would delay him an hour for he would have to build a fire and dry out his foot-gear This was imperative at that low temperature--he knew that much and he turned aside to the bank which he climbed On top tangled in the underbrush about the trunks of several small spruce trees was a high-water deposit of dry firewood--sticks and twigs principally but also larger portions of seasoned branches and fine dry last-years grasses He threw down several large pieces on top of the snow This served for a foundation and prevented the young flame from drowning itself in the snow it otherwise would melt The flame he got by touching a match to a small shred of birch bark that he took from his pocket This burned even more readily than paper Placing it on the foundation he fed the young flame with wisps of dry grass and with the tiniest dry twigs

He worked slowly and carefully keenly aware of his danger Gradually as the flame grew stronger he increased the size of the twigs with which he fed it He squatted in the snow pulling the twigs out from their entanglement in the brush and feeding directly to the flame He knew there must be no failure When it is seventy-five below zero a man must not fail in his first attempt to build a fire--that is if his feet are wet If his feet are dry and he fails he can run along the trail for half a mile and restore his circulation But the circulation of wet and freezing feet cannot be restored by running when it is seventy-five below No matter how fast he runs the wet feet will freeze the harder

All this the man knew The old-timer on Sulphur Creek had told him about it the previous fall and now he was appreciating the advice Already all sensation had gone out of his feet To build the fire he had been forced to remove his mittens and the fingers had quickly gone numb His pace of four miles an hour had kept his heart pumping blood to the surface of his body and to all the extremities But the instant he stopped the action of the pump eased down The cold of space smote the unprotected tip of the planet and he being on that unprotected tip received the full force of the blow The blood of his body recoiled before it The blood was alive like the dog and like the dog it wanted to hide away and cover itself up from the fearful cold So long as he walked four miles an hour he pumped that blood willy-nilly to the surface but now it ebbed away and sank down into the recesses of his body The extremities were the first to feel its absence His wet feet froze the faster and his exposed fingers numbed the faster though they had not yet begun to freeze Nose and cheeks were already freezing while the skin of all his body chilled as it lost its blood

But he was safe Toes and nose and cheeks would be only touched by the frost for the fire was beginning to burn with strength He was feeding it

To Build a FireContinued

with twigs the size of his finger In another minute he would be able to feed it with branches the size of his wrier and then he could remove his wet toot-gear and while it dried he could keep his naked feet warm by the fire rubbing them at first of course with snow The fire was a success He was safe He remembered the advice of the old timer on Sulphur Creek and smiled The old-timer had been very serious in laying down the law that no man must travel alone in the Klondike after fifty below Well here he was he had had the accident he was alone and he had saved himself Those old-timers were rather womanish some of them he thought All a man had to do was to keep his head and he was all right Any man who was a man could travel alone But it was surprising the rapidity with which his cheeks and nose were freezing And he had not thought his fingers could go lifeless in so short a time Lifeless they were for he could scarcely make them move together to grip a twig and they seemed remote from his body and from him When he touched a twig he had to look and see whether or not he had hold of it The wires were pretty well down between him and his finger-ends

All of which counted for little There was the fire snapping and crackling and promising life with every dancing flame He started to untie his moccasins They were coated with ice the thick German socks were like sheaths of iron halfway to the knees and the moccasin strings were like rods of steel all twisted and knotted as by some conflagration For a moment he tugged with his numb fingers then realizing the folly of it he drew his sheath-knife

But before he could cut the strings it happened It was his own fault or rather his mistake He should not have built the fire under the spruce tree He should have built it in the open But it had been easier to pull the twigs from the brush and drop them directly on the fire Now the tree under which

he had done this carried a weight of snow on its boughs No wind had blown for weeks and each bough was fully freighted Each time he had pulled a twig he had communicated a slight agitation to the tree--an imperceptible agitation so far as he was concerned but an agitation sufficient to bring about the disaster High up in the tree one bough capsized its load of snow This fell on the boughs beneath capsizing them This process continued spreading out and involving the whole tree It grew like an avalanche and it descended without warning upon the man and the fire and the fire was blotted out Where it had burned was a mantle of fresh and disordered snow

The man was shocked It was as though he had just heard his own sentence of death For a moment he sat and stared at the spot where the fire had been Then he grew very calm Perhaps the old-timer on Sulphur Creek was right If he had only had a trail-mate he would have been in no danger now The trail-mate could have built the fire Well it was up to him to build the fire over again and this second time there must be no failure Even if he succeeded he would most likely lose some toes His feet must be badly frozen by now and there would be some time before the second fire Was ready

Such were his thoughts but he did not sit and think them He was busy all the time they were passing through his mind He made a new foundation for a fire this time in the open where no treacherous tree could blot it out Next he gathered dry grasses and tiny twigs from the high-water flotsam He could not bring his fingers together to pull them out but he was able to gather them by the handful In this way he got many rotten twigs and bits of green moss that were undesirable but it was the best he could do He worked methodically even collecting an armful of the larger branches to be used later when the fire gathered strength And all the while the dog sat and watched him a certain yearning wistfulness in its eyes for it looked upon

To Build a FireContinued

him as the fire-provider and the fire was slow in coming

When all was ready the man reached in his pocket for a second piece of birch bark He knew the bark was there and though he could not feel it with his fingers he could hear its crisp rustling as he fumbled for it Try as he would he could not clutch hold of it And all the time in his consciousness was the knowledge that each instant his feet were freezing This thought tended to put him in a panic but he fought against it and kept calm He pulled on his mittens with his teeth and threshed his arms back and forth beating his hands with all his might against his sides He did this sitting down and he stood up to do it and all the while the dog sat in the snow its wolf-brush of a tail curled around warmly over its forefeet its sharp wolf-ears pricked forward intently as it watched the man And the man as he beat and threshed with his arms and hands felt a great surge of envy as he regarded the creature that was warm ant secure in its natural covering

After a time he was aware of the first far-away signals of sensation in his beaten fingers The faint tingling grew stronger till it evolved into a stinging ache that was excruciating but which the man hailed with satisfaction He stripped the mitten from his right hand and fetched forth the birch bark The exposed fingers were quickly going numb again Next he brought out his bunch of sulphur matches But the tremendous cold had already driven the life out of his fingers In his effort to separate one match from the others the whole bunch fell in the snow He tried to pick it out of the snow but failed The dead fingers could neither touch nor clutch He was very careful He drove the thought of his freezing feet and nose and cheeks out of his mind devoting his whole soul to the matches He watched using the sense of vision in place of that of touch and when he saw his fingers on each side the bunch he dosed them--that is he willed to close them for the wires were down and the fingers did not obey He pulled

the mitten on the right hand and beat it fiercely against his knee Then with both mittened hands he scooped the bunch of matches along with much snow into his lap Yet he was no better off

After some manipulation he managed to get the bunch between the heels of his mittened hands In this fashion he carried it to his mouth The ice crackled and snapped when by a violent effort he opened his mouth He drew the lower jaw in curled the upper lip out of the way and scraped the bunch with his upper teeth in order to separate a match He succeeded in getting one which he dropped on his lap He was no better off He could not pick it up Then he devised a way He picked it up in his teeth and scratched it on his leg Twenty times he scratched before he succeeded in lighting it As it flamed he held it with his teeth to the birch bark But the burning brimstone went up his nostrils and into his lungs causing him to cough spasmodically The match fell into the snow and went out

The old-timer an Sulphur Creek was right he thought in the moment of controlled despair that ensued after fifty below a man should travel with a partner He beat his hands but failed in exciting any sensation Suddenly he bared both hands removing the mittens with his teeth He caught the whole bunch between the heels of his hands His arm muscles not being frozen enabled him to press the hand-heels tightly against the matches Then he scratched the bunch along his leg It flared into flame seventy sulphur matches at once There was no wind to blow them out He kept his head to one side to escape the strangling fumes and held the blazing bunch to the birth bark As he so held it he became aware of sensation in his hand His flesh was burning He could smell it Deep down below the surface he could feel it The sensation developed into pain that grew acute And still he endured it holding the flame of the matches clumsily to the bark that would not light readily because his own burning hands were in the way absorbing most of the flame

To Build a FireContinued

At last when he could endure no more he jerked his hands apart The blazing matches fell sizzling into the snow but the birch bark was alight He began laying dry grasses and the tiniest twigs on the flame He could not pick and choose for he had to lift the fuel between the heels of his hands Small pieces of rotten wood and green moss clung to the twigs and he bit them off as well as he could with his teeth He cherished the flame carefully and awkwardly It meant life and it must not perish The withdrawal of blood from the surface of his body now made him begin to shiver and he grew more awkward A large piece of green moss fell squarely on the little fire He tried to poke it out with his fingers but his shivering frame made him poke too far and he disrupted the nucleus of the little fire the burning grasses and tiny twigs separating and scattering He tried to poke them together again but in spite of the tenseness of the effort his shivering got away with him and the twigs were hopelessly scattered Each twig gushed a puff of smoke and went out The fire-provider had failed As he looked apathetically about him his eyes chanced on the dog sitting across the ruins of the fire from him in the snow making restless hunching movements slightly lifting one forefoot and then the other shifting its weight back and forth on them with wistful eagerness

The sight of the dog put a wild idea into his head He remembered the tale of the man caught in a blizzard who killed a steer and crawled inside the carcass and so was saved He would kill the dog and bury his hands in the warm body until the numbness went out of them Then he could build another fire He spoke to the dog calling it to him but in his voice was a strange note of fear that frightened the animal who had never known the man to speak in such way before Something was the matter and its suspicious nature sensed danger--it knew not what danger but somewhere somehow in its brain arose an apprehension of the man It flattened its ears down at the sound of the mans voice and its restless

hunching movements and the liftings and shiftings of its forefeet became more pronounced but it would not come to the man He got on his hands and knees and crawled toward the dog This unusual posture again excited suspicion and the animal sidled mincingly away

The man sat up in the snow for a moment and struggled for calmness Then he pulled on his mittens by means of his teeth and got upon his feet He glanced down at first in order to assure himself that he was really standing up for the absence of sensation in his feet left him unrelated to the earth His erect position in itself started to drive the webs of suspicion from the dogs mind and when he spoke peremptorily with the sound of whiplashes in his voice the dog rendered its customary allegiance and came to him As it came within reaching distance the man lost his control His arms flashed out to the dog and he experienced genuine surprise when he discovered that his hands could not clutch that there was neither bend nor feeling in the fingers He had forgotten for the moment that they were frozen and that they were freezing more and more All this happened quickly and before the animal could get away he encircled its body with his arms He sat down in the snow and in this fashion held the dog while it snarled and whined and struggled

But it was all he could do hold its body encircled in his arms and sit there He realized that he could not kill the dog There was no way to do it With his helpless hands he could neither draw nor hold his sheath knife nor throttle the animal He released it and it plunged wildly away with tail between its legs and still snarling It halted forty feet away and surveyed him curiously with ears sharply pricked forward The man looked down at his hands in order to locate them and found them hanging on the ends of his arms It struck him as curious that one should have to use his eyes in order to find out where his hands were He began threshing his arms back and forth beating the mittened hands against

To Build a FireContinued

his sides He did this for five minutes violently and his heart pumped enough blood up to the surface to put a stop to his shivering But no sensation was aroused in the hands He had an impression that they hung like weights on the ends of his arms but when he tried to run the impression down he could not find it

A certain fear of death dull and oppressive came to him This fear quickly became poignant as he realized that it was no longer a mere matter of freezing his fingers and toes or of losing his hands and feet but that it was a matter of life and death with the chances against him This threw him into a panic and he turned and ran up the creek-bed along the old dim trail The dog joined in behind and kept up with him He ran blindly without intention in fear such as he had never known in his life Slowly as he plowed and floundered through the snow he began to see things again the banks of the creek the old timber-jams the leafless aspens and the sky The running made him feel better He did not shiver Maybe if he ran on his feet would thaw out and anyway if he ran far enough he would reach camp and the boys Without doubt he would lose some fingers and toes and some of his face but the boys would take care of him and save the rest of him when he got there And at the same time there was another thought in his mind that said he would never get to the camp and the boys that it was too many miles away that the freezing had too great a start on him and that he would soon be stiff and dead This thought he kept in the background and refused to consider Sometimes it pushed itself forward and demanded to be heard but he thrust it back and strove to think of other things

It struck him as curious that he could run at all on feet so frozen that he could not feel them when they struck the earth and took the weigh of his body He seemed to himself to skim along above the surface and to have no connection with the earth Somewhere he had once seen a winged Mercury

and he wondered if Mercury felt as he felt when skimming over the earth

His theory of running until he reached camp and the boys had one flaw in it he lacked the endurance Several times he stumbled and finally he tottered crumpled up and fell When he tried to rise he failed He must sit and rest he decided and next time he would merely walk and keep on going As he sat and regained his breath he noted that he was feeling quite warm and comfortable He was not shivering and it even seemed that a warm glow had come to his chest and trunk And yet when he touched his nose or cheeks there was no sensation Running would not thaw them out Nor would it thaw out his hands and feet Then the thought came to him that the frozen portions of his body must be extending He tried to keep this thought down to forget it to think of something else he was aware of the panicky feeling that it caused and he was afraid of the panic But the thought asserted itself and persisted until it produced a vision of his body totally frozen This was too much and he made another wild run along the trail Once he slowed down to a walk but the thought of the freezing extending itself made him run again

And all the time the dog ran with him at his heels When he fell down a second time it curled its tad over its forefeet and sat in front of him facing him curiously eager and intent The warmth and security of the animal angered him and he cursed it till it flattened down its ears appealingly This time the shivering came more quickly upon the man He was losing in his battle with the frost It was creeping into his body from all sides The thought of it drove him on but he ran no more than a hundred feet when he staggered and pitched headlong It was his last panic When he had recovered his breath and control he sat up and entertained in his mind the conception of meeting death with dignity However the conception did not come to him in such terms His idea of it was that he had been making a fool of

To Build a FireContinued

himself running around like a chicken with its head cut off--such was the simile that occurred to him Well he was bound to freeze anyway and he might as well take it decently With this new-found peace of mind came the first glimmerings of drowsiness A good idea he thought to sleep off to death It was like salting an anesthetic Freezing was not so bad as people thought There were lots worse ways to die

He pictured the boys finding his body next day Suddenly he found himself with them coming along the trail and looking for himself And still with them he came around a turn in the trail and found himself lying in the snow He did not belong with himself any more for even then he was out of himself standing with the boys and looking at himself in the snow It certainly was cold was his thought When he got back to the States he could tell the folks what real cold was He drifted on from this to a vision of the old-timer on Sulphur Creek He could see him quite clearly warm and comfortable and smoking a pipe

You were right old boss you were right the man mumbled to the old-timer of Sulphur Creek

Then the man drowsed off into what seemed to him the most comfortable and satisfying sleep he had ever known The dog sat facing him and waiting The brief day drew to a close in a long slow twilight There were no signs of a fire to be made and besides never in the dogs experience had it known a man to sit like that in the snow and make no fire As the twilight drew on its eager yearning for the fire mastered it and with a great lifting and shifting of forefeet it whined softly then flattened its ears down in anticipation of being chidden by the man But the man remained silent Later the dog whined loudly And still later it crept close to the man and caught the scent of death This made the animal bristle and back away A little longer it delayed howling under the stars that leaped and danced and shone brightly in the cold sky Then it turned and trotted up the trail in the direction of the camp it knew where were the other food-providers and fire-providers

To Build a FireContinued

Blogs can be a lot of work to maintainTwitter only gives you 140 characters

Facebook is just your friends

Now you can share a story no matter your social-web status

Stories are published for ALL FitnessDigestus readers Archived professionally and digitally in thousands of libraries

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Page 11: FitnessDigest.us Vol. 4.3 Cover

As a teenager I chose golf in high school as a sport rather than track Golfing meant enjoying a bag of chips and a can a soda while on the course Running was something I dreaded in school I used to plan how I could get out of the mile run for weeks when I knew it was almost fitness test time Now as a 31 year old stay at home mom I am running 10Ks and have a goal of completing four sprint triathlons in 2012 as well as many other 5Ks and 10Ks My five year goal is to complete an Ironman triathlon

13 Over the course of the last three years I have changed many aspects of my life I earned a Masterrsquos Degree in Education from Iowa State University I left a career as a Director of Special Education in a local school district to become a stay at home mom ndash with my two beautiful girls This change was prompted by a health scare in 2009 I was hospitalized for many days with meningitis and realized life was just too short

13 In 2011 while nursing my 4 month old my sister in law invited me to go with her to Weight Watchers I joined the next day for what was probably the 8th time but this time was different I made my goal and am a lifetime member I lost 43lbs and am healthy for the first time in my life I have Crohnrsquos Disease and am no longer taking any medications and no longer suffering the symptoms associated with the disease

In August of 2011 our hometown hero a Navy Seal was killed in action He was a huge inspiration to many people but after his death I was inspired to make a difference in our community and live my life differently He was a triathlete that had tackled the big daddy of them all and became an Ironman Realizing what he gave up so that we may have freedom inspired me to

Favo

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Kale

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Rice

Cak

es w

ith A

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Givingit aTri

FitnessDigestus columnist Jen Schmitt Rockford Iowa

Men

ingi

tis

13 In 2011 while nursing my four month old my sister in law invited me to go with her to Weight Watchers I joined the next day for what was probably the eigth time but this time was different They helped me make my goal and I became a lifetime member I lost 43lbs and Irsquom healthy for the first time in my life I also have Crohnrsquos Disease and no longer take medications nor do I suffer with the symptoms associated with the disease

13 In August of 2011 our hometown hero a Navy Seal was killed in action He was a huge inspiration to many people After his death I was inspired to make a difference in our community and to live my life differently He was a triathlete that had tackled the big daddy of them all ndash an Ironman Realizing what he gave up so that we may have freedom inspired me to continue on my fitness path by adding triathlete to my title

Givingit aTri

FitnessDigestus columnist Jen Schmitt Rockford Iowa

13 In 2011 while nursing my 4 month old my sister in law invited me to go with her to Weight Watchers I joined the next day for what was probably the 8th time but this time was different I made my goal and am a lifetime member I lost 43lbs and am healthy for the first time in my life I have Crohnrsquos Disease and am no longer taking any medications and no longer suffering the symptoms associated with the disease

In August of 2011 our hometown hero a Navy Seal was killed in action He was a huge inspiration to many people but after his death I was inspired to make a difference in our community and live my life differently He was a triathlete that had tackled the big daddy of them all and became an Ironman Realizing what he gave up so that we may have freedom inspired me to continue on my fitness path by

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e to

run

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sil amp

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ie Ce

nter

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rd Io

wa

Favo

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y Kell

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Dise

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13 When I am not out training with the group that I started in my hometown ldquoFriends in Fitnessrdquo you can find me blogging at justamomgivingitatriblogspotcom studying for my personal trainer certification or spending time with my husband girls and friends I enjoy being in the outdoors whether it is just for a walk or turkey hunting in the woods I am currently the chairperson working to organize a 5K fundraiser for the PEO Chapter that I belong to in Rockford Iowa This is going to be our major fundraiser for the year and we are very excited to encourage wellness among others in our community

Givingit aTri

FitnessDigestus columnist Jen Schmitt Rockford Iowa

13 In 2011 while nursing my 4 month old my sister in law invited me to go with her to Weight Watchers I joined the next day for what was probably the 8th time but this time was different I made my goal and am a lifetime member I lost 43lbs and am healthy for the first time in my life I have Crohnrsquos Disease and am no longer taking any medications and no longer suffering the symptoms associated with the disease

In August of 2011 our hometown hero a Navy Seal was killed in action He was a huge inspiration to many people but after his death I was inspired to make a difference in our community and live my life differently He was a triathlete that had tackled the big daddy of them all and became an Ironman Realizing what he gave up so that we may have freedom inspired me to continue on my fitness path by

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in Fo

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t get

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e ou

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ed

My a

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on

my p

hone

tellin

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e to

get

to th

e po

ol an

d sw

im o

r a s

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Fam

ily amp

Frie

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Watch and LearnSent in from NIP Gym

Successful SAFE gains in

the gym

Available at select Hy-Vee stores

NO MSG

LowSodium

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GREAT STORY HERE FROM NIP amp Fitness 13 I was in the gym this morning doing shoulders A quiet red headed kid comes in and gets on the bench and starts benching His first set of 135 lbs had HORRIBLE technique and form I walk over and talk to him He tells me his name is Joe - age 17 - weight 205 and is a junior at CS High School and he just bought a membership to NIP amp Fitness He tells me two weeks ago he benched 185 lbs for a max I told him that was very good for is age but NOT for his build I knew he was stronger than that So I helped him shape up is technique and form Joe ndash LISTENED and WATCHED He learned that he was much stronger than a 185 pound max bench presser Today from LISTENING and WATCHING Joe bench pressed 225 X 2 ndash and that 185 pounds he maxed two weeks ago he finished his work out by doing that 185 pounds for seven reps Proper TECHNIQUE and FORM are the key to successful SAFE gains in the gym Today Joe was a perfect example CONGRATULATIONS Joe

Dear Freestyle Swim Stroke

13 You are so frustrating to me Why canrsquot we just get along When I made the decision to tackle this goal of completing a triathlon I was not even worried about you That has proven to be a mistake Some days things go so smooth between us and some mornings I spring out of bed at 430 so excited about our time together Today was not one of those days You left me feeling like thishellip

Like a wet wrung out old swimsuit

These are the reasons that I am so upset with you

1 You literally take my breath away

2 You make my shoulder hurt (Popcorn kernels currently on shoulder while typing)

3 You make me leave my warm cozy bed about two hours before I would really like to leave it

4 If I donrsquot get my butt out of bed and go at 430 AM I have to leave my family and go at 730 PM

Dear FreestyleBy Jen Schmitt Rockford Iowa

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pull

head position

exit

flutter-kick

recovery

(Yes we know ndash no cameras in the locker room No one was harmed in this photo shoot)

13 And to the very old man in the lane beside me I do not dislike you in-fact I am insanely jealous of you I donrsquot stare at you because of your body you may look hot if I was 75 but I am not I stare at you in awe of how effortlessly you move up and down the pool without a rest Someday I hope to be just like you

13 So for now as much as I would love to say we need to break up and go our separate ways I am too D stubborn to do that We will make this work and we are going to get along Here is my promise to you ndash I promise to meet-up with you two to three times a week for at least an hour to work on our relationship I promise not to cheat on you with the sidestroke although I am so much more comfortable with him I promise to keep an open mind about our relationship and give it all that I have just like I do with my friend the run

Love you (I think)

Jen

Dear FreestyleContinued

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pull

head position

exit

flutter-kick

recovery

Adult SwimmingBy Susan Dawson-cook

I have taught dozens of adults how to swim Many of them were initially either afraid of water or somewhat uncomfortable in the aquatic environment Whats worked best is to get in the water with them and do activities that show them it can be fun and safe I make sure they feel safe and secure the entire time and even say things like if you have trouble standing up after you take some strokes I will help you or just reach for my hand if you need support

13 Many beginners have this fear ndash if they are in the horizontal position swimming they wont be able to stand up One woman cried she was so overjoyed she overcame her fear and learned to take her first strokes

Find more of Susanrsquos writing and published works at httplivemediaFitnessDigestus

Body image and fitness are hot topics for both men and women The Great Fitness Experiment is my hilarious poignant embarrassing and at times heart-breaking journey to find my way through the morass of contradictory claims and information in todayrsquos health- and fitness-obsessed world

Available in paperback or in eBookhttpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

If you have trouble standing up after you

take some strokesone women cried

she was so overjoyed

If you would like future issues delivered to a Facebook Twitter or e-mail account e-mail us at infoFitnessDigestus

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2 Deadwood Mickelson Trail MarathonSunday June 2 2013

Deadwood South Dakota

13 On June 2nd we will celebrate 12 years of offering runners from around the globe the most unique running experience of their life Where else in the world can you run on a course that takes you from an abandoned mining town across railroad trestles through a mountain past monolithic rock formations beside a babbling creek and finish in Deadwoodhellipa town that is a historic landmark

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Written Emily WheelerFor more information amp video visit httpLIveAdsFitnessDigestus

ldquoWild West town known primarily for its gamblers gunslingers and gold minersrdquo

Hope to see you at the finish

This Wild West town known primarily for its gamblers gunslingers and gold miners has turned into one of the premiere destination marathon venues in the US

13 The breathtaking beauty of our course the truly outstanding team of volunteers the hospitality of everyone associated with the event and paying attention to details are just a couple of reasons yoursquoll want to toe the line on June 2nd

The Deadwood Mickelson Trail Half and Full Marathon is a point to point course

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ldquoThe breathtaking beauty of our courserdquo

WaynesSkiandCyclenetlive links to Waynersquos at httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

MTM Charity Partner

13 Habitat for Humanity is a global nonprofit Christian housing organization that has helped to build more than 500000 decent affordable houses and served 25 million people worldwide since its founding in 1976 With the help of volunteers and donations of money and materials Habitat constructs rehabilitates and preserves homes in partnership with low-income families in need Operating in nearly 80 countries and with more than 1500 affiliates in the United States Habitat also advocates for fair and just housing policies and provides training and access to resources to help families improve their shelter conditions

Shop for Name BrandItems 24 Hours a Day

beginning in the historic mining town of Rochford the first 15 miles are on a paved road At this point the course becomes the Mickelson Trail (a rails to trails project) The next 12 miles are a mixture of gentle uphill and flat terrain

13 Then the course is either downhill or flat and finishes at the historic Engine House at end of the linehellipthe Deadwood Trailhead The Half Marathon is also a point to point course starting at the 131 mile mark of the full marathon Walker Friendly

All participants will receive a Commemorative Finisherrsquos Medal

Mickelson Trail Marathon Charity Partner is the Black Hills Habitat for HumanityMake your Marathon Matter Matching Funds

Make your Marathon matter by helping create decent shelter in the Black Hills ndash take the challenge to give at least $1 per race mile Our goal is to raise $3000 in 2012 for BH Habitat for Humanity to help provide shelter for more families in the Black Hills

Registrations are capped at 3000 runners If you want to be part of the Deadwood Mickelson Trail Marathon Weekend celebration go to LiveAdsFitnessDigestus and click on the MTM Marathon URL

Hope to see you at the Finish Line - ThanksEmily Wheeler Wheeler Event Management Inc

ldquoHope to see you at the finish linerdquo

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links

DAY had broken cold and gray exceedingly cold and gray when the man turned aside from the main Yukon trail and climbed the high earth-bank where a dim and little traveled trail led eastward through the fat spruce timberland It was a steep bank and he paused for breath at the top excusing the act to himself by looking at his watch It was nine oclock There was no sun nor hint of sun though there was not a cloud in the sky It was a

clear day and yet there seemed an intangible pall over the face of things a subtle gloom that made the day dark and that was due to the absence of sun This fact did not worry the man He was used to the lack of sun It had been days since he had seen the sun and he knew that a few more-days must pass before that cheerful orb due south would just peep above the sky-line and dip immediately from view

To Build a Fire - Hiking the Yukon TrailShort story fiction Written by Jack London (1876-1916)

The man flung a look back along the way he had come The Yukon lay a mile wide and hidden under three feet of ice On top of this ice were as many feet of snow It was all pure white rolling in gentle undulations where the ice jams of the freeze-up had formed North and south as far as his eye could see it was unbroken white save for a dark hairline that curved and twisted from around the spruce-covered island to the south and that curved and twisted away into the north where it disappeared behind another spruce-covered island This dark hair-line was the trail--the main trail--that led south five hundred miles to the Chilcoot Pass Dyea and salt water and that led north seventy miles to Dawson and still on to the north a thousand miles to Nulato and finally to St Michael on Bering Sea a thousand miles and half a thousand more

But all this--the mysterious far-reaching hair-line trail The absence of sun from the sky the tremendous cold and the strangeness and weirdness of it all--made no

impression on the man It was not because he was long used to it He was a newcomer In the land a chechaquo and this was his first winter The trouble with him was that he was without imagination He was quick and alert in the things of life but only in the things and not in the significances Fifty degrees below zero meant eighty-odd degrees of frost Such fact impressed him as being cold and uncomfortable and that was all It did not lead him to meditate upon his frailty as a creature of temperature and upon mans frailty in general able only to live within certain narrow limits of heat and cold and from there on it did not lead him to the conjectural field of immortality and mans place in the universe Fifty degrees below zero stood forte bite of frost that hurt and that must be guarded against by the use of mittens ear-flaps warm moccasins and thick socks Fifty degrees below zero was to him just precisely fifty degrees below zero That there should be anything more to it than that was a thought that never entered his head

To Build a FireContinued

Continued on page 62

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It is important from time to time to slow down to go away by yourself and simply be --Eileen Caddy

Letrsquos Race13 My son is eight and our family is very active Im just hitting my peak racing age of about 34 years old The family members all support each otherrsquos activities They are a great cheering section when my wife and I compete in races There is a popular two mile fun run in our town that we my wife and I run every year We also have for-fun races with the kids around the house or across the football field For years Ive let the eight year old win a few and others I win by just a little bit I think he is wising up to my tactics of good fatherhood One day he said ldquoDad you are letting me win but I think I can beat you fair and squarerdquo He added ldquoYoursquore not that fast Ill bet you 10 dollars I can beat you in a two mile racerdquo Wanting to teach him a lesson about spouting off and writing checks his body cant cash I took him up on it I said All right you pick a time and place We will race two miles for 10 dollars He replied You know that two mile race you and mom do every year I can race you then I agreed and he quickly added Ill need 20 years to warm-up That would make me 54 and him 28 Irsquom preparing for the loss and putting 10 dollars aside now

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Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

In my first creative experience it was through music and I was interested in developing my values of creativity I was inspired by a band named Motley Crue and the song that captured my interest was Home Sweet home Dear reader what inspires you Is it music or inspirational quote thought or ideas To express how this song motivated my interests it helped give me faith in my own creative abilities in the process I began to write lyrics I eventually began to work on different styles of writing and broaden my writing skills What types of music inspire your creative thoughts What types of other inspiration values inspire your creative thoughts

13 Getting motivated is one of the key aspects of a successful weight-loss program Without this motivation there would be no drive to get up early or to avoid eating unhealthy snacks ndash that you absolutely love Yes you can thank your motivation for that When you are looking for weight-loss motivation sometimes it is hard to find Where can you find that extra umph to make it to your goal

The benefits of finding a motivator are something that cannot be paralleled It has been said mind over matter This coincides with our principle that no matter how hard the task you can accomplish the goal given the right mindset It is important to go into a new weight-loss program with a positive mental attitude

FINDI

NG TH

EM X InspirationX

Motivation

When I was introduced to William Shakespeare I was intrigued by his creative values and I started to work on developing a different aspect of writing I then watched the movie Free Jack there was a quote by Albert Einstein Imagination is more important than knowledge I thought about the in depth values of both concepts and then I applied both concepts and defined different creative concept Do you believe that anything is possible if you believe I know that I do believe that if an individual believes deeply enough one can accomplish their goals I had to believe in my own abilities and in my dreams and ignore the negative values that were impressed by others

Anything less can potentially hinder growth towards your goal

Some of the things that you should be thinking about when looking for motivators are people with good morals and a positive attitude This is because if the people helping you do not have a positive attitude then it is also difficult for you Some great places to look for a motivator are online blogs in the gym or even in your own family I am sure that in all of these places you will see someone else trying to accomplish the same or even more difficult goals than your own

Another key to finding motivation is to let it find you You should not have to go find a reason to go do something You will do it because you wanted to not because you were forced to

X

InspirationMotivation

More simply put motivation will find you because you will see something that inspires you to make a change in yourself That change may be a weight-loss goal or something else Maybe even an academic goal The true key is to maintain that motivation until you have achieved your goal

Regards Vincent ErrichielloUSMS Swimmer

InspirationMotivation

With believing so deeply within my own abilities and the faith that I could accomplish what I set out to achieve I wrote a lyric titled Dreams Are Only Real and in believing in this concept further defining its true meaning the concept became Dreams Are Only Real Until You Dont believe

Jeremy J TaylorCNFI Publishing

himTHROWINGWritten by anonymous contributor

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13 Johnny is not the best batter in our little league Matter-of-fact he is quiet awful At practice one afternoon Johnny hit a pitch really well The coach had pitched him inside on accident far enough inside that it almost hit him Johnny got his hit by using his bat to defend himself from that arrant pitch The coach told him ldquogood hitrdquo and Johnny yelled back ldquoWell I didnrsquot want the ball to hit merdquo13 Johnny improved his batting after that He was hitting the ball almost every time he got up At one point I said to coach ldquoHow did you get Johnny to improve his batting so quicklyrdquo He replyed Im throwing the ball it AT HIM every time

Body image and fitness are hot topics for both men and women The Great Fitness Experiment is my hilarious poignant embarrassing and at times heart-breaking journey to find my way through the morass of contradictory claims and information in todayrsquos health- and fitness-obsessed world

Available in paperback or in eBookVisit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

wwwnorthiafitnesscom on LiveAdsEmail northiowafitnessgmailcom

Phone 641-201-1035Strongest weight loss supplements

on the market

The Fall of Billy Hitchingsby Kirkus MacGowan

Available at Amazon

LOCATED IN ST ANSGAR IOWA

Business Cards Envelopes

Letterheads Programs

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Posters Invites (graduation wedding showers etc)

Flyers Brochures

T-ShirtsShorts SweatshirtsSweats

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Business Forms Placemats

Postcards And Much More

Bridgette Beyer DesignerOwner

Bring your ideas in andVisual Aspect Designs can print

andor design for you

Black Lab LanyardsSpecializing in customized duck and goose call lanyards for waterfowl enthusiasts

For more information on this productVisit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

FitnessDigestus is now available at

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entryFitnessDigestus

Send u

s yo

ur T

-shi

rt

READE

R T

-shi

rts

13 I was standing on shore fishing in my favorite spot A guy Irsquove never seen at the pond gets in and starts swimming After about 25 minutes of back and forth he stops at a place about 30 yards off shore He gives me a quick look and dices down below the water

His next lap he stops in the same place looks at me again and points down at the water He finished his swim and left I picked up my gear and moved to the other side of the outlet just a few yards from where he had stopped twice Caught a lunker in the first cast

Swim Signs - Lunker

BankersPromotional and Advertising Specialties

Call to order 641ndash423ndash3111

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TOP TWEETS

Iowa Cubs (IowaCubs)Thanks to all our fans who showed up for the pre-game on-field catch with dad

Louise Pineda (forerunnerGPS)The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficultyWinston Churchill quotes

Softball Darlin (Softball_Darlin)My mom told me our team was gettin white uniforms for summer amp to try not to get them dirty Uh Have you seen me play Not gonna happen

I Swim I Suffer (ISwimISuffer)thatswimmerwho If the water is in your right ear for example then jump on your right leg and lean your head to the right side while jumping

I Swim and I Know It (iSwimWithIssues)During the summer you shower 467 times at the pool 17 times at hotels and 3 times at your house Truth

Everyday Health (WomensCancer)63000 Americans will be diagnosed w malignant melanoma (the deadliest skin cancer) this year Know your risk

US Paralympics (USParalympics)Want to be introduced to Paralympic sport Attend one of the Paralympic Experiences being held throughout the countryFi

tnes

sDig

est

US v

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2

SwimSwam (swimswamnews)Congrats to KenyaSwimmer on being selected to carry the Kenya flag swimswamcom

Better than sharing on a blog Twitter or Facebook and you can share a story even if you donrsquot maintain a social-web presencePublished for ALL FitnessDigestus readers

Sign with your real name pen-name or anonymoushttpLiveMediaFitnessDigestus

13 Funnest thing SPAM about some weight-loss supplements got posted on a friendrsquos Facebook My friend is an ultra-runner I notice there was also an ad for salami recipes on the same page The recipes were right next to the SPAM about diet-pills

13 Letrsquos see ndash it sounds like the beginning of a good joke Q What do you get when a friend tries to sell you ultra-runner endorsed salami-flavored-SPAM diet-pills on Facebook Answer Sick

Unsung Heroes1 Irsquove never swam open water and wanted to do a triathlon A friend that

races open water took extra time to swim with me at a lake I was much more comfortable after that

2 I was going on vacation and needed advice on a place to swim A friend living in the area took the time to help me find people to answer my questions

3 I was over eating and had complained to my friend about it She called me twice a day for three weeks just to remind me to eat healthy

4 I usually run to and from the gym It takes about 30 minutes to run both ways I didnrsquot have enough time to get there and back before a scheduled appointment I had A friend drove me to the gym saving me about 30 minutes I was able to run home and still had time to get to my appointment

SPAM DIET

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Visit the Suburban Mommy blog and learn more about AtresiaMicrotia a birth defect of the inner earFor links to SubMommy blog httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

SUBMOMMYBLOG

On Wednesday May 16 2012 at 7 PM simultaneous rides occurred around the

USA and the world

We all ride Now we can ride as one

One day One time One world world wide

Let the silence roar

322 locations world wide

The Ride of SilenceTonight we number many but ride as one

In honor of those not with us friends

mothers fathers sisters sons

With helmets on tight and heads down low

We ride in silence cautious and slow

The wheels start spinning in the lead pack

But tonight we ride and no one attacks

The dark sunglasses cover our tears

Remembering those we held so dear

Tonights ride is to make others aware

The road is there for all to share

To those not with us or by our side

May God be your partner on your final ride

- Mike Murgas

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 50 states

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 7 Continents

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 0 words spoken

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 1 million memories

Ride of Silence

ldquoCost-effective investments in bicycling boost our economy help individuals and government agencies save money and directly address key societal challenges such as obesity and road congestion In these tough economic times our federal government can only afford to invest in solutions that solve multiple problems Bicycling fits the billrdquo ndash PeopleForBikesorg

This photo collection was taken byRobert LaVallee of Mason City IA

To see his entire collection visithttpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

Non-subscriberSign-up for delivery of

the FREE edition at coopnetbiz

It provides an outstanding aerobic workout in less than half the time we would spend in still water It has allowed us as swim coaches to observe swimmers stroke characteristics up close and to see the effects of fatigue on stroke mechanics ~ Larry L Chazy NY

Swimming is an excellent exercise and now I can swim every day because its so convenient and private I can swim when I want and how long I want Im able to have it at a temperature that is comfortable to me The small size of an Endless Pool enabled me to install a pool where I could not install a regular size one

As an aging baby boomer nutrition professional I have yearned for consistent exercise that doesnt stress joints and will enable me to attain physical fitness cardiovascular health and weight control I can eat what I want and still firm up and lose weight ~ John C Columbus OH

Endless Pools make for long swims in small places The 8x15 Endless Pool is less than regulation size but offers the same benefits as a very large pool ~ Noah H Connecticut Post

The Endless Pool is a great strength builder I am amazed at the strength of the current I now swim against I did not buy it for that reason but because of my arthritis so the strength gain is a wonderful surprise

Endless PoolsTestimonials For more information visit httpLIveAdsFitnessDigestus

s w i m m i n g s h o r t s

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Baseball Walking Stick13 My sons friend grabbed his baseball bat and said to me this is my walking stick I politely ask him why he calls it that He replied because my dad says if I hit a home run with it I donrsquot have to run the bases ndash I can walk

My Bike My mountain bike was stolen a while back and my kids were really upset Ive been riding my road bike in its place Since then Ive been careful to lock my bike up when we go to the park

13 On this occasion I did not lock-up my sonrsquos bike up with mine He looked at me quizzically and said sternly lock my bike up too I tried to explain that his bike was not as expensive and therefor didnt need to be locked up Boy that was a mistake He made me feel a little dumb when he said Dad I dont care how expensive it is Its the only bike Irsquove got

North Iowa Roads

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A LEADER inSearch Engine Optimization

Technology

Increase your visitor page views and Facebook Likes

Are you moving to a new state Already hired your mover

E-mail blind box at box02FitnessDigestus will get

you the best rates on cable phone and internet

Digital Movers

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

parent sports tipBy FitnessDigestus staff writer JGA

PAR

EN

T

TIP

Keeping Kids Focused13 Organize their thoughts Help them prioritize and make decisions based on value Even kids can understand the value of simple non-monetized choices Questions like ldquoShould I finish playing my gameboy game or pause it when they call my swimming eventrdquo

If kids are taught to make good decisions and not just find quick answers everyone wins

AugustGolf Month5th Friendship Day15th Relaxation Day25th Kiss and Make Up Day31st Trail Mix DaySeptemberLittle League Month12th Chocolate Milk Shake Day13th Positive Thinking Day16th Womenrsquos Friendship Day21st Miniature Golf DayOctoberBreast Cancer Awareness MonthNational Diabetes Month1st World Vegetarian Day4th Golf Day25th World Pasta Day

National Calendar

Au

gu

stSe

pte

mb

er

Oc

tob

er

Encourage friendships writing skills sharing thoughts and

experiencesEight different cards

YAGOTTAWANNA

Variety of pricing From single orders to bulk orders of 24 notecards

Learn more online

Stay in touch with your swimming or triathlon buddies

It is better to be safe then to try to beat the heat There are many options to stay cool and run during a hot-summer day Staying inside and running on the treadmill is a good one Remember staying safe is a top priority

Most workouts can be modified to work indoors This issuersquos workout is to do your usual run or interval set just stay inside and run it on the treadmill Visualize the different landmarks to see during your outdoor run

Coach Millerrsquos Quarterly ChallengeStay safe in the heatBy Mark Miller mmillerFitnessDigestus

A few years back we had a hot-spell similar to this yearrsquos record heat

I remember training for a long run and having to stop at the local swimming hole to cool off I literally took off my

shoes and jumped in with my running clothes on I was so hot

FitnessDigestUSEntertainment amp Inspiration

Use coupon codeldquoRAMCSPRrdquo

at puresportshopcomfor 20 OFF

Nutritional Performance Sports Drinks with Protein

OPEN WATER SWIMMING BY THE NUMBERS

In kilometers The shortest open water race included in the Fina World Championships

10107 How many miles it

is to swim from Cuba to the USA

5

1000Number of swimming strokes in a mile for a typical swimmer

31800About the number of calories it takes to swim 100 miles

LOCATED IN ST ANSGAR IOWA

Business Cards Envelopes

Letterheads Programs

Vinyl Decals Signs

Posters Invites (graduation wedding showers etc)

Flyers Brochures

T-ShirtsShorts SweatshirtsSweats

Koozies Sashes

Business Forms Placemats

Postcards And Much More

Bridgette Beyer DesignerOwner

Bring your ideas in andVisual Aspect Designs can print

andor design for you

The minimum open water distance in kilometers that is considered a swimming-

marathon

On Facebook Visit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

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Open water safety means swimming in shallow water where there is a lifeguard or using an escort

Shop for Name BrandGear

24 Hoursa Day

WaynesSkiandCyclenet

For links to Waynersquos visit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

s w i m m i n g s h o r t s

Googles

13 Swimming fans can really appreciate a 200 IM when their goggles fill with water How about an Olympian Swimming a leg of the 400 Free Relay with his goggles across his opened mouth ndash and going 45rsquos A great team swimmer an Olympian wouldnrsquot let down his teammates by throwing them off or fixing them

500 Fly13 A world class butterflyer asked if he could swim butterfly in the 500 yard freestyle during a dual meet His goal was to break five minutes After considering the competition it seemed like a great way to make him really work a hard fly swim so we agreed Problem was he swam a 502 and the opposing coach complained to the officials because he embarrassed his swimmers Oh well you canrsquot win lsquoem all

Stories sent in by Robert Steele

No-No-No13 The other morning I was teaching front-streamlines to snotty nosed 8 year olds (some are literally snotty-nosed) One boy was taking a big gulp of air and holding his breath When he lifted his head he had to exhale and inhale before submerging again Swimmers will understand this does not work very well Kids need to learn to exhale underwater The first time he did it I told him to exhale underwater The second time I stopped him looked him in the eye and reminded him to exhale underwater The third and fourth times I started to get a little frustrated ldquoJohnny you need to exhale underwater so you can breath betterrdquo The fifth time as his head popped up for a breath I quickly asked ldquoJohnny Do you even know what exhale meansrdquo as he submerged his head below the water I could see him shake his head no-no-no

Favorite Potato Chips13We try to limit the junk food the kids eat at our house For lunch one day our son wanted some potato chips I gave him 3 large chips with his sandwich He started to cry and said he wanted one more chip ldquoI wanted four chipsrdquo he screamed I took the plate back When he wasnt looking I broke a chip in half and give it back to him with four chips

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

13 My cancer story is one of uniqueness Leave it to me to do something like cancer to its fullest It did not begin with a mammogram diagnosis or a lump My journey began about 4 years ago with some suspicious activity that turned into Pagetrsquos disease of the nipple which signaled the underlying cancer On April 1st I found out about my breast cancer through a biopsy that came back as positive for Pagetrsquos disease The onslaught of tests learning and decisions were dizzying I immediately went for an evaluation of the suspicious tissue and had to begin making decisions for my mastectomy I quickly learned there is a test called the BRAC Analysis which is a genetic test for breast and ovarian cancer Finally a piece of good news for me I did not have the gene

Decisions Now it was time to make decisions about my mastectomy and how I was going to handle reconstruction I discussed my options with my boyfriend Brian friends family members and even my principalboss I read books searched the Internet and contacted people I

Brandi ShipmanCancer Survivor and elite triathlete

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

know and knew from my past that had been directly affected and that I thought might have answers for me The outpouring of love encouragement and help during this process was overwhelming After meeting with four different doctors two surgeons and two plastic surgeons I decided to go with immediate reconstruction and was lucky enough to find two wonderful doctors They were willing to work together just because I wanted them to even though they had never done so before My surgery was scheduled for mid May

Mental Toughness13 My mental preparation at this point was very important I had to scrap any idea of competing in triathlons for the rest of the year and focus on a positive attitude of getting better I stopped thinking about what I wasnrsquot going to able to do and started thinking about what I could do that I was alive and kept my mind on the fact that so many others had made it before me

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links

Part 213 I was prepared by the doctors survivors and literature to be ldquodownrdquo for several weeks after my surgery I even took the rest of the school year off My surgery went well and I was out of the hospital the next day A few friends came to visit while I was in the hospital and my principal and vice principal brought the most wonderful picture of the faculty wearing pink for me I can only imagine what it looked like at Thornton Elementary on that day in May 2009 a sea of pink all for Brandi Shipman Shortly after their visit I received a text from my friend Margie Massey My friends from the gym wore pink for me that day as well The support brought tears to my eyes I was so excited to come home and be comfortable in my own home I just wish the stupid drain that was attached could have stayed at the hospital The pain from that was worse than the pain from the mastectomy

the most

powerful picture

13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Recovery ndash May13 Once I got home I slept and watched a lot of TV Friends visited and brought yummy food and my favorites I am not supposed to eat I ate them all My friend and co-worker set up a cancer care calendar that alerted anyone who logged on when I was having a doctorrsquos appointment or when I was in need of anything I felt like royalty as everyone took care of me I think Brian secretly enjoyed the fact that he wouldnrsquot have to cook for me each night My recovery was quicker than I thought as I was doing my best to get better and get the stinkinrsquo drain out of my skin I was out walking within a week and running within 3 weeks I couldnrsquot believe my recovery I know it was from all the prayers love and good care from Brian and the loved ones around me Life was looking better each day

ldquoLife was looking

better each dayrdquo

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Part three and part

four of I am Survivor

will be published in

the next edition of

FitnessDigestus

Get the convenience of

digital-delivery

Sign-up or subscribe at

httpFitnessDigestus

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During the past 150 years we have witnessed many remarkable advances against cancer a disease known to humanity for thousands of years The advances highlighted below represent a sampling of what has been accomplished to date

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

1882 William Halsted performs the first radical mastectomy to treat breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast the lymph nodes under the arm (axillary lymph nodes) and the chest muscles behind the breast (pectoralis major and pectoralis minor muscles) are removed Radical mastectomy will remain the standard operation for breast cancer until latter half of the 20th century when the use of modified radical mastectomy becomes widely accepted

1932 David H Patey develops the modified radical mastectomy for breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast axillary lymph nodes and pectoralis minor muscle behind the breast are removed The modified radical mastectomy is less disfiguring than the radical mastectomy and will eventually replace the radical mastectomy as a standard treatment option for breast cancer

1953 James Watson and Francis Crick discover the molecular structure of DNA (the double helix)

1963 The Health Insurance Plan (HIP) of Greater New York Study begins HIP is the first randomized controlled trial of periodic breast cancer screening with mammography

1882

1932

1953

1963

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1976 The results of a randomized clinical trial show that women with early breast cancer who receive post-operative (adjuvant) combination chemotherapy with the drugs cyclophosphamide methotrexate and 5-FU have improved disease-free survival

1981 A randomized clinical trial in the United Kingdom shows for the first time that the rates of survival local recurrence and tumor metastasis among women whose breast cancer is treated with modified radical mastectomy are not substantially different from those of women who are treated with radical mastectomy

1993 An NCI-convened international workshop on screening for breast cancer reports that screening with mammography reduces breast cancer mortality among women ages 50-69 This conclusion is based on a review of published and unpublished data from eight randomized controlled trials

2004 Data from the Womens Health Initiative (WHI) study show that women who take estrogen in combination with the hormone progestin have a greater risk of developing breast cancer than women who take estrogen alone The results also show that menopausal hormone therapy with estrogen alone has no benefit in disease prevention specifically in reducing the risks of colorectal cancer coronary heart disease and dementia

1976

1981

1993

2004

Although we still have a long way to go to reduce the toll of cancer in the United States and worldwide our research and public health efforts are beginning to pay dividends

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

Volunteering vs Participating13 My girl friend and I are involved in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation The local chapter raises awareness for the cause with a fun-run each year We have volunteered to help with the race five years in a row This year we were stationed at a water table where the runners pick-up cups of water to drink Toward the end of the race there are very few runners There was a little time to chat about things We were talking about what we would wish for if we could have three wishes I told her I would wish for an end to Juvenile Diabetes and to lose 10 pounds Being nice I said ldquoyou can have my last wishrdquo She said I wish you would skip volunteering and just run this race next year

Admission Price Our aquatic center was having a promotion one night and advertised an elementary school night The kids could swim for free When we got to the pool we saw a promotional sign for the event In small lettering it read All swimmers must be accompanied by an adult We thought no big deal one of us can just stay and watch When we got to the front desk we found the lifeguard was enforcing the adult-admission price of $8

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CNFI Publishing - Products Books Chapbooks Bookmarks Plaques and Poetry Collector Cards Merchandising Products Coffee Mugs Mouse Pads Tiles 3x6 Coasters T - Shirts and Wall Plaques More info athttpliveadsFitnessDigestus

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

Featured PhotosFitnessDigestus feature

Chicago open water swim course at nighttop left

Kids race at Bicycle Blues and BBQtop right

Some team members volunteer at the local soup kitchenmiddle right

Ken Mauer loads the balls for hitting practice during a Twins baseball camp for

children 7-13 bottom right

Get your local event photos published in the next issue of FitnessDigestus E-mail

your photo to photoFitnessDigestus

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As he turned to go on he spat speculatively There was a sharp explosive crackle that startled him He spat again And again in the air before it could fall to the snow the spittle crackled He knew that at fifty below spittle crackled on the snow but this spittle had crackled in the air Undoubtedly it was colder than fifty below--how much colder he did not know But the temperature did not matter He was bound for the old claim on the left fork of Henderson Creek where the boys were already They had come over across the divide from the Indian Creek country while he had come the roundabout way to take a look at the possibilities of getting out logs in the spring from the islands in the Yukon He would be in to camp by six oclock a bit after dark it was true but the boys would be there a fire would be going and a hot supper would be ready As for lunch he pressed his hand against the protruding bundle under his jacket It was also under his shirt wrapped up in a handkerchief and lying against the naked skin It was the only way to keep the biscuits from freezing He smiled agreeably to himself as he thought of those biscuits each cut open and sopped in bacon grease and each enclosing a generous slice of fried bacon

He plunged in among the big spruce trees The trail was faint A foot of snow had fallen since the last sled had passed over and he was glad he was without a sled traveling light In fact he carried nothing but the lunch wrapped in the handkerchief He was surprised however at the cold It certainly was cold he concluded as he rubbed his numb nose and cheek-bones with his mittened hand He was a warm-whiskered man but the hair on his face did not protect the high cheek-bones and the eager nose that thrust itself aggressively into the frosty air

At the mans heels trotted a dog a big native husky the proper wolf-dog gray-coated and without any visible or temperamental difference from its brother the wild wolf The animal was depressed by the tremendous cold It knew that it was no time for

traveling Its instinct told it a truer tale than was told to the man by the mans judgment In reality it was not merely colder than fifty below zero it was colder than sixty below than seventy below It was seventy-five below zero Since the freezing point is thirty-two above zero it meant that one hundred and seven degrees of frost obtained The dog did not know anything about thermometers Possibly in its brain there was no sharp consciousness of a condition of very cold such as was in the mans brain But the brute had its instinct It experienced a vague but menacing apprehension that subdued it then made it slink along at the mans heels and that made it question eagerly every unwonted movement of the man as if expecting him to go into camp or to seek shelter somewhere and build a fire The dog had learned fire and it wanted fire or else to burrow under the snow and cuddle its warmth away from the air

The frozen moisture of its breathing had settled on its fur in a fine powder of frost and especially were its jowls muzzle and eyelashes whitened by its cry-stalled breath The mans red beard and mustache were likewise frosted but more solidly the deposit taking the form of ice and increasing with every warm moist breath he exhaled Also the man was chewing tobacco and the muzzle of ice held his lips so rigidly that he was unable to clear his chin when he expelled the juice The result was that a crystal beard of the color and solidity of amber was increasing its length on his chin If he fell down it would shatter itself like glass into brittle fragments But he did not mind the appendage It was the penalty all tobacco-chewers paid in that country and he had been out before in two cold snaps They had not been so cold as this he knew but by the spirit thermometer at Sixty Mile he knew they had been registered at fifty below and at fifty-five

He held on through the level stretch of woods for several miles crossed a wide flat of rigger-heads and dropped down a bank to the frozen bed of a

To Build a FireContinued

small stream This was Henderson Creek and he knew he was ten miles from the forks He looked at his watch It was ten oclock He was making four miles an hour and he calculated that he would arrive at the forks at half-past twelve He decided to celebrate that event by eating his lunch there

The dog dropped in again at his heels with a tail drooping discouragement as the man swung along the creek-bed The furrow of the old sled-trail was plainly visible but a dozen inches of snow covered the marks of the last runners In a month no man had come up or down that silent creek The man held steadily on He was not much given to thinking and just then particularly he had nothing to think about save that he would eat lunch at-the forks and that at six oclock he would be in camp with the boys There was nobody to talk to and had there been speech would have been impossible because of the ice-muzzle on his mouth So he continued monotonously to chew tobacco and to increase the length of his amber beard

Once in a while the thought reiterated itself that it was very cold and that he had never experienced such cold As he walked along he rubbed his cheek-bones and nose with the back of his mittened hand He did this automatically now and again changing hands But rub as he would the instant he stopped his cheek-bones went numb and the following instant the end of his nose went numb He was sure to frost his cheeks he knew that and experienced a pang of regret that he had not devised a nose-strap of the sort Bud wore in cold snaps Such a strap passed across the cheeks as well and saved them But it didnt matter much after all What were frosted cheeks A bit painful that was all they were never serious

Empty as the mans mind was of thoughts he was keenly observant and he noticed the changes in the creek the curves and bends and timber jams and always he sharply noted where he placed his feet Once coming around a bend he shied abruptly

like a startled horse curved away from the place where he had been walking and retreated several paces back along the trail The creek he knew was frozen clear to the bottom--no creek could contain water in that arctic winter--but he knew also that there were springs that bubbled out from the hillsides and ran along under the snow and on top the ice of the creek He knew that the coldest snaps never froze these springs and he knew likewise their danger They were traps They hid pools of water under the snow that might be three inches deep or three feet Sometimes a skin of ice half an inch thick covered them and in turn was covered by the snow Sometimes there were alternate layers of water and ice-skin so that when one broke through he kept on breaking through for a while sometimes wetting himself to the waist

That was why he had shied in such panic He had felt the give under his feet and heard the crackle of a snow-hidden ice-skin And to get his feet wet in such a temperature meant trouble and danger At the very least it meant delay for he would be forced to stop and build a fire and under its protection to bare his feet while he dried his socks and moccasins He stood and studied the creek-bed and its banks and decided that the flow of water came from the right He reflected a while rubbing his nose and cheeks then skirted to the left stepping gingerly and testing the footing for each step Once clear of the danger he took a fresh chew of tobacco and swung along at his four-mile gait

In the course of the next two hours he came upon several similar traps Usually the snow above the hidden pools had a sunken candied appearance that advertised the danger Once again however he had a close call and once suspecting danger he compelled the dog to go on in front The dog did not want to go It hung back until the man shoved it forward and then it went quickly across the white unbroken surface Suddenly it broke through floundered to one side and got away to firmer

To Build a FireContinued

To Build a FireContinued

footing It had wet its forefeet and legs and almost immediately the water that clung to it turned to ice It made quick efforts to lick the ice off its legs then dropped down in the snow and began to bite out the ice that had formed between the toes l his was a matter of instinct To permit the ice to remain would mean sore feet It did not know this It merely obeyed the mysterious prompting that arose from the deep crypts of its being But the man knew having achieved a judgment on the subject and he removed the mitten from his right hand and helped tear out the ice-particles He did not expose his fingers more than a minute and was astonished at the swift numbness that smote them It certainly was cold He pulled on the mitten hastily and beat the hand savagely across his chest

At twelve oclock the day was at its brightest Yet the sun was too far south an its winter journey to clear the horizon The bulge of the earth intervened between it arid Henderson Creek where the man walked under a clear sky at noon and cast no shadow At half-past twelve to the minute he arrived at the forks of the creek He was pleased at the speed he had made If he kept it up he would certainly be with the boys by six He unbuttoned his jacket and shirt and drew forth his lunch The action consumed no more than a quarter of a minute yet in that brief moment the numbness laid hold of the exposed fingers He did not put the mitten on but instead struck the fingers a dozen sharp smashes against his leg Then he sat down on a snow-covered log to eat The sting that followed upon the striking of his fingers against his leg ceased so quickly that he was startled He had had no chance to take a bite of biscuit He struck the fingers repeatedly and returned them to the mitten baring the other hand for the purpose of eating He tried to take a mouthful but the ice-muzzle prevented He had forgotten to build a fire and thaw out He chuckled at his foolishness and as he chuckled he noted the numbness creeping into the exposed fingers Also he noted that the stinging which had first come to his

toes when he sat down was already passing away He wandered whether the toes were warm or numb He moved them inside the moccasins and decided that they were numb

He pulled the mitten on hurriedly and stood up He was a bit frightened He stamped up and down until the stinging returned into the feet It certainly was cold was his thought That man from Sulphur Creek had spoken the truth when telling how cold it sometimes got in the country And he had laughed at him at the time That showed one must not be too sure of things There was no mistake about it it was cold He strode up and down stamping his feet and threshing his arms until reassured by the returning warmth Then he got out matches and proceeded to make a fire From the undergrowth where high water of the previous spring had lodged a supply of seasoned twigs he got his firewood Working carefully from a small beginning he soon had a roaring fire over which he thawed the ice from his face and in the protection of which he ate his biscuits For the moment the cold space was outwitted The dog took satisfaction in the fire stretching out close enough for warmth and far enough away to escape being singed

When the man had finished be filled his pipe and took his comfortable time over a smoke Then he pulled on his mittens settled the ear-flaps of his cap firmly about his ears and took the creek trail up the left fork The dog was disappointed and yearned back toward the fire This man did not know cold Possibly all the generations of his ancestry had been ignorant of cold of real cold of cold one hundred and seven degrees below freezing point But the dog knew all its ancestry knew and it had inherited the knowledge And it knew that it was not good to walk abroad in such fearful cold It was the time to lie snug in a hole in the snow and wait for a curtain of cloud to be drawn across the face of outer space whence this cold came On the other hand there was no keen intimacy between the dog and the man

The one was the toil-slave of the other and the only caresses it had ever received were the caresses of the whiplash and of harsh and menacing throat-sounds that threatened the whiplash So the dog made no effort to communicate its apprehension to the man It was not concerned in the welfare of the man it was for its own sake that it yearned back toward the fire But the man whistled and spoke to it with the sound of whiplashes and the dog swung in at the mans heel and followed after

The man took a chew of tobacco and proceeded to start a new amber beard Also his moist breath quickly powdered with white his mustache eyebrows and lashes There did not seem to be so many springs on the left fork of the Henderson and for half an hour the man saw no signs of any And then it happened At a place where there were no signs where the soft unbroken snow seemed to advertise solidity beneath tee man broke through It was not deep He wet himself halfway to the knees before he floundered out to the firm crust

He was angry and cursed his luck aloud He had hoped to get into camp with the boys at six oclock and this would delay him an hour for he would have to build a fire and dry out his foot-gear This was imperative at that low temperature--he knew that much and he turned aside to the bank which he climbed On top tangled in the underbrush about the trunks of several small spruce trees was a high-water deposit of dry firewood--sticks and twigs principally but also larger portions of seasoned branches and fine dry last-years grasses He threw down several large pieces on top of the snow This served for a foundation and prevented the young flame from drowning itself in the snow it otherwise would melt The flame he got by touching a match to a small shred of birch bark that he took from his pocket This burned even more readily than paper Placing it on the foundation he fed the young flame with wisps of dry grass and with the tiniest dry twigs

He worked slowly and carefully keenly aware of his danger Gradually as the flame grew stronger he increased the size of the twigs with which he fed it He squatted in the snow pulling the twigs out from their entanglement in the brush and feeding directly to the flame He knew there must be no failure When it is seventy-five below zero a man must not fail in his first attempt to build a fire--that is if his feet are wet If his feet are dry and he fails he can run along the trail for half a mile and restore his circulation But the circulation of wet and freezing feet cannot be restored by running when it is seventy-five below No matter how fast he runs the wet feet will freeze the harder

All this the man knew The old-timer on Sulphur Creek had told him about it the previous fall and now he was appreciating the advice Already all sensation had gone out of his feet To build the fire he had been forced to remove his mittens and the fingers had quickly gone numb His pace of four miles an hour had kept his heart pumping blood to the surface of his body and to all the extremities But the instant he stopped the action of the pump eased down The cold of space smote the unprotected tip of the planet and he being on that unprotected tip received the full force of the blow The blood of his body recoiled before it The blood was alive like the dog and like the dog it wanted to hide away and cover itself up from the fearful cold So long as he walked four miles an hour he pumped that blood willy-nilly to the surface but now it ebbed away and sank down into the recesses of his body The extremities were the first to feel its absence His wet feet froze the faster and his exposed fingers numbed the faster though they had not yet begun to freeze Nose and cheeks were already freezing while the skin of all his body chilled as it lost its blood

But he was safe Toes and nose and cheeks would be only touched by the frost for the fire was beginning to burn with strength He was feeding it

To Build a FireContinued

with twigs the size of his finger In another minute he would be able to feed it with branches the size of his wrier and then he could remove his wet toot-gear and while it dried he could keep his naked feet warm by the fire rubbing them at first of course with snow The fire was a success He was safe He remembered the advice of the old timer on Sulphur Creek and smiled The old-timer had been very serious in laying down the law that no man must travel alone in the Klondike after fifty below Well here he was he had had the accident he was alone and he had saved himself Those old-timers were rather womanish some of them he thought All a man had to do was to keep his head and he was all right Any man who was a man could travel alone But it was surprising the rapidity with which his cheeks and nose were freezing And he had not thought his fingers could go lifeless in so short a time Lifeless they were for he could scarcely make them move together to grip a twig and they seemed remote from his body and from him When he touched a twig he had to look and see whether or not he had hold of it The wires were pretty well down between him and his finger-ends

All of which counted for little There was the fire snapping and crackling and promising life with every dancing flame He started to untie his moccasins They were coated with ice the thick German socks were like sheaths of iron halfway to the knees and the moccasin strings were like rods of steel all twisted and knotted as by some conflagration For a moment he tugged with his numb fingers then realizing the folly of it he drew his sheath-knife

But before he could cut the strings it happened It was his own fault or rather his mistake He should not have built the fire under the spruce tree He should have built it in the open But it had been easier to pull the twigs from the brush and drop them directly on the fire Now the tree under which

he had done this carried a weight of snow on its boughs No wind had blown for weeks and each bough was fully freighted Each time he had pulled a twig he had communicated a slight agitation to the tree--an imperceptible agitation so far as he was concerned but an agitation sufficient to bring about the disaster High up in the tree one bough capsized its load of snow This fell on the boughs beneath capsizing them This process continued spreading out and involving the whole tree It grew like an avalanche and it descended without warning upon the man and the fire and the fire was blotted out Where it had burned was a mantle of fresh and disordered snow

The man was shocked It was as though he had just heard his own sentence of death For a moment he sat and stared at the spot where the fire had been Then he grew very calm Perhaps the old-timer on Sulphur Creek was right If he had only had a trail-mate he would have been in no danger now The trail-mate could have built the fire Well it was up to him to build the fire over again and this second time there must be no failure Even if he succeeded he would most likely lose some toes His feet must be badly frozen by now and there would be some time before the second fire Was ready

Such were his thoughts but he did not sit and think them He was busy all the time they were passing through his mind He made a new foundation for a fire this time in the open where no treacherous tree could blot it out Next he gathered dry grasses and tiny twigs from the high-water flotsam He could not bring his fingers together to pull them out but he was able to gather them by the handful In this way he got many rotten twigs and bits of green moss that were undesirable but it was the best he could do He worked methodically even collecting an armful of the larger branches to be used later when the fire gathered strength And all the while the dog sat and watched him a certain yearning wistfulness in its eyes for it looked upon

To Build a FireContinued

him as the fire-provider and the fire was slow in coming

When all was ready the man reached in his pocket for a second piece of birch bark He knew the bark was there and though he could not feel it with his fingers he could hear its crisp rustling as he fumbled for it Try as he would he could not clutch hold of it And all the time in his consciousness was the knowledge that each instant his feet were freezing This thought tended to put him in a panic but he fought against it and kept calm He pulled on his mittens with his teeth and threshed his arms back and forth beating his hands with all his might against his sides He did this sitting down and he stood up to do it and all the while the dog sat in the snow its wolf-brush of a tail curled around warmly over its forefeet its sharp wolf-ears pricked forward intently as it watched the man And the man as he beat and threshed with his arms and hands felt a great surge of envy as he regarded the creature that was warm ant secure in its natural covering

After a time he was aware of the first far-away signals of sensation in his beaten fingers The faint tingling grew stronger till it evolved into a stinging ache that was excruciating but which the man hailed with satisfaction He stripped the mitten from his right hand and fetched forth the birch bark The exposed fingers were quickly going numb again Next he brought out his bunch of sulphur matches But the tremendous cold had already driven the life out of his fingers In his effort to separate one match from the others the whole bunch fell in the snow He tried to pick it out of the snow but failed The dead fingers could neither touch nor clutch He was very careful He drove the thought of his freezing feet and nose and cheeks out of his mind devoting his whole soul to the matches He watched using the sense of vision in place of that of touch and when he saw his fingers on each side the bunch he dosed them--that is he willed to close them for the wires were down and the fingers did not obey He pulled

the mitten on the right hand and beat it fiercely against his knee Then with both mittened hands he scooped the bunch of matches along with much snow into his lap Yet he was no better off

After some manipulation he managed to get the bunch between the heels of his mittened hands In this fashion he carried it to his mouth The ice crackled and snapped when by a violent effort he opened his mouth He drew the lower jaw in curled the upper lip out of the way and scraped the bunch with his upper teeth in order to separate a match He succeeded in getting one which he dropped on his lap He was no better off He could not pick it up Then he devised a way He picked it up in his teeth and scratched it on his leg Twenty times he scratched before he succeeded in lighting it As it flamed he held it with his teeth to the birch bark But the burning brimstone went up his nostrils and into his lungs causing him to cough spasmodically The match fell into the snow and went out

The old-timer an Sulphur Creek was right he thought in the moment of controlled despair that ensued after fifty below a man should travel with a partner He beat his hands but failed in exciting any sensation Suddenly he bared both hands removing the mittens with his teeth He caught the whole bunch between the heels of his hands His arm muscles not being frozen enabled him to press the hand-heels tightly against the matches Then he scratched the bunch along his leg It flared into flame seventy sulphur matches at once There was no wind to blow them out He kept his head to one side to escape the strangling fumes and held the blazing bunch to the birth bark As he so held it he became aware of sensation in his hand His flesh was burning He could smell it Deep down below the surface he could feel it The sensation developed into pain that grew acute And still he endured it holding the flame of the matches clumsily to the bark that would not light readily because his own burning hands were in the way absorbing most of the flame

To Build a FireContinued

At last when he could endure no more he jerked his hands apart The blazing matches fell sizzling into the snow but the birch bark was alight He began laying dry grasses and the tiniest twigs on the flame He could not pick and choose for he had to lift the fuel between the heels of his hands Small pieces of rotten wood and green moss clung to the twigs and he bit them off as well as he could with his teeth He cherished the flame carefully and awkwardly It meant life and it must not perish The withdrawal of blood from the surface of his body now made him begin to shiver and he grew more awkward A large piece of green moss fell squarely on the little fire He tried to poke it out with his fingers but his shivering frame made him poke too far and he disrupted the nucleus of the little fire the burning grasses and tiny twigs separating and scattering He tried to poke them together again but in spite of the tenseness of the effort his shivering got away with him and the twigs were hopelessly scattered Each twig gushed a puff of smoke and went out The fire-provider had failed As he looked apathetically about him his eyes chanced on the dog sitting across the ruins of the fire from him in the snow making restless hunching movements slightly lifting one forefoot and then the other shifting its weight back and forth on them with wistful eagerness

The sight of the dog put a wild idea into his head He remembered the tale of the man caught in a blizzard who killed a steer and crawled inside the carcass and so was saved He would kill the dog and bury his hands in the warm body until the numbness went out of them Then he could build another fire He spoke to the dog calling it to him but in his voice was a strange note of fear that frightened the animal who had never known the man to speak in such way before Something was the matter and its suspicious nature sensed danger--it knew not what danger but somewhere somehow in its brain arose an apprehension of the man It flattened its ears down at the sound of the mans voice and its restless

hunching movements and the liftings and shiftings of its forefeet became more pronounced but it would not come to the man He got on his hands and knees and crawled toward the dog This unusual posture again excited suspicion and the animal sidled mincingly away

The man sat up in the snow for a moment and struggled for calmness Then he pulled on his mittens by means of his teeth and got upon his feet He glanced down at first in order to assure himself that he was really standing up for the absence of sensation in his feet left him unrelated to the earth His erect position in itself started to drive the webs of suspicion from the dogs mind and when he spoke peremptorily with the sound of whiplashes in his voice the dog rendered its customary allegiance and came to him As it came within reaching distance the man lost his control His arms flashed out to the dog and he experienced genuine surprise when he discovered that his hands could not clutch that there was neither bend nor feeling in the fingers He had forgotten for the moment that they were frozen and that they were freezing more and more All this happened quickly and before the animal could get away he encircled its body with his arms He sat down in the snow and in this fashion held the dog while it snarled and whined and struggled

But it was all he could do hold its body encircled in his arms and sit there He realized that he could not kill the dog There was no way to do it With his helpless hands he could neither draw nor hold his sheath knife nor throttle the animal He released it and it plunged wildly away with tail between its legs and still snarling It halted forty feet away and surveyed him curiously with ears sharply pricked forward The man looked down at his hands in order to locate them and found them hanging on the ends of his arms It struck him as curious that one should have to use his eyes in order to find out where his hands were He began threshing his arms back and forth beating the mittened hands against

To Build a FireContinued

his sides He did this for five minutes violently and his heart pumped enough blood up to the surface to put a stop to his shivering But no sensation was aroused in the hands He had an impression that they hung like weights on the ends of his arms but when he tried to run the impression down he could not find it

A certain fear of death dull and oppressive came to him This fear quickly became poignant as he realized that it was no longer a mere matter of freezing his fingers and toes or of losing his hands and feet but that it was a matter of life and death with the chances against him This threw him into a panic and he turned and ran up the creek-bed along the old dim trail The dog joined in behind and kept up with him He ran blindly without intention in fear such as he had never known in his life Slowly as he plowed and floundered through the snow he began to see things again the banks of the creek the old timber-jams the leafless aspens and the sky The running made him feel better He did not shiver Maybe if he ran on his feet would thaw out and anyway if he ran far enough he would reach camp and the boys Without doubt he would lose some fingers and toes and some of his face but the boys would take care of him and save the rest of him when he got there And at the same time there was another thought in his mind that said he would never get to the camp and the boys that it was too many miles away that the freezing had too great a start on him and that he would soon be stiff and dead This thought he kept in the background and refused to consider Sometimes it pushed itself forward and demanded to be heard but he thrust it back and strove to think of other things

It struck him as curious that he could run at all on feet so frozen that he could not feel them when they struck the earth and took the weigh of his body He seemed to himself to skim along above the surface and to have no connection with the earth Somewhere he had once seen a winged Mercury

and he wondered if Mercury felt as he felt when skimming over the earth

His theory of running until he reached camp and the boys had one flaw in it he lacked the endurance Several times he stumbled and finally he tottered crumpled up and fell When he tried to rise he failed He must sit and rest he decided and next time he would merely walk and keep on going As he sat and regained his breath he noted that he was feeling quite warm and comfortable He was not shivering and it even seemed that a warm glow had come to his chest and trunk And yet when he touched his nose or cheeks there was no sensation Running would not thaw them out Nor would it thaw out his hands and feet Then the thought came to him that the frozen portions of his body must be extending He tried to keep this thought down to forget it to think of something else he was aware of the panicky feeling that it caused and he was afraid of the panic But the thought asserted itself and persisted until it produced a vision of his body totally frozen This was too much and he made another wild run along the trail Once he slowed down to a walk but the thought of the freezing extending itself made him run again

And all the time the dog ran with him at his heels When he fell down a second time it curled its tad over its forefeet and sat in front of him facing him curiously eager and intent The warmth and security of the animal angered him and he cursed it till it flattened down its ears appealingly This time the shivering came more quickly upon the man He was losing in his battle with the frost It was creeping into his body from all sides The thought of it drove him on but he ran no more than a hundred feet when he staggered and pitched headlong It was his last panic When he had recovered his breath and control he sat up and entertained in his mind the conception of meeting death with dignity However the conception did not come to him in such terms His idea of it was that he had been making a fool of

To Build a FireContinued

himself running around like a chicken with its head cut off--such was the simile that occurred to him Well he was bound to freeze anyway and he might as well take it decently With this new-found peace of mind came the first glimmerings of drowsiness A good idea he thought to sleep off to death It was like salting an anesthetic Freezing was not so bad as people thought There were lots worse ways to die

He pictured the boys finding his body next day Suddenly he found himself with them coming along the trail and looking for himself And still with them he came around a turn in the trail and found himself lying in the snow He did not belong with himself any more for even then he was out of himself standing with the boys and looking at himself in the snow It certainly was cold was his thought When he got back to the States he could tell the folks what real cold was He drifted on from this to a vision of the old-timer on Sulphur Creek He could see him quite clearly warm and comfortable and smoking a pipe

You were right old boss you were right the man mumbled to the old-timer of Sulphur Creek

Then the man drowsed off into what seemed to him the most comfortable and satisfying sleep he had ever known The dog sat facing him and waiting The brief day drew to a close in a long slow twilight There were no signs of a fire to be made and besides never in the dogs experience had it known a man to sit like that in the snow and make no fire As the twilight drew on its eager yearning for the fire mastered it and with a great lifting and shifting of forefeet it whined softly then flattened its ears down in anticipation of being chidden by the man But the man remained silent Later the dog whined loudly And still later it crept close to the man and caught the scent of death This made the animal bristle and back away A little longer it delayed howling under the stars that leaped and danced and shone brightly in the cold sky Then it turned and trotted up the trail in the direction of the camp it knew where were the other food-providers and fire-providers

To Build a FireContinued

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Page 12: FitnessDigest.us Vol. 4.3 Cover

13 In 2011 while nursing my four month old my sister in law invited me to go with her to Weight Watchers I joined the next day for what was probably the eigth time but this time was different They helped me make my goal and I became a lifetime member I lost 43lbs and Irsquom healthy for the first time in my life I also have Crohnrsquos Disease and no longer take medications nor do I suffer with the symptoms associated with the disease

13 In August of 2011 our hometown hero a Navy Seal was killed in action He was a huge inspiration to many people After his death I was inspired to make a difference in our community and to live my life differently He was a triathlete that had tackled the big daddy of them all ndash an Ironman Realizing what he gave up so that we may have freedom inspired me to continue on my fitness path by adding triathlete to my title

Givingit aTri

FitnessDigestus columnist Jen Schmitt Rockford Iowa

13 In 2011 while nursing my 4 month old my sister in law invited me to go with her to Weight Watchers I joined the next day for what was probably the 8th time but this time was different I made my goal and am a lifetime member I lost 43lbs and am healthy for the first time in my life I have Crohnrsquos Disease and am no longer taking any medications and no longer suffering the symptoms associated with the disease

In August of 2011 our hometown hero a Navy Seal was killed in action He was a huge inspiration to many people but after his death I was inspired to make a difference in our community and live my life differently He was a triathlete that had tackled the big daddy of them all and became an Ironman Realizing what he gave up so that we may have freedom inspired me to continue on my fitness path by

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13 When I am not out training with the group that I started in my hometown ldquoFriends in Fitnessrdquo you can find me blogging at justamomgivingitatriblogspotcom studying for my personal trainer certification or spending time with my husband girls and friends I enjoy being in the outdoors whether it is just for a walk or turkey hunting in the woods I am currently the chairperson working to organize a 5K fundraiser for the PEO Chapter that I belong to in Rockford Iowa This is going to be our major fundraiser for the year and we are very excited to encourage wellness among others in our community

Givingit aTri

FitnessDigestus columnist Jen Schmitt Rockford Iowa

13 In 2011 while nursing my 4 month old my sister in law invited me to go with her to Weight Watchers I joined the next day for what was probably the 8th time but this time was different I made my goal and am a lifetime member I lost 43lbs and am healthy for the first time in my life I have Crohnrsquos Disease and am no longer taking any medications and no longer suffering the symptoms associated with the disease

In August of 2011 our hometown hero a Navy Seal was killed in action He was a huge inspiration to many people but after his death I was inspired to make a difference in our community and live my life differently He was a triathlete that had tackled the big daddy of them all and became an Ironman Realizing what he gave up so that we may have freedom inspired me to continue on my fitness path by

Favo

rite

wor

kout

acc

esso

ry G

arm

in Fo

reru

nner

310

XT

Wha

t get

s m

e ou

t of b

ed

My a

larm

on

my p

hone

tellin

g m

e to

get

to th

e po

ol an

d sw

im o

r a s

crea

ming

chil

d

Fam

ily amp

Frie

nds

Watch and LearnSent in from NIP Gym

Successful SAFE gains in

the gym

Available at select Hy-Vee stores

NO MSG

LowSodium

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GREAT STORY HERE FROM NIP amp Fitness 13 I was in the gym this morning doing shoulders A quiet red headed kid comes in and gets on the bench and starts benching His first set of 135 lbs had HORRIBLE technique and form I walk over and talk to him He tells me his name is Joe - age 17 - weight 205 and is a junior at CS High School and he just bought a membership to NIP amp Fitness He tells me two weeks ago he benched 185 lbs for a max I told him that was very good for is age but NOT for his build I knew he was stronger than that So I helped him shape up is technique and form Joe ndash LISTENED and WATCHED He learned that he was much stronger than a 185 pound max bench presser Today from LISTENING and WATCHING Joe bench pressed 225 X 2 ndash and that 185 pounds he maxed two weeks ago he finished his work out by doing that 185 pounds for seven reps Proper TECHNIQUE and FORM are the key to successful SAFE gains in the gym Today Joe was a perfect example CONGRATULATIONS Joe

Dear Freestyle Swim Stroke

13 You are so frustrating to me Why canrsquot we just get along When I made the decision to tackle this goal of completing a triathlon I was not even worried about you That has proven to be a mistake Some days things go so smooth between us and some mornings I spring out of bed at 430 so excited about our time together Today was not one of those days You left me feeling like thishellip

Like a wet wrung out old swimsuit

These are the reasons that I am so upset with you

1 You literally take my breath away

2 You make my shoulder hurt (Popcorn kernels currently on shoulder while typing)

3 You make me leave my warm cozy bed about two hours before I would really like to leave it

4 If I donrsquot get my butt out of bed and go at 430 AM I have to leave my family and go at 730 PM

Dear FreestyleBy Jen Schmitt Rockford Iowa

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pull

head position

exit

flutter-kick

recovery

(Yes we know ndash no cameras in the locker room No one was harmed in this photo shoot)

13 And to the very old man in the lane beside me I do not dislike you in-fact I am insanely jealous of you I donrsquot stare at you because of your body you may look hot if I was 75 but I am not I stare at you in awe of how effortlessly you move up and down the pool without a rest Someday I hope to be just like you

13 So for now as much as I would love to say we need to break up and go our separate ways I am too D stubborn to do that We will make this work and we are going to get along Here is my promise to you ndash I promise to meet-up with you two to three times a week for at least an hour to work on our relationship I promise not to cheat on you with the sidestroke although I am so much more comfortable with him I promise to keep an open mind about our relationship and give it all that I have just like I do with my friend the run

Love you (I think)

Jen

Dear FreestyleContinued

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pull

head position

exit

flutter-kick

recovery

Adult SwimmingBy Susan Dawson-cook

I have taught dozens of adults how to swim Many of them were initially either afraid of water or somewhat uncomfortable in the aquatic environment Whats worked best is to get in the water with them and do activities that show them it can be fun and safe I make sure they feel safe and secure the entire time and even say things like if you have trouble standing up after you take some strokes I will help you or just reach for my hand if you need support

13 Many beginners have this fear ndash if they are in the horizontal position swimming they wont be able to stand up One woman cried she was so overjoyed she overcame her fear and learned to take her first strokes

Find more of Susanrsquos writing and published works at httplivemediaFitnessDigestus

Body image and fitness are hot topics for both men and women The Great Fitness Experiment is my hilarious poignant embarrassing and at times heart-breaking journey to find my way through the morass of contradictory claims and information in todayrsquos health- and fitness-obsessed world

Available in paperback or in eBookhttpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

If you have trouble standing up after you

take some strokesone women cried

she was so overjoyed

If you would like future issues delivered to a Facebook Twitter or e-mail account e-mail us at infoFitnessDigestus

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2 Deadwood Mickelson Trail MarathonSunday June 2 2013

Deadwood South Dakota

13 On June 2nd we will celebrate 12 years of offering runners from around the globe the most unique running experience of their life Where else in the world can you run on a course that takes you from an abandoned mining town across railroad trestles through a mountain past monolithic rock formations beside a babbling creek and finish in Deadwoodhellipa town that is a historic landmark

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2

Written Emily WheelerFor more information amp video visit httpLIveAdsFitnessDigestus

ldquoWild West town known primarily for its gamblers gunslingers and gold minersrdquo

Hope to see you at the finish

This Wild West town known primarily for its gamblers gunslingers and gold miners has turned into one of the premiere destination marathon venues in the US

13 The breathtaking beauty of our course the truly outstanding team of volunteers the hospitality of everyone associated with the event and paying attention to details are just a couple of reasons yoursquoll want to toe the line on June 2nd

The Deadwood Mickelson Trail Half and Full Marathon is a point to point course

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ldquoThe breathtaking beauty of our courserdquo

WaynesSkiandCyclenetlive links to Waynersquos at httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

MTM Charity Partner

13 Habitat for Humanity is a global nonprofit Christian housing organization that has helped to build more than 500000 decent affordable houses and served 25 million people worldwide since its founding in 1976 With the help of volunteers and donations of money and materials Habitat constructs rehabilitates and preserves homes in partnership with low-income families in need Operating in nearly 80 countries and with more than 1500 affiliates in the United States Habitat also advocates for fair and just housing policies and provides training and access to resources to help families improve their shelter conditions

Shop for Name BrandItems 24 Hours a Day

beginning in the historic mining town of Rochford the first 15 miles are on a paved road At this point the course becomes the Mickelson Trail (a rails to trails project) The next 12 miles are a mixture of gentle uphill and flat terrain

13 Then the course is either downhill or flat and finishes at the historic Engine House at end of the linehellipthe Deadwood Trailhead The Half Marathon is also a point to point course starting at the 131 mile mark of the full marathon Walker Friendly

All participants will receive a Commemorative Finisherrsquos Medal

Mickelson Trail Marathon Charity Partner is the Black Hills Habitat for HumanityMake your Marathon Matter Matching Funds

Make your Marathon matter by helping create decent shelter in the Black Hills ndash take the challenge to give at least $1 per race mile Our goal is to raise $3000 in 2012 for BH Habitat for Humanity to help provide shelter for more families in the Black Hills

Registrations are capped at 3000 runners If you want to be part of the Deadwood Mickelson Trail Marathon Weekend celebration go to LiveAdsFitnessDigestus and click on the MTM Marathon URL

Hope to see you at the Finish Line - ThanksEmily Wheeler Wheeler Event Management Inc

ldquoHope to see you at the finish linerdquo

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links

DAY had broken cold and gray exceedingly cold and gray when the man turned aside from the main Yukon trail and climbed the high earth-bank where a dim and little traveled trail led eastward through the fat spruce timberland It was a steep bank and he paused for breath at the top excusing the act to himself by looking at his watch It was nine oclock There was no sun nor hint of sun though there was not a cloud in the sky It was a

clear day and yet there seemed an intangible pall over the face of things a subtle gloom that made the day dark and that was due to the absence of sun This fact did not worry the man He was used to the lack of sun It had been days since he had seen the sun and he knew that a few more-days must pass before that cheerful orb due south would just peep above the sky-line and dip immediately from view

To Build a Fire - Hiking the Yukon TrailShort story fiction Written by Jack London (1876-1916)

The man flung a look back along the way he had come The Yukon lay a mile wide and hidden under three feet of ice On top of this ice were as many feet of snow It was all pure white rolling in gentle undulations where the ice jams of the freeze-up had formed North and south as far as his eye could see it was unbroken white save for a dark hairline that curved and twisted from around the spruce-covered island to the south and that curved and twisted away into the north where it disappeared behind another spruce-covered island This dark hair-line was the trail--the main trail--that led south five hundred miles to the Chilcoot Pass Dyea and salt water and that led north seventy miles to Dawson and still on to the north a thousand miles to Nulato and finally to St Michael on Bering Sea a thousand miles and half a thousand more

But all this--the mysterious far-reaching hair-line trail The absence of sun from the sky the tremendous cold and the strangeness and weirdness of it all--made no

impression on the man It was not because he was long used to it He was a newcomer In the land a chechaquo and this was his first winter The trouble with him was that he was without imagination He was quick and alert in the things of life but only in the things and not in the significances Fifty degrees below zero meant eighty-odd degrees of frost Such fact impressed him as being cold and uncomfortable and that was all It did not lead him to meditate upon his frailty as a creature of temperature and upon mans frailty in general able only to live within certain narrow limits of heat and cold and from there on it did not lead him to the conjectural field of immortality and mans place in the universe Fifty degrees below zero stood forte bite of frost that hurt and that must be guarded against by the use of mittens ear-flaps warm moccasins and thick socks Fifty degrees below zero was to him just precisely fifty degrees below zero That there should be anything more to it than that was a thought that never entered his head

To Build a FireContinued

Continued on page 62

Stand Up Paddle BoardingWOWSUPIowacom on LiveAds

It is important from time to time to slow down to go away by yourself and simply be --Eileen Caddy

Letrsquos Race13 My son is eight and our family is very active Im just hitting my peak racing age of about 34 years old The family members all support each otherrsquos activities They are a great cheering section when my wife and I compete in races There is a popular two mile fun run in our town that we my wife and I run every year We also have for-fun races with the kids around the house or across the football field For years Ive let the eight year old win a few and others I win by just a little bit I think he is wising up to my tactics of good fatherhood One day he said ldquoDad you are letting me win but I think I can beat you fair and squarerdquo He added ldquoYoursquore not that fast Ill bet you 10 dollars I can beat you in a two mile racerdquo Wanting to teach him a lesson about spouting off and writing checks his body cant cash I took him up on it I said All right you pick a time and place We will race two miles for 10 dollars He replied You know that two mile race you and mom do every year I can race you then I agreed and he quickly added Ill need 20 years to warm-up That would make me 54 and him 28 Irsquom preparing for the loss and putting 10 dollars aside now

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Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

In my first creative experience it was through music and I was interested in developing my values of creativity I was inspired by a band named Motley Crue and the song that captured my interest was Home Sweet home Dear reader what inspires you Is it music or inspirational quote thought or ideas To express how this song motivated my interests it helped give me faith in my own creative abilities in the process I began to write lyrics I eventually began to work on different styles of writing and broaden my writing skills What types of music inspire your creative thoughts What types of other inspiration values inspire your creative thoughts

13 Getting motivated is one of the key aspects of a successful weight-loss program Without this motivation there would be no drive to get up early or to avoid eating unhealthy snacks ndash that you absolutely love Yes you can thank your motivation for that When you are looking for weight-loss motivation sometimes it is hard to find Where can you find that extra umph to make it to your goal

The benefits of finding a motivator are something that cannot be paralleled It has been said mind over matter This coincides with our principle that no matter how hard the task you can accomplish the goal given the right mindset It is important to go into a new weight-loss program with a positive mental attitude

FINDI

NG TH

EM X InspirationX

Motivation

When I was introduced to William Shakespeare I was intrigued by his creative values and I started to work on developing a different aspect of writing I then watched the movie Free Jack there was a quote by Albert Einstein Imagination is more important than knowledge I thought about the in depth values of both concepts and then I applied both concepts and defined different creative concept Do you believe that anything is possible if you believe I know that I do believe that if an individual believes deeply enough one can accomplish their goals I had to believe in my own abilities and in my dreams and ignore the negative values that were impressed by others

Anything less can potentially hinder growth towards your goal

Some of the things that you should be thinking about when looking for motivators are people with good morals and a positive attitude This is because if the people helping you do not have a positive attitude then it is also difficult for you Some great places to look for a motivator are online blogs in the gym or even in your own family I am sure that in all of these places you will see someone else trying to accomplish the same or even more difficult goals than your own

Another key to finding motivation is to let it find you You should not have to go find a reason to go do something You will do it because you wanted to not because you were forced to

X

InspirationMotivation

More simply put motivation will find you because you will see something that inspires you to make a change in yourself That change may be a weight-loss goal or something else Maybe even an academic goal The true key is to maintain that motivation until you have achieved your goal

Regards Vincent ErrichielloUSMS Swimmer

InspirationMotivation

With believing so deeply within my own abilities and the faith that I could accomplish what I set out to achieve I wrote a lyric titled Dreams Are Only Real and in believing in this concept further defining its true meaning the concept became Dreams Are Only Real Until You Dont believe

Jeremy J TaylorCNFI Publishing

himTHROWINGWritten by anonymous contributor

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13 Johnny is not the best batter in our little league Matter-of-fact he is quiet awful At practice one afternoon Johnny hit a pitch really well The coach had pitched him inside on accident far enough inside that it almost hit him Johnny got his hit by using his bat to defend himself from that arrant pitch The coach told him ldquogood hitrdquo and Johnny yelled back ldquoWell I didnrsquot want the ball to hit merdquo13 Johnny improved his batting after that He was hitting the ball almost every time he got up At one point I said to coach ldquoHow did you get Johnny to improve his batting so quicklyrdquo He replyed Im throwing the ball it AT HIM every time

Body image and fitness are hot topics for both men and women The Great Fitness Experiment is my hilarious poignant embarrassing and at times heart-breaking journey to find my way through the morass of contradictory claims and information in todayrsquos health- and fitness-obsessed world

Available in paperback or in eBookVisit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

wwwnorthiafitnesscom on LiveAdsEmail northiowafitnessgmailcom

Phone 641-201-1035Strongest weight loss supplements

on the market

The Fall of Billy Hitchingsby Kirkus MacGowan

Available at Amazon

LOCATED IN ST ANSGAR IOWA

Business Cards Envelopes

Letterheads Programs

Vinyl Decals Signs

Posters Invites (graduation wedding showers etc)

Flyers Brochures

T-ShirtsShorts SweatshirtsSweats

Koozies Sashes

Business Forms Placemats

Postcards And Much More

Bridgette Beyer DesignerOwner

Bring your ideas in andVisual Aspect Designs can print

andor design for you

Black Lab LanyardsSpecializing in customized duck and goose call lanyards for waterfowl enthusiasts

For more information on this productVisit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

FitnessDigestus is now available at

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entryFitnessDigestus

Send u

s yo

ur T

-shi

rt

READE

R T

-shi

rts

13 I was standing on shore fishing in my favorite spot A guy Irsquove never seen at the pond gets in and starts swimming After about 25 minutes of back and forth he stops at a place about 30 yards off shore He gives me a quick look and dices down below the water

His next lap he stops in the same place looks at me again and points down at the water He finished his swim and left I picked up my gear and moved to the other side of the outlet just a few yards from where he had stopped twice Caught a lunker in the first cast

Swim Signs - Lunker

BankersPromotional and Advertising Specialties

Call to order 641ndash423ndash3111

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Visit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus for more information

TOP TWEETS

Iowa Cubs (IowaCubs)Thanks to all our fans who showed up for the pre-game on-field catch with dad

Louise Pineda (forerunnerGPS)The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficultyWinston Churchill quotes

Softball Darlin (Softball_Darlin)My mom told me our team was gettin white uniforms for summer amp to try not to get them dirty Uh Have you seen me play Not gonna happen

I Swim I Suffer (ISwimISuffer)thatswimmerwho If the water is in your right ear for example then jump on your right leg and lean your head to the right side while jumping

I Swim and I Know It (iSwimWithIssues)During the summer you shower 467 times at the pool 17 times at hotels and 3 times at your house Truth

Everyday Health (WomensCancer)63000 Americans will be diagnosed w malignant melanoma (the deadliest skin cancer) this year Know your risk

US Paralympics (USParalympics)Want to be introduced to Paralympic sport Attend one of the Paralympic Experiences being held throughout the countryFi

tnes

sDig

est

US v

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SwimSwam (swimswamnews)Congrats to KenyaSwimmer on being selected to carry the Kenya flag swimswamcom

Better than sharing on a blog Twitter or Facebook and you can share a story even if you donrsquot maintain a social-web presencePublished for ALL FitnessDigestus readers

Sign with your real name pen-name or anonymoushttpLiveMediaFitnessDigestus

13 Funnest thing SPAM about some weight-loss supplements got posted on a friendrsquos Facebook My friend is an ultra-runner I notice there was also an ad for salami recipes on the same page The recipes were right next to the SPAM about diet-pills

13 Letrsquos see ndash it sounds like the beginning of a good joke Q What do you get when a friend tries to sell you ultra-runner endorsed salami-flavored-SPAM diet-pills on Facebook Answer Sick

Unsung Heroes1 Irsquove never swam open water and wanted to do a triathlon A friend that

races open water took extra time to swim with me at a lake I was much more comfortable after that

2 I was going on vacation and needed advice on a place to swim A friend living in the area took the time to help me find people to answer my questions

3 I was over eating and had complained to my friend about it She called me twice a day for three weeks just to remind me to eat healthy

4 I usually run to and from the gym It takes about 30 minutes to run both ways I didnrsquot have enough time to get there and back before a scheduled appointment I had A friend drove me to the gym saving me about 30 minutes I was able to run home and still had time to get to my appointment

SPAM DIET

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Visit the Suburban Mommy blog and learn more about AtresiaMicrotia a birth defect of the inner earFor links to SubMommy blog httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

SUBMOMMYBLOG

On Wednesday May 16 2012 at 7 PM simultaneous rides occurred around the

USA and the world

We all ride Now we can ride as one

One day One time One world world wide

Let the silence roar

322 locations world wide

The Ride of SilenceTonight we number many but ride as one

In honor of those not with us friends

mothers fathers sisters sons

With helmets on tight and heads down low

We ride in silence cautious and slow

The wheels start spinning in the lead pack

But tonight we ride and no one attacks

The dark sunglasses cover our tears

Remembering those we held so dear

Tonights ride is to make others aware

The road is there for all to share

To those not with us or by our side

May God be your partner on your final ride

- Mike Murgas

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 50 states

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 7 Continents

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 0 words spoken

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 1 million memories

Ride of Silence

ldquoCost-effective investments in bicycling boost our economy help individuals and government agencies save money and directly address key societal challenges such as obesity and road congestion In these tough economic times our federal government can only afford to invest in solutions that solve multiple problems Bicycling fits the billrdquo ndash PeopleForBikesorg

This photo collection was taken byRobert LaVallee of Mason City IA

To see his entire collection visithttpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

Non-subscriberSign-up for delivery of

the FREE edition at coopnetbiz

It provides an outstanding aerobic workout in less than half the time we would spend in still water It has allowed us as swim coaches to observe swimmers stroke characteristics up close and to see the effects of fatigue on stroke mechanics ~ Larry L Chazy NY

Swimming is an excellent exercise and now I can swim every day because its so convenient and private I can swim when I want and how long I want Im able to have it at a temperature that is comfortable to me The small size of an Endless Pool enabled me to install a pool where I could not install a regular size one

As an aging baby boomer nutrition professional I have yearned for consistent exercise that doesnt stress joints and will enable me to attain physical fitness cardiovascular health and weight control I can eat what I want and still firm up and lose weight ~ John C Columbus OH

Endless Pools make for long swims in small places The 8x15 Endless Pool is less than regulation size but offers the same benefits as a very large pool ~ Noah H Connecticut Post

The Endless Pool is a great strength builder I am amazed at the strength of the current I now swim against I did not buy it for that reason but because of my arthritis so the strength gain is a wonderful surprise

Endless PoolsTestimonials For more information visit httpLIveAdsFitnessDigestus

s w i m m i n g s h o r t s

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Baseball Walking Stick13 My sons friend grabbed his baseball bat and said to me this is my walking stick I politely ask him why he calls it that He replied because my dad says if I hit a home run with it I donrsquot have to run the bases ndash I can walk

My Bike My mountain bike was stolen a while back and my kids were really upset Ive been riding my road bike in its place Since then Ive been careful to lock my bike up when we go to the park

13 On this occasion I did not lock-up my sonrsquos bike up with mine He looked at me quizzically and said sternly lock my bike up too I tried to explain that his bike was not as expensive and therefor didnt need to be locked up Boy that was a mistake He made me feel a little dumb when he said Dad I dont care how expensive it is Its the only bike Irsquove got

North Iowa Roads

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A LEADER inSearch Engine Optimization

Technology

Increase your visitor page views and Facebook Likes

Are you moving to a new state Already hired your mover

E-mail blind box at box02FitnessDigestus will get

you the best rates on cable phone and internet

Digital Movers

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

parent sports tipBy FitnessDigestus staff writer JGA

PAR

EN

T

TIP

Keeping Kids Focused13 Organize their thoughts Help them prioritize and make decisions based on value Even kids can understand the value of simple non-monetized choices Questions like ldquoShould I finish playing my gameboy game or pause it when they call my swimming eventrdquo

If kids are taught to make good decisions and not just find quick answers everyone wins

AugustGolf Month5th Friendship Day15th Relaxation Day25th Kiss and Make Up Day31st Trail Mix DaySeptemberLittle League Month12th Chocolate Milk Shake Day13th Positive Thinking Day16th Womenrsquos Friendship Day21st Miniature Golf DayOctoberBreast Cancer Awareness MonthNational Diabetes Month1st World Vegetarian Day4th Golf Day25th World Pasta Day

National Calendar

Au

gu

stSe

pte

mb

er

Oc

tob

er

Encourage friendships writing skills sharing thoughts and

experiencesEight different cards

YAGOTTAWANNA

Variety of pricing From single orders to bulk orders of 24 notecards

Learn more online

Stay in touch with your swimming or triathlon buddies

It is better to be safe then to try to beat the heat There are many options to stay cool and run during a hot-summer day Staying inside and running on the treadmill is a good one Remember staying safe is a top priority

Most workouts can be modified to work indoors This issuersquos workout is to do your usual run or interval set just stay inside and run it on the treadmill Visualize the different landmarks to see during your outdoor run

Coach Millerrsquos Quarterly ChallengeStay safe in the heatBy Mark Miller mmillerFitnessDigestus

A few years back we had a hot-spell similar to this yearrsquos record heat

I remember training for a long run and having to stop at the local swimming hole to cool off I literally took off my

shoes and jumped in with my running clothes on I was so hot

FitnessDigestUSEntertainment amp Inspiration

Use coupon codeldquoRAMCSPRrdquo

at puresportshopcomfor 20 OFF

Nutritional Performance Sports Drinks with Protein

OPEN WATER SWIMMING BY THE NUMBERS

In kilometers The shortest open water race included in the Fina World Championships

10107 How many miles it

is to swim from Cuba to the USA

5

1000Number of swimming strokes in a mile for a typical swimmer

31800About the number of calories it takes to swim 100 miles

LOCATED IN ST ANSGAR IOWA

Business Cards Envelopes

Letterheads Programs

Vinyl Decals Signs

Posters Invites (graduation wedding showers etc)

Flyers Brochures

T-ShirtsShorts SweatshirtsSweats

Koozies Sashes

Business Forms Placemats

Postcards And Much More

Bridgette Beyer DesignerOwner

Bring your ideas in andVisual Aspect Designs can print

andor design for you

The minimum open water distance in kilometers that is considered a swimming-

marathon

On Facebook Visit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

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Open water safety means swimming in shallow water where there is a lifeguard or using an escort

Shop for Name BrandGear

24 Hoursa Day

WaynesSkiandCyclenet

For links to Waynersquos visit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

s w i m m i n g s h o r t s

Googles

13 Swimming fans can really appreciate a 200 IM when their goggles fill with water How about an Olympian Swimming a leg of the 400 Free Relay with his goggles across his opened mouth ndash and going 45rsquos A great team swimmer an Olympian wouldnrsquot let down his teammates by throwing them off or fixing them

500 Fly13 A world class butterflyer asked if he could swim butterfly in the 500 yard freestyle during a dual meet His goal was to break five minutes After considering the competition it seemed like a great way to make him really work a hard fly swim so we agreed Problem was he swam a 502 and the opposing coach complained to the officials because he embarrassed his swimmers Oh well you canrsquot win lsquoem all

Stories sent in by Robert Steele

No-No-No13 The other morning I was teaching front-streamlines to snotty nosed 8 year olds (some are literally snotty-nosed) One boy was taking a big gulp of air and holding his breath When he lifted his head he had to exhale and inhale before submerging again Swimmers will understand this does not work very well Kids need to learn to exhale underwater The first time he did it I told him to exhale underwater The second time I stopped him looked him in the eye and reminded him to exhale underwater The third and fourth times I started to get a little frustrated ldquoJohnny you need to exhale underwater so you can breath betterrdquo The fifth time as his head popped up for a breath I quickly asked ldquoJohnny Do you even know what exhale meansrdquo as he submerged his head below the water I could see him shake his head no-no-no

Favorite Potato Chips13We try to limit the junk food the kids eat at our house For lunch one day our son wanted some potato chips I gave him 3 large chips with his sandwich He started to cry and said he wanted one more chip ldquoI wanted four chipsrdquo he screamed I took the plate back When he wasnt looking I broke a chip in half and give it back to him with four chips

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

13 My cancer story is one of uniqueness Leave it to me to do something like cancer to its fullest It did not begin with a mammogram diagnosis or a lump My journey began about 4 years ago with some suspicious activity that turned into Pagetrsquos disease of the nipple which signaled the underlying cancer On April 1st I found out about my breast cancer through a biopsy that came back as positive for Pagetrsquos disease The onslaught of tests learning and decisions were dizzying I immediately went for an evaluation of the suspicious tissue and had to begin making decisions for my mastectomy I quickly learned there is a test called the BRAC Analysis which is a genetic test for breast and ovarian cancer Finally a piece of good news for me I did not have the gene

Decisions Now it was time to make decisions about my mastectomy and how I was going to handle reconstruction I discussed my options with my boyfriend Brian friends family members and even my principalboss I read books searched the Internet and contacted people I

Brandi ShipmanCancer Survivor and elite triathlete

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

know and knew from my past that had been directly affected and that I thought might have answers for me The outpouring of love encouragement and help during this process was overwhelming After meeting with four different doctors two surgeons and two plastic surgeons I decided to go with immediate reconstruction and was lucky enough to find two wonderful doctors They were willing to work together just because I wanted them to even though they had never done so before My surgery was scheduled for mid May

Mental Toughness13 My mental preparation at this point was very important I had to scrap any idea of competing in triathlons for the rest of the year and focus on a positive attitude of getting better I stopped thinking about what I wasnrsquot going to able to do and started thinking about what I could do that I was alive and kept my mind on the fact that so many others had made it before me

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links

Part 213 I was prepared by the doctors survivors and literature to be ldquodownrdquo for several weeks after my surgery I even took the rest of the school year off My surgery went well and I was out of the hospital the next day A few friends came to visit while I was in the hospital and my principal and vice principal brought the most wonderful picture of the faculty wearing pink for me I can only imagine what it looked like at Thornton Elementary on that day in May 2009 a sea of pink all for Brandi Shipman Shortly after their visit I received a text from my friend Margie Massey My friends from the gym wore pink for me that day as well The support brought tears to my eyes I was so excited to come home and be comfortable in my own home I just wish the stupid drain that was attached could have stayed at the hospital The pain from that was worse than the pain from the mastectomy

the most

powerful picture

13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Recovery ndash May13 Once I got home I slept and watched a lot of TV Friends visited and brought yummy food and my favorites I am not supposed to eat I ate them all My friend and co-worker set up a cancer care calendar that alerted anyone who logged on when I was having a doctorrsquos appointment or when I was in need of anything I felt like royalty as everyone took care of me I think Brian secretly enjoyed the fact that he wouldnrsquot have to cook for me each night My recovery was quicker than I thought as I was doing my best to get better and get the stinkinrsquo drain out of my skin I was out walking within a week and running within 3 weeks I couldnrsquot believe my recovery I know it was from all the prayers love and good care from Brian and the loved ones around me Life was looking better each day

ldquoLife was looking

better each dayrdquo

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Part three and part

four of I am Survivor

will be published in

the next edition of

FitnessDigestus

Get the convenience of

digital-delivery

Sign-up or subscribe at

httpFitnessDigestus

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During the past 150 years we have witnessed many remarkable advances against cancer a disease known to humanity for thousands of years The advances highlighted below represent a sampling of what has been accomplished to date

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

1882 William Halsted performs the first radical mastectomy to treat breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast the lymph nodes under the arm (axillary lymph nodes) and the chest muscles behind the breast (pectoralis major and pectoralis minor muscles) are removed Radical mastectomy will remain the standard operation for breast cancer until latter half of the 20th century when the use of modified radical mastectomy becomes widely accepted

1932 David H Patey develops the modified radical mastectomy for breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast axillary lymph nodes and pectoralis minor muscle behind the breast are removed The modified radical mastectomy is less disfiguring than the radical mastectomy and will eventually replace the radical mastectomy as a standard treatment option for breast cancer

1953 James Watson and Francis Crick discover the molecular structure of DNA (the double helix)

1963 The Health Insurance Plan (HIP) of Greater New York Study begins HIP is the first randomized controlled trial of periodic breast cancer screening with mammography

1882

1932

1953

1963

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1976 The results of a randomized clinical trial show that women with early breast cancer who receive post-operative (adjuvant) combination chemotherapy with the drugs cyclophosphamide methotrexate and 5-FU have improved disease-free survival

1981 A randomized clinical trial in the United Kingdom shows for the first time that the rates of survival local recurrence and tumor metastasis among women whose breast cancer is treated with modified radical mastectomy are not substantially different from those of women who are treated with radical mastectomy

1993 An NCI-convened international workshop on screening for breast cancer reports that screening with mammography reduces breast cancer mortality among women ages 50-69 This conclusion is based on a review of published and unpublished data from eight randomized controlled trials

2004 Data from the Womens Health Initiative (WHI) study show that women who take estrogen in combination with the hormone progestin have a greater risk of developing breast cancer than women who take estrogen alone The results also show that menopausal hormone therapy with estrogen alone has no benefit in disease prevention specifically in reducing the risks of colorectal cancer coronary heart disease and dementia

1976

1981

1993

2004

Although we still have a long way to go to reduce the toll of cancer in the United States and worldwide our research and public health efforts are beginning to pay dividends

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

Volunteering vs Participating13 My girl friend and I are involved in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation The local chapter raises awareness for the cause with a fun-run each year We have volunteered to help with the race five years in a row This year we were stationed at a water table where the runners pick-up cups of water to drink Toward the end of the race there are very few runners There was a little time to chat about things We were talking about what we would wish for if we could have three wishes I told her I would wish for an end to Juvenile Diabetes and to lose 10 pounds Being nice I said ldquoyou can have my last wishrdquo She said I wish you would skip volunteering and just run this race next year

Admission Price Our aquatic center was having a promotion one night and advertised an elementary school night The kids could swim for free When we got to the pool we saw a promotional sign for the event In small lettering it read All swimmers must be accompanied by an adult We thought no big deal one of us can just stay and watch When we got to the front desk we found the lifeguard was enforcing the adult-admission price of $8

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CNFI Publishing - Products Books Chapbooks Bookmarks Plaques and Poetry Collector Cards Merchandising Products Coffee Mugs Mouse Pads Tiles 3x6 Coasters T - Shirts and Wall Plaques More info athttpliveadsFitnessDigestus

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

Featured PhotosFitnessDigestus feature

Chicago open water swim course at nighttop left

Kids race at Bicycle Blues and BBQtop right

Some team members volunteer at the local soup kitchenmiddle right

Ken Mauer loads the balls for hitting practice during a Twins baseball camp for

children 7-13 bottom right

Get your local event photos published in the next issue of FitnessDigestus E-mail

your photo to photoFitnessDigestus

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As he turned to go on he spat speculatively There was a sharp explosive crackle that startled him He spat again And again in the air before it could fall to the snow the spittle crackled He knew that at fifty below spittle crackled on the snow but this spittle had crackled in the air Undoubtedly it was colder than fifty below--how much colder he did not know But the temperature did not matter He was bound for the old claim on the left fork of Henderson Creek where the boys were already They had come over across the divide from the Indian Creek country while he had come the roundabout way to take a look at the possibilities of getting out logs in the spring from the islands in the Yukon He would be in to camp by six oclock a bit after dark it was true but the boys would be there a fire would be going and a hot supper would be ready As for lunch he pressed his hand against the protruding bundle under his jacket It was also under his shirt wrapped up in a handkerchief and lying against the naked skin It was the only way to keep the biscuits from freezing He smiled agreeably to himself as he thought of those biscuits each cut open and sopped in bacon grease and each enclosing a generous slice of fried bacon

He plunged in among the big spruce trees The trail was faint A foot of snow had fallen since the last sled had passed over and he was glad he was without a sled traveling light In fact he carried nothing but the lunch wrapped in the handkerchief He was surprised however at the cold It certainly was cold he concluded as he rubbed his numb nose and cheek-bones with his mittened hand He was a warm-whiskered man but the hair on his face did not protect the high cheek-bones and the eager nose that thrust itself aggressively into the frosty air

At the mans heels trotted a dog a big native husky the proper wolf-dog gray-coated and without any visible or temperamental difference from its brother the wild wolf The animal was depressed by the tremendous cold It knew that it was no time for

traveling Its instinct told it a truer tale than was told to the man by the mans judgment In reality it was not merely colder than fifty below zero it was colder than sixty below than seventy below It was seventy-five below zero Since the freezing point is thirty-two above zero it meant that one hundred and seven degrees of frost obtained The dog did not know anything about thermometers Possibly in its brain there was no sharp consciousness of a condition of very cold such as was in the mans brain But the brute had its instinct It experienced a vague but menacing apprehension that subdued it then made it slink along at the mans heels and that made it question eagerly every unwonted movement of the man as if expecting him to go into camp or to seek shelter somewhere and build a fire The dog had learned fire and it wanted fire or else to burrow under the snow and cuddle its warmth away from the air

The frozen moisture of its breathing had settled on its fur in a fine powder of frost and especially were its jowls muzzle and eyelashes whitened by its cry-stalled breath The mans red beard and mustache were likewise frosted but more solidly the deposit taking the form of ice and increasing with every warm moist breath he exhaled Also the man was chewing tobacco and the muzzle of ice held his lips so rigidly that he was unable to clear his chin when he expelled the juice The result was that a crystal beard of the color and solidity of amber was increasing its length on his chin If he fell down it would shatter itself like glass into brittle fragments But he did not mind the appendage It was the penalty all tobacco-chewers paid in that country and he had been out before in two cold snaps They had not been so cold as this he knew but by the spirit thermometer at Sixty Mile he knew they had been registered at fifty below and at fifty-five

He held on through the level stretch of woods for several miles crossed a wide flat of rigger-heads and dropped down a bank to the frozen bed of a

To Build a FireContinued

small stream This was Henderson Creek and he knew he was ten miles from the forks He looked at his watch It was ten oclock He was making four miles an hour and he calculated that he would arrive at the forks at half-past twelve He decided to celebrate that event by eating his lunch there

The dog dropped in again at his heels with a tail drooping discouragement as the man swung along the creek-bed The furrow of the old sled-trail was plainly visible but a dozen inches of snow covered the marks of the last runners In a month no man had come up or down that silent creek The man held steadily on He was not much given to thinking and just then particularly he had nothing to think about save that he would eat lunch at-the forks and that at six oclock he would be in camp with the boys There was nobody to talk to and had there been speech would have been impossible because of the ice-muzzle on his mouth So he continued monotonously to chew tobacco and to increase the length of his amber beard

Once in a while the thought reiterated itself that it was very cold and that he had never experienced such cold As he walked along he rubbed his cheek-bones and nose with the back of his mittened hand He did this automatically now and again changing hands But rub as he would the instant he stopped his cheek-bones went numb and the following instant the end of his nose went numb He was sure to frost his cheeks he knew that and experienced a pang of regret that he had not devised a nose-strap of the sort Bud wore in cold snaps Such a strap passed across the cheeks as well and saved them But it didnt matter much after all What were frosted cheeks A bit painful that was all they were never serious

Empty as the mans mind was of thoughts he was keenly observant and he noticed the changes in the creek the curves and bends and timber jams and always he sharply noted where he placed his feet Once coming around a bend he shied abruptly

like a startled horse curved away from the place where he had been walking and retreated several paces back along the trail The creek he knew was frozen clear to the bottom--no creek could contain water in that arctic winter--but he knew also that there were springs that bubbled out from the hillsides and ran along under the snow and on top the ice of the creek He knew that the coldest snaps never froze these springs and he knew likewise their danger They were traps They hid pools of water under the snow that might be three inches deep or three feet Sometimes a skin of ice half an inch thick covered them and in turn was covered by the snow Sometimes there were alternate layers of water and ice-skin so that when one broke through he kept on breaking through for a while sometimes wetting himself to the waist

That was why he had shied in such panic He had felt the give under his feet and heard the crackle of a snow-hidden ice-skin And to get his feet wet in such a temperature meant trouble and danger At the very least it meant delay for he would be forced to stop and build a fire and under its protection to bare his feet while he dried his socks and moccasins He stood and studied the creek-bed and its banks and decided that the flow of water came from the right He reflected a while rubbing his nose and cheeks then skirted to the left stepping gingerly and testing the footing for each step Once clear of the danger he took a fresh chew of tobacco and swung along at his four-mile gait

In the course of the next two hours he came upon several similar traps Usually the snow above the hidden pools had a sunken candied appearance that advertised the danger Once again however he had a close call and once suspecting danger he compelled the dog to go on in front The dog did not want to go It hung back until the man shoved it forward and then it went quickly across the white unbroken surface Suddenly it broke through floundered to one side and got away to firmer

To Build a FireContinued

To Build a FireContinued

footing It had wet its forefeet and legs and almost immediately the water that clung to it turned to ice It made quick efforts to lick the ice off its legs then dropped down in the snow and began to bite out the ice that had formed between the toes l his was a matter of instinct To permit the ice to remain would mean sore feet It did not know this It merely obeyed the mysterious prompting that arose from the deep crypts of its being But the man knew having achieved a judgment on the subject and he removed the mitten from his right hand and helped tear out the ice-particles He did not expose his fingers more than a minute and was astonished at the swift numbness that smote them It certainly was cold He pulled on the mitten hastily and beat the hand savagely across his chest

At twelve oclock the day was at its brightest Yet the sun was too far south an its winter journey to clear the horizon The bulge of the earth intervened between it arid Henderson Creek where the man walked under a clear sky at noon and cast no shadow At half-past twelve to the minute he arrived at the forks of the creek He was pleased at the speed he had made If he kept it up he would certainly be with the boys by six He unbuttoned his jacket and shirt and drew forth his lunch The action consumed no more than a quarter of a minute yet in that brief moment the numbness laid hold of the exposed fingers He did not put the mitten on but instead struck the fingers a dozen sharp smashes against his leg Then he sat down on a snow-covered log to eat The sting that followed upon the striking of his fingers against his leg ceased so quickly that he was startled He had had no chance to take a bite of biscuit He struck the fingers repeatedly and returned them to the mitten baring the other hand for the purpose of eating He tried to take a mouthful but the ice-muzzle prevented He had forgotten to build a fire and thaw out He chuckled at his foolishness and as he chuckled he noted the numbness creeping into the exposed fingers Also he noted that the stinging which had first come to his

toes when he sat down was already passing away He wandered whether the toes were warm or numb He moved them inside the moccasins and decided that they were numb

He pulled the mitten on hurriedly and stood up He was a bit frightened He stamped up and down until the stinging returned into the feet It certainly was cold was his thought That man from Sulphur Creek had spoken the truth when telling how cold it sometimes got in the country And he had laughed at him at the time That showed one must not be too sure of things There was no mistake about it it was cold He strode up and down stamping his feet and threshing his arms until reassured by the returning warmth Then he got out matches and proceeded to make a fire From the undergrowth where high water of the previous spring had lodged a supply of seasoned twigs he got his firewood Working carefully from a small beginning he soon had a roaring fire over which he thawed the ice from his face and in the protection of which he ate his biscuits For the moment the cold space was outwitted The dog took satisfaction in the fire stretching out close enough for warmth and far enough away to escape being singed

When the man had finished be filled his pipe and took his comfortable time over a smoke Then he pulled on his mittens settled the ear-flaps of his cap firmly about his ears and took the creek trail up the left fork The dog was disappointed and yearned back toward the fire This man did not know cold Possibly all the generations of his ancestry had been ignorant of cold of real cold of cold one hundred and seven degrees below freezing point But the dog knew all its ancestry knew and it had inherited the knowledge And it knew that it was not good to walk abroad in such fearful cold It was the time to lie snug in a hole in the snow and wait for a curtain of cloud to be drawn across the face of outer space whence this cold came On the other hand there was no keen intimacy between the dog and the man

The one was the toil-slave of the other and the only caresses it had ever received were the caresses of the whiplash and of harsh and menacing throat-sounds that threatened the whiplash So the dog made no effort to communicate its apprehension to the man It was not concerned in the welfare of the man it was for its own sake that it yearned back toward the fire But the man whistled and spoke to it with the sound of whiplashes and the dog swung in at the mans heel and followed after

The man took a chew of tobacco and proceeded to start a new amber beard Also his moist breath quickly powdered with white his mustache eyebrows and lashes There did not seem to be so many springs on the left fork of the Henderson and for half an hour the man saw no signs of any And then it happened At a place where there were no signs where the soft unbroken snow seemed to advertise solidity beneath tee man broke through It was not deep He wet himself halfway to the knees before he floundered out to the firm crust

He was angry and cursed his luck aloud He had hoped to get into camp with the boys at six oclock and this would delay him an hour for he would have to build a fire and dry out his foot-gear This was imperative at that low temperature--he knew that much and he turned aside to the bank which he climbed On top tangled in the underbrush about the trunks of several small spruce trees was a high-water deposit of dry firewood--sticks and twigs principally but also larger portions of seasoned branches and fine dry last-years grasses He threw down several large pieces on top of the snow This served for a foundation and prevented the young flame from drowning itself in the snow it otherwise would melt The flame he got by touching a match to a small shred of birch bark that he took from his pocket This burned even more readily than paper Placing it on the foundation he fed the young flame with wisps of dry grass and with the tiniest dry twigs

He worked slowly and carefully keenly aware of his danger Gradually as the flame grew stronger he increased the size of the twigs with which he fed it He squatted in the snow pulling the twigs out from their entanglement in the brush and feeding directly to the flame He knew there must be no failure When it is seventy-five below zero a man must not fail in his first attempt to build a fire--that is if his feet are wet If his feet are dry and he fails he can run along the trail for half a mile and restore his circulation But the circulation of wet and freezing feet cannot be restored by running when it is seventy-five below No matter how fast he runs the wet feet will freeze the harder

All this the man knew The old-timer on Sulphur Creek had told him about it the previous fall and now he was appreciating the advice Already all sensation had gone out of his feet To build the fire he had been forced to remove his mittens and the fingers had quickly gone numb His pace of four miles an hour had kept his heart pumping blood to the surface of his body and to all the extremities But the instant he stopped the action of the pump eased down The cold of space smote the unprotected tip of the planet and he being on that unprotected tip received the full force of the blow The blood of his body recoiled before it The blood was alive like the dog and like the dog it wanted to hide away and cover itself up from the fearful cold So long as he walked four miles an hour he pumped that blood willy-nilly to the surface but now it ebbed away and sank down into the recesses of his body The extremities were the first to feel its absence His wet feet froze the faster and his exposed fingers numbed the faster though they had not yet begun to freeze Nose and cheeks were already freezing while the skin of all his body chilled as it lost its blood

But he was safe Toes and nose and cheeks would be only touched by the frost for the fire was beginning to burn with strength He was feeding it

To Build a FireContinued

with twigs the size of his finger In another minute he would be able to feed it with branches the size of his wrier and then he could remove his wet toot-gear and while it dried he could keep his naked feet warm by the fire rubbing them at first of course with snow The fire was a success He was safe He remembered the advice of the old timer on Sulphur Creek and smiled The old-timer had been very serious in laying down the law that no man must travel alone in the Klondike after fifty below Well here he was he had had the accident he was alone and he had saved himself Those old-timers were rather womanish some of them he thought All a man had to do was to keep his head and he was all right Any man who was a man could travel alone But it was surprising the rapidity with which his cheeks and nose were freezing And he had not thought his fingers could go lifeless in so short a time Lifeless they were for he could scarcely make them move together to grip a twig and they seemed remote from his body and from him When he touched a twig he had to look and see whether or not he had hold of it The wires were pretty well down between him and his finger-ends

All of which counted for little There was the fire snapping and crackling and promising life with every dancing flame He started to untie his moccasins They were coated with ice the thick German socks were like sheaths of iron halfway to the knees and the moccasin strings were like rods of steel all twisted and knotted as by some conflagration For a moment he tugged with his numb fingers then realizing the folly of it he drew his sheath-knife

But before he could cut the strings it happened It was his own fault or rather his mistake He should not have built the fire under the spruce tree He should have built it in the open But it had been easier to pull the twigs from the brush and drop them directly on the fire Now the tree under which

he had done this carried a weight of snow on its boughs No wind had blown for weeks and each bough was fully freighted Each time he had pulled a twig he had communicated a slight agitation to the tree--an imperceptible agitation so far as he was concerned but an agitation sufficient to bring about the disaster High up in the tree one bough capsized its load of snow This fell on the boughs beneath capsizing them This process continued spreading out and involving the whole tree It grew like an avalanche and it descended without warning upon the man and the fire and the fire was blotted out Where it had burned was a mantle of fresh and disordered snow

The man was shocked It was as though he had just heard his own sentence of death For a moment he sat and stared at the spot where the fire had been Then he grew very calm Perhaps the old-timer on Sulphur Creek was right If he had only had a trail-mate he would have been in no danger now The trail-mate could have built the fire Well it was up to him to build the fire over again and this second time there must be no failure Even if he succeeded he would most likely lose some toes His feet must be badly frozen by now and there would be some time before the second fire Was ready

Such were his thoughts but he did not sit and think them He was busy all the time they were passing through his mind He made a new foundation for a fire this time in the open where no treacherous tree could blot it out Next he gathered dry grasses and tiny twigs from the high-water flotsam He could not bring his fingers together to pull them out but he was able to gather them by the handful In this way he got many rotten twigs and bits of green moss that were undesirable but it was the best he could do He worked methodically even collecting an armful of the larger branches to be used later when the fire gathered strength And all the while the dog sat and watched him a certain yearning wistfulness in its eyes for it looked upon

To Build a FireContinued

him as the fire-provider and the fire was slow in coming

When all was ready the man reached in his pocket for a second piece of birch bark He knew the bark was there and though he could not feel it with his fingers he could hear its crisp rustling as he fumbled for it Try as he would he could not clutch hold of it And all the time in his consciousness was the knowledge that each instant his feet were freezing This thought tended to put him in a panic but he fought against it and kept calm He pulled on his mittens with his teeth and threshed his arms back and forth beating his hands with all his might against his sides He did this sitting down and he stood up to do it and all the while the dog sat in the snow its wolf-brush of a tail curled around warmly over its forefeet its sharp wolf-ears pricked forward intently as it watched the man And the man as he beat and threshed with his arms and hands felt a great surge of envy as he regarded the creature that was warm ant secure in its natural covering

After a time he was aware of the first far-away signals of sensation in his beaten fingers The faint tingling grew stronger till it evolved into a stinging ache that was excruciating but which the man hailed with satisfaction He stripped the mitten from his right hand and fetched forth the birch bark The exposed fingers were quickly going numb again Next he brought out his bunch of sulphur matches But the tremendous cold had already driven the life out of his fingers In his effort to separate one match from the others the whole bunch fell in the snow He tried to pick it out of the snow but failed The dead fingers could neither touch nor clutch He was very careful He drove the thought of his freezing feet and nose and cheeks out of his mind devoting his whole soul to the matches He watched using the sense of vision in place of that of touch and when he saw his fingers on each side the bunch he dosed them--that is he willed to close them for the wires were down and the fingers did not obey He pulled

the mitten on the right hand and beat it fiercely against his knee Then with both mittened hands he scooped the bunch of matches along with much snow into his lap Yet he was no better off

After some manipulation he managed to get the bunch between the heels of his mittened hands In this fashion he carried it to his mouth The ice crackled and snapped when by a violent effort he opened his mouth He drew the lower jaw in curled the upper lip out of the way and scraped the bunch with his upper teeth in order to separate a match He succeeded in getting one which he dropped on his lap He was no better off He could not pick it up Then he devised a way He picked it up in his teeth and scratched it on his leg Twenty times he scratched before he succeeded in lighting it As it flamed he held it with his teeth to the birch bark But the burning brimstone went up his nostrils and into his lungs causing him to cough spasmodically The match fell into the snow and went out

The old-timer an Sulphur Creek was right he thought in the moment of controlled despair that ensued after fifty below a man should travel with a partner He beat his hands but failed in exciting any sensation Suddenly he bared both hands removing the mittens with his teeth He caught the whole bunch between the heels of his hands His arm muscles not being frozen enabled him to press the hand-heels tightly against the matches Then he scratched the bunch along his leg It flared into flame seventy sulphur matches at once There was no wind to blow them out He kept his head to one side to escape the strangling fumes and held the blazing bunch to the birth bark As he so held it he became aware of sensation in his hand His flesh was burning He could smell it Deep down below the surface he could feel it The sensation developed into pain that grew acute And still he endured it holding the flame of the matches clumsily to the bark that would not light readily because his own burning hands were in the way absorbing most of the flame

To Build a FireContinued

At last when he could endure no more he jerked his hands apart The blazing matches fell sizzling into the snow but the birch bark was alight He began laying dry grasses and the tiniest twigs on the flame He could not pick and choose for he had to lift the fuel between the heels of his hands Small pieces of rotten wood and green moss clung to the twigs and he bit them off as well as he could with his teeth He cherished the flame carefully and awkwardly It meant life and it must not perish The withdrawal of blood from the surface of his body now made him begin to shiver and he grew more awkward A large piece of green moss fell squarely on the little fire He tried to poke it out with his fingers but his shivering frame made him poke too far and he disrupted the nucleus of the little fire the burning grasses and tiny twigs separating and scattering He tried to poke them together again but in spite of the tenseness of the effort his shivering got away with him and the twigs were hopelessly scattered Each twig gushed a puff of smoke and went out The fire-provider had failed As he looked apathetically about him his eyes chanced on the dog sitting across the ruins of the fire from him in the snow making restless hunching movements slightly lifting one forefoot and then the other shifting its weight back and forth on them with wistful eagerness

The sight of the dog put a wild idea into his head He remembered the tale of the man caught in a blizzard who killed a steer and crawled inside the carcass and so was saved He would kill the dog and bury his hands in the warm body until the numbness went out of them Then he could build another fire He spoke to the dog calling it to him but in his voice was a strange note of fear that frightened the animal who had never known the man to speak in such way before Something was the matter and its suspicious nature sensed danger--it knew not what danger but somewhere somehow in its brain arose an apprehension of the man It flattened its ears down at the sound of the mans voice and its restless

hunching movements and the liftings and shiftings of its forefeet became more pronounced but it would not come to the man He got on his hands and knees and crawled toward the dog This unusual posture again excited suspicion and the animal sidled mincingly away

The man sat up in the snow for a moment and struggled for calmness Then he pulled on his mittens by means of his teeth and got upon his feet He glanced down at first in order to assure himself that he was really standing up for the absence of sensation in his feet left him unrelated to the earth His erect position in itself started to drive the webs of suspicion from the dogs mind and when he spoke peremptorily with the sound of whiplashes in his voice the dog rendered its customary allegiance and came to him As it came within reaching distance the man lost his control His arms flashed out to the dog and he experienced genuine surprise when he discovered that his hands could not clutch that there was neither bend nor feeling in the fingers He had forgotten for the moment that they were frozen and that they were freezing more and more All this happened quickly and before the animal could get away he encircled its body with his arms He sat down in the snow and in this fashion held the dog while it snarled and whined and struggled

But it was all he could do hold its body encircled in his arms and sit there He realized that he could not kill the dog There was no way to do it With his helpless hands he could neither draw nor hold his sheath knife nor throttle the animal He released it and it plunged wildly away with tail between its legs and still snarling It halted forty feet away and surveyed him curiously with ears sharply pricked forward The man looked down at his hands in order to locate them and found them hanging on the ends of his arms It struck him as curious that one should have to use his eyes in order to find out where his hands were He began threshing his arms back and forth beating the mittened hands against

To Build a FireContinued

his sides He did this for five minutes violently and his heart pumped enough blood up to the surface to put a stop to his shivering But no sensation was aroused in the hands He had an impression that they hung like weights on the ends of his arms but when he tried to run the impression down he could not find it

A certain fear of death dull and oppressive came to him This fear quickly became poignant as he realized that it was no longer a mere matter of freezing his fingers and toes or of losing his hands and feet but that it was a matter of life and death with the chances against him This threw him into a panic and he turned and ran up the creek-bed along the old dim trail The dog joined in behind and kept up with him He ran blindly without intention in fear such as he had never known in his life Slowly as he plowed and floundered through the snow he began to see things again the banks of the creek the old timber-jams the leafless aspens and the sky The running made him feel better He did not shiver Maybe if he ran on his feet would thaw out and anyway if he ran far enough he would reach camp and the boys Without doubt he would lose some fingers and toes and some of his face but the boys would take care of him and save the rest of him when he got there And at the same time there was another thought in his mind that said he would never get to the camp and the boys that it was too many miles away that the freezing had too great a start on him and that he would soon be stiff and dead This thought he kept in the background and refused to consider Sometimes it pushed itself forward and demanded to be heard but he thrust it back and strove to think of other things

It struck him as curious that he could run at all on feet so frozen that he could not feel them when they struck the earth and took the weigh of his body He seemed to himself to skim along above the surface and to have no connection with the earth Somewhere he had once seen a winged Mercury

and he wondered if Mercury felt as he felt when skimming over the earth

His theory of running until he reached camp and the boys had one flaw in it he lacked the endurance Several times he stumbled and finally he tottered crumpled up and fell When he tried to rise he failed He must sit and rest he decided and next time he would merely walk and keep on going As he sat and regained his breath he noted that he was feeling quite warm and comfortable He was not shivering and it even seemed that a warm glow had come to his chest and trunk And yet when he touched his nose or cheeks there was no sensation Running would not thaw them out Nor would it thaw out his hands and feet Then the thought came to him that the frozen portions of his body must be extending He tried to keep this thought down to forget it to think of something else he was aware of the panicky feeling that it caused and he was afraid of the panic But the thought asserted itself and persisted until it produced a vision of his body totally frozen This was too much and he made another wild run along the trail Once he slowed down to a walk but the thought of the freezing extending itself made him run again

And all the time the dog ran with him at his heels When he fell down a second time it curled its tad over its forefeet and sat in front of him facing him curiously eager and intent The warmth and security of the animal angered him and he cursed it till it flattened down its ears appealingly This time the shivering came more quickly upon the man He was losing in his battle with the frost It was creeping into his body from all sides The thought of it drove him on but he ran no more than a hundred feet when he staggered and pitched headlong It was his last panic When he had recovered his breath and control he sat up and entertained in his mind the conception of meeting death with dignity However the conception did not come to him in such terms His idea of it was that he had been making a fool of

To Build a FireContinued

himself running around like a chicken with its head cut off--such was the simile that occurred to him Well he was bound to freeze anyway and he might as well take it decently With this new-found peace of mind came the first glimmerings of drowsiness A good idea he thought to sleep off to death It was like salting an anesthetic Freezing was not so bad as people thought There were lots worse ways to die

He pictured the boys finding his body next day Suddenly he found himself with them coming along the trail and looking for himself And still with them he came around a turn in the trail and found himself lying in the snow He did not belong with himself any more for even then he was out of himself standing with the boys and looking at himself in the snow It certainly was cold was his thought When he got back to the States he could tell the folks what real cold was He drifted on from this to a vision of the old-timer on Sulphur Creek He could see him quite clearly warm and comfortable and smoking a pipe

You were right old boss you were right the man mumbled to the old-timer of Sulphur Creek

Then the man drowsed off into what seemed to him the most comfortable and satisfying sleep he had ever known The dog sat facing him and waiting The brief day drew to a close in a long slow twilight There were no signs of a fire to be made and besides never in the dogs experience had it known a man to sit like that in the snow and make no fire As the twilight drew on its eager yearning for the fire mastered it and with a great lifting and shifting of forefeet it whined softly then flattened its ears down in anticipation of being chidden by the man But the man remained silent Later the dog whined loudly And still later it crept close to the man and caught the scent of death This made the animal bristle and back away A little longer it delayed howling under the stars that leaped and danced and shone brightly in the cold sky Then it turned and trotted up the trail in the direction of the camp it knew where were the other food-providers and fire-providers

To Build a FireContinued

Blogs can be a lot of work to maintainTwitter only gives you 140 characters

Facebook is just your friends

Now you can share a story no matter your social-web status

Stories are published for ALL FitnessDigestus readers Archived professionally and digitally in thousands of libraries

Sign with your real name pen-name or anonymousItrsquos easy and professional Go to httpLiveMediaFitnessDigestus

FitnessDigestUStrade Stories of the humankind

Make Htory

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Page 13: FitnessDigest.us Vol. 4.3 Cover

13 When I am not out training with the group that I started in my hometown ldquoFriends in Fitnessrdquo you can find me blogging at justamomgivingitatriblogspotcom studying for my personal trainer certification or spending time with my husband girls and friends I enjoy being in the outdoors whether it is just for a walk or turkey hunting in the woods I am currently the chairperson working to organize a 5K fundraiser for the PEO Chapter that I belong to in Rockford Iowa This is going to be our major fundraiser for the year and we are very excited to encourage wellness among others in our community

Givingit aTri

FitnessDigestus columnist Jen Schmitt Rockford Iowa

13 In 2011 while nursing my 4 month old my sister in law invited me to go with her to Weight Watchers I joined the next day for what was probably the 8th time but this time was different I made my goal and am a lifetime member I lost 43lbs and am healthy for the first time in my life I have Crohnrsquos Disease and am no longer taking any medications and no longer suffering the symptoms associated with the disease

In August of 2011 our hometown hero a Navy Seal was killed in action He was a huge inspiration to many people but after his death I was inspired to make a difference in our community and live my life differently He was a triathlete that had tackled the big daddy of them all and became an Ironman Realizing what he gave up so that we may have freedom inspired me to continue on my fitness path by

Favo

rite

wor

kout

acc

esso

ry G

arm

in Fo

reru

nner

310

XT

Wha

t get

s m

e ou

t of b

ed

My a

larm

on

my p

hone

tellin

g m

e to

get

to th

e po

ol an

d sw

im o

r a s

crea

ming

chil

d

Fam

ily amp

Frie

nds

Watch and LearnSent in from NIP Gym

Successful SAFE gains in

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Available at select Hy-Vee stores

NO MSG

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GREAT STORY HERE FROM NIP amp Fitness 13 I was in the gym this morning doing shoulders A quiet red headed kid comes in and gets on the bench and starts benching His first set of 135 lbs had HORRIBLE technique and form I walk over and talk to him He tells me his name is Joe - age 17 - weight 205 and is a junior at CS High School and he just bought a membership to NIP amp Fitness He tells me two weeks ago he benched 185 lbs for a max I told him that was very good for is age but NOT for his build I knew he was stronger than that So I helped him shape up is technique and form Joe ndash LISTENED and WATCHED He learned that he was much stronger than a 185 pound max bench presser Today from LISTENING and WATCHING Joe bench pressed 225 X 2 ndash and that 185 pounds he maxed two weeks ago he finished his work out by doing that 185 pounds for seven reps Proper TECHNIQUE and FORM are the key to successful SAFE gains in the gym Today Joe was a perfect example CONGRATULATIONS Joe

Dear Freestyle Swim Stroke

13 You are so frustrating to me Why canrsquot we just get along When I made the decision to tackle this goal of completing a triathlon I was not even worried about you That has proven to be a mistake Some days things go so smooth between us and some mornings I spring out of bed at 430 so excited about our time together Today was not one of those days You left me feeling like thishellip

Like a wet wrung out old swimsuit

These are the reasons that I am so upset with you

1 You literally take my breath away

2 You make my shoulder hurt (Popcorn kernels currently on shoulder while typing)

3 You make me leave my warm cozy bed about two hours before I would really like to leave it

4 If I donrsquot get my butt out of bed and go at 430 AM I have to leave my family and go at 730 PM

Dear FreestyleBy Jen Schmitt Rockford Iowa

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pull

head position

exit

flutter-kick

recovery

(Yes we know ndash no cameras in the locker room No one was harmed in this photo shoot)

13 And to the very old man in the lane beside me I do not dislike you in-fact I am insanely jealous of you I donrsquot stare at you because of your body you may look hot if I was 75 but I am not I stare at you in awe of how effortlessly you move up and down the pool without a rest Someday I hope to be just like you

13 So for now as much as I would love to say we need to break up and go our separate ways I am too D stubborn to do that We will make this work and we are going to get along Here is my promise to you ndash I promise to meet-up with you two to three times a week for at least an hour to work on our relationship I promise not to cheat on you with the sidestroke although I am so much more comfortable with him I promise to keep an open mind about our relationship and give it all that I have just like I do with my friend the run

Love you (I think)

Jen

Dear FreestyleContinued

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pull

head position

exit

flutter-kick

recovery

Adult SwimmingBy Susan Dawson-cook

I have taught dozens of adults how to swim Many of them were initially either afraid of water or somewhat uncomfortable in the aquatic environment Whats worked best is to get in the water with them and do activities that show them it can be fun and safe I make sure they feel safe and secure the entire time and even say things like if you have trouble standing up after you take some strokes I will help you or just reach for my hand if you need support

13 Many beginners have this fear ndash if they are in the horizontal position swimming they wont be able to stand up One woman cried she was so overjoyed she overcame her fear and learned to take her first strokes

Find more of Susanrsquos writing and published works at httplivemediaFitnessDigestus

Body image and fitness are hot topics for both men and women The Great Fitness Experiment is my hilarious poignant embarrassing and at times heart-breaking journey to find my way through the morass of contradictory claims and information in todayrsquos health- and fitness-obsessed world

Available in paperback or in eBookhttpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

If you have trouble standing up after you

take some strokesone women cried

she was so overjoyed

If you would like future issues delivered to a Facebook Twitter or e-mail account e-mail us at infoFitnessDigestus

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2 Deadwood Mickelson Trail MarathonSunday June 2 2013

Deadwood South Dakota

13 On June 2nd we will celebrate 12 years of offering runners from around the globe the most unique running experience of their life Where else in the world can you run on a course that takes you from an abandoned mining town across railroad trestles through a mountain past monolithic rock formations beside a babbling creek and finish in Deadwoodhellipa town that is a historic landmark

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Written Emily WheelerFor more information amp video visit httpLIveAdsFitnessDigestus

ldquoWild West town known primarily for its gamblers gunslingers and gold minersrdquo

Hope to see you at the finish

This Wild West town known primarily for its gamblers gunslingers and gold miners has turned into one of the premiere destination marathon venues in the US

13 The breathtaking beauty of our course the truly outstanding team of volunteers the hospitality of everyone associated with the event and paying attention to details are just a couple of reasons yoursquoll want to toe the line on June 2nd

The Deadwood Mickelson Trail Half and Full Marathon is a point to point course

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ldquoThe breathtaking beauty of our courserdquo

WaynesSkiandCyclenetlive links to Waynersquos at httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

MTM Charity Partner

13 Habitat for Humanity is a global nonprofit Christian housing organization that has helped to build more than 500000 decent affordable houses and served 25 million people worldwide since its founding in 1976 With the help of volunteers and donations of money and materials Habitat constructs rehabilitates and preserves homes in partnership with low-income families in need Operating in nearly 80 countries and with more than 1500 affiliates in the United States Habitat also advocates for fair and just housing policies and provides training and access to resources to help families improve their shelter conditions

Shop for Name BrandItems 24 Hours a Day

beginning in the historic mining town of Rochford the first 15 miles are on a paved road At this point the course becomes the Mickelson Trail (a rails to trails project) The next 12 miles are a mixture of gentle uphill and flat terrain

13 Then the course is either downhill or flat and finishes at the historic Engine House at end of the linehellipthe Deadwood Trailhead The Half Marathon is also a point to point course starting at the 131 mile mark of the full marathon Walker Friendly

All participants will receive a Commemorative Finisherrsquos Medal

Mickelson Trail Marathon Charity Partner is the Black Hills Habitat for HumanityMake your Marathon Matter Matching Funds

Make your Marathon matter by helping create decent shelter in the Black Hills ndash take the challenge to give at least $1 per race mile Our goal is to raise $3000 in 2012 for BH Habitat for Humanity to help provide shelter for more families in the Black Hills

Registrations are capped at 3000 runners If you want to be part of the Deadwood Mickelson Trail Marathon Weekend celebration go to LiveAdsFitnessDigestus and click on the MTM Marathon URL

Hope to see you at the Finish Line - ThanksEmily Wheeler Wheeler Event Management Inc

ldquoHope to see you at the finish linerdquo

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links

DAY had broken cold and gray exceedingly cold and gray when the man turned aside from the main Yukon trail and climbed the high earth-bank where a dim and little traveled trail led eastward through the fat spruce timberland It was a steep bank and he paused for breath at the top excusing the act to himself by looking at his watch It was nine oclock There was no sun nor hint of sun though there was not a cloud in the sky It was a

clear day and yet there seemed an intangible pall over the face of things a subtle gloom that made the day dark and that was due to the absence of sun This fact did not worry the man He was used to the lack of sun It had been days since he had seen the sun and he knew that a few more-days must pass before that cheerful orb due south would just peep above the sky-line and dip immediately from view

To Build a Fire - Hiking the Yukon TrailShort story fiction Written by Jack London (1876-1916)

The man flung a look back along the way he had come The Yukon lay a mile wide and hidden under three feet of ice On top of this ice were as many feet of snow It was all pure white rolling in gentle undulations where the ice jams of the freeze-up had formed North and south as far as his eye could see it was unbroken white save for a dark hairline that curved and twisted from around the spruce-covered island to the south and that curved and twisted away into the north where it disappeared behind another spruce-covered island This dark hair-line was the trail--the main trail--that led south five hundred miles to the Chilcoot Pass Dyea and salt water and that led north seventy miles to Dawson and still on to the north a thousand miles to Nulato and finally to St Michael on Bering Sea a thousand miles and half a thousand more

But all this--the mysterious far-reaching hair-line trail The absence of sun from the sky the tremendous cold and the strangeness and weirdness of it all--made no

impression on the man It was not because he was long used to it He was a newcomer In the land a chechaquo and this was his first winter The trouble with him was that he was without imagination He was quick and alert in the things of life but only in the things and not in the significances Fifty degrees below zero meant eighty-odd degrees of frost Such fact impressed him as being cold and uncomfortable and that was all It did not lead him to meditate upon his frailty as a creature of temperature and upon mans frailty in general able only to live within certain narrow limits of heat and cold and from there on it did not lead him to the conjectural field of immortality and mans place in the universe Fifty degrees below zero stood forte bite of frost that hurt and that must be guarded against by the use of mittens ear-flaps warm moccasins and thick socks Fifty degrees below zero was to him just precisely fifty degrees below zero That there should be anything more to it than that was a thought that never entered his head

To Build a FireContinued

Continued on page 62

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It is important from time to time to slow down to go away by yourself and simply be --Eileen Caddy

Letrsquos Race13 My son is eight and our family is very active Im just hitting my peak racing age of about 34 years old The family members all support each otherrsquos activities They are a great cheering section when my wife and I compete in races There is a popular two mile fun run in our town that we my wife and I run every year We also have for-fun races with the kids around the house or across the football field For years Ive let the eight year old win a few and others I win by just a little bit I think he is wising up to my tactics of good fatherhood One day he said ldquoDad you are letting me win but I think I can beat you fair and squarerdquo He added ldquoYoursquore not that fast Ill bet you 10 dollars I can beat you in a two mile racerdquo Wanting to teach him a lesson about spouting off and writing checks his body cant cash I took him up on it I said All right you pick a time and place We will race two miles for 10 dollars He replied You know that two mile race you and mom do every year I can race you then I agreed and he quickly added Ill need 20 years to warm-up That would make me 54 and him 28 Irsquom preparing for the loss and putting 10 dollars aside now

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Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

In my first creative experience it was through music and I was interested in developing my values of creativity I was inspired by a band named Motley Crue and the song that captured my interest was Home Sweet home Dear reader what inspires you Is it music or inspirational quote thought or ideas To express how this song motivated my interests it helped give me faith in my own creative abilities in the process I began to write lyrics I eventually began to work on different styles of writing and broaden my writing skills What types of music inspire your creative thoughts What types of other inspiration values inspire your creative thoughts

13 Getting motivated is one of the key aspects of a successful weight-loss program Without this motivation there would be no drive to get up early or to avoid eating unhealthy snacks ndash that you absolutely love Yes you can thank your motivation for that When you are looking for weight-loss motivation sometimes it is hard to find Where can you find that extra umph to make it to your goal

The benefits of finding a motivator are something that cannot be paralleled It has been said mind over matter This coincides with our principle that no matter how hard the task you can accomplish the goal given the right mindset It is important to go into a new weight-loss program with a positive mental attitude

FINDI

NG TH

EM X InspirationX

Motivation

When I was introduced to William Shakespeare I was intrigued by his creative values and I started to work on developing a different aspect of writing I then watched the movie Free Jack there was a quote by Albert Einstein Imagination is more important than knowledge I thought about the in depth values of both concepts and then I applied both concepts and defined different creative concept Do you believe that anything is possible if you believe I know that I do believe that if an individual believes deeply enough one can accomplish their goals I had to believe in my own abilities and in my dreams and ignore the negative values that were impressed by others

Anything less can potentially hinder growth towards your goal

Some of the things that you should be thinking about when looking for motivators are people with good morals and a positive attitude This is because if the people helping you do not have a positive attitude then it is also difficult for you Some great places to look for a motivator are online blogs in the gym or even in your own family I am sure that in all of these places you will see someone else trying to accomplish the same or even more difficult goals than your own

Another key to finding motivation is to let it find you You should not have to go find a reason to go do something You will do it because you wanted to not because you were forced to

X

InspirationMotivation

More simply put motivation will find you because you will see something that inspires you to make a change in yourself That change may be a weight-loss goal or something else Maybe even an academic goal The true key is to maintain that motivation until you have achieved your goal

Regards Vincent ErrichielloUSMS Swimmer

InspirationMotivation

With believing so deeply within my own abilities and the faith that I could accomplish what I set out to achieve I wrote a lyric titled Dreams Are Only Real and in believing in this concept further defining its true meaning the concept became Dreams Are Only Real Until You Dont believe

Jeremy J TaylorCNFI Publishing

himTHROWINGWritten by anonymous contributor

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13 Johnny is not the best batter in our little league Matter-of-fact he is quiet awful At practice one afternoon Johnny hit a pitch really well The coach had pitched him inside on accident far enough inside that it almost hit him Johnny got his hit by using his bat to defend himself from that arrant pitch The coach told him ldquogood hitrdquo and Johnny yelled back ldquoWell I didnrsquot want the ball to hit merdquo13 Johnny improved his batting after that He was hitting the ball almost every time he got up At one point I said to coach ldquoHow did you get Johnny to improve his batting so quicklyrdquo He replyed Im throwing the ball it AT HIM every time

Body image and fitness are hot topics for both men and women The Great Fitness Experiment is my hilarious poignant embarrassing and at times heart-breaking journey to find my way through the morass of contradictory claims and information in todayrsquos health- and fitness-obsessed world

Available in paperback or in eBookVisit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

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entryFitnessDigestus

Send u

s yo

ur T

-shi

rt

READE

R T

-shi

rts

13 I was standing on shore fishing in my favorite spot A guy Irsquove never seen at the pond gets in and starts swimming After about 25 minutes of back and forth he stops at a place about 30 yards off shore He gives me a quick look and dices down below the water

His next lap he stops in the same place looks at me again and points down at the water He finished his swim and left I picked up my gear and moved to the other side of the outlet just a few yards from where he had stopped twice Caught a lunker in the first cast

Swim Signs - Lunker

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Black Lab LanyardsSpecializing in customized duck and goose call lanyards for waterfowl enthusiastsCustomized Duck and Goose Call Lanyards

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TOP TWEETS

Iowa Cubs (IowaCubs)Thanks to all our fans who showed up for the pre-game on-field catch with dad

Louise Pineda (forerunnerGPS)The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficultyWinston Churchill quotes

Softball Darlin (Softball_Darlin)My mom told me our team was gettin white uniforms for summer amp to try not to get them dirty Uh Have you seen me play Not gonna happen

I Swim I Suffer (ISwimISuffer)thatswimmerwho If the water is in your right ear for example then jump on your right leg and lean your head to the right side while jumping

I Swim and I Know It (iSwimWithIssues)During the summer you shower 467 times at the pool 17 times at hotels and 3 times at your house Truth

Everyday Health (WomensCancer)63000 Americans will be diagnosed w malignant melanoma (the deadliest skin cancer) this year Know your risk

US Paralympics (USParalympics)Want to be introduced to Paralympic sport Attend one of the Paralympic Experiences being held throughout the countryFi

tnes

sDig

est

US v

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2

SwimSwam (swimswamnews)Congrats to KenyaSwimmer on being selected to carry the Kenya flag swimswamcom

Better than sharing on a blog Twitter or Facebook and you can share a story even if you donrsquot maintain a social-web presencePublished for ALL FitnessDigestus readers

Sign with your real name pen-name or anonymoushttpLiveMediaFitnessDigestus

13 Funnest thing SPAM about some weight-loss supplements got posted on a friendrsquos Facebook My friend is an ultra-runner I notice there was also an ad for salami recipes on the same page The recipes were right next to the SPAM about diet-pills

13 Letrsquos see ndash it sounds like the beginning of a good joke Q What do you get when a friend tries to sell you ultra-runner endorsed salami-flavored-SPAM diet-pills on Facebook Answer Sick

Unsung Heroes1 Irsquove never swam open water and wanted to do a triathlon A friend that

races open water took extra time to swim with me at a lake I was much more comfortable after that

2 I was going on vacation and needed advice on a place to swim A friend living in the area took the time to help me find people to answer my questions

3 I was over eating and had complained to my friend about it She called me twice a day for three weeks just to remind me to eat healthy

4 I usually run to and from the gym It takes about 30 minutes to run both ways I didnrsquot have enough time to get there and back before a scheduled appointment I had A friend drove me to the gym saving me about 30 minutes I was able to run home and still had time to get to my appointment

SPAM DIET

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Visit the Suburban Mommy blog and learn more about AtresiaMicrotia a birth defect of the inner earFor links to SubMommy blog httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

SUBMOMMYBLOG

On Wednesday May 16 2012 at 7 PM simultaneous rides occurred around the

USA and the world

We all ride Now we can ride as one

One day One time One world world wide

Let the silence roar

322 locations world wide

The Ride of SilenceTonight we number many but ride as one

In honor of those not with us friends

mothers fathers sisters sons

With helmets on tight and heads down low

We ride in silence cautious and slow

The wheels start spinning in the lead pack

But tonight we ride and no one attacks

The dark sunglasses cover our tears

Remembering those we held so dear

Tonights ride is to make others aware

The road is there for all to share

To those not with us or by our side

May God be your partner on your final ride

- Mike Murgas

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 50 states

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 7 Continents

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 0 words spoken

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 1 million memories

Ride of Silence

ldquoCost-effective investments in bicycling boost our economy help individuals and government agencies save money and directly address key societal challenges such as obesity and road congestion In these tough economic times our federal government can only afford to invest in solutions that solve multiple problems Bicycling fits the billrdquo ndash PeopleForBikesorg

This photo collection was taken byRobert LaVallee of Mason City IA

To see his entire collection visithttpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

Non-subscriberSign-up for delivery of

the FREE edition at coopnetbiz

It provides an outstanding aerobic workout in less than half the time we would spend in still water It has allowed us as swim coaches to observe swimmers stroke characteristics up close and to see the effects of fatigue on stroke mechanics ~ Larry L Chazy NY

Swimming is an excellent exercise and now I can swim every day because its so convenient and private I can swim when I want and how long I want Im able to have it at a temperature that is comfortable to me The small size of an Endless Pool enabled me to install a pool where I could not install a regular size one

As an aging baby boomer nutrition professional I have yearned for consistent exercise that doesnt stress joints and will enable me to attain physical fitness cardiovascular health and weight control I can eat what I want and still firm up and lose weight ~ John C Columbus OH

Endless Pools make for long swims in small places The 8x15 Endless Pool is less than regulation size but offers the same benefits as a very large pool ~ Noah H Connecticut Post

The Endless Pool is a great strength builder I am amazed at the strength of the current I now swim against I did not buy it for that reason but because of my arthritis so the strength gain is a wonderful surprise

Endless PoolsTestimonials For more information visit httpLIveAdsFitnessDigestus

s w i m m i n g s h o r t s

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Baseball Walking Stick13 My sons friend grabbed his baseball bat and said to me this is my walking stick I politely ask him why he calls it that He replied because my dad says if I hit a home run with it I donrsquot have to run the bases ndash I can walk

My Bike My mountain bike was stolen a while back and my kids were really upset Ive been riding my road bike in its place Since then Ive been careful to lock my bike up when we go to the park

13 On this occasion I did not lock-up my sonrsquos bike up with mine He looked at me quizzically and said sternly lock my bike up too I tried to explain that his bike was not as expensive and therefor didnt need to be locked up Boy that was a mistake He made me feel a little dumb when he said Dad I dont care how expensive it is Its the only bike Irsquove got

North Iowa Roads

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A LEADER inSearch Engine Optimization

Technology

Increase your visitor page views and Facebook Likes

Are you moving to a new state Already hired your mover

E-mail blind box at box02FitnessDigestus will get

you the best rates on cable phone and internet

Digital Movers

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

parent sports tipBy FitnessDigestus staff writer JGA

PAR

EN

T

TIP

Keeping Kids Focused13 Organize their thoughts Help them prioritize and make decisions based on value Even kids can understand the value of simple non-monetized choices Questions like ldquoShould I finish playing my gameboy game or pause it when they call my swimming eventrdquo

If kids are taught to make good decisions and not just find quick answers everyone wins

AugustGolf Month5th Friendship Day15th Relaxation Day25th Kiss and Make Up Day31st Trail Mix DaySeptemberLittle League Month12th Chocolate Milk Shake Day13th Positive Thinking Day16th Womenrsquos Friendship Day21st Miniature Golf DayOctoberBreast Cancer Awareness MonthNational Diabetes Month1st World Vegetarian Day4th Golf Day25th World Pasta Day

National Calendar

Au

gu

stSe

pte

mb

er

Oc

tob

er

Encourage friendships writing skills sharing thoughts and

experiencesEight different cards

YAGOTTAWANNA

Variety of pricing From single orders to bulk orders of 24 notecards

Learn more online

Stay in touch with your swimming or triathlon buddies

It is better to be safe then to try to beat the heat There are many options to stay cool and run during a hot-summer day Staying inside and running on the treadmill is a good one Remember staying safe is a top priority

Most workouts can be modified to work indoors This issuersquos workout is to do your usual run or interval set just stay inside and run it on the treadmill Visualize the different landmarks to see during your outdoor run

Coach Millerrsquos Quarterly ChallengeStay safe in the heatBy Mark Miller mmillerFitnessDigestus

A few years back we had a hot-spell similar to this yearrsquos record heat

I remember training for a long run and having to stop at the local swimming hole to cool off I literally took off my

shoes and jumped in with my running clothes on I was so hot

FitnessDigestUSEntertainment amp Inspiration

Use coupon codeldquoRAMCSPRrdquo

at puresportshopcomfor 20 OFF

Nutritional Performance Sports Drinks with Protein

OPEN WATER SWIMMING BY THE NUMBERS

In kilometers The shortest open water race included in the Fina World Championships

10107 How many miles it

is to swim from Cuba to the USA

5

1000Number of swimming strokes in a mile for a typical swimmer

31800About the number of calories it takes to swim 100 miles

LOCATED IN ST ANSGAR IOWA

Business Cards Envelopes

Letterheads Programs

Vinyl Decals Signs

Posters Invites (graduation wedding showers etc)

Flyers Brochures

T-ShirtsShorts SweatshirtsSweats

Koozies Sashes

Business Forms Placemats

Postcards And Much More

Bridgette Beyer DesignerOwner

Bring your ideas in andVisual Aspect Designs can print

andor design for you

The minimum open water distance in kilometers that is considered a swimming-

marathon

On Facebook Visit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

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Open water safety means swimming in shallow water where there is a lifeguard or using an escort

Shop for Name BrandGear

24 Hoursa Day

WaynesSkiandCyclenet

For links to Waynersquos visit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

s w i m m i n g s h o r t s

Googles

13 Swimming fans can really appreciate a 200 IM when their goggles fill with water How about an Olympian Swimming a leg of the 400 Free Relay with his goggles across his opened mouth ndash and going 45rsquos A great team swimmer an Olympian wouldnrsquot let down his teammates by throwing them off or fixing them

500 Fly13 A world class butterflyer asked if he could swim butterfly in the 500 yard freestyle during a dual meet His goal was to break five minutes After considering the competition it seemed like a great way to make him really work a hard fly swim so we agreed Problem was he swam a 502 and the opposing coach complained to the officials because he embarrassed his swimmers Oh well you canrsquot win lsquoem all

Stories sent in by Robert Steele

No-No-No13 The other morning I was teaching front-streamlines to snotty nosed 8 year olds (some are literally snotty-nosed) One boy was taking a big gulp of air and holding his breath When he lifted his head he had to exhale and inhale before submerging again Swimmers will understand this does not work very well Kids need to learn to exhale underwater The first time he did it I told him to exhale underwater The second time I stopped him looked him in the eye and reminded him to exhale underwater The third and fourth times I started to get a little frustrated ldquoJohnny you need to exhale underwater so you can breath betterrdquo The fifth time as his head popped up for a breath I quickly asked ldquoJohnny Do you even know what exhale meansrdquo as he submerged his head below the water I could see him shake his head no-no-no

Favorite Potato Chips13We try to limit the junk food the kids eat at our house For lunch one day our son wanted some potato chips I gave him 3 large chips with his sandwich He started to cry and said he wanted one more chip ldquoI wanted four chipsrdquo he screamed I took the plate back When he wasnt looking I broke a chip in half and give it back to him with four chips

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

13 My cancer story is one of uniqueness Leave it to me to do something like cancer to its fullest It did not begin with a mammogram diagnosis or a lump My journey began about 4 years ago with some suspicious activity that turned into Pagetrsquos disease of the nipple which signaled the underlying cancer On April 1st I found out about my breast cancer through a biopsy that came back as positive for Pagetrsquos disease The onslaught of tests learning and decisions were dizzying I immediately went for an evaluation of the suspicious tissue and had to begin making decisions for my mastectomy I quickly learned there is a test called the BRAC Analysis which is a genetic test for breast and ovarian cancer Finally a piece of good news for me I did not have the gene

Decisions Now it was time to make decisions about my mastectomy and how I was going to handle reconstruction I discussed my options with my boyfriend Brian friends family members and even my principalboss I read books searched the Internet and contacted people I

Brandi ShipmanCancer Survivor and elite triathlete

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

know and knew from my past that had been directly affected and that I thought might have answers for me The outpouring of love encouragement and help during this process was overwhelming After meeting with four different doctors two surgeons and two plastic surgeons I decided to go with immediate reconstruction and was lucky enough to find two wonderful doctors They were willing to work together just because I wanted them to even though they had never done so before My surgery was scheduled for mid May

Mental Toughness13 My mental preparation at this point was very important I had to scrap any idea of competing in triathlons for the rest of the year and focus on a positive attitude of getting better I stopped thinking about what I wasnrsquot going to able to do and started thinking about what I could do that I was alive and kept my mind on the fact that so many others had made it before me

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links

Part 213 I was prepared by the doctors survivors and literature to be ldquodownrdquo for several weeks after my surgery I even took the rest of the school year off My surgery went well and I was out of the hospital the next day A few friends came to visit while I was in the hospital and my principal and vice principal brought the most wonderful picture of the faculty wearing pink for me I can only imagine what it looked like at Thornton Elementary on that day in May 2009 a sea of pink all for Brandi Shipman Shortly after their visit I received a text from my friend Margie Massey My friends from the gym wore pink for me that day as well The support brought tears to my eyes I was so excited to come home and be comfortable in my own home I just wish the stupid drain that was attached could have stayed at the hospital The pain from that was worse than the pain from the mastectomy

the most

powerful picture

13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Recovery ndash May13 Once I got home I slept and watched a lot of TV Friends visited and brought yummy food and my favorites I am not supposed to eat I ate them all My friend and co-worker set up a cancer care calendar that alerted anyone who logged on when I was having a doctorrsquos appointment or when I was in need of anything I felt like royalty as everyone took care of me I think Brian secretly enjoyed the fact that he wouldnrsquot have to cook for me each night My recovery was quicker than I thought as I was doing my best to get better and get the stinkinrsquo drain out of my skin I was out walking within a week and running within 3 weeks I couldnrsquot believe my recovery I know it was from all the prayers love and good care from Brian and the loved ones around me Life was looking better each day

ldquoLife was looking

better each dayrdquo

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Part three and part

four of I am Survivor

will be published in

the next edition of

FitnessDigestus

Get the convenience of

digital-delivery

Sign-up or subscribe at

httpFitnessDigestus

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During the past 150 years we have witnessed many remarkable advances against cancer a disease known to humanity for thousands of years The advances highlighted below represent a sampling of what has been accomplished to date

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

1882 William Halsted performs the first radical mastectomy to treat breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast the lymph nodes under the arm (axillary lymph nodes) and the chest muscles behind the breast (pectoralis major and pectoralis minor muscles) are removed Radical mastectomy will remain the standard operation for breast cancer until latter half of the 20th century when the use of modified radical mastectomy becomes widely accepted

1932 David H Patey develops the modified radical mastectomy for breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast axillary lymph nodes and pectoralis minor muscle behind the breast are removed The modified radical mastectomy is less disfiguring than the radical mastectomy and will eventually replace the radical mastectomy as a standard treatment option for breast cancer

1953 James Watson and Francis Crick discover the molecular structure of DNA (the double helix)

1963 The Health Insurance Plan (HIP) of Greater New York Study begins HIP is the first randomized controlled trial of periodic breast cancer screening with mammography

1882

1932

1953

1963

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1976 The results of a randomized clinical trial show that women with early breast cancer who receive post-operative (adjuvant) combination chemotherapy with the drugs cyclophosphamide methotrexate and 5-FU have improved disease-free survival

1981 A randomized clinical trial in the United Kingdom shows for the first time that the rates of survival local recurrence and tumor metastasis among women whose breast cancer is treated with modified radical mastectomy are not substantially different from those of women who are treated with radical mastectomy

1993 An NCI-convened international workshop on screening for breast cancer reports that screening with mammography reduces breast cancer mortality among women ages 50-69 This conclusion is based on a review of published and unpublished data from eight randomized controlled trials

2004 Data from the Womens Health Initiative (WHI) study show that women who take estrogen in combination with the hormone progestin have a greater risk of developing breast cancer than women who take estrogen alone The results also show that menopausal hormone therapy with estrogen alone has no benefit in disease prevention specifically in reducing the risks of colorectal cancer coronary heart disease and dementia

1976

1981

1993

2004

Although we still have a long way to go to reduce the toll of cancer in the United States and worldwide our research and public health efforts are beginning to pay dividends

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

Volunteering vs Participating13 My girl friend and I are involved in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation The local chapter raises awareness for the cause with a fun-run each year We have volunteered to help with the race five years in a row This year we were stationed at a water table where the runners pick-up cups of water to drink Toward the end of the race there are very few runners There was a little time to chat about things We were talking about what we would wish for if we could have three wishes I told her I would wish for an end to Juvenile Diabetes and to lose 10 pounds Being nice I said ldquoyou can have my last wishrdquo She said I wish you would skip volunteering and just run this race next year

Admission Price Our aquatic center was having a promotion one night and advertised an elementary school night The kids could swim for free When we got to the pool we saw a promotional sign for the event In small lettering it read All swimmers must be accompanied by an adult We thought no big deal one of us can just stay and watch When we got to the front desk we found the lifeguard was enforcing the adult-admission price of $8

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CNFI Publishing - Products Books Chapbooks Bookmarks Plaques and Poetry Collector Cards Merchandising Products Coffee Mugs Mouse Pads Tiles 3x6 Coasters T - Shirts and Wall Plaques More info athttpliveadsFitnessDigestus

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

Featured PhotosFitnessDigestus feature

Chicago open water swim course at nighttop left

Kids race at Bicycle Blues and BBQtop right

Some team members volunteer at the local soup kitchenmiddle right

Ken Mauer loads the balls for hitting practice during a Twins baseball camp for

children 7-13 bottom right

Get your local event photos published in the next issue of FitnessDigestus E-mail

your photo to photoFitnessDigestus

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As he turned to go on he spat speculatively There was a sharp explosive crackle that startled him He spat again And again in the air before it could fall to the snow the spittle crackled He knew that at fifty below spittle crackled on the snow but this spittle had crackled in the air Undoubtedly it was colder than fifty below--how much colder he did not know But the temperature did not matter He was bound for the old claim on the left fork of Henderson Creek where the boys were already They had come over across the divide from the Indian Creek country while he had come the roundabout way to take a look at the possibilities of getting out logs in the spring from the islands in the Yukon He would be in to camp by six oclock a bit after dark it was true but the boys would be there a fire would be going and a hot supper would be ready As for lunch he pressed his hand against the protruding bundle under his jacket It was also under his shirt wrapped up in a handkerchief and lying against the naked skin It was the only way to keep the biscuits from freezing He smiled agreeably to himself as he thought of those biscuits each cut open and sopped in bacon grease and each enclosing a generous slice of fried bacon

He plunged in among the big spruce trees The trail was faint A foot of snow had fallen since the last sled had passed over and he was glad he was without a sled traveling light In fact he carried nothing but the lunch wrapped in the handkerchief He was surprised however at the cold It certainly was cold he concluded as he rubbed his numb nose and cheek-bones with his mittened hand He was a warm-whiskered man but the hair on his face did not protect the high cheek-bones and the eager nose that thrust itself aggressively into the frosty air

At the mans heels trotted a dog a big native husky the proper wolf-dog gray-coated and without any visible or temperamental difference from its brother the wild wolf The animal was depressed by the tremendous cold It knew that it was no time for

traveling Its instinct told it a truer tale than was told to the man by the mans judgment In reality it was not merely colder than fifty below zero it was colder than sixty below than seventy below It was seventy-five below zero Since the freezing point is thirty-two above zero it meant that one hundred and seven degrees of frost obtained The dog did not know anything about thermometers Possibly in its brain there was no sharp consciousness of a condition of very cold such as was in the mans brain But the brute had its instinct It experienced a vague but menacing apprehension that subdued it then made it slink along at the mans heels and that made it question eagerly every unwonted movement of the man as if expecting him to go into camp or to seek shelter somewhere and build a fire The dog had learned fire and it wanted fire or else to burrow under the snow and cuddle its warmth away from the air

The frozen moisture of its breathing had settled on its fur in a fine powder of frost and especially were its jowls muzzle and eyelashes whitened by its cry-stalled breath The mans red beard and mustache were likewise frosted but more solidly the deposit taking the form of ice and increasing with every warm moist breath he exhaled Also the man was chewing tobacco and the muzzle of ice held his lips so rigidly that he was unable to clear his chin when he expelled the juice The result was that a crystal beard of the color and solidity of amber was increasing its length on his chin If he fell down it would shatter itself like glass into brittle fragments But he did not mind the appendage It was the penalty all tobacco-chewers paid in that country and he had been out before in two cold snaps They had not been so cold as this he knew but by the spirit thermometer at Sixty Mile he knew they had been registered at fifty below and at fifty-five

He held on through the level stretch of woods for several miles crossed a wide flat of rigger-heads and dropped down a bank to the frozen bed of a

To Build a FireContinued

small stream This was Henderson Creek and he knew he was ten miles from the forks He looked at his watch It was ten oclock He was making four miles an hour and he calculated that he would arrive at the forks at half-past twelve He decided to celebrate that event by eating his lunch there

The dog dropped in again at his heels with a tail drooping discouragement as the man swung along the creek-bed The furrow of the old sled-trail was plainly visible but a dozen inches of snow covered the marks of the last runners In a month no man had come up or down that silent creek The man held steadily on He was not much given to thinking and just then particularly he had nothing to think about save that he would eat lunch at-the forks and that at six oclock he would be in camp with the boys There was nobody to talk to and had there been speech would have been impossible because of the ice-muzzle on his mouth So he continued monotonously to chew tobacco and to increase the length of his amber beard

Once in a while the thought reiterated itself that it was very cold and that he had never experienced such cold As he walked along he rubbed his cheek-bones and nose with the back of his mittened hand He did this automatically now and again changing hands But rub as he would the instant he stopped his cheek-bones went numb and the following instant the end of his nose went numb He was sure to frost his cheeks he knew that and experienced a pang of regret that he had not devised a nose-strap of the sort Bud wore in cold snaps Such a strap passed across the cheeks as well and saved them But it didnt matter much after all What were frosted cheeks A bit painful that was all they were never serious

Empty as the mans mind was of thoughts he was keenly observant and he noticed the changes in the creek the curves and bends and timber jams and always he sharply noted where he placed his feet Once coming around a bend he shied abruptly

like a startled horse curved away from the place where he had been walking and retreated several paces back along the trail The creek he knew was frozen clear to the bottom--no creek could contain water in that arctic winter--but he knew also that there were springs that bubbled out from the hillsides and ran along under the snow and on top the ice of the creek He knew that the coldest snaps never froze these springs and he knew likewise their danger They were traps They hid pools of water under the snow that might be three inches deep or three feet Sometimes a skin of ice half an inch thick covered them and in turn was covered by the snow Sometimes there were alternate layers of water and ice-skin so that when one broke through he kept on breaking through for a while sometimes wetting himself to the waist

That was why he had shied in such panic He had felt the give under his feet and heard the crackle of a snow-hidden ice-skin And to get his feet wet in such a temperature meant trouble and danger At the very least it meant delay for he would be forced to stop and build a fire and under its protection to bare his feet while he dried his socks and moccasins He stood and studied the creek-bed and its banks and decided that the flow of water came from the right He reflected a while rubbing his nose and cheeks then skirted to the left stepping gingerly and testing the footing for each step Once clear of the danger he took a fresh chew of tobacco and swung along at his four-mile gait

In the course of the next two hours he came upon several similar traps Usually the snow above the hidden pools had a sunken candied appearance that advertised the danger Once again however he had a close call and once suspecting danger he compelled the dog to go on in front The dog did not want to go It hung back until the man shoved it forward and then it went quickly across the white unbroken surface Suddenly it broke through floundered to one side and got away to firmer

To Build a FireContinued

To Build a FireContinued

footing It had wet its forefeet and legs and almost immediately the water that clung to it turned to ice It made quick efforts to lick the ice off its legs then dropped down in the snow and began to bite out the ice that had formed between the toes l his was a matter of instinct To permit the ice to remain would mean sore feet It did not know this It merely obeyed the mysterious prompting that arose from the deep crypts of its being But the man knew having achieved a judgment on the subject and he removed the mitten from his right hand and helped tear out the ice-particles He did not expose his fingers more than a minute and was astonished at the swift numbness that smote them It certainly was cold He pulled on the mitten hastily and beat the hand savagely across his chest

At twelve oclock the day was at its brightest Yet the sun was too far south an its winter journey to clear the horizon The bulge of the earth intervened between it arid Henderson Creek where the man walked under a clear sky at noon and cast no shadow At half-past twelve to the minute he arrived at the forks of the creek He was pleased at the speed he had made If he kept it up he would certainly be with the boys by six He unbuttoned his jacket and shirt and drew forth his lunch The action consumed no more than a quarter of a minute yet in that brief moment the numbness laid hold of the exposed fingers He did not put the mitten on but instead struck the fingers a dozen sharp smashes against his leg Then he sat down on a snow-covered log to eat The sting that followed upon the striking of his fingers against his leg ceased so quickly that he was startled He had had no chance to take a bite of biscuit He struck the fingers repeatedly and returned them to the mitten baring the other hand for the purpose of eating He tried to take a mouthful but the ice-muzzle prevented He had forgotten to build a fire and thaw out He chuckled at his foolishness and as he chuckled he noted the numbness creeping into the exposed fingers Also he noted that the stinging which had first come to his

toes when he sat down was already passing away He wandered whether the toes were warm or numb He moved them inside the moccasins and decided that they were numb

He pulled the mitten on hurriedly and stood up He was a bit frightened He stamped up and down until the stinging returned into the feet It certainly was cold was his thought That man from Sulphur Creek had spoken the truth when telling how cold it sometimes got in the country And he had laughed at him at the time That showed one must not be too sure of things There was no mistake about it it was cold He strode up and down stamping his feet and threshing his arms until reassured by the returning warmth Then he got out matches and proceeded to make a fire From the undergrowth where high water of the previous spring had lodged a supply of seasoned twigs he got his firewood Working carefully from a small beginning he soon had a roaring fire over which he thawed the ice from his face and in the protection of which he ate his biscuits For the moment the cold space was outwitted The dog took satisfaction in the fire stretching out close enough for warmth and far enough away to escape being singed

When the man had finished be filled his pipe and took his comfortable time over a smoke Then he pulled on his mittens settled the ear-flaps of his cap firmly about his ears and took the creek trail up the left fork The dog was disappointed and yearned back toward the fire This man did not know cold Possibly all the generations of his ancestry had been ignorant of cold of real cold of cold one hundred and seven degrees below freezing point But the dog knew all its ancestry knew and it had inherited the knowledge And it knew that it was not good to walk abroad in such fearful cold It was the time to lie snug in a hole in the snow and wait for a curtain of cloud to be drawn across the face of outer space whence this cold came On the other hand there was no keen intimacy between the dog and the man

The one was the toil-slave of the other and the only caresses it had ever received were the caresses of the whiplash and of harsh and menacing throat-sounds that threatened the whiplash So the dog made no effort to communicate its apprehension to the man It was not concerned in the welfare of the man it was for its own sake that it yearned back toward the fire But the man whistled and spoke to it with the sound of whiplashes and the dog swung in at the mans heel and followed after

The man took a chew of tobacco and proceeded to start a new amber beard Also his moist breath quickly powdered with white his mustache eyebrows and lashes There did not seem to be so many springs on the left fork of the Henderson and for half an hour the man saw no signs of any And then it happened At a place where there were no signs where the soft unbroken snow seemed to advertise solidity beneath tee man broke through It was not deep He wet himself halfway to the knees before he floundered out to the firm crust

He was angry and cursed his luck aloud He had hoped to get into camp with the boys at six oclock and this would delay him an hour for he would have to build a fire and dry out his foot-gear This was imperative at that low temperature--he knew that much and he turned aside to the bank which he climbed On top tangled in the underbrush about the trunks of several small spruce trees was a high-water deposit of dry firewood--sticks and twigs principally but also larger portions of seasoned branches and fine dry last-years grasses He threw down several large pieces on top of the snow This served for a foundation and prevented the young flame from drowning itself in the snow it otherwise would melt The flame he got by touching a match to a small shred of birch bark that he took from his pocket This burned even more readily than paper Placing it on the foundation he fed the young flame with wisps of dry grass and with the tiniest dry twigs

He worked slowly and carefully keenly aware of his danger Gradually as the flame grew stronger he increased the size of the twigs with which he fed it He squatted in the snow pulling the twigs out from their entanglement in the brush and feeding directly to the flame He knew there must be no failure When it is seventy-five below zero a man must not fail in his first attempt to build a fire--that is if his feet are wet If his feet are dry and he fails he can run along the trail for half a mile and restore his circulation But the circulation of wet and freezing feet cannot be restored by running when it is seventy-five below No matter how fast he runs the wet feet will freeze the harder

All this the man knew The old-timer on Sulphur Creek had told him about it the previous fall and now he was appreciating the advice Already all sensation had gone out of his feet To build the fire he had been forced to remove his mittens and the fingers had quickly gone numb His pace of four miles an hour had kept his heart pumping blood to the surface of his body and to all the extremities But the instant he stopped the action of the pump eased down The cold of space smote the unprotected tip of the planet and he being on that unprotected tip received the full force of the blow The blood of his body recoiled before it The blood was alive like the dog and like the dog it wanted to hide away and cover itself up from the fearful cold So long as he walked four miles an hour he pumped that blood willy-nilly to the surface but now it ebbed away and sank down into the recesses of his body The extremities were the first to feel its absence His wet feet froze the faster and his exposed fingers numbed the faster though they had not yet begun to freeze Nose and cheeks were already freezing while the skin of all his body chilled as it lost its blood

But he was safe Toes and nose and cheeks would be only touched by the frost for the fire was beginning to burn with strength He was feeding it

To Build a FireContinued

with twigs the size of his finger In another minute he would be able to feed it with branches the size of his wrier and then he could remove his wet toot-gear and while it dried he could keep his naked feet warm by the fire rubbing them at first of course with snow The fire was a success He was safe He remembered the advice of the old timer on Sulphur Creek and smiled The old-timer had been very serious in laying down the law that no man must travel alone in the Klondike after fifty below Well here he was he had had the accident he was alone and he had saved himself Those old-timers were rather womanish some of them he thought All a man had to do was to keep his head and he was all right Any man who was a man could travel alone But it was surprising the rapidity with which his cheeks and nose were freezing And he had not thought his fingers could go lifeless in so short a time Lifeless they were for he could scarcely make them move together to grip a twig and they seemed remote from his body and from him When he touched a twig he had to look and see whether or not he had hold of it The wires were pretty well down between him and his finger-ends

All of which counted for little There was the fire snapping and crackling and promising life with every dancing flame He started to untie his moccasins They were coated with ice the thick German socks were like sheaths of iron halfway to the knees and the moccasin strings were like rods of steel all twisted and knotted as by some conflagration For a moment he tugged with his numb fingers then realizing the folly of it he drew his sheath-knife

But before he could cut the strings it happened It was his own fault or rather his mistake He should not have built the fire under the spruce tree He should have built it in the open But it had been easier to pull the twigs from the brush and drop them directly on the fire Now the tree under which

he had done this carried a weight of snow on its boughs No wind had blown for weeks and each bough was fully freighted Each time he had pulled a twig he had communicated a slight agitation to the tree--an imperceptible agitation so far as he was concerned but an agitation sufficient to bring about the disaster High up in the tree one bough capsized its load of snow This fell on the boughs beneath capsizing them This process continued spreading out and involving the whole tree It grew like an avalanche and it descended without warning upon the man and the fire and the fire was blotted out Where it had burned was a mantle of fresh and disordered snow

The man was shocked It was as though he had just heard his own sentence of death For a moment he sat and stared at the spot where the fire had been Then he grew very calm Perhaps the old-timer on Sulphur Creek was right If he had only had a trail-mate he would have been in no danger now The trail-mate could have built the fire Well it was up to him to build the fire over again and this second time there must be no failure Even if he succeeded he would most likely lose some toes His feet must be badly frozen by now and there would be some time before the second fire Was ready

Such were his thoughts but he did not sit and think them He was busy all the time they were passing through his mind He made a new foundation for a fire this time in the open where no treacherous tree could blot it out Next he gathered dry grasses and tiny twigs from the high-water flotsam He could not bring his fingers together to pull them out but he was able to gather them by the handful In this way he got many rotten twigs and bits of green moss that were undesirable but it was the best he could do He worked methodically even collecting an armful of the larger branches to be used later when the fire gathered strength And all the while the dog sat and watched him a certain yearning wistfulness in its eyes for it looked upon

To Build a FireContinued

him as the fire-provider and the fire was slow in coming

When all was ready the man reached in his pocket for a second piece of birch bark He knew the bark was there and though he could not feel it with his fingers he could hear its crisp rustling as he fumbled for it Try as he would he could not clutch hold of it And all the time in his consciousness was the knowledge that each instant his feet were freezing This thought tended to put him in a panic but he fought against it and kept calm He pulled on his mittens with his teeth and threshed his arms back and forth beating his hands with all his might against his sides He did this sitting down and he stood up to do it and all the while the dog sat in the snow its wolf-brush of a tail curled around warmly over its forefeet its sharp wolf-ears pricked forward intently as it watched the man And the man as he beat and threshed with his arms and hands felt a great surge of envy as he regarded the creature that was warm ant secure in its natural covering

After a time he was aware of the first far-away signals of sensation in his beaten fingers The faint tingling grew stronger till it evolved into a stinging ache that was excruciating but which the man hailed with satisfaction He stripped the mitten from his right hand and fetched forth the birch bark The exposed fingers were quickly going numb again Next he brought out his bunch of sulphur matches But the tremendous cold had already driven the life out of his fingers In his effort to separate one match from the others the whole bunch fell in the snow He tried to pick it out of the snow but failed The dead fingers could neither touch nor clutch He was very careful He drove the thought of his freezing feet and nose and cheeks out of his mind devoting his whole soul to the matches He watched using the sense of vision in place of that of touch and when he saw his fingers on each side the bunch he dosed them--that is he willed to close them for the wires were down and the fingers did not obey He pulled

the mitten on the right hand and beat it fiercely against his knee Then with both mittened hands he scooped the bunch of matches along with much snow into his lap Yet he was no better off

After some manipulation he managed to get the bunch between the heels of his mittened hands In this fashion he carried it to his mouth The ice crackled and snapped when by a violent effort he opened his mouth He drew the lower jaw in curled the upper lip out of the way and scraped the bunch with his upper teeth in order to separate a match He succeeded in getting one which he dropped on his lap He was no better off He could not pick it up Then he devised a way He picked it up in his teeth and scratched it on his leg Twenty times he scratched before he succeeded in lighting it As it flamed he held it with his teeth to the birch bark But the burning brimstone went up his nostrils and into his lungs causing him to cough spasmodically The match fell into the snow and went out

The old-timer an Sulphur Creek was right he thought in the moment of controlled despair that ensued after fifty below a man should travel with a partner He beat his hands but failed in exciting any sensation Suddenly he bared both hands removing the mittens with his teeth He caught the whole bunch between the heels of his hands His arm muscles not being frozen enabled him to press the hand-heels tightly against the matches Then he scratched the bunch along his leg It flared into flame seventy sulphur matches at once There was no wind to blow them out He kept his head to one side to escape the strangling fumes and held the blazing bunch to the birth bark As he so held it he became aware of sensation in his hand His flesh was burning He could smell it Deep down below the surface he could feel it The sensation developed into pain that grew acute And still he endured it holding the flame of the matches clumsily to the bark that would not light readily because his own burning hands were in the way absorbing most of the flame

To Build a FireContinued

At last when he could endure no more he jerked his hands apart The blazing matches fell sizzling into the snow but the birch bark was alight He began laying dry grasses and the tiniest twigs on the flame He could not pick and choose for he had to lift the fuel between the heels of his hands Small pieces of rotten wood and green moss clung to the twigs and he bit them off as well as he could with his teeth He cherished the flame carefully and awkwardly It meant life and it must not perish The withdrawal of blood from the surface of his body now made him begin to shiver and he grew more awkward A large piece of green moss fell squarely on the little fire He tried to poke it out with his fingers but his shivering frame made him poke too far and he disrupted the nucleus of the little fire the burning grasses and tiny twigs separating and scattering He tried to poke them together again but in spite of the tenseness of the effort his shivering got away with him and the twigs were hopelessly scattered Each twig gushed a puff of smoke and went out The fire-provider had failed As he looked apathetically about him his eyes chanced on the dog sitting across the ruins of the fire from him in the snow making restless hunching movements slightly lifting one forefoot and then the other shifting its weight back and forth on them with wistful eagerness

The sight of the dog put a wild idea into his head He remembered the tale of the man caught in a blizzard who killed a steer and crawled inside the carcass and so was saved He would kill the dog and bury his hands in the warm body until the numbness went out of them Then he could build another fire He spoke to the dog calling it to him but in his voice was a strange note of fear that frightened the animal who had never known the man to speak in such way before Something was the matter and its suspicious nature sensed danger--it knew not what danger but somewhere somehow in its brain arose an apprehension of the man It flattened its ears down at the sound of the mans voice and its restless

hunching movements and the liftings and shiftings of its forefeet became more pronounced but it would not come to the man He got on his hands and knees and crawled toward the dog This unusual posture again excited suspicion and the animal sidled mincingly away

The man sat up in the snow for a moment and struggled for calmness Then he pulled on his mittens by means of his teeth and got upon his feet He glanced down at first in order to assure himself that he was really standing up for the absence of sensation in his feet left him unrelated to the earth His erect position in itself started to drive the webs of suspicion from the dogs mind and when he spoke peremptorily with the sound of whiplashes in his voice the dog rendered its customary allegiance and came to him As it came within reaching distance the man lost his control His arms flashed out to the dog and he experienced genuine surprise when he discovered that his hands could not clutch that there was neither bend nor feeling in the fingers He had forgotten for the moment that they were frozen and that they were freezing more and more All this happened quickly and before the animal could get away he encircled its body with his arms He sat down in the snow and in this fashion held the dog while it snarled and whined and struggled

But it was all he could do hold its body encircled in his arms and sit there He realized that he could not kill the dog There was no way to do it With his helpless hands he could neither draw nor hold his sheath knife nor throttle the animal He released it and it plunged wildly away with tail between its legs and still snarling It halted forty feet away and surveyed him curiously with ears sharply pricked forward The man looked down at his hands in order to locate them and found them hanging on the ends of his arms It struck him as curious that one should have to use his eyes in order to find out where his hands were He began threshing his arms back and forth beating the mittened hands against

To Build a FireContinued

his sides He did this for five minutes violently and his heart pumped enough blood up to the surface to put a stop to his shivering But no sensation was aroused in the hands He had an impression that they hung like weights on the ends of his arms but when he tried to run the impression down he could not find it

A certain fear of death dull and oppressive came to him This fear quickly became poignant as he realized that it was no longer a mere matter of freezing his fingers and toes or of losing his hands and feet but that it was a matter of life and death with the chances against him This threw him into a panic and he turned and ran up the creek-bed along the old dim trail The dog joined in behind and kept up with him He ran blindly without intention in fear such as he had never known in his life Slowly as he plowed and floundered through the snow he began to see things again the banks of the creek the old timber-jams the leafless aspens and the sky The running made him feel better He did not shiver Maybe if he ran on his feet would thaw out and anyway if he ran far enough he would reach camp and the boys Without doubt he would lose some fingers and toes and some of his face but the boys would take care of him and save the rest of him when he got there And at the same time there was another thought in his mind that said he would never get to the camp and the boys that it was too many miles away that the freezing had too great a start on him and that he would soon be stiff and dead This thought he kept in the background and refused to consider Sometimes it pushed itself forward and demanded to be heard but he thrust it back and strove to think of other things

It struck him as curious that he could run at all on feet so frozen that he could not feel them when they struck the earth and took the weigh of his body He seemed to himself to skim along above the surface and to have no connection with the earth Somewhere he had once seen a winged Mercury

and he wondered if Mercury felt as he felt when skimming over the earth

His theory of running until he reached camp and the boys had one flaw in it he lacked the endurance Several times he stumbled and finally he tottered crumpled up and fell When he tried to rise he failed He must sit and rest he decided and next time he would merely walk and keep on going As he sat and regained his breath he noted that he was feeling quite warm and comfortable He was not shivering and it even seemed that a warm glow had come to his chest and trunk And yet when he touched his nose or cheeks there was no sensation Running would not thaw them out Nor would it thaw out his hands and feet Then the thought came to him that the frozen portions of his body must be extending He tried to keep this thought down to forget it to think of something else he was aware of the panicky feeling that it caused and he was afraid of the panic But the thought asserted itself and persisted until it produced a vision of his body totally frozen This was too much and he made another wild run along the trail Once he slowed down to a walk but the thought of the freezing extending itself made him run again

And all the time the dog ran with him at his heels When he fell down a second time it curled its tad over its forefeet and sat in front of him facing him curiously eager and intent The warmth and security of the animal angered him and he cursed it till it flattened down its ears appealingly This time the shivering came more quickly upon the man He was losing in his battle with the frost It was creeping into his body from all sides The thought of it drove him on but he ran no more than a hundred feet when he staggered and pitched headlong It was his last panic When he had recovered his breath and control he sat up and entertained in his mind the conception of meeting death with dignity However the conception did not come to him in such terms His idea of it was that he had been making a fool of

To Build a FireContinued

himself running around like a chicken with its head cut off--such was the simile that occurred to him Well he was bound to freeze anyway and he might as well take it decently With this new-found peace of mind came the first glimmerings of drowsiness A good idea he thought to sleep off to death It was like salting an anesthetic Freezing was not so bad as people thought There were lots worse ways to die

He pictured the boys finding his body next day Suddenly he found himself with them coming along the trail and looking for himself And still with them he came around a turn in the trail and found himself lying in the snow He did not belong with himself any more for even then he was out of himself standing with the boys and looking at himself in the snow It certainly was cold was his thought When he got back to the States he could tell the folks what real cold was He drifted on from this to a vision of the old-timer on Sulphur Creek He could see him quite clearly warm and comfortable and smoking a pipe

You were right old boss you were right the man mumbled to the old-timer of Sulphur Creek

Then the man drowsed off into what seemed to him the most comfortable and satisfying sleep he had ever known The dog sat facing him and waiting The brief day drew to a close in a long slow twilight There were no signs of a fire to be made and besides never in the dogs experience had it known a man to sit like that in the snow and make no fire As the twilight drew on its eager yearning for the fire mastered it and with a great lifting and shifting of forefeet it whined softly then flattened its ears down in anticipation of being chidden by the man But the man remained silent Later the dog whined loudly And still later it crept close to the man and caught the scent of death This made the animal bristle and back away A little longer it delayed howling under the stars that leaped and danced and shone brightly in the cold sky Then it turned and trotted up the trail in the direction of the camp it knew where were the other food-providers and fire-providers

To Build a FireContinued

Blogs can be a lot of work to maintainTwitter only gives you 140 characters

Facebook is just your friends

Now you can share a story no matter your social-web status

Stories are published for ALL FitnessDigestus readers Archived professionally and digitally in thousands of libraries

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Page 14: FitnessDigest.us Vol. 4.3 Cover

Watch and LearnSent in from NIP Gym

Successful SAFE gains in

the gym

Available at select Hy-Vee stores

NO MSG

LowSodium

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GREAT STORY HERE FROM NIP amp Fitness 13 I was in the gym this morning doing shoulders A quiet red headed kid comes in and gets on the bench and starts benching His first set of 135 lbs had HORRIBLE technique and form I walk over and talk to him He tells me his name is Joe - age 17 - weight 205 and is a junior at CS High School and he just bought a membership to NIP amp Fitness He tells me two weeks ago he benched 185 lbs for a max I told him that was very good for is age but NOT for his build I knew he was stronger than that So I helped him shape up is technique and form Joe ndash LISTENED and WATCHED He learned that he was much stronger than a 185 pound max bench presser Today from LISTENING and WATCHING Joe bench pressed 225 X 2 ndash and that 185 pounds he maxed two weeks ago he finished his work out by doing that 185 pounds for seven reps Proper TECHNIQUE and FORM are the key to successful SAFE gains in the gym Today Joe was a perfect example CONGRATULATIONS Joe

Dear Freestyle Swim Stroke

13 You are so frustrating to me Why canrsquot we just get along When I made the decision to tackle this goal of completing a triathlon I was not even worried about you That has proven to be a mistake Some days things go so smooth between us and some mornings I spring out of bed at 430 so excited about our time together Today was not one of those days You left me feeling like thishellip

Like a wet wrung out old swimsuit

These are the reasons that I am so upset with you

1 You literally take my breath away

2 You make my shoulder hurt (Popcorn kernels currently on shoulder while typing)

3 You make me leave my warm cozy bed about two hours before I would really like to leave it

4 If I donrsquot get my butt out of bed and go at 430 AM I have to leave my family and go at 730 PM

Dear FreestyleBy Jen Schmitt Rockford Iowa

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pull

head position

exit

flutter-kick

recovery

(Yes we know ndash no cameras in the locker room No one was harmed in this photo shoot)

13 And to the very old man in the lane beside me I do not dislike you in-fact I am insanely jealous of you I donrsquot stare at you because of your body you may look hot if I was 75 but I am not I stare at you in awe of how effortlessly you move up and down the pool without a rest Someday I hope to be just like you

13 So for now as much as I would love to say we need to break up and go our separate ways I am too D stubborn to do that We will make this work and we are going to get along Here is my promise to you ndash I promise to meet-up with you two to three times a week for at least an hour to work on our relationship I promise not to cheat on you with the sidestroke although I am so much more comfortable with him I promise to keep an open mind about our relationship and give it all that I have just like I do with my friend the run

Love you (I think)

Jen

Dear FreestyleContinued

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pull

head position

exit

flutter-kick

recovery

Adult SwimmingBy Susan Dawson-cook

I have taught dozens of adults how to swim Many of them were initially either afraid of water or somewhat uncomfortable in the aquatic environment Whats worked best is to get in the water with them and do activities that show them it can be fun and safe I make sure they feel safe and secure the entire time and even say things like if you have trouble standing up after you take some strokes I will help you or just reach for my hand if you need support

13 Many beginners have this fear ndash if they are in the horizontal position swimming they wont be able to stand up One woman cried she was so overjoyed she overcame her fear and learned to take her first strokes

Find more of Susanrsquos writing and published works at httplivemediaFitnessDigestus

Body image and fitness are hot topics for both men and women The Great Fitness Experiment is my hilarious poignant embarrassing and at times heart-breaking journey to find my way through the morass of contradictory claims and information in todayrsquos health- and fitness-obsessed world

Available in paperback or in eBookhttpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

If you have trouble standing up after you

take some strokesone women cried

she was so overjoyed

If you would like future issues delivered to a Facebook Twitter or e-mail account e-mail us at infoFitnessDigestus

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2 Deadwood Mickelson Trail MarathonSunday June 2 2013

Deadwood South Dakota

13 On June 2nd we will celebrate 12 years of offering runners from around the globe the most unique running experience of their life Where else in the world can you run on a course that takes you from an abandoned mining town across railroad trestles through a mountain past monolithic rock formations beside a babbling creek and finish in Deadwoodhellipa town that is a historic landmark

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Written Emily WheelerFor more information amp video visit httpLIveAdsFitnessDigestus

ldquoWild West town known primarily for its gamblers gunslingers and gold minersrdquo

Hope to see you at the finish

This Wild West town known primarily for its gamblers gunslingers and gold miners has turned into one of the premiere destination marathon venues in the US

13 The breathtaking beauty of our course the truly outstanding team of volunteers the hospitality of everyone associated with the event and paying attention to details are just a couple of reasons yoursquoll want to toe the line on June 2nd

The Deadwood Mickelson Trail Half and Full Marathon is a point to point course

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ldquoThe breathtaking beauty of our courserdquo

WaynesSkiandCyclenetlive links to Waynersquos at httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

MTM Charity Partner

13 Habitat for Humanity is a global nonprofit Christian housing organization that has helped to build more than 500000 decent affordable houses and served 25 million people worldwide since its founding in 1976 With the help of volunteers and donations of money and materials Habitat constructs rehabilitates and preserves homes in partnership with low-income families in need Operating in nearly 80 countries and with more than 1500 affiliates in the United States Habitat also advocates for fair and just housing policies and provides training and access to resources to help families improve their shelter conditions

Shop for Name BrandItems 24 Hours a Day

beginning in the historic mining town of Rochford the first 15 miles are on a paved road At this point the course becomes the Mickelson Trail (a rails to trails project) The next 12 miles are a mixture of gentle uphill and flat terrain

13 Then the course is either downhill or flat and finishes at the historic Engine House at end of the linehellipthe Deadwood Trailhead The Half Marathon is also a point to point course starting at the 131 mile mark of the full marathon Walker Friendly

All participants will receive a Commemorative Finisherrsquos Medal

Mickelson Trail Marathon Charity Partner is the Black Hills Habitat for HumanityMake your Marathon Matter Matching Funds

Make your Marathon matter by helping create decent shelter in the Black Hills ndash take the challenge to give at least $1 per race mile Our goal is to raise $3000 in 2012 for BH Habitat for Humanity to help provide shelter for more families in the Black Hills

Registrations are capped at 3000 runners If you want to be part of the Deadwood Mickelson Trail Marathon Weekend celebration go to LiveAdsFitnessDigestus and click on the MTM Marathon URL

Hope to see you at the Finish Line - ThanksEmily Wheeler Wheeler Event Management Inc

ldquoHope to see you at the finish linerdquo

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links

DAY had broken cold and gray exceedingly cold and gray when the man turned aside from the main Yukon trail and climbed the high earth-bank where a dim and little traveled trail led eastward through the fat spruce timberland It was a steep bank and he paused for breath at the top excusing the act to himself by looking at his watch It was nine oclock There was no sun nor hint of sun though there was not a cloud in the sky It was a

clear day and yet there seemed an intangible pall over the face of things a subtle gloom that made the day dark and that was due to the absence of sun This fact did not worry the man He was used to the lack of sun It had been days since he had seen the sun and he knew that a few more-days must pass before that cheerful orb due south would just peep above the sky-line and dip immediately from view

To Build a Fire - Hiking the Yukon TrailShort story fiction Written by Jack London (1876-1916)

The man flung a look back along the way he had come The Yukon lay a mile wide and hidden under three feet of ice On top of this ice were as many feet of snow It was all pure white rolling in gentle undulations where the ice jams of the freeze-up had formed North and south as far as his eye could see it was unbroken white save for a dark hairline that curved and twisted from around the spruce-covered island to the south and that curved and twisted away into the north where it disappeared behind another spruce-covered island This dark hair-line was the trail--the main trail--that led south five hundred miles to the Chilcoot Pass Dyea and salt water and that led north seventy miles to Dawson and still on to the north a thousand miles to Nulato and finally to St Michael on Bering Sea a thousand miles and half a thousand more

But all this--the mysterious far-reaching hair-line trail The absence of sun from the sky the tremendous cold and the strangeness and weirdness of it all--made no

impression on the man It was not because he was long used to it He was a newcomer In the land a chechaquo and this was his first winter The trouble with him was that he was without imagination He was quick and alert in the things of life but only in the things and not in the significances Fifty degrees below zero meant eighty-odd degrees of frost Such fact impressed him as being cold and uncomfortable and that was all It did not lead him to meditate upon his frailty as a creature of temperature and upon mans frailty in general able only to live within certain narrow limits of heat and cold and from there on it did not lead him to the conjectural field of immortality and mans place in the universe Fifty degrees below zero stood forte bite of frost that hurt and that must be guarded against by the use of mittens ear-flaps warm moccasins and thick socks Fifty degrees below zero was to him just precisely fifty degrees below zero That there should be anything more to it than that was a thought that never entered his head

To Build a FireContinued

Continued on page 62

Stand Up Paddle BoardingWOWSUPIowacom on LiveAds

It is important from time to time to slow down to go away by yourself and simply be --Eileen Caddy

Letrsquos Race13 My son is eight and our family is very active Im just hitting my peak racing age of about 34 years old The family members all support each otherrsquos activities They are a great cheering section when my wife and I compete in races There is a popular two mile fun run in our town that we my wife and I run every year We also have for-fun races with the kids around the house or across the football field For years Ive let the eight year old win a few and others I win by just a little bit I think he is wising up to my tactics of good fatherhood One day he said ldquoDad you are letting me win but I think I can beat you fair and squarerdquo He added ldquoYoursquore not that fast Ill bet you 10 dollars I can beat you in a two mile racerdquo Wanting to teach him a lesson about spouting off and writing checks his body cant cash I took him up on it I said All right you pick a time and place We will race two miles for 10 dollars He replied You know that two mile race you and mom do every year I can race you then I agreed and he quickly added Ill need 20 years to warm-up That would make me 54 and him 28 Irsquom preparing for the loss and putting 10 dollars aside now

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Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

In my first creative experience it was through music and I was interested in developing my values of creativity I was inspired by a band named Motley Crue and the song that captured my interest was Home Sweet home Dear reader what inspires you Is it music or inspirational quote thought or ideas To express how this song motivated my interests it helped give me faith in my own creative abilities in the process I began to write lyrics I eventually began to work on different styles of writing and broaden my writing skills What types of music inspire your creative thoughts What types of other inspiration values inspire your creative thoughts

13 Getting motivated is one of the key aspects of a successful weight-loss program Without this motivation there would be no drive to get up early or to avoid eating unhealthy snacks ndash that you absolutely love Yes you can thank your motivation for that When you are looking for weight-loss motivation sometimes it is hard to find Where can you find that extra umph to make it to your goal

The benefits of finding a motivator are something that cannot be paralleled It has been said mind over matter This coincides with our principle that no matter how hard the task you can accomplish the goal given the right mindset It is important to go into a new weight-loss program with a positive mental attitude

FINDI

NG TH

EM X InspirationX

Motivation

When I was introduced to William Shakespeare I was intrigued by his creative values and I started to work on developing a different aspect of writing I then watched the movie Free Jack there was a quote by Albert Einstein Imagination is more important than knowledge I thought about the in depth values of both concepts and then I applied both concepts and defined different creative concept Do you believe that anything is possible if you believe I know that I do believe that if an individual believes deeply enough one can accomplish their goals I had to believe in my own abilities and in my dreams and ignore the negative values that were impressed by others

Anything less can potentially hinder growth towards your goal

Some of the things that you should be thinking about when looking for motivators are people with good morals and a positive attitude This is because if the people helping you do not have a positive attitude then it is also difficult for you Some great places to look for a motivator are online blogs in the gym or even in your own family I am sure that in all of these places you will see someone else trying to accomplish the same or even more difficult goals than your own

Another key to finding motivation is to let it find you You should not have to go find a reason to go do something You will do it because you wanted to not because you were forced to

X

InspirationMotivation

More simply put motivation will find you because you will see something that inspires you to make a change in yourself That change may be a weight-loss goal or something else Maybe even an academic goal The true key is to maintain that motivation until you have achieved your goal

Regards Vincent ErrichielloUSMS Swimmer

InspirationMotivation

With believing so deeply within my own abilities and the faith that I could accomplish what I set out to achieve I wrote a lyric titled Dreams Are Only Real and in believing in this concept further defining its true meaning the concept became Dreams Are Only Real Until You Dont believe

Jeremy J TaylorCNFI Publishing

himTHROWINGWritten by anonymous contributor

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13 Johnny is not the best batter in our little league Matter-of-fact he is quiet awful At practice one afternoon Johnny hit a pitch really well The coach had pitched him inside on accident far enough inside that it almost hit him Johnny got his hit by using his bat to defend himself from that arrant pitch The coach told him ldquogood hitrdquo and Johnny yelled back ldquoWell I didnrsquot want the ball to hit merdquo13 Johnny improved his batting after that He was hitting the ball almost every time he got up At one point I said to coach ldquoHow did you get Johnny to improve his batting so quicklyrdquo He replyed Im throwing the ball it AT HIM every time

Body image and fitness are hot topics for both men and women The Great Fitness Experiment is my hilarious poignant embarrassing and at times heart-breaking journey to find my way through the morass of contradictory claims and information in todayrsquos health- and fitness-obsessed world

Available in paperback or in eBookVisit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

wwwnorthiafitnesscom on LiveAdsEmail northiowafitnessgmailcom

Phone 641-201-1035Strongest weight loss supplements

on the market

The Fall of Billy Hitchingsby Kirkus MacGowan

Available at Amazon

LOCATED IN ST ANSGAR IOWA

Business Cards Envelopes

Letterheads Programs

Vinyl Decals Signs

Posters Invites (graduation wedding showers etc)

Flyers Brochures

T-ShirtsShorts SweatshirtsSweats

Koozies Sashes

Business Forms Placemats

Postcards And Much More

Bridgette Beyer DesignerOwner

Bring your ideas in andVisual Aspect Designs can print

andor design for you

Black Lab LanyardsSpecializing in customized duck and goose call lanyards for waterfowl enthusiasts

For more information on this productVisit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

FitnessDigestus is now available at

WOWSUPIOWAcom

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entryFitnessDigestus

Send u

s yo

ur T

-shi

rt

READE

R T

-shi

rts

13 I was standing on shore fishing in my favorite spot A guy Irsquove never seen at the pond gets in and starts swimming After about 25 minutes of back and forth he stops at a place about 30 yards off shore He gives me a quick look and dices down below the water

His next lap he stops in the same place looks at me again and points down at the water He finished his swim and left I picked up my gear and moved to the other side of the outlet just a few yards from where he had stopped twice Caught a lunker in the first cast

Swim Signs - Lunker

BankersPromotional and Advertising Specialties

Call to order 641ndash423ndash3111

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Black Lab LanyardsSpecializing in customized duck and goose call lanyards for waterfowl enthusiastsCustomized Duck and Goose Call Lanyards

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Visit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus for more information

TOP TWEETS

Iowa Cubs (IowaCubs)Thanks to all our fans who showed up for the pre-game on-field catch with dad

Louise Pineda (forerunnerGPS)The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficultyWinston Churchill quotes

Softball Darlin (Softball_Darlin)My mom told me our team was gettin white uniforms for summer amp to try not to get them dirty Uh Have you seen me play Not gonna happen

I Swim I Suffer (ISwimISuffer)thatswimmerwho If the water is in your right ear for example then jump on your right leg and lean your head to the right side while jumping

I Swim and I Know It (iSwimWithIssues)During the summer you shower 467 times at the pool 17 times at hotels and 3 times at your house Truth

Everyday Health (WomensCancer)63000 Americans will be diagnosed w malignant melanoma (the deadliest skin cancer) this year Know your risk

US Paralympics (USParalympics)Want to be introduced to Paralympic sport Attend one of the Paralympic Experiences being held throughout the countryFi

tnes

sDig

est

US v

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2

SwimSwam (swimswamnews)Congrats to KenyaSwimmer on being selected to carry the Kenya flag swimswamcom

Better than sharing on a blog Twitter or Facebook and you can share a story even if you donrsquot maintain a social-web presencePublished for ALL FitnessDigestus readers

Sign with your real name pen-name or anonymoushttpLiveMediaFitnessDigestus

13 Funnest thing SPAM about some weight-loss supplements got posted on a friendrsquos Facebook My friend is an ultra-runner I notice there was also an ad for salami recipes on the same page The recipes were right next to the SPAM about diet-pills

13 Letrsquos see ndash it sounds like the beginning of a good joke Q What do you get when a friend tries to sell you ultra-runner endorsed salami-flavored-SPAM diet-pills on Facebook Answer Sick

Unsung Heroes1 Irsquove never swam open water and wanted to do a triathlon A friend that

races open water took extra time to swim with me at a lake I was much more comfortable after that

2 I was going on vacation and needed advice on a place to swim A friend living in the area took the time to help me find people to answer my questions

3 I was over eating and had complained to my friend about it She called me twice a day for three weeks just to remind me to eat healthy

4 I usually run to and from the gym It takes about 30 minutes to run both ways I didnrsquot have enough time to get there and back before a scheduled appointment I had A friend drove me to the gym saving me about 30 minutes I was able to run home and still had time to get to my appointment

SPAM DIET

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Visit the Suburban Mommy blog and learn more about AtresiaMicrotia a birth defect of the inner earFor links to SubMommy blog httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

SUBMOMMYBLOG

On Wednesday May 16 2012 at 7 PM simultaneous rides occurred around the

USA and the world

We all ride Now we can ride as one

One day One time One world world wide

Let the silence roar

322 locations world wide

The Ride of SilenceTonight we number many but ride as one

In honor of those not with us friends

mothers fathers sisters sons

With helmets on tight and heads down low

We ride in silence cautious and slow

The wheels start spinning in the lead pack

But tonight we ride and no one attacks

The dark sunglasses cover our tears

Remembering those we held so dear

Tonights ride is to make others aware

The road is there for all to share

To those not with us or by our side

May God be your partner on your final ride

- Mike Murgas

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 50 states

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 7 Continents

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 0 words spoken

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 1 million memories

Ride of Silence

ldquoCost-effective investments in bicycling boost our economy help individuals and government agencies save money and directly address key societal challenges such as obesity and road congestion In these tough economic times our federal government can only afford to invest in solutions that solve multiple problems Bicycling fits the billrdquo ndash PeopleForBikesorg

This photo collection was taken byRobert LaVallee of Mason City IA

To see his entire collection visithttpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

Non-subscriberSign-up for delivery of

the FREE edition at coopnetbiz

It provides an outstanding aerobic workout in less than half the time we would spend in still water It has allowed us as swim coaches to observe swimmers stroke characteristics up close and to see the effects of fatigue on stroke mechanics ~ Larry L Chazy NY

Swimming is an excellent exercise and now I can swim every day because its so convenient and private I can swim when I want and how long I want Im able to have it at a temperature that is comfortable to me The small size of an Endless Pool enabled me to install a pool where I could not install a regular size one

As an aging baby boomer nutrition professional I have yearned for consistent exercise that doesnt stress joints and will enable me to attain physical fitness cardiovascular health and weight control I can eat what I want and still firm up and lose weight ~ John C Columbus OH

Endless Pools make for long swims in small places The 8x15 Endless Pool is less than regulation size but offers the same benefits as a very large pool ~ Noah H Connecticut Post

The Endless Pool is a great strength builder I am amazed at the strength of the current I now swim against I did not buy it for that reason but because of my arthritis so the strength gain is a wonderful surprise

Endless PoolsTestimonials For more information visit httpLIveAdsFitnessDigestus

s w i m m i n g s h o r t s

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Baseball Walking Stick13 My sons friend grabbed his baseball bat and said to me this is my walking stick I politely ask him why he calls it that He replied because my dad says if I hit a home run with it I donrsquot have to run the bases ndash I can walk

My Bike My mountain bike was stolen a while back and my kids were really upset Ive been riding my road bike in its place Since then Ive been careful to lock my bike up when we go to the park

13 On this occasion I did not lock-up my sonrsquos bike up with mine He looked at me quizzically and said sternly lock my bike up too I tried to explain that his bike was not as expensive and therefor didnt need to be locked up Boy that was a mistake He made me feel a little dumb when he said Dad I dont care how expensive it is Its the only bike Irsquove got

North Iowa Roads

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A LEADER inSearch Engine Optimization

Technology

Increase your visitor page views and Facebook Likes

Are you moving to a new state Already hired your mover

E-mail blind box at box02FitnessDigestus will get

you the best rates on cable phone and internet

Digital Movers

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

parent sports tipBy FitnessDigestus staff writer JGA

PAR

EN

T

TIP

Keeping Kids Focused13 Organize their thoughts Help them prioritize and make decisions based on value Even kids can understand the value of simple non-monetized choices Questions like ldquoShould I finish playing my gameboy game or pause it when they call my swimming eventrdquo

If kids are taught to make good decisions and not just find quick answers everyone wins

AugustGolf Month5th Friendship Day15th Relaxation Day25th Kiss and Make Up Day31st Trail Mix DaySeptemberLittle League Month12th Chocolate Milk Shake Day13th Positive Thinking Day16th Womenrsquos Friendship Day21st Miniature Golf DayOctoberBreast Cancer Awareness MonthNational Diabetes Month1st World Vegetarian Day4th Golf Day25th World Pasta Day

National Calendar

Au

gu

stSe

pte

mb

er

Oc

tob

er

Encourage friendships writing skills sharing thoughts and

experiencesEight different cards

YAGOTTAWANNA

Variety of pricing From single orders to bulk orders of 24 notecards

Learn more online

Stay in touch with your swimming or triathlon buddies

It is better to be safe then to try to beat the heat There are many options to stay cool and run during a hot-summer day Staying inside and running on the treadmill is a good one Remember staying safe is a top priority

Most workouts can be modified to work indoors This issuersquos workout is to do your usual run or interval set just stay inside and run it on the treadmill Visualize the different landmarks to see during your outdoor run

Coach Millerrsquos Quarterly ChallengeStay safe in the heatBy Mark Miller mmillerFitnessDigestus

A few years back we had a hot-spell similar to this yearrsquos record heat

I remember training for a long run and having to stop at the local swimming hole to cool off I literally took off my

shoes and jumped in with my running clothes on I was so hot

FitnessDigestUSEntertainment amp Inspiration

Use coupon codeldquoRAMCSPRrdquo

at puresportshopcomfor 20 OFF

Nutritional Performance Sports Drinks with Protein

OPEN WATER SWIMMING BY THE NUMBERS

In kilometers The shortest open water race included in the Fina World Championships

10107 How many miles it

is to swim from Cuba to the USA

5

1000Number of swimming strokes in a mile for a typical swimmer

31800About the number of calories it takes to swim 100 miles

LOCATED IN ST ANSGAR IOWA

Business Cards Envelopes

Letterheads Programs

Vinyl Decals Signs

Posters Invites (graduation wedding showers etc)

Flyers Brochures

T-ShirtsShorts SweatshirtsSweats

Koozies Sashes

Business Forms Placemats

Postcards And Much More

Bridgette Beyer DesignerOwner

Bring your ideas in andVisual Aspect Designs can print

andor design for you

The minimum open water distance in kilometers that is considered a swimming-

marathon

On Facebook Visit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

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Open water safety means swimming in shallow water where there is a lifeguard or using an escort

Shop for Name BrandGear

24 Hoursa Day

WaynesSkiandCyclenet

For links to Waynersquos visit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

s w i m m i n g s h o r t s

Googles

13 Swimming fans can really appreciate a 200 IM when their goggles fill with water How about an Olympian Swimming a leg of the 400 Free Relay with his goggles across his opened mouth ndash and going 45rsquos A great team swimmer an Olympian wouldnrsquot let down his teammates by throwing them off or fixing them

500 Fly13 A world class butterflyer asked if he could swim butterfly in the 500 yard freestyle during a dual meet His goal was to break five minutes After considering the competition it seemed like a great way to make him really work a hard fly swim so we agreed Problem was he swam a 502 and the opposing coach complained to the officials because he embarrassed his swimmers Oh well you canrsquot win lsquoem all

Stories sent in by Robert Steele

No-No-No13 The other morning I was teaching front-streamlines to snotty nosed 8 year olds (some are literally snotty-nosed) One boy was taking a big gulp of air and holding his breath When he lifted his head he had to exhale and inhale before submerging again Swimmers will understand this does not work very well Kids need to learn to exhale underwater The first time he did it I told him to exhale underwater The second time I stopped him looked him in the eye and reminded him to exhale underwater The third and fourth times I started to get a little frustrated ldquoJohnny you need to exhale underwater so you can breath betterrdquo The fifth time as his head popped up for a breath I quickly asked ldquoJohnny Do you even know what exhale meansrdquo as he submerged his head below the water I could see him shake his head no-no-no

Favorite Potato Chips13We try to limit the junk food the kids eat at our house For lunch one day our son wanted some potato chips I gave him 3 large chips with his sandwich He started to cry and said he wanted one more chip ldquoI wanted four chipsrdquo he screamed I took the plate back When he wasnt looking I broke a chip in half and give it back to him with four chips

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

13 My cancer story is one of uniqueness Leave it to me to do something like cancer to its fullest It did not begin with a mammogram diagnosis or a lump My journey began about 4 years ago with some suspicious activity that turned into Pagetrsquos disease of the nipple which signaled the underlying cancer On April 1st I found out about my breast cancer through a biopsy that came back as positive for Pagetrsquos disease The onslaught of tests learning and decisions were dizzying I immediately went for an evaluation of the suspicious tissue and had to begin making decisions for my mastectomy I quickly learned there is a test called the BRAC Analysis which is a genetic test for breast and ovarian cancer Finally a piece of good news for me I did not have the gene

Decisions Now it was time to make decisions about my mastectomy and how I was going to handle reconstruction I discussed my options with my boyfriend Brian friends family members and even my principalboss I read books searched the Internet and contacted people I

Brandi ShipmanCancer Survivor and elite triathlete

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

know and knew from my past that had been directly affected and that I thought might have answers for me The outpouring of love encouragement and help during this process was overwhelming After meeting with four different doctors two surgeons and two plastic surgeons I decided to go with immediate reconstruction and was lucky enough to find two wonderful doctors They were willing to work together just because I wanted them to even though they had never done so before My surgery was scheduled for mid May

Mental Toughness13 My mental preparation at this point was very important I had to scrap any idea of competing in triathlons for the rest of the year and focus on a positive attitude of getting better I stopped thinking about what I wasnrsquot going to able to do and started thinking about what I could do that I was alive and kept my mind on the fact that so many others had made it before me

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links

Part 213 I was prepared by the doctors survivors and literature to be ldquodownrdquo for several weeks after my surgery I even took the rest of the school year off My surgery went well and I was out of the hospital the next day A few friends came to visit while I was in the hospital and my principal and vice principal brought the most wonderful picture of the faculty wearing pink for me I can only imagine what it looked like at Thornton Elementary on that day in May 2009 a sea of pink all for Brandi Shipman Shortly after their visit I received a text from my friend Margie Massey My friends from the gym wore pink for me that day as well The support brought tears to my eyes I was so excited to come home and be comfortable in my own home I just wish the stupid drain that was attached could have stayed at the hospital The pain from that was worse than the pain from the mastectomy

the most

powerful picture

13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Recovery ndash May13 Once I got home I slept and watched a lot of TV Friends visited and brought yummy food and my favorites I am not supposed to eat I ate them all My friend and co-worker set up a cancer care calendar that alerted anyone who logged on when I was having a doctorrsquos appointment or when I was in need of anything I felt like royalty as everyone took care of me I think Brian secretly enjoyed the fact that he wouldnrsquot have to cook for me each night My recovery was quicker than I thought as I was doing my best to get better and get the stinkinrsquo drain out of my skin I was out walking within a week and running within 3 weeks I couldnrsquot believe my recovery I know it was from all the prayers love and good care from Brian and the loved ones around me Life was looking better each day

ldquoLife was looking

better each dayrdquo

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Part three and part

four of I am Survivor

will be published in

the next edition of

FitnessDigestus

Get the convenience of

digital-delivery

Sign-up or subscribe at

httpFitnessDigestus

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During the past 150 years we have witnessed many remarkable advances against cancer a disease known to humanity for thousands of years The advances highlighted below represent a sampling of what has been accomplished to date

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

1882 William Halsted performs the first radical mastectomy to treat breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast the lymph nodes under the arm (axillary lymph nodes) and the chest muscles behind the breast (pectoralis major and pectoralis minor muscles) are removed Radical mastectomy will remain the standard operation for breast cancer until latter half of the 20th century when the use of modified radical mastectomy becomes widely accepted

1932 David H Patey develops the modified radical mastectomy for breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast axillary lymph nodes and pectoralis minor muscle behind the breast are removed The modified radical mastectomy is less disfiguring than the radical mastectomy and will eventually replace the radical mastectomy as a standard treatment option for breast cancer

1953 James Watson and Francis Crick discover the molecular structure of DNA (the double helix)

1963 The Health Insurance Plan (HIP) of Greater New York Study begins HIP is the first randomized controlled trial of periodic breast cancer screening with mammography

1882

1932

1953

1963

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1976 The results of a randomized clinical trial show that women with early breast cancer who receive post-operative (adjuvant) combination chemotherapy with the drugs cyclophosphamide methotrexate and 5-FU have improved disease-free survival

1981 A randomized clinical trial in the United Kingdom shows for the first time that the rates of survival local recurrence and tumor metastasis among women whose breast cancer is treated with modified radical mastectomy are not substantially different from those of women who are treated with radical mastectomy

1993 An NCI-convened international workshop on screening for breast cancer reports that screening with mammography reduces breast cancer mortality among women ages 50-69 This conclusion is based on a review of published and unpublished data from eight randomized controlled trials

2004 Data from the Womens Health Initiative (WHI) study show that women who take estrogen in combination with the hormone progestin have a greater risk of developing breast cancer than women who take estrogen alone The results also show that menopausal hormone therapy with estrogen alone has no benefit in disease prevention specifically in reducing the risks of colorectal cancer coronary heart disease and dementia

1976

1981

1993

2004

Although we still have a long way to go to reduce the toll of cancer in the United States and worldwide our research and public health efforts are beginning to pay dividends

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

Volunteering vs Participating13 My girl friend and I are involved in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation The local chapter raises awareness for the cause with a fun-run each year We have volunteered to help with the race five years in a row This year we were stationed at a water table where the runners pick-up cups of water to drink Toward the end of the race there are very few runners There was a little time to chat about things We were talking about what we would wish for if we could have three wishes I told her I would wish for an end to Juvenile Diabetes and to lose 10 pounds Being nice I said ldquoyou can have my last wishrdquo She said I wish you would skip volunteering and just run this race next year

Admission Price Our aquatic center was having a promotion one night and advertised an elementary school night The kids could swim for free When we got to the pool we saw a promotional sign for the event In small lettering it read All swimmers must be accompanied by an adult We thought no big deal one of us can just stay and watch When we got to the front desk we found the lifeguard was enforcing the adult-admission price of $8

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CNFI Publishing - Products Books Chapbooks Bookmarks Plaques and Poetry Collector Cards Merchandising Products Coffee Mugs Mouse Pads Tiles 3x6 Coasters T - Shirts and Wall Plaques More info athttpliveadsFitnessDigestus

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

Featured PhotosFitnessDigestus feature

Chicago open water swim course at nighttop left

Kids race at Bicycle Blues and BBQtop right

Some team members volunteer at the local soup kitchenmiddle right

Ken Mauer loads the balls for hitting practice during a Twins baseball camp for

children 7-13 bottom right

Get your local event photos published in the next issue of FitnessDigestus E-mail

your photo to photoFitnessDigestus

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As he turned to go on he spat speculatively There was a sharp explosive crackle that startled him He spat again And again in the air before it could fall to the snow the spittle crackled He knew that at fifty below spittle crackled on the snow but this spittle had crackled in the air Undoubtedly it was colder than fifty below--how much colder he did not know But the temperature did not matter He was bound for the old claim on the left fork of Henderson Creek where the boys were already They had come over across the divide from the Indian Creek country while he had come the roundabout way to take a look at the possibilities of getting out logs in the spring from the islands in the Yukon He would be in to camp by six oclock a bit after dark it was true but the boys would be there a fire would be going and a hot supper would be ready As for lunch he pressed his hand against the protruding bundle under his jacket It was also under his shirt wrapped up in a handkerchief and lying against the naked skin It was the only way to keep the biscuits from freezing He smiled agreeably to himself as he thought of those biscuits each cut open and sopped in bacon grease and each enclosing a generous slice of fried bacon

He plunged in among the big spruce trees The trail was faint A foot of snow had fallen since the last sled had passed over and he was glad he was without a sled traveling light In fact he carried nothing but the lunch wrapped in the handkerchief He was surprised however at the cold It certainly was cold he concluded as he rubbed his numb nose and cheek-bones with his mittened hand He was a warm-whiskered man but the hair on his face did not protect the high cheek-bones and the eager nose that thrust itself aggressively into the frosty air

At the mans heels trotted a dog a big native husky the proper wolf-dog gray-coated and without any visible or temperamental difference from its brother the wild wolf The animal was depressed by the tremendous cold It knew that it was no time for

traveling Its instinct told it a truer tale than was told to the man by the mans judgment In reality it was not merely colder than fifty below zero it was colder than sixty below than seventy below It was seventy-five below zero Since the freezing point is thirty-two above zero it meant that one hundred and seven degrees of frost obtained The dog did not know anything about thermometers Possibly in its brain there was no sharp consciousness of a condition of very cold such as was in the mans brain But the brute had its instinct It experienced a vague but menacing apprehension that subdued it then made it slink along at the mans heels and that made it question eagerly every unwonted movement of the man as if expecting him to go into camp or to seek shelter somewhere and build a fire The dog had learned fire and it wanted fire or else to burrow under the snow and cuddle its warmth away from the air

The frozen moisture of its breathing had settled on its fur in a fine powder of frost and especially were its jowls muzzle and eyelashes whitened by its cry-stalled breath The mans red beard and mustache were likewise frosted but more solidly the deposit taking the form of ice and increasing with every warm moist breath he exhaled Also the man was chewing tobacco and the muzzle of ice held his lips so rigidly that he was unable to clear his chin when he expelled the juice The result was that a crystal beard of the color and solidity of amber was increasing its length on his chin If he fell down it would shatter itself like glass into brittle fragments But he did not mind the appendage It was the penalty all tobacco-chewers paid in that country and he had been out before in two cold snaps They had not been so cold as this he knew but by the spirit thermometer at Sixty Mile he knew they had been registered at fifty below and at fifty-five

He held on through the level stretch of woods for several miles crossed a wide flat of rigger-heads and dropped down a bank to the frozen bed of a

To Build a FireContinued

small stream This was Henderson Creek and he knew he was ten miles from the forks He looked at his watch It was ten oclock He was making four miles an hour and he calculated that he would arrive at the forks at half-past twelve He decided to celebrate that event by eating his lunch there

The dog dropped in again at his heels with a tail drooping discouragement as the man swung along the creek-bed The furrow of the old sled-trail was plainly visible but a dozen inches of snow covered the marks of the last runners In a month no man had come up or down that silent creek The man held steadily on He was not much given to thinking and just then particularly he had nothing to think about save that he would eat lunch at-the forks and that at six oclock he would be in camp with the boys There was nobody to talk to and had there been speech would have been impossible because of the ice-muzzle on his mouth So he continued monotonously to chew tobacco and to increase the length of his amber beard

Once in a while the thought reiterated itself that it was very cold and that he had never experienced such cold As he walked along he rubbed his cheek-bones and nose with the back of his mittened hand He did this automatically now and again changing hands But rub as he would the instant he stopped his cheek-bones went numb and the following instant the end of his nose went numb He was sure to frost his cheeks he knew that and experienced a pang of regret that he had not devised a nose-strap of the sort Bud wore in cold snaps Such a strap passed across the cheeks as well and saved them But it didnt matter much after all What were frosted cheeks A bit painful that was all they were never serious

Empty as the mans mind was of thoughts he was keenly observant and he noticed the changes in the creek the curves and bends and timber jams and always he sharply noted where he placed his feet Once coming around a bend he shied abruptly

like a startled horse curved away from the place where he had been walking and retreated several paces back along the trail The creek he knew was frozen clear to the bottom--no creek could contain water in that arctic winter--but he knew also that there were springs that bubbled out from the hillsides and ran along under the snow and on top the ice of the creek He knew that the coldest snaps never froze these springs and he knew likewise their danger They were traps They hid pools of water under the snow that might be three inches deep or three feet Sometimes a skin of ice half an inch thick covered them and in turn was covered by the snow Sometimes there were alternate layers of water and ice-skin so that when one broke through he kept on breaking through for a while sometimes wetting himself to the waist

That was why he had shied in such panic He had felt the give under his feet and heard the crackle of a snow-hidden ice-skin And to get his feet wet in such a temperature meant trouble and danger At the very least it meant delay for he would be forced to stop and build a fire and under its protection to bare his feet while he dried his socks and moccasins He stood and studied the creek-bed and its banks and decided that the flow of water came from the right He reflected a while rubbing his nose and cheeks then skirted to the left stepping gingerly and testing the footing for each step Once clear of the danger he took a fresh chew of tobacco and swung along at his four-mile gait

In the course of the next two hours he came upon several similar traps Usually the snow above the hidden pools had a sunken candied appearance that advertised the danger Once again however he had a close call and once suspecting danger he compelled the dog to go on in front The dog did not want to go It hung back until the man shoved it forward and then it went quickly across the white unbroken surface Suddenly it broke through floundered to one side and got away to firmer

To Build a FireContinued

To Build a FireContinued

footing It had wet its forefeet and legs and almost immediately the water that clung to it turned to ice It made quick efforts to lick the ice off its legs then dropped down in the snow and began to bite out the ice that had formed between the toes l his was a matter of instinct To permit the ice to remain would mean sore feet It did not know this It merely obeyed the mysterious prompting that arose from the deep crypts of its being But the man knew having achieved a judgment on the subject and he removed the mitten from his right hand and helped tear out the ice-particles He did not expose his fingers more than a minute and was astonished at the swift numbness that smote them It certainly was cold He pulled on the mitten hastily and beat the hand savagely across his chest

At twelve oclock the day was at its brightest Yet the sun was too far south an its winter journey to clear the horizon The bulge of the earth intervened between it arid Henderson Creek where the man walked under a clear sky at noon and cast no shadow At half-past twelve to the minute he arrived at the forks of the creek He was pleased at the speed he had made If he kept it up he would certainly be with the boys by six He unbuttoned his jacket and shirt and drew forth his lunch The action consumed no more than a quarter of a minute yet in that brief moment the numbness laid hold of the exposed fingers He did not put the mitten on but instead struck the fingers a dozen sharp smashes against his leg Then he sat down on a snow-covered log to eat The sting that followed upon the striking of his fingers against his leg ceased so quickly that he was startled He had had no chance to take a bite of biscuit He struck the fingers repeatedly and returned them to the mitten baring the other hand for the purpose of eating He tried to take a mouthful but the ice-muzzle prevented He had forgotten to build a fire and thaw out He chuckled at his foolishness and as he chuckled he noted the numbness creeping into the exposed fingers Also he noted that the stinging which had first come to his

toes when he sat down was already passing away He wandered whether the toes were warm or numb He moved them inside the moccasins and decided that they were numb

He pulled the mitten on hurriedly and stood up He was a bit frightened He stamped up and down until the stinging returned into the feet It certainly was cold was his thought That man from Sulphur Creek had spoken the truth when telling how cold it sometimes got in the country And he had laughed at him at the time That showed one must not be too sure of things There was no mistake about it it was cold He strode up and down stamping his feet and threshing his arms until reassured by the returning warmth Then he got out matches and proceeded to make a fire From the undergrowth where high water of the previous spring had lodged a supply of seasoned twigs he got his firewood Working carefully from a small beginning he soon had a roaring fire over which he thawed the ice from his face and in the protection of which he ate his biscuits For the moment the cold space was outwitted The dog took satisfaction in the fire stretching out close enough for warmth and far enough away to escape being singed

When the man had finished be filled his pipe and took his comfortable time over a smoke Then he pulled on his mittens settled the ear-flaps of his cap firmly about his ears and took the creek trail up the left fork The dog was disappointed and yearned back toward the fire This man did not know cold Possibly all the generations of his ancestry had been ignorant of cold of real cold of cold one hundred and seven degrees below freezing point But the dog knew all its ancestry knew and it had inherited the knowledge And it knew that it was not good to walk abroad in such fearful cold It was the time to lie snug in a hole in the snow and wait for a curtain of cloud to be drawn across the face of outer space whence this cold came On the other hand there was no keen intimacy between the dog and the man

The one was the toil-slave of the other and the only caresses it had ever received were the caresses of the whiplash and of harsh and menacing throat-sounds that threatened the whiplash So the dog made no effort to communicate its apprehension to the man It was not concerned in the welfare of the man it was for its own sake that it yearned back toward the fire But the man whistled and spoke to it with the sound of whiplashes and the dog swung in at the mans heel and followed after

The man took a chew of tobacco and proceeded to start a new amber beard Also his moist breath quickly powdered with white his mustache eyebrows and lashes There did not seem to be so many springs on the left fork of the Henderson and for half an hour the man saw no signs of any And then it happened At a place where there were no signs where the soft unbroken snow seemed to advertise solidity beneath tee man broke through It was not deep He wet himself halfway to the knees before he floundered out to the firm crust

He was angry and cursed his luck aloud He had hoped to get into camp with the boys at six oclock and this would delay him an hour for he would have to build a fire and dry out his foot-gear This was imperative at that low temperature--he knew that much and he turned aside to the bank which he climbed On top tangled in the underbrush about the trunks of several small spruce trees was a high-water deposit of dry firewood--sticks and twigs principally but also larger portions of seasoned branches and fine dry last-years grasses He threw down several large pieces on top of the snow This served for a foundation and prevented the young flame from drowning itself in the snow it otherwise would melt The flame he got by touching a match to a small shred of birch bark that he took from his pocket This burned even more readily than paper Placing it on the foundation he fed the young flame with wisps of dry grass and with the tiniest dry twigs

He worked slowly and carefully keenly aware of his danger Gradually as the flame grew stronger he increased the size of the twigs with which he fed it He squatted in the snow pulling the twigs out from their entanglement in the brush and feeding directly to the flame He knew there must be no failure When it is seventy-five below zero a man must not fail in his first attempt to build a fire--that is if his feet are wet If his feet are dry and he fails he can run along the trail for half a mile and restore his circulation But the circulation of wet and freezing feet cannot be restored by running when it is seventy-five below No matter how fast he runs the wet feet will freeze the harder

All this the man knew The old-timer on Sulphur Creek had told him about it the previous fall and now he was appreciating the advice Already all sensation had gone out of his feet To build the fire he had been forced to remove his mittens and the fingers had quickly gone numb His pace of four miles an hour had kept his heart pumping blood to the surface of his body and to all the extremities But the instant he stopped the action of the pump eased down The cold of space smote the unprotected tip of the planet and he being on that unprotected tip received the full force of the blow The blood of his body recoiled before it The blood was alive like the dog and like the dog it wanted to hide away and cover itself up from the fearful cold So long as he walked four miles an hour he pumped that blood willy-nilly to the surface but now it ebbed away and sank down into the recesses of his body The extremities were the first to feel its absence His wet feet froze the faster and his exposed fingers numbed the faster though they had not yet begun to freeze Nose and cheeks were already freezing while the skin of all his body chilled as it lost its blood

But he was safe Toes and nose and cheeks would be only touched by the frost for the fire was beginning to burn with strength He was feeding it

To Build a FireContinued

with twigs the size of his finger In another minute he would be able to feed it with branches the size of his wrier and then he could remove his wet toot-gear and while it dried he could keep his naked feet warm by the fire rubbing them at first of course with snow The fire was a success He was safe He remembered the advice of the old timer on Sulphur Creek and smiled The old-timer had been very serious in laying down the law that no man must travel alone in the Klondike after fifty below Well here he was he had had the accident he was alone and he had saved himself Those old-timers were rather womanish some of them he thought All a man had to do was to keep his head and he was all right Any man who was a man could travel alone But it was surprising the rapidity with which his cheeks and nose were freezing And he had not thought his fingers could go lifeless in so short a time Lifeless they were for he could scarcely make them move together to grip a twig and they seemed remote from his body and from him When he touched a twig he had to look and see whether or not he had hold of it The wires were pretty well down between him and his finger-ends

All of which counted for little There was the fire snapping and crackling and promising life with every dancing flame He started to untie his moccasins They were coated with ice the thick German socks were like sheaths of iron halfway to the knees and the moccasin strings were like rods of steel all twisted and knotted as by some conflagration For a moment he tugged with his numb fingers then realizing the folly of it he drew his sheath-knife

But before he could cut the strings it happened It was his own fault or rather his mistake He should not have built the fire under the spruce tree He should have built it in the open But it had been easier to pull the twigs from the brush and drop them directly on the fire Now the tree under which

he had done this carried a weight of snow on its boughs No wind had blown for weeks and each bough was fully freighted Each time he had pulled a twig he had communicated a slight agitation to the tree--an imperceptible agitation so far as he was concerned but an agitation sufficient to bring about the disaster High up in the tree one bough capsized its load of snow This fell on the boughs beneath capsizing them This process continued spreading out and involving the whole tree It grew like an avalanche and it descended without warning upon the man and the fire and the fire was blotted out Where it had burned was a mantle of fresh and disordered snow

The man was shocked It was as though he had just heard his own sentence of death For a moment he sat and stared at the spot where the fire had been Then he grew very calm Perhaps the old-timer on Sulphur Creek was right If he had only had a trail-mate he would have been in no danger now The trail-mate could have built the fire Well it was up to him to build the fire over again and this second time there must be no failure Even if he succeeded he would most likely lose some toes His feet must be badly frozen by now and there would be some time before the second fire Was ready

Such were his thoughts but he did not sit and think them He was busy all the time they were passing through his mind He made a new foundation for a fire this time in the open where no treacherous tree could blot it out Next he gathered dry grasses and tiny twigs from the high-water flotsam He could not bring his fingers together to pull them out but he was able to gather them by the handful In this way he got many rotten twigs and bits of green moss that were undesirable but it was the best he could do He worked methodically even collecting an armful of the larger branches to be used later when the fire gathered strength And all the while the dog sat and watched him a certain yearning wistfulness in its eyes for it looked upon

To Build a FireContinued

him as the fire-provider and the fire was slow in coming

When all was ready the man reached in his pocket for a second piece of birch bark He knew the bark was there and though he could not feel it with his fingers he could hear its crisp rustling as he fumbled for it Try as he would he could not clutch hold of it And all the time in his consciousness was the knowledge that each instant his feet were freezing This thought tended to put him in a panic but he fought against it and kept calm He pulled on his mittens with his teeth and threshed his arms back and forth beating his hands with all his might against his sides He did this sitting down and he stood up to do it and all the while the dog sat in the snow its wolf-brush of a tail curled around warmly over its forefeet its sharp wolf-ears pricked forward intently as it watched the man And the man as he beat and threshed with his arms and hands felt a great surge of envy as he regarded the creature that was warm ant secure in its natural covering

After a time he was aware of the first far-away signals of sensation in his beaten fingers The faint tingling grew stronger till it evolved into a stinging ache that was excruciating but which the man hailed with satisfaction He stripped the mitten from his right hand and fetched forth the birch bark The exposed fingers were quickly going numb again Next he brought out his bunch of sulphur matches But the tremendous cold had already driven the life out of his fingers In his effort to separate one match from the others the whole bunch fell in the snow He tried to pick it out of the snow but failed The dead fingers could neither touch nor clutch He was very careful He drove the thought of his freezing feet and nose and cheeks out of his mind devoting his whole soul to the matches He watched using the sense of vision in place of that of touch and when he saw his fingers on each side the bunch he dosed them--that is he willed to close them for the wires were down and the fingers did not obey He pulled

the mitten on the right hand and beat it fiercely against his knee Then with both mittened hands he scooped the bunch of matches along with much snow into his lap Yet he was no better off

After some manipulation he managed to get the bunch between the heels of his mittened hands In this fashion he carried it to his mouth The ice crackled and snapped when by a violent effort he opened his mouth He drew the lower jaw in curled the upper lip out of the way and scraped the bunch with his upper teeth in order to separate a match He succeeded in getting one which he dropped on his lap He was no better off He could not pick it up Then he devised a way He picked it up in his teeth and scratched it on his leg Twenty times he scratched before he succeeded in lighting it As it flamed he held it with his teeth to the birch bark But the burning brimstone went up his nostrils and into his lungs causing him to cough spasmodically The match fell into the snow and went out

The old-timer an Sulphur Creek was right he thought in the moment of controlled despair that ensued after fifty below a man should travel with a partner He beat his hands but failed in exciting any sensation Suddenly he bared both hands removing the mittens with his teeth He caught the whole bunch between the heels of his hands His arm muscles not being frozen enabled him to press the hand-heels tightly against the matches Then he scratched the bunch along his leg It flared into flame seventy sulphur matches at once There was no wind to blow them out He kept his head to one side to escape the strangling fumes and held the blazing bunch to the birth bark As he so held it he became aware of sensation in his hand His flesh was burning He could smell it Deep down below the surface he could feel it The sensation developed into pain that grew acute And still he endured it holding the flame of the matches clumsily to the bark that would not light readily because his own burning hands were in the way absorbing most of the flame

To Build a FireContinued

At last when he could endure no more he jerked his hands apart The blazing matches fell sizzling into the snow but the birch bark was alight He began laying dry grasses and the tiniest twigs on the flame He could not pick and choose for he had to lift the fuel between the heels of his hands Small pieces of rotten wood and green moss clung to the twigs and he bit them off as well as he could with his teeth He cherished the flame carefully and awkwardly It meant life and it must not perish The withdrawal of blood from the surface of his body now made him begin to shiver and he grew more awkward A large piece of green moss fell squarely on the little fire He tried to poke it out with his fingers but his shivering frame made him poke too far and he disrupted the nucleus of the little fire the burning grasses and tiny twigs separating and scattering He tried to poke them together again but in spite of the tenseness of the effort his shivering got away with him and the twigs were hopelessly scattered Each twig gushed a puff of smoke and went out The fire-provider had failed As he looked apathetically about him his eyes chanced on the dog sitting across the ruins of the fire from him in the snow making restless hunching movements slightly lifting one forefoot and then the other shifting its weight back and forth on them with wistful eagerness

The sight of the dog put a wild idea into his head He remembered the tale of the man caught in a blizzard who killed a steer and crawled inside the carcass and so was saved He would kill the dog and bury his hands in the warm body until the numbness went out of them Then he could build another fire He spoke to the dog calling it to him but in his voice was a strange note of fear that frightened the animal who had never known the man to speak in such way before Something was the matter and its suspicious nature sensed danger--it knew not what danger but somewhere somehow in its brain arose an apprehension of the man It flattened its ears down at the sound of the mans voice and its restless

hunching movements and the liftings and shiftings of its forefeet became more pronounced but it would not come to the man He got on his hands and knees and crawled toward the dog This unusual posture again excited suspicion and the animal sidled mincingly away

The man sat up in the snow for a moment and struggled for calmness Then he pulled on his mittens by means of his teeth and got upon his feet He glanced down at first in order to assure himself that he was really standing up for the absence of sensation in his feet left him unrelated to the earth His erect position in itself started to drive the webs of suspicion from the dogs mind and when he spoke peremptorily with the sound of whiplashes in his voice the dog rendered its customary allegiance and came to him As it came within reaching distance the man lost his control His arms flashed out to the dog and he experienced genuine surprise when he discovered that his hands could not clutch that there was neither bend nor feeling in the fingers He had forgotten for the moment that they were frozen and that they were freezing more and more All this happened quickly and before the animal could get away he encircled its body with his arms He sat down in the snow and in this fashion held the dog while it snarled and whined and struggled

But it was all he could do hold its body encircled in his arms and sit there He realized that he could not kill the dog There was no way to do it With his helpless hands he could neither draw nor hold his sheath knife nor throttle the animal He released it and it plunged wildly away with tail between its legs and still snarling It halted forty feet away and surveyed him curiously with ears sharply pricked forward The man looked down at his hands in order to locate them and found them hanging on the ends of his arms It struck him as curious that one should have to use his eyes in order to find out where his hands were He began threshing his arms back and forth beating the mittened hands against

To Build a FireContinued

his sides He did this for five minutes violently and his heart pumped enough blood up to the surface to put a stop to his shivering But no sensation was aroused in the hands He had an impression that they hung like weights on the ends of his arms but when he tried to run the impression down he could not find it

A certain fear of death dull and oppressive came to him This fear quickly became poignant as he realized that it was no longer a mere matter of freezing his fingers and toes or of losing his hands and feet but that it was a matter of life and death with the chances against him This threw him into a panic and he turned and ran up the creek-bed along the old dim trail The dog joined in behind and kept up with him He ran blindly without intention in fear such as he had never known in his life Slowly as he plowed and floundered through the snow he began to see things again the banks of the creek the old timber-jams the leafless aspens and the sky The running made him feel better He did not shiver Maybe if he ran on his feet would thaw out and anyway if he ran far enough he would reach camp and the boys Without doubt he would lose some fingers and toes and some of his face but the boys would take care of him and save the rest of him when he got there And at the same time there was another thought in his mind that said he would never get to the camp and the boys that it was too many miles away that the freezing had too great a start on him and that he would soon be stiff and dead This thought he kept in the background and refused to consider Sometimes it pushed itself forward and demanded to be heard but he thrust it back and strove to think of other things

It struck him as curious that he could run at all on feet so frozen that he could not feel them when they struck the earth and took the weigh of his body He seemed to himself to skim along above the surface and to have no connection with the earth Somewhere he had once seen a winged Mercury

and he wondered if Mercury felt as he felt when skimming over the earth

His theory of running until he reached camp and the boys had one flaw in it he lacked the endurance Several times he stumbled and finally he tottered crumpled up and fell When he tried to rise he failed He must sit and rest he decided and next time he would merely walk and keep on going As he sat and regained his breath he noted that he was feeling quite warm and comfortable He was not shivering and it even seemed that a warm glow had come to his chest and trunk And yet when he touched his nose or cheeks there was no sensation Running would not thaw them out Nor would it thaw out his hands and feet Then the thought came to him that the frozen portions of his body must be extending He tried to keep this thought down to forget it to think of something else he was aware of the panicky feeling that it caused and he was afraid of the panic But the thought asserted itself and persisted until it produced a vision of his body totally frozen This was too much and he made another wild run along the trail Once he slowed down to a walk but the thought of the freezing extending itself made him run again

And all the time the dog ran with him at his heels When he fell down a second time it curled its tad over its forefeet and sat in front of him facing him curiously eager and intent The warmth and security of the animal angered him and he cursed it till it flattened down its ears appealingly This time the shivering came more quickly upon the man He was losing in his battle with the frost It was creeping into his body from all sides The thought of it drove him on but he ran no more than a hundred feet when he staggered and pitched headlong It was his last panic When he had recovered his breath and control he sat up and entertained in his mind the conception of meeting death with dignity However the conception did not come to him in such terms His idea of it was that he had been making a fool of

To Build a FireContinued

himself running around like a chicken with its head cut off--such was the simile that occurred to him Well he was bound to freeze anyway and he might as well take it decently With this new-found peace of mind came the first glimmerings of drowsiness A good idea he thought to sleep off to death It was like salting an anesthetic Freezing was not so bad as people thought There were lots worse ways to die

He pictured the boys finding his body next day Suddenly he found himself with them coming along the trail and looking for himself And still with them he came around a turn in the trail and found himself lying in the snow He did not belong with himself any more for even then he was out of himself standing with the boys and looking at himself in the snow It certainly was cold was his thought When he got back to the States he could tell the folks what real cold was He drifted on from this to a vision of the old-timer on Sulphur Creek He could see him quite clearly warm and comfortable and smoking a pipe

You were right old boss you were right the man mumbled to the old-timer of Sulphur Creek

Then the man drowsed off into what seemed to him the most comfortable and satisfying sleep he had ever known The dog sat facing him and waiting The brief day drew to a close in a long slow twilight There were no signs of a fire to be made and besides never in the dogs experience had it known a man to sit like that in the snow and make no fire As the twilight drew on its eager yearning for the fire mastered it and with a great lifting and shifting of forefeet it whined softly then flattened its ears down in anticipation of being chidden by the man But the man remained silent Later the dog whined loudly And still later it crept close to the man and caught the scent of death This made the animal bristle and back away A little longer it delayed howling under the stars that leaped and danced and shone brightly in the cold sky Then it turned and trotted up the trail in the direction of the camp it knew where were the other food-providers and fire-providers

To Build a FireContinued

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Page 15: FitnessDigest.us Vol. 4.3 Cover

Dear Freestyle Swim Stroke

13 You are so frustrating to me Why canrsquot we just get along When I made the decision to tackle this goal of completing a triathlon I was not even worried about you That has proven to be a mistake Some days things go so smooth between us and some mornings I spring out of bed at 430 so excited about our time together Today was not one of those days You left me feeling like thishellip

Like a wet wrung out old swimsuit

These are the reasons that I am so upset with you

1 You literally take my breath away

2 You make my shoulder hurt (Popcorn kernels currently on shoulder while typing)

3 You make me leave my warm cozy bed about two hours before I would really like to leave it

4 If I donrsquot get my butt out of bed and go at 430 AM I have to leave my family and go at 730 PM

Dear FreestyleBy Jen Schmitt Rockford Iowa

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pull

head position

exit

flutter-kick

recovery

(Yes we know ndash no cameras in the locker room No one was harmed in this photo shoot)

13 And to the very old man in the lane beside me I do not dislike you in-fact I am insanely jealous of you I donrsquot stare at you because of your body you may look hot if I was 75 but I am not I stare at you in awe of how effortlessly you move up and down the pool without a rest Someday I hope to be just like you

13 So for now as much as I would love to say we need to break up and go our separate ways I am too D stubborn to do that We will make this work and we are going to get along Here is my promise to you ndash I promise to meet-up with you two to three times a week for at least an hour to work on our relationship I promise not to cheat on you with the sidestroke although I am so much more comfortable with him I promise to keep an open mind about our relationship and give it all that I have just like I do with my friend the run

Love you (I think)

Jen

Dear FreestyleContinued

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pull

head position

exit

flutter-kick

recovery

Adult SwimmingBy Susan Dawson-cook

I have taught dozens of adults how to swim Many of them were initially either afraid of water or somewhat uncomfortable in the aquatic environment Whats worked best is to get in the water with them and do activities that show them it can be fun and safe I make sure they feel safe and secure the entire time and even say things like if you have trouble standing up after you take some strokes I will help you or just reach for my hand if you need support

13 Many beginners have this fear ndash if they are in the horizontal position swimming they wont be able to stand up One woman cried she was so overjoyed she overcame her fear and learned to take her first strokes

Find more of Susanrsquos writing and published works at httplivemediaFitnessDigestus

Body image and fitness are hot topics for both men and women The Great Fitness Experiment is my hilarious poignant embarrassing and at times heart-breaking journey to find my way through the morass of contradictory claims and information in todayrsquos health- and fitness-obsessed world

Available in paperback or in eBookhttpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

If you have trouble standing up after you

take some strokesone women cried

she was so overjoyed

If you would like future issues delivered to a Facebook Twitter or e-mail account e-mail us at infoFitnessDigestus

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2 Deadwood Mickelson Trail MarathonSunday June 2 2013

Deadwood South Dakota

13 On June 2nd we will celebrate 12 years of offering runners from around the globe the most unique running experience of their life Where else in the world can you run on a course that takes you from an abandoned mining town across railroad trestles through a mountain past monolithic rock formations beside a babbling creek and finish in Deadwoodhellipa town that is a historic landmark

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Written Emily WheelerFor more information amp video visit httpLIveAdsFitnessDigestus

ldquoWild West town known primarily for its gamblers gunslingers and gold minersrdquo

Hope to see you at the finish

This Wild West town known primarily for its gamblers gunslingers and gold miners has turned into one of the premiere destination marathon venues in the US

13 The breathtaking beauty of our course the truly outstanding team of volunteers the hospitality of everyone associated with the event and paying attention to details are just a couple of reasons yoursquoll want to toe the line on June 2nd

The Deadwood Mickelson Trail Half and Full Marathon is a point to point course

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ldquoThe breathtaking beauty of our courserdquo

WaynesSkiandCyclenetlive links to Waynersquos at httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

MTM Charity Partner

13 Habitat for Humanity is a global nonprofit Christian housing organization that has helped to build more than 500000 decent affordable houses and served 25 million people worldwide since its founding in 1976 With the help of volunteers and donations of money and materials Habitat constructs rehabilitates and preserves homes in partnership with low-income families in need Operating in nearly 80 countries and with more than 1500 affiliates in the United States Habitat also advocates for fair and just housing policies and provides training and access to resources to help families improve their shelter conditions

Shop for Name BrandItems 24 Hours a Day

beginning in the historic mining town of Rochford the first 15 miles are on a paved road At this point the course becomes the Mickelson Trail (a rails to trails project) The next 12 miles are a mixture of gentle uphill and flat terrain

13 Then the course is either downhill or flat and finishes at the historic Engine House at end of the linehellipthe Deadwood Trailhead The Half Marathon is also a point to point course starting at the 131 mile mark of the full marathon Walker Friendly

All participants will receive a Commemorative Finisherrsquos Medal

Mickelson Trail Marathon Charity Partner is the Black Hills Habitat for HumanityMake your Marathon Matter Matching Funds

Make your Marathon matter by helping create decent shelter in the Black Hills ndash take the challenge to give at least $1 per race mile Our goal is to raise $3000 in 2012 for BH Habitat for Humanity to help provide shelter for more families in the Black Hills

Registrations are capped at 3000 runners If you want to be part of the Deadwood Mickelson Trail Marathon Weekend celebration go to LiveAdsFitnessDigestus and click on the MTM Marathon URL

Hope to see you at the Finish Line - ThanksEmily Wheeler Wheeler Event Management Inc

ldquoHope to see you at the finish linerdquo

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links

DAY had broken cold and gray exceedingly cold and gray when the man turned aside from the main Yukon trail and climbed the high earth-bank where a dim and little traveled trail led eastward through the fat spruce timberland It was a steep bank and he paused for breath at the top excusing the act to himself by looking at his watch It was nine oclock There was no sun nor hint of sun though there was not a cloud in the sky It was a

clear day and yet there seemed an intangible pall over the face of things a subtle gloom that made the day dark and that was due to the absence of sun This fact did not worry the man He was used to the lack of sun It had been days since he had seen the sun and he knew that a few more-days must pass before that cheerful orb due south would just peep above the sky-line and dip immediately from view

To Build a Fire - Hiking the Yukon TrailShort story fiction Written by Jack London (1876-1916)

The man flung a look back along the way he had come The Yukon lay a mile wide and hidden under three feet of ice On top of this ice were as many feet of snow It was all pure white rolling in gentle undulations where the ice jams of the freeze-up had formed North and south as far as his eye could see it was unbroken white save for a dark hairline that curved and twisted from around the spruce-covered island to the south and that curved and twisted away into the north where it disappeared behind another spruce-covered island This dark hair-line was the trail--the main trail--that led south five hundred miles to the Chilcoot Pass Dyea and salt water and that led north seventy miles to Dawson and still on to the north a thousand miles to Nulato and finally to St Michael on Bering Sea a thousand miles and half a thousand more

But all this--the mysterious far-reaching hair-line trail The absence of sun from the sky the tremendous cold and the strangeness and weirdness of it all--made no

impression on the man It was not because he was long used to it He was a newcomer In the land a chechaquo and this was his first winter The trouble with him was that he was without imagination He was quick and alert in the things of life but only in the things and not in the significances Fifty degrees below zero meant eighty-odd degrees of frost Such fact impressed him as being cold and uncomfortable and that was all It did not lead him to meditate upon his frailty as a creature of temperature and upon mans frailty in general able only to live within certain narrow limits of heat and cold and from there on it did not lead him to the conjectural field of immortality and mans place in the universe Fifty degrees below zero stood forte bite of frost that hurt and that must be guarded against by the use of mittens ear-flaps warm moccasins and thick socks Fifty degrees below zero was to him just precisely fifty degrees below zero That there should be anything more to it than that was a thought that never entered his head

To Build a FireContinued

Continued on page 62

Stand Up Paddle BoardingWOWSUPIowacom on LiveAds

It is important from time to time to slow down to go away by yourself and simply be --Eileen Caddy

Letrsquos Race13 My son is eight and our family is very active Im just hitting my peak racing age of about 34 years old The family members all support each otherrsquos activities They are a great cheering section when my wife and I compete in races There is a popular two mile fun run in our town that we my wife and I run every year We also have for-fun races with the kids around the house or across the football field For years Ive let the eight year old win a few and others I win by just a little bit I think he is wising up to my tactics of good fatherhood One day he said ldquoDad you are letting me win but I think I can beat you fair and squarerdquo He added ldquoYoursquore not that fast Ill bet you 10 dollars I can beat you in a two mile racerdquo Wanting to teach him a lesson about spouting off and writing checks his body cant cash I took him up on it I said All right you pick a time and place We will race two miles for 10 dollars He replied You know that two mile race you and mom do every year I can race you then I agreed and he quickly added Ill need 20 years to warm-up That would make me 54 and him 28 Irsquom preparing for the loss and putting 10 dollars aside now

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Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

In my first creative experience it was through music and I was interested in developing my values of creativity I was inspired by a band named Motley Crue and the song that captured my interest was Home Sweet home Dear reader what inspires you Is it music or inspirational quote thought or ideas To express how this song motivated my interests it helped give me faith in my own creative abilities in the process I began to write lyrics I eventually began to work on different styles of writing and broaden my writing skills What types of music inspire your creative thoughts What types of other inspiration values inspire your creative thoughts

13 Getting motivated is one of the key aspects of a successful weight-loss program Without this motivation there would be no drive to get up early or to avoid eating unhealthy snacks ndash that you absolutely love Yes you can thank your motivation for that When you are looking for weight-loss motivation sometimes it is hard to find Where can you find that extra umph to make it to your goal

The benefits of finding a motivator are something that cannot be paralleled It has been said mind over matter This coincides with our principle that no matter how hard the task you can accomplish the goal given the right mindset It is important to go into a new weight-loss program with a positive mental attitude

FINDI

NG TH

EM X InspirationX

Motivation

When I was introduced to William Shakespeare I was intrigued by his creative values and I started to work on developing a different aspect of writing I then watched the movie Free Jack there was a quote by Albert Einstein Imagination is more important than knowledge I thought about the in depth values of both concepts and then I applied both concepts and defined different creative concept Do you believe that anything is possible if you believe I know that I do believe that if an individual believes deeply enough one can accomplish their goals I had to believe in my own abilities and in my dreams and ignore the negative values that were impressed by others

Anything less can potentially hinder growth towards your goal

Some of the things that you should be thinking about when looking for motivators are people with good morals and a positive attitude This is because if the people helping you do not have a positive attitude then it is also difficult for you Some great places to look for a motivator are online blogs in the gym or even in your own family I am sure that in all of these places you will see someone else trying to accomplish the same or even more difficult goals than your own

Another key to finding motivation is to let it find you You should not have to go find a reason to go do something You will do it because you wanted to not because you were forced to

X

InspirationMotivation

More simply put motivation will find you because you will see something that inspires you to make a change in yourself That change may be a weight-loss goal or something else Maybe even an academic goal The true key is to maintain that motivation until you have achieved your goal

Regards Vincent ErrichielloUSMS Swimmer

InspirationMotivation

With believing so deeply within my own abilities and the faith that I could accomplish what I set out to achieve I wrote a lyric titled Dreams Are Only Real and in believing in this concept further defining its true meaning the concept became Dreams Are Only Real Until You Dont believe

Jeremy J TaylorCNFI Publishing

himTHROWINGWritten by anonymous contributor

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13 Johnny is not the best batter in our little league Matter-of-fact he is quiet awful At practice one afternoon Johnny hit a pitch really well The coach had pitched him inside on accident far enough inside that it almost hit him Johnny got his hit by using his bat to defend himself from that arrant pitch The coach told him ldquogood hitrdquo and Johnny yelled back ldquoWell I didnrsquot want the ball to hit merdquo13 Johnny improved his batting after that He was hitting the ball almost every time he got up At one point I said to coach ldquoHow did you get Johnny to improve his batting so quicklyrdquo He replyed Im throwing the ball it AT HIM every time

Body image and fitness are hot topics for both men and women The Great Fitness Experiment is my hilarious poignant embarrassing and at times heart-breaking journey to find my way through the morass of contradictory claims and information in todayrsquos health- and fitness-obsessed world

Available in paperback or in eBookVisit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

wwwnorthiafitnesscom on LiveAdsEmail northiowafitnessgmailcom

Phone 641-201-1035Strongest weight loss supplements

on the market

The Fall of Billy Hitchingsby Kirkus MacGowan

Available at Amazon

LOCATED IN ST ANSGAR IOWA

Business Cards Envelopes

Letterheads Programs

Vinyl Decals Signs

Posters Invites (graduation wedding showers etc)

Flyers Brochures

T-ShirtsShorts SweatshirtsSweats

Koozies Sashes

Business Forms Placemats

Postcards And Much More

Bridgette Beyer DesignerOwner

Bring your ideas in andVisual Aspect Designs can print

andor design for you

Black Lab LanyardsSpecializing in customized duck and goose call lanyards for waterfowl enthusiasts

For more information on this productVisit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

FitnessDigestus is now available at

WOWSUPIOWAcom

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entryFitnessDigestus

Send u

s yo

ur T

-shi

rt

READE

R T

-shi

rts

13 I was standing on shore fishing in my favorite spot A guy Irsquove never seen at the pond gets in and starts swimming After about 25 minutes of back and forth he stops at a place about 30 yards off shore He gives me a quick look and dices down below the water

His next lap he stops in the same place looks at me again and points down at the water He finished his swim and left I picked up my gear and moved to the other side of the outlet just a few yards from where he had stopped twice Caught a lunker in the first cast

Swim Signs - Lunker

BankersPromotional and Advertising Specialties

Call to order 641ndash423ndash3111

Marathon Caps

Visors Water Bottles

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Black Lab LanyardsSpecializing in customized duck and goose call lanyards for waterfowl enthusiastsCustomized Duck and Goose Call Lanyards

Archery Bow Slings

Dog Collars and Whistle Lanyards

Fly Fishing Lanyards

Visit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus for more information

TOP TWEETS

Iowa Cubs (IowaCubs)Thanks to all our fans who showed up for the pre-game on-field catch with dad

Louise Pineda (forerunnerGPS)The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficultyWinston Churchill quotes

Softball Darlin (Softball_Darlin)My mom told me our team was gettin white uniforms for summer amp to try not to get them dirty Uh Have you seen me play Not gonna happen

I Swim I Suffer (ISwimISuffer)thatswimmerwho If the water is in your right ear for example then jump on your right leg and lean your head to the right side while jumping

I Swim and I Know It (iSwimWithIssues)During the summer you shower 467 times at the pool 17 times at hotels and 3 times at your house Truth

Everyday Health (WomensCancer)63000 Americans will be diagnosed w malignant melanoma (the deadliest skin cancer) this year Know your risk

US Paralympics (USParalympics)Want to be introduced to Paralympic sport Attend one of the Paralympic Experiences being held throughout the countryFi

tnes

sDig

est

US v

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SwimSwam (swimswamnews)Congrats to KenyaSwimmer on being selected to carry the Kenya flag swimswamcom

Better than sharing on a blog Twitter or Facebook and you can share a story even if you donrsquot maintain a social-web presencePublished for ALL FitnessDigestus readers

Sign with your real name pen-name or anonymoushttpLiveMediaFitnessDigestus

13 Funnest thing SPAM about some weight-loss supplements got posted on a friendrsquos Facebook My friend is an ultra-runner I notice there was also an ad for salami recipes on the same page The recipes were right next to the SPAM about diet-pills

13 Letrsquos see ndash it sounds like the beginning of a good joke Q What do you get when a friend tries to sell you ultra-runner endorsed salami-flavored-SPAM diet-pills on Facebook Answer Sick

Unsung Heroes1 Irsquove never swam open water and wanted to do a triathlon A friend that

races open water took extra time to swim with me at a lake I was much more comfortable after that

2 I was going on vacation and needed advice on a place to swim A friend living in the area took the time to help me find people to answer my questions

3 I was over eating and had complained to my friend about it She called me twice a day for three weeks just to remind me to eat healthy

4 I usually run to and from the gym It takes about 30 minutes to run both ways I didnrsquot have enough time to get there and back before a scheduled appointment I had A friend drove me to the gym saving me about 30 minutes I was able to run home and still had time to get to my appointment

SPAM DIET

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Visit the Suburban Mommy blog and learn more about AtresiaMicrotia a birth defect of the inner earFor links to SubMommy blog httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

SUBMOMMYBLOG

On Wednesday May 16 2012 at 7 PM simultaneous rides occurred around the

USA and the world

We all ride Now we can ride as one

One day One time One world world wide

Let the silence roar

322 locations world wide

The Ride of SilenceTonight we number many but ride as one

In honor of those not with us friends

mothers fathers sisters sons

With helmets on tight and heads down low

We ride in silence cautious and slow

The wheels start spinning in the lead pack

But tonight we ride and no one attacks

The dark sunglasses cover our tears

Remembering those we held so dear

Tonights ride is to make others aware

The road is there for all to share

To those not with us or by our side

May God be your partner on your final ride

- Mike Murgas

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 50 states

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 7 Continents

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 0 words spoken

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 1 million memories

Ride of Silence

ldquoCost-effective investments in bicycling boost our economy help individuals and government agencies save money and directly address key societal challenges such as obesity and road congestion In these tough economic times our federal government can only afford to invest in solutions that solve multiple problems Bicycling fits the billrdquo ndash PeopleForBikesorg

This photo collection was taken byRobert LaVallee of Mason City IA

To see his entire collection visithttpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

Non-subscriberSign-up for delivery of

the FREE edition at coopnetbiz

It provides an outstanding aerobic workout in less than half the time we would spend in still water It has allowed us as swim coaches to observe swimmers stroke characteristics up close and to see the effects of fatigue on stroke mechanics ~ Larry L Chazy NY

Swimming is an excellent exercise and now I can swim every day because its so convenient and private I can swim when I want and how long I want Im able to have it at a temperature that is comfortable to me The small size of an Endless Pool enabled me to install a pool where I could not install a regular size one

As an aging baby boomer nutrition professional I have yearned for consistent exercise that doesnt stress joints and will enable me to attain physical fitness cardiovascular health and weight control I can eat what I want and still firm up and lose weight ~ John C Columbus OH

Endless Pools make for long swims in small places The 8x15 Endless Pool is less than regulation size but offers the same benefits as a very large pool ~ Noah H Connecticut Post

The Endless Pool is a great strength builder I am amazed at the strength of the current I now swim against I did not buy it for that reason but because of my arthritis so the strength gain is a wonderful surprise

Endless PoolsTestimonials For more information visit httpLIveAdsFitnessDigestus

s w i m m i n g s h o r t s

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Baseball Walking Stick13 My sons friend grabbed his baseball bat and said to me this is my walking stick I politely ask him why he calls it that He replied because my dad says if I hit a home run with it I donrsquot have to run the bases ndash I can walk

My Bike My mountain bike was stolen a while back and my kids were really upset Ive been riding my road bike in its place Since then Ive been careful to lock my bike up when we go to the park

13 On this occasion I did not lock-up my sonrsquos bike up with mine He looked at me quizzically and said sternly lock my bike up too I tried to explain that his bike was not as expensive and therefor didnt need to be locked up Boy that was a mistake He made me feel a little dumb when he said Dad I dont care how expensive it is Its the only bike Irsquove got

North Iowa Roads

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A LEADER inSearch Engine Optimization

Technology

Increase your visitor page views and Facebook Likes

Are you moving to a new state Already hired your mover

E-mail blind box at box02FitnessDigestus will get

you the best rates on cable phone and internet

Digital Movers

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

parent sports tipBy FitnessDigestus staff writer JGA

PAR

EN

T

TIP

Keeping Kids Focused13 Organize their thoughts Help them prioritize and make decisions based on value Even kids can understand the value of simple non-monetized choices Questions like ldquoShould I finish playing my gameboy game or pause it when they call my swimming eventrdquo

If kids are taught to make good decisions and not just find quick answers everyone wins

AugustGolf Month5th Friendship Day15th Relaxation Day25th Kiss and Make Up Day31st Trail Mix DaySeptemberLittle League Month12th Chocolate Milk Shake Day13th Positive Thinking Day16th Womenrsquos Friendship Day21st Miniature Golf DayOctoberBreast Cancer Awareness MonthNational Diabetes Month1st World Vegetarian Day4th Golf Day25th World Pasta Day

National Calendar

Au

gu

stSe

pte

mb

er

Oc

tob

er

Encourage friendships writing skills sharing thoughts and

experiencesEight different cards

YAGOTTAWANNA

Variety of pricing From single orders to bulk orders of 24 notecards

Learn more online

Stay in touch with your swimming or triathlon buddies

It is better to be safe then to try to beat the heat There are many options to stay cool and run during a hot-summer day Staying inside and running on the treadmill is a good one Remember staying safe is a top priority

Most workouts can be modified to work indoors This issuersquos workout is to do your usual run or interval set just stay inside and run it on the treadmill Visualize the different landmarks to see during your outdoor run

Coach Millerrsquos Quarterly ChallengeStay safe in the heatBy Mark Miller mmillerFitnessDigestus

A few years back we had a hot-spell similar to this yearrsquos record heat

I remember training for a long run and having to stop at the local swimming hole to cool off I literally took off my

shoes and jumped in with my running clothes on I was so hot

FitnessDigestUSEntertainment amp Inspiration

Use coupon codeldquoRAMCSPRrdquo

at puresportshopcomfor 20 OFF

Nutritional Performance Sports Drinks with Protein

OPEN WATER SWIMMING BY THE NUMBERS

In kilometers The shortest open water race included in the Fina World Championships

10107 How many miles it

is to swim from Cuba to the USA

5

1000Number of swimming strokes in a mile for a typical swimmer

31800About the number of calories it takes to swim 100 miles

LOCATED IN ST ANSGAR IOWA

Business Cards Envelopes

Letterheads Programs

Vinyl Decals Signs

Posters Invites (graduation wedding showers etc)

Flyers Brochures

T-ShirtsShorts SweatshirtsSweats

Koozies Sashes

Business Forms Placemats

Postcards And Much More

Bridgette Beyer DesignerOwner

Bring your ideas in andVisual Aspect Designs can print

andor design for you

The minimum open water distance in kilometers that is considered a swimming-

marathon

On Facebook Visit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

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Open water safety means swimming in shallow water where there is a lifeguard or using an escort

Shop for Name BrandGear

24 Hoursa Day

WaynesSkiandCyclenet

For links to Waynersquos visit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

s w i m m i n g s h o r t s

Googles

13 Swimming fans can really appreciate a 200 IM when their goggles fill with water How about an Olympian Swimming a leg of the 400 Free Relay with his goggles across his opened mouth ndash and going 45rsquos A great team swimmer an Olympian wouldnrsquot let down his teammates by throwing them off or fixing them

500 Fly13 A world class butterflyer asked if he could swim butterfly in the 500 yard freestyle during a dual meet His goal was to break five minutes After considering the competition it seemed like a great way to make him really work a hard fly swim so we agreed Problem was he swam a 502 and the opposing coach complained to the officials because he embarrassed his swimmers Oh well you canrsquot win lsquoem all

Stories sent in by Robert Steele

No-No-No13 The other morning I was teaching front-streamlines to snotty nosed 8 year olds (some are literally snotty-nosed) One boy was taking a big gulp of air and holding his breath When he lifted his head he had to exhale and inhale before submerging again Swimmers will understand this does not work very well Kids need to learn to exhale underwater The first time he did it I told him to exhale underwater The second time I stopped him looked him in the eye and reminded him to exhale underwater The third and fourth times I started to get a little frustrated ldquoJohnny you need to exhale underwater so you can breath betterrdquo The fifth time as his head popped up for a breath I quickly asked ldquoJohnny Do you even know what exhale meansrdquo as he submerged his head below the water I could see him shake his head no-no-no

Favorite Potato Chips13We try to limit the junk food the kids eat at our house For lunch one day our son wanted some potato chips I gave him 3 large chips with his sandwich He started to cry and said he wanted one more chip ldquoI wanted four chipsrdquo he screamed I took the plate back When he wasnt looking I broke a chip in half and give it back to him with four chips

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

13 My cancer story is one of uniqueness Leave it to me to do something like cancer to its fullest It did not begin with a mammogram diagnosis or a lump My journey began about 4 years ago with some suspicious activity that turned into Pagetrsquos disease of the nipple which signaled the underlying cancer On April 1st I found out about my breast cancer through a biopsy that came back as positive for Pagetrsquos disease The onslaught of tests learning and decisions were dizzying I immediately went for an evaluation of the suspicious tissue and had to begin making decisions for my mastectomy I quickly learned there is a test called the BRAC Analysis which is a genetic test for breast and ovarian cancer Finally a piece of good news for me I did not have the gene

Decisions Now it was time to make decisions about my mastectomy and how I was going to handle reconstruction I discussed my options with my boyfriend Brian friends family members and even my principalboss I read books searched the Internet and contacted people I

Brandi ShipmanCancer Survivor and elite triathlete

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

know and knew from my past that had been directly affected and that I thought might have answers for me The outpouring of love encouragement and help during this process was overwhelming After meeting with four different doctors two surgeons and two plastic surgeons I decided to go with immediate reconstruction and was lucky enough to find two wonderful doctors They were willing to work together just because I wanted them to even though they had never done so before My surgery was scheduled for mid May

Mental Toughness13 My mental preparation at this point was very important I had to scrap any idea of competing in triathlons for the rest of the year and focus on a positive attitude of getting better I stopped thinking about what I wasnrsquot going to able to do and started thinking about what I could do that I was alive and kept my mind on the fact that so many others had made it before me

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links

Part 213 I was prepared by the doctors survivors and literature to be ldquodownrdquo for several weeks after my surgery I even took the rest of the school year off My surgery went well and I was out of the hospital the next day A few friends came to visit while I was in the hospital and my principal and vice principal brought the most wonderful picture of the faculty wearing pink for me I can only imagine what it looked like at Thornton Elementary on that day in May 2009 a sea of pink all for Brandi Shipman Shortly after their visit I received a text from my friend Margie Massey My friends from the gym wore pink for me that day as well The support brought tears to my eyes I was so excited to come home and be comfortable in my own home I just wish the stupid drain that was attached could have stayed at the hospital The pain from that was worse than the pain from the mastectomy

the most

powerful picture

13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Recovery ndash May13 Once I got home I slept and watched a lot of TV Friends visited and brought yummy food and my favorites I am not supposed to eat I ate them all My friend and co-worker set up a cancer care calendar that alerted anyone who logged on when I was having a doctorrsquos appointment or when I was in need of anything I felt like royalty as everyone took care of me I think Brian secretly enjoyed the fact that he wouldnrsquot have to cook for me each night My recovery was quicker than I thought as I was doing my best to get better and get the stinkinrsquo drain out of my skin I was out walking within a week and running within 3 weeks I couldnrsquot believe my recovery I know it was from all the prayers love and good care from Brian and the loved ones around me Life was looking better each day

ldquoLife was looking

better each dayrdquo

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Part three and part

four of I am Survivor

will be published in

the next edition of

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During the past 150 years we have witnessed many remarkable advances against cancer a disease known to humanity for thousands of years The advances highlighted below represent a sampling of what has been accomplished to date

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

1882 William Halsted performs the first radical mastectomy to treat breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast the lymph nodes under the arm (axillary lymph nodes) and the chest muscles behind the breast (pectoralis major and pectoralis minor muscles) are removed Radical mastectomy will remain the standard operation for breast cancer until latter half of the 20th century when the use of modified radical mastectomy becomes widely accepted

1932 David H Patey develops the modified radical mastectomy for breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast axillary lymph nodes and pectoralis minor muscle behind the breast are removed The modified radical mastectomy is less disfiguring than the radical mastectomy and will eventually replace the radical mastectomy as a standard treatment option for breast cancer

1953 James Watson and Francis Crick discover the molecular structure of DNA (the double helix)

1963 The Health Insurance Plan (HIP) of Greater New York Study begins HIP is the first randomized controlled trial of periodic breast cancer screening with mammography

1882

1932

1953

1963

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1976 The results of a randomized clinical trial show that women with early breast cancer who receive post-operative (adjuvant) combination chemotherapy with the drugs cyclophosphamide methotrexate and 5-FU have improved disease-free survival

1981 A randomized clinical trial in the United Kingdom shows for the first time that the rates of survival local recurrence and tumor metastasis among women whose breast cancer is treated with modified radical mastectomy are not substantially different from those of women who are treated with radical mastectomy

1993 An NCI-convened international workshop on screening for breast cancer reports that screening with mammography reduces breast cancer mortality among women ages 50-69 This conclusion is based on a review of published and unpublished data from eight randomized controlled trials

2004 Data from the Womens Health Initiative (WHI) study show that women who take estrogen in combination with the hormone progestin have a greater risk of developing breast cancer than women who take estrogen alone The results also show that menopausal hormone therapy with estrogen alone has no benefit in disease prevention specifically in reducing the risks of colorectal cancer coronary heart disease and dementia

1976

1981

1993

2004

Although we still have a long way to go to reduce the toll of cancer in the United States and worldwide our research and public health efforts are beginning to pay dividends

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

Volunteering vs Participating13 My girl friend and I are involved in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation The local chapter raises awareness for the cause with a fun-run each year We have volunteered to help with the race five years in a row This year we were stationed at a water table where the runners pick-up cups of water to drink Toward the end of the race there are very few runners There was a little time to chat about things We were talking about what we would wish for if we could have three wishes I told her I would wish for an end to Juvenile Diabetes and to lose 10 pounds Being nice I said ldquoyou can have my last wishrdquo She said I wish you would skip volunteering and just run this race next year

Admission Price Our aquatic center was having a promotion one night and advertised an elementary school night The kids could swim for free When we got to the pool we saw a promotional sign for the event In small lettering it read All swimmers must be accompanied by an adult We thought no big deal one of us can just stay and watch When we got to the front desk we found the lifeguard was enforcing the adult-admission price of $8

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CNFI Publishing - Products Books Chapbooks Bookmarks Plaques and Poetry Collector Cards Merchandising Products Coffee Mugs Mouse Pads Tiles 3x6 Coasters T - Shirts and Wall Plaques More info athttpliveadsFitnessDigestus

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

Featured PhotosFitnessDigestus feature

Chicago open water swim course at nighttop left

Kids race at Bicycle Blues and BBQtop right

Some team members volunteer at the local soup kitchenmiddle right

Ken Mauer loads the balls for hitting practice during a Twins baseball camp for

children 7-13 bottom right

Get your local event photos published in the next issue of FitnessDigestus E-mail

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As he turned to go on he spat speculatively There was a sharp explosive crackle that startled him He spat again And again in the air before it could fall to the snow the spittle crackled He knew that at fifty below spittle crackled on the snow but this spittle had crackled in the air Undoubtedly it was colder than fifty below--how much colder he did not know But the temperature did not matter He was bound for the old claim on the left fork of Henderson Creek where the boys were already They had come over across the divide from the Indian Creek country while he had come the roundabout way to take a look at the possibilities of getting out logs in the spring from the islands in the Yukon He would be in to camp by six oclock a bit after dark it was true but the boys would be there a fire would be going and a hot supper would be ready As for lunch he pressed his hand against the protruding bundle under his jacket It was also under his shirt wrapped up in a handkerchief and lying against the naked skin It was the only way to keep the biscuits from freezing He smiled agreeably to himself as he thought of those biscuits each cut open and sopped in bacon grease and each enclosing a generous slice of fried bacon

He plunged in among the big spruce trees The trail was faint A foot of snow had fallen since the last sled had passed over and he was glad he was without a sled traveling light In fact he carried nothing but the lunch wrapped in the handkerchief He was surprised however at the cold It certainly was cold he concluded as he rubbed his numb nose and cheek-bones with his mittened hand He was a warm-whiskered man but the hair on his face did not protect the high cheek-bones and the eager nose that thrust itself aggressively into the frosty air

At the mans heels trotted a dog a big native husky the proper wolf-dog gray-coated and without any visible or temperamental difference from its brother the wild wolf The animal was depressed by the tremendous cold It knew that it was no time for

traveling Its instinct told it a truer tale than was told to the man by the mans judgment In reality it was not merely colder than fifty below zero it was colder than sixty below than seventy below It was seventy-five below zero Since the freezing point is thirty-two above zero it meant that one hundred and seven degrees of frost obtained The dog did not know anything about thermometers Possibly in its brain there was no sharp consciousness of a condition of very cold such as was in the mans brain But the brute had its instinct It experienced a vague but menacing apprehension that subdued it then made it slink along at the mans heels and that made it question eagerly every unwonted movement of the man as if expecting him to go into camp or to seek shelter somewhere and build a fire The dog had learned fire and it wanted fire or else to burrow under the snow and cuddle its warmth away from the air

The frozen moisture of its breathing had settled on its fur in a fine powder of frost and especially were its jowls muzzle and eyelashes whitened by its cry-stalled breath The mans red beard and mustache were likewise frosted but more solidly the deposit taking the form of ice and increasing with every warm moist breath he exhaled Also the man was chewing tobacco and the muzzle of ice held his lips so rigidly that he was unable to clear his chin when he expelled the juice The result was that a crystal beard of the color and solidity of amber was increasing its length on his chin If he fell down it would shatter itself like glass into brittle fragments But he did not mind the appendage It was the penalty all tobacco-chewers paid in that country and he had been out before in two cold snaps They had not been so cold as this he knew but by the spirit thermometer at Sixty Mile he knew they had been registered at fifty below and at fifty-five

He held on through the level stretch of woods for several miles crossed a wide flat of rigger-heads and dropped down a bank to the frozen bed of a

To Build a FireContinued

small stream This was Henderson Creek and he knew he was ten miles from the forks He looked at his watch It was ten oclock He was making four miles an hour and he calculated that he would arrive at the forks at half-past twelve He decided to celebrate that event by eating his lunch there

The dog dropped in again at his heels with a tail drooping discouragement as the man swung along the creek-bed The furrow of the old sled-trail was plainly visible but a dozen inches of snow covered the marks of the last runners In a month no man had come up or down that silent creek The man held steadily on He was not much given to thinking and just then particularly he had nothing to think about save that he would eat lunch at-the forks and that at six oclock he would be in camp with the boys There was nobody to talk to and had there been speech would have been impossible because of the ice-muzzle on his mouth So he continued monotonously to chew tobacco and to increase the length of his amber beard

Once in a while the thought reiterated itself that it was very cold and that he had never experienced such cold As he walked along he rubbed his cheek-bones and nose with the back of his mittened hand He did this automatically now and again changing hands But rub as he would the instant he stopped his cheek-bones went numb and the following instant the end of his nose went numb He was sure to frost his cheeks he knew that and experienced a pang of regret that he had not devised a nose-strap of the sort Bud wore in cold snaps Such a strap passed across the cheeks as well and saved them But it didnt matter much after all What were frosted cheeks A bit painful that was all they were never serious

Empty as the mans mind was of thoughts he was keenly observant and he noticed the changes in the creek the curves and bends and timber jams and always he sharply noted where he placed his feet Once coming around a bend he shied abruptly

like a startled horse curved away from the place where he had been walking and retreated several paces back along the trail The creek he knew was frozen clear to the bottom--no creek could contain water in that arctic winter--but he knew also that there were springs that bubbled out from the hillsides and ran along under the snow and on top the ice of the creek He knew that the coldest snaps never froze these springs and he knew likewise their danger They were traps They hid pools of water under the snow that might be three inches deep or three feet Sometimes a skin of ice half an inch thick covered them and in turn was covered by the snow Sometimes there were alternate layers of water and ice-skin so that when one broke through he kept on breaking through for a while sometimes wetting himself to the waist

That was why he had shied in such panic He had felt the give under his feet and heard the crackle of a snow-hidden ice-skin And to get his feet wet in such a temperature meant trouble and danger At the very least it meant delay for he would be forced to stop and build a fire and under its protection to bare his feet while he dried his socks and moccasins He stood and studied the creek-bed and its banks and decided that the flow of water came from the right He reflected a while rubbing his nose and cheeks then skirted to the left stepping gingerly and testing the footing for each step Once clear of the danger he took a fresh chew of tobacco and swung along at his four-mile gait

In the course of the next two hours he came upon several similar traps Usually the snow above the hidden pools had a sunken candied appearance that advertised the danger Once again however he had a close call and once suspecting danger he compelled the dog to go on in front The dog did not want to go It hung back until the man shoved it forward and then it went quickly across the white unbroken surface Suddenly it broke through floundered to one side and got away to firmer

To Build a FireContinued

To Build a FireContinued

footing It had wet its forefeet and legs and almost immediately the water that clung to it turned to ice It made quick efforts to lick the ice off its legs then dropped down in the snow and began to bite out the ice that had formed between the toes l his was a matter of instinct To permit the ice to remain would mean sore feet It did not know this It merely obeyed the mysterious prompting that arose from the deep crypts of its being But the man knew having achieved a judgment on the subject and he removed the mitten from his right hand and helped tear out the ice-particles He did not expose his fingers more than a minute and was astonished at the swift numbness that smote them It certainly was cold He pulled on the mitten hastily and beat the hand savagely across his chest

At twelve oclock the day was at its brightest Yet the sun was too far south an its winter journey to clear the horizon The bulge of the earth intervened between it arid Henderson Creek where the man walked under a clear sky at noon and cast no shadow At half-past twelve to the minute he arrived at the forks of the creek He was pleased at the speed he had made If he kept it up he would certainly be with the boys by six He unbuttoned his jacket and shirt and drew forth his lunch The action consumed no more than a quarter of a minute yet in that brief moment the numbness laid hold of the exposed fingers He did not put the mitten on but instead struck the fingers a dozen sharp smashes against his leg Then he sat down on a snow-covered log to eat The sting that followed upon the striking of his fingers against his leg ceased so quickly that he was startled He had had no chance to take a bite of biscuit He struck the fingers repeatedly and returned them to the mitten baring the other hand for the purpose of eating He tried to take a mouthful but the ice-muzzle prevented He had forgotten to build a fire and thaw out He chuckled at his foolishness and as he chuckled he noted the numbness creeping into the exposed fingers Also he noted that the stinging which had first come to his

toes when he sat down was already passing away He wandered whether the toes were warm or numb He moved them inside the moccasins and decided that they were numb

He pulled the mitten on hurriedly and stood up He was a bit frightened He stamped up and down until the stinging returned into the feet It certainly was cold was his thought That man from Sulphur Creek had spoken the truth when telling how cold it sometimes got in the country And he had laughed at him at the time That showed one must not be too sure of things There was no mistake about it it was cold He strode up and down stamping his feet and threshing his arms until reassured by the returning warmth Then he got out matches and proceeded to make a fire From the undergrowth where high water of the previous spring had lodged a supply of seasoned twigs he got his firewood Working carefully from a small beginning he soon had a roaring fire over which he thawed the ice from his face and in the protection of which he ate his biscuits For the moment the cold space was outwitted The dog took satisfaction in the fire stretching out close enough for warmth and far enough away to escape being singed

When the man had finished be filled his pipe and took his comfortable time over a smoke Then he pulled on his mittens settled the ear-flaps of his cap firmly about his ears and took the creek trail up the left fork The dog was disappointed and yearned back toward the fire This man did not know cold Possibly all the generations of his ancestry had been ignorant of cold of real cold of cold one hundred and seven degrees below freezing point But the dog knew all its ancestry knew and it had inherited the knowledge And it knew that it was not good to walk abroad in such fearful cold It was the time to lie snug in a hole in the snow and wait for a curtain of cloud to be drawn across the face of outer space whence this cold came On the other hand there was no keen intimacy between the dog and the man

The one was the toil-slave of the other and the only caresses it had ever received were the caresses of the whiplash and of harsh and menacing throat-sounds that threatened the whiplash So the dog made no effort to communicate its apprehension to the man It was not concerned in the welfare of the man it was for its own sake that it yearned back toward the fire But the man whistled and spoke to it with the sound of whiplashes and the dog swung in at the mans heel and followed after

The man took a chew of tobacco and proceeded to start a new amber beard Also his moist breath quickly powdered with white his mustache eyebrows and lashes There did not seem to be so many springs on the left fork of the Henderson and for half an hour the man saw no signs of any And then it happened At a place where there were no signs where the soft unbroken snow seemed to advertise solidity beneath tee man broke through It was not deep He wet himself halfway to the knees before he floundered out to the firm crust

He was angry and cursed his luck aloud He had hoped to get into camp with the boys at six oclock and this would delay him an hour for he would have to build a fire and dry out his foot-gear This was imperative at that low temperature--he knew that much and he turned aside to the bank which he climbed On top tangled in the underbrush about the trunks of several small spruce trees was a high-water deposit of dry firewood--sticks and twigs principally but also larger portions of seasoned branches and fine dry last-years grasses He threw down several large pieces on top of the snow This served for a foundation and prevented the young flame from drowning itself in the snow it otherwise would melt The flame he got by touching a match to a small shred of birch bark that he took from his pocket This burned even more readily than paper Placing it on the foundation he fed the young flame with wisps of dry grass and with the tiniest dry twigs

He worked slowly and carefully keenly aware of his danger Gradually as the flame grew stronger he increased the size of the twigs with which he fed it He squatted in the snow pulling the twigs out from their entanglement in the brush and feeding directly to the flame He knew there must be no failure When it is seventy-five below zero a man must not fail in his first attempt to build a fire--that is if his feet are wet If his feet are dry and he fails he can run along the trail for half a mile and restore his circulation But the circulation of wet and freezing feet cannot be restored by running when it is seventy-five below No matter how fast he runs the wet feet will freeze the harder

All this the man knew The old-timer on Sulphur Creek had told him about it the previous fall and now he was appreciating the advice Already all sensation had gone out of his feet To build the fire he had been forced to remove his mittens and the fingers had quickly gone numb His pace of four miles an hour had kept his heart pumping blood to the surface of his body and to all the extremities But the instant he stopped the action of the pump eased down The cold of space smote the unprotected tip of the planet and he being on that unprotected tip received the full force of the blow The blood of his body recoiled before it The blood was alive like the dog and like the dog it wanted to hide away and cover itself up from the fearful cold So long as he walked four miles an hour he pumped that blood willy-nilly to the surface but now it ebbed away and sank down into the recesses of his body The extremities were the first to feel its absence His wet feet froze the faster and his exposed fingers numbed the faster though they had not yet begun to freeze Nose and cheeks were already freezing while the skin of all his body chilled as it lost its blood

But he was safe Toes and nose and cheeks would be only touched by the frost for the fire was beginning to burn with strength He was feeding it

To Build a FireContinued

with twigs the size of his finger In another minute he would be able to feed it with branches the size of his wrier and then he could remove his wet toot-gear and while it dried he could keep his naked feet warm by the fire rubbing them at first of course with snow The fire was a success He was safe He remembered the advice of the old timer on Sulphur Creek and smiled The old-timer had been very serious in laying down the law that no man must travel alone in the Klondike after fifty below Well here he was he had had the accident he was alone and he had saved himself Those old-timers were rather womanish some of them he thought All a man had to do was to keep his head and he was all right Any man who was a man could travel alone But it was surprising the rapidity with which his cheeks and nose were freezing And he had not thought his fingers could go lifeless in so short a time Lifeless they were for he could scarcely make them move together to grip a twig and they seemed remote from his body and from him When he touched a twig he had to look and see whether or not he had hold of it The wires were pretty well down between him and his finger-ends

All of which counted for little There was the fire snapping and crackling and promising life with every dancing flame He started to untie his moccasins They were coated with ice the thick German socks were like sheaths of iron halfway to the knees and the moccasin strings were like rods of steel all twisted and knotted as by some conflagration For a moment he tugged with his numb fingers then realizing the folly of it he drew his sheath-knife

But before he could cut the strings it happened It was his own fault or rather his mistake He should not have built the fire under the spruce tree He should have built it in the open But it had been easier to pull the twigs from the brush and drop them directly on the fire Now the tree under which

he had done this carried a weight of snow on its boughs No wind had blown for weeks and each bough was fully freighted Each time he had pulled a twig he had communicated a slight agitation to the tree--an imperceptible agitation so far as he was concerned but an agitation sufficient to bring about the disaster High up in the tree one bough capsized its load of snow This fell on the boughs beneath capsizing them This process continued spreading out and involving the whole tree It grew like an avalanche and it descended without warning upon the man and the fire and the fire was blotted out Where it had burned was a mantle of fresh and disordered snow

The man was shocked It was as though he had just heard his own sentence of death For a moment he sat and stared at the spot where the fire had been Then he grew very calm Perhaps the old-timer on Sulphur Creek was right If he had only had a trail-mate he would have been in no danger now The trail-mate could have built the fire Well it was up to him to build the fire over again and this second time there must be no failure Even if he succeeded he would most likely lose some toes His feet must be badly frozen by now and there would be some time before the second fire Was ready

Such were his thoughts but he did not sit and think them He was busy all the time they were passing through his mind He made a new foundation for a fire this time in the open where no treacherous tree could blot it out Next he gathered dry grasses and tiny twigs from the high-water flotsam He could not bring his fingers together to pull them out but he was able to gather them by the handful In this way he got many rotten twigs and bits of green moss that were undesirable but it was the best he could do He worked methodically even collecting an armful of the larger branches to be used later when the fire gathered strength And all the while the dog sat and watched him a certain yearning wistfulness in its eyes for it looked upon

To Build a FireContinued

him as the fire-provider and the fire was slow in coming

When all was ready the man reached in his pocket for a second piece of birch bark He knew the bark was there and though he could not feel it with his fingers he could hear its crisp rustling as he fumbled for it Try as he would he could not clutch hold of it And all the time in his consciousness was the knowledge that each instant his feet were freezing This thought tended to put him in a panic but he fought against it and kept calm He pulled on his mittens with his teeth and threshed his arms back and forth beating his hands with all his might against his sides He did this sitting down and he stood up to do it and all the while the dog sat in the snow its wolf-brush of a tail curled around warmly over its forefeet its sharp wolf-ears pricked forward intently as it watched the man And the man as he beat and threshed with his arms and hands felt a great surge of envy as he regarded the creature that was warm ant secure in its natural covering

After a time he was aware of the first far-away signals of sensation in his beaten fingers The faint tingling grew stronger till it evolved into a stinging ache that was excruciating but which the man hailed with satisfaction He stripped the mitten from his right hand and fetched forth the birch bark The exposed fingers were quickly going numb again Next he brought out his bunch of sulphur matches But the tremendous cold had already driven the life out of his fingers In his effort to separate one match from the others the whole bunch fell in the snow He tried to pick it out of the snow but failed The dead fingers could neither touch nor clutch He was very careful He drove the thought of his freezing feet and nose and cheeks out of his mind devoting his whole soul to the matches He watched using the sense of vision in place of that of touch and when he saw his fingers on each side the bunch he dosed them--that is he willed to close them for the wires were down and the fingers did not obey He pulled

the mitten on the right hand and beat it fiercely against his knee Then with both mittened hands he scooped the bunch of matches along with much snow into his lap Yet he was no better off

After some manipulation he managed to get the bunch between the heels of his mittened hands In this fashion he carried it to his mouth The ice crackled and snapped when by a violent effort he opened his mouth He drew the lower jaw in curled the upper lip out of the way and scraped the bunch with his upper teeth in order to separate a match He succeeded in getting one which he dropped on his lap He was no better off He could not pick it up Then he devised a way He picked it up in his teeth and scratched it on his leg Twenty times he scratched before he succeeded in lighting it As it flamed he held it with his teeth to the birch bark But the burning brimstone went up his nostrils and into his lungs causing him to cough spasmodically The match fell into the snow and went out

The old-timer an Sulphur Creek was right he thought in the moment of controlled despair that ensued after fifty below a man should travel with a partner He beat his hands but failed in exciting any sensation Suddenly he bared both hands removing the mittens with his teeth He caught the whole bunch between the heels of his hands His arm muscles not being frozen enabled him to press the hand-heels tightly against the matches Then he scratched the bunch along his leg It flared into flame seventy sulphur matches at once There was no wind to blow them out He kept his head to one side to escape the strangling fumes and held the blazing bunch to the birth bark As he so held it he became aware of sensation in his hand His flesh was burning He could smell it Deep down below the surface he could feel it The sensation developed into pain that grew acute And still he endured it holding the flame of the matches clumsily to the bark that would not light readily because his own burning hands were in the way absorbing most of the flame

To Build a FireContinued

At last when he could endure no more he jerked his hands apart The blazing matches fell sizzling into the snow but the birch bark was alight He began laying dry grasses and the tiniest twigs on the flame He could not pick and choose for he had to lift the fuel between the heels of his hands Small pieces of rotten wood and green moss clung to the twigs and he bit them off as well as he could with his teeth He cherished the flame carefully and awkwardly It meant life and it must not perish The withdrawal of blood from the surface of his body now made him begin to shiver and he grew more awkward A large piece of green moss fell squarely on the little fire He tried to poke it out with his fingers but his shivering frame made him poke too far and he disrupted the nucleus of the little fire the burning grasses and tiny twigs separating and scattering He tried to poke them together again but in spite of the tenseness of the effort his shivering got away with him and the twigs were hopelessly scattered Each twig gushed a puff of smoke and went out The fire-provider had failed As he looked apathetically about him his eyes chanced on the dog sitting across the ruins of the fire from him in the snow making restless hunching movements slightly lifting one forefoot and then the other shifting its weight back and forth on them with wistful eagerness

The sight of the dog put a wild idea into his head He remembered the tale of the man caught in a blizzard who killed a steer and crawled inside the carcass and so was saved He would kill the dog and bury his hands in the warm body until the numbness went out of them Then he could build another fire He spoke to the dog calling it to him but in his voice was a strange note of fear that frightened the animal who had never known the man to speak in such way before Something was the matter and its suspicious nature sensed danger--it knew not what danger but somewhere somehow in its brain arose an apprehension of the man It flattened its ears down at the sound of the mans voice and its restless

hunching movements and the liftings and shiftings of its forefeet became more pronounced but it would not come to the man He got on his hands and knees and crawled toward the dog This unusual posture again excited suspicion and the animal sidled mincingly away

The man sat up in the snow for a moment and struggled for calmness Then he pulled on his mittens by means of his teeth and got upon his feet He glanced down at first in order to assure himself that he was really standing up for the absence of sensation in his feet left him unrelated to the earth His erect position in itself started to drive the webs of suspicion from the dogs mind and when he spoke peremptorily with the sound of whiplashes in his voice the dog rendered its customary allegiance and came to him As it came within reaching distance the man lost his control His arms flashed out to the dog and he experienced genuine surprise when he discovered that his hands could not clutch that there was neither bend nor feeling in the fingers He had forgotten for the moment that they were frozen and that they were freezing more and more All this happened quickly and before the animal could get away he encircled its body with his arms He sat down in the snow and in this fashion held the dog while it snarled and whined and struggled

But it was all he could do hold its body encircled in his arms and sit there He realized that he could not kill the dog There was no way to do it With his helpless hands he could neither draw nor hold his sheath knife nor throttle the animal He released it and it plunged wildly away with tail between its legs and still snarling It halted forty feet away and surveyed him curiously with ears sharply pricked forward The man looked down at his hands in order to locate them and found them hanging on the ends of his arms It struck him as curious that one should have to use his eyes in order to find out where his hands were He began threshing his arms back and forth beating the mittened hands against

To Build a FireContinued

his sides He did this for five minutes violently and his heart pumped enough blood up to the surface to put a stop to his shivering But no sensation was aroused in the hands He had an impression that they hung like weights on the ends of his arms but when he tried to run the impression down he could not find it

A certain fear of death dull and oppressive came to him This fear quickly became poignant as he realized that it was no longer a mere matter of freezing his fingers and toes or of losing his hands and feet but that it was a matter of life and death with the chances against him This threw him into a panic and he turned and ran up the creek-bed along the old dim trail The dog joined in behind and kept up with him He ran blindly without intention in fear such as he had never known in his life Slowly as he plowed and floundered through the snow he began to see things again the banks of the creek the old timber-jams the leafless aspens and the sky The running made him feel better He did not shiver Maybe if he ran on his feet would thaw out and anyway if he ran far enough he would reach camp and the boys Without doubt he would lose some fingers and toes and some of his face but the boys would take care of him and save the rest of him when he got there And at the same time there was another thought in his mind that said he would never get to the camp and the boys that it was too many miles away that the freezing had too great a start on him and that he would soon be stiff and dead This thought he kept in the background and refused to consider Sometimes it pushed itself forward and demanded to be heard but he thrust it back and strove to think of other things

It struck him as curious that he could run at all on feet so frozen that he could not feel them when they struck the earth and took the weigh of his body He seemed to himself to skim along above the surface and to have no connection with the earth Somewhere he had once seen a winged Mercury

and he wondered if Mercury felt as he felt when skimming over the earth

His theory of running until he reached camp and the boys had one flaw in it he lacked the endurance Several times he stumbled and finally he tottered crumpled up and fell When he tried to rise he failed He must sit and rest he decided and next time he would merely walk and keep on going As he sat and regained his breath he noted that he was feeling quite warm and comfortable He was not shivering and it even seemed that a warm glow had come to his chest and trunk And yet when he touched his nose or cheeks there was no sensation Running would not thaw them out Nor would it thaw out his hands and feet Then the thought came to him that the frozen portions of his body must be extending He tried to keep this thought down to forget it to think of something else he was aware of the panicky feeling that it caused and he was afraid of the panic But the thought asserted itself and persisted until it produced a vision of his body totally frozen This was too much and he made another wild run along the trail Once he slowed down to a walk but the thought of the freezing extending itself made him run again

And all the time the dog ran with him at his heels When he fell down a second time it curled its tad over its forefeet and sat in front of him facing him curiously eager and intent The warmth and security of the animal angered him and he cursed it till it flattened down its ears appealingly This time the shivering came more quickly upon the man He was losing in his battle with the frost It was creeping into his body from all sides The thought of it drove him on but he ran no more than a hundred feet when he staggered and pitched headlong It was his last panic When he had recovered his breath and control he sat up and entertained in his mind the conception of meeting death with dignity However the conception did not come to him in such terms His idea of it was that he had been making a fool of

To Build a FireContinued

himself running around like a chicken with its head cut off--such was the simile that occurred to him Well he was bound to freeze anyway and he might as well take it decently With this new-found peace of mind came the first glimmerings of drowsiness A good idea he thought to sleep off to death It was like salting an anesthetic Freezing was not so bad as people thought There were lots worse ways to die

He pictured the boys finding his body next day Suddenly he found himself with them coming along the trail and looking for himself And still with them he came around a turn in the trail and found himself lying in the snow He did not belong with himself any more for even then he was out of himself standing with the boys and looking at himself in the snow It certainly was cold was his thought When he got back to the States he could tell the folks what real cold was He drifted on from this to a vision of the old-timer on Sulphur Creek He could see him quite clearly warm and comfortable and smoking a pipe

You were right old boss you were right the man mumbled to the old-timer of Sulphur Creek

Then the man drowsed off into what seemed to him the most comfortable and satisfying sleep he had ever known The dog sat facing him and waiting The brief day drew to a close in a long slow twilight There were no signs of a fire to be made and besides never in the dogs experience had it known a man to sit like that in the snow and make no fire As the twilight drew on its eager yearning for the fire mastered it and with a great lifting and shifting of forefeet it whined softly then flattened its ears down in anticipation of being chidden by the man But the man remained silent Later the dog whined loudly And still later it crept close to the man and caught the scent of death This made the animal bristle and back away A little longer it delayed howling under the stars that leaped and danced and shone brightly in the cold sky Then it turned and trotted up the trail in the direction of the camp it knew where were the other food-providers and fire-providers

To Build a FireContinued

Blogs can be a lot of work to maintainTwitter only gives you 140 characters

Facebook is just your friends

Now you can share a story no matter your social-web status

Stories are published for ALL FitnessDigestus readers Archived professionally and digitally in thousands of libraries

Sign with your real name pen-name or anonymousItrsquos easy and professional Go to httpLiveMediaFitnessDigestus

FitnessDigestUStrade Stories of the humankind

Make Htory

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bull Free for FitnessDigestus customers or subscribersbull Your offer is delivered to the potential buyersbull No false or fake adsbull Selling to FitnessDigestus subscribers is safer with our blind box e-mail addresses

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Page 16: FitnessDigest.us Vol. 4.3 Cover

13 And to the very old man in the lane beside me I do not dislike you in-fact I am insanely jealous of you I donrsquot stare at you because of your body you may look hot if I was 75 but I am not I stare at you in awe of how effortlessly you move up and down the pool without a rest Someday I hope to be just like you

13 So for now as much as I would love to say we need to break up and go our separate ways I am too D stubborn to do that We will make this work and we are going to get along Here is my promise to you ndash I promise to meet-up with you two to three times a week for at least an hour to work on our relationship I promise not to cheat on you with the sidestroke although I am so much more comfortable with him I promise to keep an open mind about our relationship and give it all that I have just like I do with my friend the run

Love you (I think)

Jen

Dear FreestyleContinued

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pull

head position

exit

flutter-kick

recovery

Adult SwimmingBy Susan Dawson-cook

I have taught dozens of adults how to swim Many of them were initially either afraid of water or somewhat uncomfortable in the aquatic environment Whats worked best is to get in the water with them and do activities that show them it can be fun and safe I make sure they feel safe and secure the entire time and even say things like if you have trouble standing up after you take some strokes I will help you or just reach for my hand if you need support

13 Many beginners have this fear ndash if they are in the horizontal position swimming they wont be able to stand up One woman cried she was so overjoyed she overcame her fear and learned to take her first strokes

Find more of Susanrsquos writing and published works at httplivemediaFitnessDigestus

Body image and fitness are hot topics for both men and women The Great Fitness Experiment is my hilarious poignant embarrassing and at times heart-breaking journey to find my way through the morass of contradictory claims and information in todayrsquos health- and fitness-obsessed world

Available in paperback or in eBookhttpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

If you have trouble standing up after you

take some strokesone women cried

she was so overjoyed

If you would like future issues delivered to a Facebook Twitter or e-mail account e-mail us at infoFitnessDigestus

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2

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2 Deadwood Mickelson Trail MarathonSunday June 2 2013

Deadwood South Dakota

13 On June 2nd we will celebrate 12 years of offering runners from around the globe the most unique running experience of their life Where else in the world can you run on a course that takes you from an abandoned mining town across railroad trestles through a mountain past monolithic rock formations beside a babbling creek and finish in Deadwoodhellipa town that is a historic landmark

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2

Written Emily WheelerFor more information amp video visit httpLIveAdsFitnessDigestus

ldquoWild West town known primarily for its gamblers gunslingers and gold minersrdquo

Hope to see you at the finish

This Wild West town known primarily for its gamblers gunslingers and gold miners has turned into one of the premiere destination marathon venues in the US

13 The breathtaking beauty of our course the truly outstanding team of volunteers the hospitality of everyone associated with the event and paying attention to details are just a couple of reasons yoursquoll want to toe the line on June 2nd

The Deadwood Mickelson Trail Half and Full Marathon is a point to point course

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ldquoThe breathtaking beauty of our courserdquo

WaynesSkiandCyclenetlive links to Waynersquos at httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

MTM Charity Partner

13 Habitat for Humanity is a global nonprofit Christian housing organization that has helped to build more than 500000 decent affordable houses and served 25 million people worldwide since its founding in 1976 With the help of volunteers and donations of money and materials Habitat constructs rehabilitates and preserves homes in partnership with low-income families in need Operating in nearly 80 countries and with more than 1500 affiliates in the United States Habitat also advocates for fair and just housing policies and provides training and access to resources to help families improve their shelter conditions

Shop for Name BrandItems 24 Hours a Day

beginning in the historic mining town of Rochford the first 15 miles are on a paved road At this point the course becomes the Mickelson Trail (a rails to trails project) The next 12 miles are a mixture of gentle uphill and flat terrain

13 Then the course is either downhill or flat and finishes at the historic Engine House at end of the linehellipthe Deadwood Trailhead The Half Marathon is also a point to point course starting at the 131 mile mark of the full marathon Walker Friendly

All participants will receive a Commemorative Finisherrsquos Medal

Mickelson Trail Marathon Charity Partner is the Black Hills Habitat for HumanityMake your Marathon Matter Matching Funds

Make your Marathon matter by helping create decent shelter in the Black Hills ndash take the challenge to give at least $1 per race mile Our goal is to raise $3000 in 2012 for BH Habitat for Humanity to help provide shelter for more families in the Black Hills

Registrations are capped at 3000 runners If you want to be part of the Deadwood Mickelson Trail Marathon Weekend celebration go to LiveAdsFitnessDigestus and click on the MTM Marathon URL

Hope to see you at the Finish Line - ThanksEmily Wheeler Wheeler Event Management Inc

ldquoHope to see you at the finish linerdquo

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links

DAY had broken cold and gray exceedingly cold and gray when the man turned aside from the main Yukon trail and climbed the high earth-bank where a dim and little traveled trail led eastward through the fat spruce timberland It was a steep bank and he paused for breath at the top excusing the act to himself by looking at his watch It was nine oclock There was no sun nor hint of sun though there was not a cloud in the sky It was a

clear day and yet there seemed an intangible pall over the face of things a subtle gloom that made the day dark and that was due to the absence of sun This fact did not worry the man He was used to the lack of sun It had been days since he had seen the sun and he knew that a few more-days must pass before that cheerful orb due south would just peep above the sky-line and dip immediately from view

To Build a Fire - Hiking the Yukon TrailShort story fiction Written by Jack London (1876-1916)

The man flung a look back along the way he had come The Yukon lay a mile wide and hidden under three feet of ice On top of this ice were as many feet of snow It was all pure white rolling in gentle undulations where the ice jams of the freeze-up had formed North and south as far as his eye could see it was unbroken white save for a dark hairline that curved and twisted from around the spruce-covered island to the south and that curved and twisted away into the north where it disappeared behind another spruce-covered island This dark hair-line was the trail--the main trail--that led south five hundred miles to the Chilcoot Pass Dyea and salt water and that led north seventy miles to Dawson and still on to the north a thousand miles to Nulato and finally to St Michael on Bering Sea a thousand miles and half a thousand more

But all this--the mysterious far-reaching hair-line trail The absence of sun from the sky the tremendous cold and the strangeness and weirdness of it all--made no

impression on the man It was not because he was long used to it He was a newcomer In the land a chechaquo and this was his first winter The trouble with him was that he was without imagination He was quick and alert in the things of life but only in the things and not in the significances Fifty degrees below zero meant eighty-odd degrees of frost Such fact impressed him as being cold and uncomfortable and that was all It did not lead him to meditate upon his frailty as a creature of temperature and upon mans frailty in general able only to live within certain narrow limits of heat and cold and from there on it did not lead him to the conjectural field of immortality and mans place in the universe Fifty degrees below zero stood forte bite of frost that hurt and that must be guarded against by the use of mittens ear-flaps warm moccasins and thick socks Fifty degrees below zero was to him just precisely fifty degrees below zero That there should be anything more to it than that was a thought that never entered his head

To Build a FireContinued

Continued on page 62

Stand Up Paddle BoardingWOWSUPIowacom on LiveAds

It is important from time to time to slow down to go away by yourself and simply be --Eileen Caddy

Letrsquos Race13 My son is eight and our family is very active Im just hitting my peak racing age of about 34 years old The family members all support each otherrsquos activities They are a great cheering section when my wife and I compete in races There is a popular two mile fun run in our town that we my wife and I run every year We also have for-fun races with the kids around the house or across the football field For years Ive let the eight year old win a few and others I win by just a little bit I think he is wising up to my tactics of good fatherhood One day he said ldquoDad you are letting me win but I think I can beat you fair and squarerdquo He added ldquoYoursquore not that fast Ill bet you 10 dollars I can beat you in a two mile racerdquo Wanting to teach him a lesson about spouting off and writing checks his body cant cash I took him up on it I said All right you pick a time and place We will race two miles for 10 dollars He replied You know that two mile race you and mom do every year I can race you then I agreed and he quickly added Ill need 20 years to warm-up That would make me 54 and him 28 Irsquom preparing for the loss and putting 10 dollars aside now

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Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

In my first creative experience it was through music and I was interested in developing my values of creativity I was inspired by a band named Motley Crue and the song that captured my interest was Home Sweet home Dear reader what inspires you Is it music or inspirational quote thought or ideas To express how this song motivated my interests it helped give me faith in my own creative abilities in the process I began to write lyrics I eventually began to work on different styles of writing and broaden my writing skills What types of music inspire your creative thoughts What types of other inspiration values inspire your creative thoughts

13 Getting motivated is one of the key aspects of a successful weight-loss program Without this motivation there would be no drive to get up early or to avoid eating unhealthy snacks ndash that you absolutely love Yes you can thank your motivation for that When you are looking for weight-loss motivation sometimes it is hard to find Where can you find that extra umph to make it to your goal

The benefits of finding a motivator are something that cannot be paralleled It has been said mind over matter This coincides with our principle that no matter how hard the task you can accomplish the goal given the right mindset It is important to go into a new weight-loss program with a positive mental attitude

FINDI

NG TH

EM X InspirationX

Motivation

When I was introduced to William Shakespeare I was intrigued by his creative values and I started to work on developing a different aspect of writing I then watched the movie Free Jack there was a quote by Albert Einstein Imagination is more important than knowledge I thought about the in depth values of both concepts and then I applied both concepts and defined different creative concept Do you believe that anything is possible if you believe I know that I do believe that if an individual believes deeply enough one can accomplish their goals I had to believe in my own abilities and in my dreams and ignore the negative values that were impressed by others

Anything less can potentially hinder growth towards your goal

Some of the things that you should be thinking about when looking for motivators are people with good morals and a positive attitude This is because if the people helping you do not have a positive attitude then it is also difficult for you Some great places to look for a motivator are online blogs in the gym or even in your own family I am sure that in all of these places you will see someone else trying to accomplish the same or even more difficult goals than your own

Another key to finding motivation is to let it find you You should not have to go find a reason to go do something You will do it because you wanted to not because you were forced to

X

InspirationMotivation

More simply put motivation will find you because you will see something that inspires you to make a change in yourself That change may be a weight-loss goal or something else Maybe even an academic goal The true key is to maintain that motivation until you have achieved your goal

Regards Vincent ErrichielloUSMS Swimmer

InspirationMotivation

With believing so deeply within my own abilities and the faith that I could accomplish what I set out to achieve I wrote a lyric titled Dreams Are Only Real and in believing in this concept further defining its true meaning the concept became Dreams Are Only Real Until You Dont believe

Jeremy J TaylorCNFI Publishing

himTHROWINGWritten by anonymous contributor

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13 Johnny is not the best batter in our little league Matter-of-fact he is quiet awful At practice one afternoon Johnny hit a pitch really well The coach had pitched him inside on accident far enough inside that it almost hit him Johnny got his hit by using his bat to defend himself from that arrant pitch The coach told him ldquogood hitrdquo and Johnny yelled back ldquoWell I didnrsquot want the ball to hit merdquo13 Johnny improved his batting after that He was hitting the ball almost every time he got up At one point I said to coach ldquoHow did you get Johnny to improve his batting so quicklyrdquo He replyed Im throwing the ball it AT HIM every time

Body image and fitness are hot topics for both men and women The Great Fitness Experiment is my hilarious poignant embarrassing and at times heart-breaking journey to find my way through the morass of contradictory claims and information in todayrsquos health- and fitness-obsessed world

Available in paperback or in eBookVisit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

wwwnorthiafitnesscom on LiveAdsEmail northiowafitnessgmailcom

Phone 641-201-1035Strongest weight loss supplements

on the market

The Fall of Billy Hitchingsby Kirkus MacGowan

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entryFitnessDigestus

Send u

s yo

ur T

-shi

rt

READE

R T

-shi

rts

13 I was standing on shore fishing in my favorite spot A guy Irsquove never seen at the pond gets in and starts swimming After about 25 minutes of back and forth he stops at a place about 30 yards off shore He gives me a quick look and dices down below the water

His next lap he stops in the same place looks at me again and points down at the water He finished his swim and left I picked up my gear and moved to the other side of the outlet just a few yards from where he had stopped twice Caught a lunker in the first cast

Swim Signs - Lunker

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Call to order 641ndash423ndash3111

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TOP TWEETS

Iowa Cubs (IowaCubs)Thanks to all our fans who showed up for the pre-game on-field catch with dad

Louise Pineda (forerunnerGPS)The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficultyWinston Churchill quotes

Softball Darlin (Softball_Darlin)My mom told me our team was gettin white uniforms for summer amp to try not to get them dirty Uh Have you seen me play Not gonna happen

I Swim I Suffer (ISwimISuffer)thatswimmerwho If the water is in your right ear for example then jump on your right leg and lean your head to the right side while jumping

I Swim and I Know It (iSwimWithIssues)During the summer you shower 467 times at the pool 17 times at hotels and 3 times at your house Truth

Everyday Health (WomensCancer)63000 Americans will be diagnosed w malignant melanoma (the deadliest skin cancer) this year Know your risk

US Paralympics (USParalympics)Want to be introduced to Paralympic sport Attend one of the Paralympic Experiences being held throughout the countryFi

tnes

sDig

est

US v

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2

SwimSwam (swimswamnews)Congrats to KenyaSwimmer on being selected to carry the Kenya flag swimswamcom

Better than sharing on a blog Twitter or Facebook and you can share a story even if you donrsquot maintain a social-web presencePublished for ALL FitnessDigestus readers

Sign with your real name pen-name or anonymoushttpLiveMediaFitnessDigestus

13 Funnest thing SPAM about some weight-loss supplements got posted on a friendrsquos Facebook My friend is an ultra-runner I notice there was also an ad for salami recipes on the same page The recipes were right next to the SPAM about diet-pills

13 Letrsquos see ndash it sounds like the beginning of a good joke Q What do you get when a friend tries to sell you ultra-runner endorsed salami-flavored-SPAM diet-pills on Facebook Answer Sick

Unsung Heroes1 Irsquove never swam open water and wanted to do a triathlon A friend that

races open water took extra time to swim with me at a lake I was much more comfortable after that

2 I was going on vacation and needed advice on a place to swim A friend living in the area took the time to help me find people to answer my questions

3 I was over eating and had complained to my friend about it She called me twice a day for three weeks just to remind me to eat healthy

4 I usually run to and from the gym It takes about 30 minutes to run both ways I didnrsquot have enough time to get there and back before a scheduled appointment I had A friend drove me to the gym saving me about 30 minutes I was able to run home and still had time to get to my appointment

SPAM DIET

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Visit the Suburban Mommy blog and learn more about AtresiaMicrotia a birth defect of the inner earFor links to SubMommy blog httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

SUBMOMMYBLOG

On Wednesday May 16 2012 at 7 PM simultaneous rides occurred around the

USA and the world

We all ride Now we can ride as one

One day One time One world world wide

Let the silence roar

322 locations world wide

The Ride of SilenceTonight we number many but ride as one

In honor of those not with us friends

mothers fathers sisters sons

With helmets on tight and heads down low

We ride in silence cautious and slow

The wheels start spinning in the lead pack

But tonight we ride and no one attacks

The dark sunglasses cover our tears

Remembering those we held so dear

Tonights ride is to make others aware

The road is there for all to share

To those not with us or by our side

May God be your partner on your final ride

- Mike Murgas

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 50 states

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 7 Continents

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 0 words spoken

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 1 million memories

Ride of Silence

ldquoCost-effective investments in bicycling boost our economy help individuals and government agencies save money and directly address key societal challenges such as obesity and road congestion In these tough economic times our federal government can only afford to invest in solutions that solve multiple problems Bicycling fits the billrdquo ndash PeopleForBikesorg

This photo collection was taken byRobert LaVallee of Mason City IA

To see his entire collection visithttpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

Non-subscriberSign-up for delivery of

the FREE edition at coopnetbiz

It provides an outstanding aerobic workout in less than half the time we would spend in still water It has allowed us as swim coaches to observe swimmers stroke characteristics up close and to see the effects of fatigue on stroke mechanics ~ Larry L Chazy NY

Swimming is an excellent exercise and now I can swim every day because its so convenient and private I can swim when I want and how long I want Im able to have it at a temperature that is comfortable to me The small size of an Endless Pool enabled me to install a pool where I could not install a regular size one

As an aging baby boomer nutrition professional I have yearned for consistent exercise that doesnt stress joints and will enable me to attain physical fitness cardiovascular health and weight control I can eat what I want and still firm up and lose weight ~ John C Columbus OH

Endless Pools make for long swims in small places The 8x15 Endless Pool is less than regulation size but offers the same benefits as a very large pool ~ Noah H Connecticut Post

The Endless Pool is a great strength builder I am amazed at the strength of the current I now swim against I did not buy it for that reason but because of my arthritis so the strength gain is a wonderful surprise

Endless PoolsTestimonials For more information visit httpLIveAdsFitnessDigestus

s w i m m i n g s h o r t s

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Baseball Walking Stick13 My sons friend grabbed his baseball bat and said to me this is my walking stick I politely ask him why he calls it that He replied because my dad says if I hit a home run with it I donrsquot have to run the bases ndash I can walk

My Bike My mountain bike was stolen a while back and my kids were really upset Ive been riding my road bike in its place Since then Ive been careful to lock my bike up when we go to the park

13 On this occasion I did not lock-up my sonrsquos bike up with mine He looked at me quizzically and said sternly lock my bike up too I tried to explain that his bike was not as expensive and therefor didnt need to be locked up Boy that was a mistake He made me feel a little dumb when he said Dad I dont care how expensive it is Its the only bike Irsquove got

North Iowa Roads

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A LEADER inSearch Engine Optimization

Technology

Increase your visitor page views and Facebook Likes

Are you moving to a new state Already hired your mover

E-mail blind box at box02FitnessDigestus will get

you the best rates on cable phone and internet

Digital Movers

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

parent sports tipBy FitnessDigestus staff writer JGA

PAR

EN

T

TIP

Keeping Kids Focused13 Organize their thoughts Help them prioritize and make decisions based on value Even kids can understand the value of simple non-monetized choices Questions like ldquoShould I finish playing my gameboy game or pause it when they call my swimming eventrdquo

If kids are taught to make good decisions and not just find quick answers everyone wins

AugustGolf Month5th Friendship Day15th Relaxation Day25th Kiss and Make Up Day31st Trail Mix DaySeptemberLittle League Month12th Chocolate Milk Shake Day13th Positive Thinking Day16th Womenrsquos Friendship Day21st Miniature Golf DayOctoberBreast Cancer Awareness MonthNational Diabetes Month1st World Vegetarian Day4th Golf Day25th World Pasta Day

National Calendar

Au

gu

stSe

pte

mb

er

Oc

tob

er

Encourage friendships writing skills sharing thoughts and

experiencesEight different cards

YAGOTTAWANNA

Variety of pricing From single orders to bulk orders of 24 notecards

Learn more online

Stay in touch with your swimming or triathlon buddies

It is better to be safe then to try to beat the heat There are many options to stay cool and run during a hot-summer day Staying inside and running on the treadmill is a good one Remember staying safe is a top priority

Most workouts can be modified to work indoors This issuersquos workout is to do your usual run or interval set just stay inside and run it on the treadmill Visualize the different landmarks to see during your outdoor run

Coach Millerrsquos Quarterly ChallengeStay safe in the heatBy Mark Miller mmillerFitnessDigestus

A few years back we had a hot-spell similar to this yearrsquos record heat

I remember training for a long run and having to stop at the local swimming hole to cool off I literally took off my

shoes and jumped in with my running clothes on I was so hot

FitnessDigestUSEntertainment amp Inspiration

Use coupon codeldquoRAMCSPRrdquo

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Nutritional Performance Sports Drinks with Protein

OPEN WATER SWIMMING BY THE NUMBERS

In kilometers The shortest open water race included in the Fina World Championships

10107 How many miles it

is to swim from Cuba to the USA

5

1000Number of swimming strokes in a mile for a typical swimmer

31800About the number of calories it takes to swim 100 miles

LOCATED IN ST ANSGAR IOWA

Business Cards Envelopes

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The minimum open water distance in kilometers that is considered a swimming-

marathon

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Open water safety means swimming in shallow water where there is a lifeguard or using an escort

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24 Hoursa Day

WaynesSkiandCyclenet

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s w i m m i n g s h o r t s

Googles

13 Swimming fans can really appreciate a 200 IM when their goggles fill with water How about an Olympian Swimming a leg of the 400 Free Relay with his goggles across his opened mouth ndash and going 45rsquos A great team swimmer an Olympian wouldnrsquot let down his teammates by throwing them off or fixing them

500 Fly13 A world class butterflyer asked if he could swim butterfly in the 500 yard freestyle during a dual meet His goal was to break five minutes After considering the competition it seemed like a great way to make him really work a hard fly swim so we agreed Problem was he swam a 502 and the opposing coach complained to the officials because he embarrassed his swimmers Oh well you canrsquot win lsquoem all

Stories sent in by Robert Steele

No-No-No13 The other morning I was teaching front-streamlines to snotty nosed 8 year olds (some are literally snotty-nosed) One boy was taking a big gulp of air and holding his breath When he lifted his head he had to exhale and inhale before submerging again Swimmers will understand this does not work very well Kids need to learn to exhale underwater The first time he did it I told him to exhale underwater The second time I stopped him looked him in the eye and reminded him to exhale underwater The third and fourth times I started to get a little frustrated ldquoJohnny you need to exhale underwater so you can breath betterrdquo The fifth time as his head popped up for a breath I quickly asked ldquoJohnny Do you even know what exhale meansrdquo as he submerged his head below the water I could see him shake his head no-no-no

Favorite Potato Chips13We try to limit the junk food the kids eat at our house For lunch one day our son wanted some potato chips I gave him 3 large chips with his sandwich He started to cry and said he wanted one more chip ldquoI wanted four chipsrdquo he screamed I took the plate back When he wasnt looking I broke a chip in half and give it back to him with four chips

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

13 My cancer story is one of uniqueness Leave it to me to do something like cancer to its fullest It did not begin with a mammogram diagnosis or a lump My journey began about 4 years ago with some suspicious activity that turned into Pagetrsquos disease of the nipple which signaled the underlying cancer On April 1st I found out about my breast cancer through a biopsy that came back as positive for Pagetrsquos disease The onslaught of tests learning and decisions were dizzying I immediately went for an evaluation of the suspicious tissue and had to begin making decisions for my mastectomy I quickly learned there is a test called the BRAC Analysis which is a genetic test for breast and ovarian cancer Finally a piece of good news for me I did not have the gene

Decisions Now it was time to make decisions about my mastectomy and how I was going to handle reconstruction I discussed my options with my boyfriend Brian friends family members and even my principalboss I read books searched the Internet and contacted people I

Brandi ShipmanCancer Survivor and elite triathlete

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

know and knew from my past that had been directly affected and that I thought might have answers for me The outpouring of love encouragement and help during this process was overwhelming After meeting with four different doctors two surgeons and two plastic surgeons I decided to go with immediate reconstruction and was lucky enough to find two wonderful doctors They were willing to work together just because I wanted them to even though they had never done so before My surgery was scheduled for mid May

Mental Toughness13 My mental preparation at this point was very important I had to scrap any idea of competing in triathlons for the rest of the year and focus on a positive attitude of getting better I stopped thinking about what I wasnrsquot going to able to do and started thinking about what I could do that I was alive and kept my mind on the fact that so many others had made it before me

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links

Part 213 I was prepared by the doctors survivors and literature to be ldquodownrdquo for several weeks after my surgery I even took the rest of the school year off My surgery went well and I was out of the hospital the next day A few friends came to visit while I was in the hospital and my principal and vice principal brought the most wonderful picture of the faculty wearing pink for me I can only imagine what it looked like at Thornton Elementary on that day in May 2009 a sea of pink all for Brandi Shipman Shortly after their visit I received a text from my friend Margie Massey My friends from the gym wore pink for me that day as well The support brought tears to my eyes I was so excited to come home and be comfortable in my own home I just wish the stupid drain that was attached could have stayed at the hospital The pain from that was worse than the pain from the mastectomy

the most

powerful picture

13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Recovery ndash May13 Once I got home I slept and watched a lot of TV Friends visited and brought yummy food and my favorites I am not supposed to eat I ate them all My friend and co-worker set up a cancer care calendar that alerted anyone who logged on when I was having a doctorrsquos appointment or when I was in need of anything I felt like royalty as everyone took care of me I think Brian secretly enjoyed the fact that he wouldnrsquot have to cook for me each night My recovery was quicker than I thought as I was doing my best to get better and get the stinkinrsquo drain out of my skin I was out walking within a week and running within 3 weeks I couldnrsquot believe my recovery I know it was from all the prayers love and good care from Brian and the loved ones around me Life was looking better each day

ldquoLife was looking

better each dayrdquo

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Part three and part

four of I am Survivor

will be published in

the next edition of

FitnessDigestus

Get the convenience of

digital-delivery

Sign-up or subscribe at

httpFitnessDigestus

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During the past 150 years we have witnessed many remarkable advances against cancer a disease known to humanity for thousands of years The advances highlighted below represent a sampling of what has been accomplished to date

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

1882 William Halsted performs the first radical mastectomy to treat breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast the lymph nodes under the arm (axillary lymph nodes) and the chest muscles behind the breast (pectoralis major and pectoralis minor muscles) are removed Radical mastectomy will remain the standard operation for breast cancer until latter half of the 20th century when the use of modified radical mastectomy becomes widely accepted

1932 David H Patey develops the modified radical mastectomy for breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast axillary lymph nodes and pectoralis minor muscle behind the breast are removed The modified radical mastectomy is less disfiguring than the radical mastectomy and will eventually replace the radical mastectomy as a standard treatment option for breast cancer

1953 James Watson and Francis Crick discover the molecular structure of DNA (the double helix)

1963 The Health Insurance Plan (HIP) of Greater New York Study begins HIP is the first randomized controlled trial of periodic breast cancer screening with mammography

1882

1932

1953

1963

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1976 The results of a randomized clinical trial show that women with early breast cancer who receive post-operative (adjuvant) combination chemotherapy with the drugs cyclophosphamide methotrexate and 5-FU have improved disease-free survival

1981 A randomized clinical trial in the United Kingdom shows for the first time that the rates of survival local recurrence and tumor metastasis among women whose breast cancer is treated with modified radical mastectomy are not substantially different from those of women who are treated with radical mastectomy

1993 An NCI-convened international workshop on screening for breast cancer reports that screening with mammography reduces breast cancer mortality among women ages 50-69 This conclusion is based on a review of published and unpublished data from eight randomized controlled trials

2004 Data from the Womens Health Initiative (WHI) study show that women who take estrogen in combination with the hormone progestin have a greater risk of developing breast cancer than women who take estrogen alone The results also show that menopausal hormone therapy with estrogen alone has no benefit in disease prevention specifically in reducing the risks of colorectal cancer coronary heart disease and dementia

1976

1981

1993

2004

Although we still have a long way to go to reduce the toll of cancer in the United States and worldwide our research and public health efforts are beginning to pay dividends

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

Volunteering vs Participating13 My girl friend and I are involved in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation The local chapter raises awareness for the cause with a fun-run each year We have volunteered to help with the race five years in a row This year we were stationed at a water table where the runners pick-up cups of water to drink Toward the end of the race there are very few runners There was a little time to chat about things We were talking about what we would wish for if we could have three wishes I told her I would wish for an end to Juvenile Diabetes and to lose 10 pounds Being nice I said ldquoyou can have my last wishrdquo She said I wish you would skip volunteering and just run this race next year

Admission Price Our aquatic center was having a promotion one night and advertised an elementary school night The kids could swim for free When we got to the pool we saw a promotional sign for the event In small lettering it read All swimmers must be accompanied by an adult We thought no big deal one of us can just stay and watch When we got to the front desk we found the lifeguard was enforcing the adult-admission price of $8

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CNFI Publishing - Products Books Chapbooks Bookmarks Plaques and Poetry Collector Cards Merchandising Products Coffee Mugs Mouse Pads Tiles 3x6 Coasters T - Shirts and Wall Plaques More info athttpliveadsFitnessDigestus

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

Featured PhotosFitnessDigestus feature

Chicago open water swim course at nighttop left

Kids race at Bicycle Blues and BBQtop right

Some team members volunteer at the local soup kitchenmiddle right

Ken Mauer loads the balls for hitting practice during a Twins baseball camp for

children 7-13 bottom right

Get your local event photos published in the next issue of FitnessDigestus E-mail

your photo to photoFitnessDigestus

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As he turned to go on he spat speculatively There was a sharp explosive crackle that startled him He spat again And again in the air before it could fall to the snow the spittle crackled He knew that at fifty below spittle crackled on the snow but this spittle had crackled in the air Undoubtedly it was colder than fifty below--how much colder he did not know But the temperature did not matter He was bound for the old claim on the left fork of Henderson Creek where the boys were already They had come over across the divide from the Indian Creek country while he had come the roundabout way to take a look at the possibilities of getting out logs in the spring from the islands in the Yukon He would be in to camp by six oclock a bit after dark it was true but the boys would be there a fire would be going and a hot supper would be ready As for lunch he pressed his hand against the protruding bundle under his jacket It was also under his shirt wrapped up in a handkerchief and lying against the naked skin It was the only way to keep the biscuits from freezing He smiled agreeably to himself as he thought of those biscuits each cut open and sopped in bacon grease and each enclosing a generous slice of fried bacon

He plunged in among the big spruce trees The trail was faint A foot of snow had fallen since the last sled had passed over and he was glad he was without a sled traveling light In fact he carried nothing but the lunch wrapped in the handkerchief He was surprised however at the cold It certainly was cold he concluded as he rubbed his numb nose and cheek-bones with his mittened hand He was a warm-whiskered man but the hair on his face did not protect the high cheek-bones and the eager nose that thrust itself aggressively into the frosty air

At the mans heels trotted a dog a big native husky the proper wolf-dog gray-coated and without any visible or temperamental difference from its brother the wild wolf The animal was depressed by the tremendous cold It knew that it was no time for

traveling Its instinct told it a truer tale than was told to the man by the mans judgment In reality it was not merely colder than fifty below zero it was colder than sixty below than seventy below It was seventy-five below zero Since the freezing point is thirty-two above zero it meant that one hundred and seven degrees of frost obtained The dog did not know anything about thermometers Possibly in its brain there was no sharp consciousness of a condition of very cold such as was in the mans brain But the brute had its instinct It experienced a vague but menacing apprehension that subdued it then made it slink along at the mans heels and that made it question eagerly every unwonted movement of the man as if expecting him to go into camp or to seek shelter somewhere and build a fire The dog had learned fire and it wanted fire or else to burrow under the snow and cuddle its warmth away from the air

The frozen moisture of its breathing had settled on its fur in a fine powder of frost and especially were its jowls muzzle and eyelashes whitened by its cry-stalled breath The mans red beard and mustache were likewise frosted but more solidly the deposit taking the form of ice and increasing with every warm moist breath he exhaled Also the man was chewing tobacco and the muzzle of ice held his lips so rigidly that he was unable to clear his chin when he expelled the juice The result was that a crystal beard of the color and solidity of amber was increasing its length on his chin If he fell down it would shatter itself like glass into brittle fragments But he did not mind the appendage It was the penalty all tobacco-chewers paid in that country and he had been out before in two cold snaps They had not been so cold as this he knew but by the spirit thermometer at Sixty Mile he knew they had been registered at fifty below and at fifty-five

He held on through the level stretch of woods for several miles crossed a wide flat of rigger-heads and dropped down a bank to the frozen bed of a

To Build a FireContinued

small stream This was Henderson Creek and he knew he was ten miles from the forks He looked at his watch It was ten oclock He was making four miles an hour and he calculated that he would arrive at the forks at half-past twelve He decided to celebrate that event by eating his lunch there

The dog dropped in again at his heels with a tail drooping discouragement as the man swung along the creek-bed The furrow of the old sled-trail was plainly visible but a dozen inches of snow covered the marks of the last runners In a month no man had come up or down that silent creek The man held steadily on He was not much given to thinking and just then particularly he had nothing to think about save that he would eat lunch at-the forks and that at six oclock he would be in camp with the boys There was nobody to talk to and had there been speech would have been impossible because of the ice-muzzle on his mouth So he continued monotonously to chew tobacco and to increase the length of his amber beard

Once in a while the thought reiterated itself that it was very cold and that he had never experienced such cold As he walked along he rubbed his cheek-bones and nose with the back of his mittened hand He did this automatically now and again changing hands But rub as he would the instant he stopped his cheek-bones went numb and the following instant the end of his nose went numb He was sure to frost his cheeks he knew that and experienced a pang of regret that he had not devised a nose-strap of the sort Bud wore in cold snaps Such a strap passed across the cheeks as well and saved them But it didnt matter much after all What were frosted cheeks A bit painful that was all they were never serious

Empty as the mans mind was of thoughts he was keenly observant and he noticed the changes in the creek the curves and bends and timber jams and always he sharply noted where he placed his feet Once coming around a bend he shied abruptly

like a startled horse curved away from the place where he had been walking and retreated several paces back along the trail The creek he knew was frozen clear to the bottom--no creek could contain water in that arctic winter--but he knew also that there were springs that bubbled out from the hillsides and ran along under the snow and on top the ice of the creek He knew that the coldest snaps never froze these springs and he knew likewise their danger They were traps They hid pools of water under the snow that might be three inches deep or three feet Sometimes a skin of ice half an inch thick covered them and in turn was covered by the snow Sometimes there were alternate layers of water and ice-skin so that when one broke through he kept on breaking through for a while sometimes wetting himself to the waist

That was why he had shied in such panic He had felt the give under his feet and heard the crackle of a snow-hidden ice-skin And to get his feet wet in such a temperature meant trouble and danger At the very least it meant delay for he would be forced to stop and build a fire and under its protection to bare his feet while he dried his socks and moccasins He stood and studied the creek-bed and its banks and decided that the flow of water came from the right He reflected a while rubbing his nose and cheeks then skirted to the left stepping gingerly and testing the footing for each step Once clear of the danger he took a fresh chew of tobacco and swung along at his four-mile gait

In the course of the next two hours he came upon several similar traps Usually the snow above the hidden pools had a sunken candied appearance that advertised the danger Once again however he had a close call and once suspecting danger he compelled the dog to go on in front The dog did not want to go It hung back until the man shoved it forward and then it went quickly across the white unbroken surface Suddenly it broke through floundered to one side and got away to firmer

To Build a FireContinued

To Build a FireContinued

footing It had wet its forefeet and legs and almost immediately the water that clung to it turned to ice It made quick efforts to lick the ice off its legs then dropped down in the snow and began to bite out the ice that had formed between the toes l his was a matter of instinct To permit the ice to remain would mean sore feet It did not know this It merely obeyed the mysterious prompting that arose from the deep crypts of its being But the man knew having achieved a judgment on the subject and he removed the mitten from his right hand and helped tear out the ice-particles He did not expose his fingers more than a minute and was astonished at the swift numbness that smote them It certainly was cold He pulled on the mitten hastily and beat the hand savagely across his chest

At twelve oclock the day was at its brightest Yet the sun was too far south an its winter journey to clear the horizon The bulge of the earth intervened between it arid Henderson Creek where the man walked under a clear sky at noon and cast no shadow At half-past twelve to the minute he arrived at the forks of the creek He was pleased at the speed he had made If he kept it up he would certainly be with the boys by six He unbuttoned his jacket and shirt and drew forth his lunch The action consumed no more than a quarter of a minute yet in that brief moment the numbness laid hold of the exposed fingers He did not put the mitten on but instead struck the fingers a dozen sharp smashes against his leg Then he sat down on a snow-covered log to eat The sting that followed upon the striking of his fingers against his leg ceased so quickly that he was startled He had had no chance to take a bite of biscuit He struck the fingers repeatedly and returned them to the mitten baring the other hand for the purpose of eating He tried to take a mouthful but the ice-muzzle prevented He had forgotten to build a fire and thaw out He chuckled at his foolishness and as he chuckled he noted the numbness creeping into the exposed fingers Also he noted that the stinging which had first come to his

toes when he sat down was already passing away He wandered whether the toes were warm or numb He moved them inside the moccasins and decided that they were numb

He pulled the mitten on hurriedly and stood up He was a bit frightened He stamped up and down until the stinging returned into the feet It certainly was cold was his thought That man from Sulphur Creek had spoken the truth when telling how cold it sometimes got in the country And he had laughed at him at the time That showed one must not be too sure of things There was no mistake about it it was cold He strode up and down stamping his feet and threshing his arms until reassured by the returning warmth Then he got out matches and proceeded to make a fire From the undergrowth where high water of the previous spring had lodged a supply of seasoned twigs he got his firewood Working carefully from a small beginning he soon had a roaring fire over which he thawed the ice from his face and in the protection of which he ate his biscuits For the moment the cold space was outwitted The dog took satisfaction in the fire stretching out close enough for warmth and far enough away to escape being singed

When the man had finished be filled his pipe and took his comfortable time over a smoke Then he pulled on his mittens settled the ear-flaps of his cap firmly about his ears and took the creek trail up the left fork The dog was disappointed and yearned back toward the fire This man did not know cold Possibly all the generations of his ancestry had been ignorant of cold of real cold of cold one hundred and seven degrees below freezing point But the dog knew all its ancestry knew and it had inherited the knowledge And it knew that it was not good to walk abroad in such fearful cold It was the time to lie snug in a hole in the snow and wait for a curtain of cloud to be drawn across the face of outer space whence this cold came On the other hand there was no keen intimacy between the dog and the man

The one was the toil-slave of the other and the only caresses it had ever received were the caresses of the whiplash and of harsh and menacing throat-sounds that threatened the whiplash So the dog made no effort to communicate its apprehension to the man It was not concerned in the welfare of the man it was for its own sake that it yearned back toward the fire But the man whistled and spoke to it with the sound of whiplashes and the dog swung in at the mans heel and followed after

The man took a chew of tobacco and proceeded to start a new amber beard Also his moist breath quickly powdered with white his mustache eyebrows and lashes There did not seem to be so many springs on the left fork of the Henderson and for half an hour the man saw no signs of any And then it happened At a place where there were no signs where the soft unbroken snow seemed to advertise solidity beneath tee man broke through It was not deep He wet himself halfway to the knees before he floundered out to the firm crust

He was angry and cursed his luck aloud He had hoped to get into camp with the boys at six oclock and this would delay him an hour for he would have to build a fire and dry out his foot-gear This was imperative at that low temperature--he knew that much and he turned aside to the bank which he climbed On top tangled in the underbrush about the trunks of several small spruce trees was a high-water deposit of dry firewood--sticks and twigs principally but also larger portions of seasoned branches and fine dry last-years grasses He threw down several large pieces on top of the snow This served for a foundation and prevented the young flame from drowning itself in the snow it otherwise would melt The flame he got by touching a match to a small shred of birch bark that he took from his pocket This burned even more readily than paper Placing it on the foundation he fed the young flame with wisps of dry grass and with the tiniest dry twigs

He worked slowly and carefully keenly aware of his danger Gradually as the flame grew stronger he increased the size of the twigs with which he fed it He squatted in the snow pulling the twigs out from their entanglement in the brush and feeding directly to the flame He knew there must be no failure When it is seventy-five below zero a man must not fail in his first attempt to build a fire--that is if his feet are wet If his feet are dry and he fails he can run along the trail for half a mile and restore his circulation But the circulation of wet and freezing feet cannot be restored by running when it is seventy-five below No matter how fast he runs the wet feet will freeze the harder

All this the man knew The old-timer on Sulphur Creek had told him about it the previous fall and now he was appreciating the advice Already all sensation had gone out of his feet To build the fire he had been forced to remove his mittens and the fingers had quickly gone numb His pace of four miles an hour had kept his heart pumping blood to the surface of his body and to all the extremities But the instant he stopped the action of the pump eased down The cold of space smote the unprotected tip of the planet and he being on that unprotected tip received the full force of the blow The blood of his body recoiled before it The blood was alive like the dog and like the dog it wanted to hide away and cover itself up from the fearful cold So long as he walked four miles an hour he pumped that blood willy-nilly to the surface but now it ebbed away and sank down into the recesses of his body The extremities were the first to feel its absence His wet feet froze the faster and his exposed fingers numbed the faster though they had not yet begun to freeze Nose and cheeks were already freezing while the skin of all his body chilled as it lost its blood

But he was safe Toes and nose and cheeks would be only touched by the frost for the fire was beginning to burn with strength He was feeding it

To Build a FireContinued

with twigs the size of his finger In another minute he would be able to feed it with branches the size of his wrier and then he could remove his wet toot-gear and while it dried he could keep his naked feet warm by the fire rubbing them at first of course with snow The fire was a success He was safe He remembered the advice of the old timer on Sulphur Creek and smiled The old-timer had been very serious in laying down the law that no man must travel alone in the Klondike after fifty below Well here he was he had had the accident he was alone and he had saved himself Those old-timers were rather womanish some of them he thought All a man had to do was to keep his head and he was all right Any man who was a man could travel alone But it was surprising the rapidity with which his cheeks and nose were freezing And he had not thought his fingers could go lifeless in so short a time Lifeless they were for he could scarcely make them move together to grip a twig and they seemed remote from his body and from him When he touched a twig he had to look and see whether or not he had hold of it The wires were pretty well down between him and his finger-ends

All of which counted for little There was the fire snapping and crackling and promising life with every dancing flame He started to untie his moccasins They were coated with ice the thick German socks were like sheaths of iron halfway to the knees and the moccasin strings were like rods of steel all twisted and knotted as by some conflagration For a moment he tugged with his numb fingers then realizing the folly of it he drew his sheath-knife

But before he could cut the strings it happened It was his own fault or rather his mistake He should not have built the fire under the spruce tree He should have built it in the open But it had been easier to pull the twigs from the brush and drop them directly on the fire Now the tree under which

he had done this carried a weight of snow on its boughs No wind had blown for weeks and each bough was fully freighted Each time he had pulled a twig he had communicated a slight agitation to the tree--an imperceptible agitation so far as he was concerned but an agitation sufficient to bring about the disaster High up in the tree one bough capsized its load of snow This fell on the boughs beneath capsizing them This process continued spreading out and involving the whole tree It grew like an avalanche and it descended without warning upon the man and the fire and the fire was blotted out Where it had burned was a mantle of fresh and disordered snow

The man was shocked It was as though he had just heard his own sentence of death For a moment he sat and stared at the spot where the fire had been Then he grew very calm Perhaps the old-timer on Sulphur Creek was right If he had only had a trail-mate he would have been in no danger now The trail-mate could have built the fire Well it was up to him to build the fire over again and this second time there must be no failure Even if he succeeded he would most likely lose some toes His feet must be badly frozen by now and there would be some time before the second fire Was ready

Such were his thoughts but he did not sit and think them He was busy all the time they were passing through his mind He made a new foundation for a fire this time in the open where no treacherous tree could blot it out Next he gathered dry grasses and tiny twigs from the high-water flotsam He could not bring his fingers together to pull them out but he was able to gather them by the handful In this way he got many rotten twigs and bits of green moss that were undesirable but it was the best he could do He worked methodically even collecting an armful of the larger branches to be used later when the fire gathered strength And all the while the dog sat and watched him a certain yearning wistfulness in its eyes for it looked upon

To Build a FireContinued

him as the fire-provider and the fire was slow in coming

When all was ready the man reached in his pocket for a second piece of birch bark He knew the bark was there and though he could not feel it with his fingers he could hear its crisp rustling as he fumbled for it Try as he would he could not clutch hold of it And all the time in his consciousness was the knowledge that each instant his feet were freezing This thought tended to put him in a panic but he fought against it and kept calm He pulled on his mittens with his teeth and threshed his arms back and forth beating his hands with all his might against his sides He did this sitting down and he stood up to do it and all the while the dog sat in the snow its wolf-brush of a tail curled around warmly over its forefeet its sharp wolf-ears pricked forward intently as it watched the man And the man as he beat and threshed with his arms and hands felt a great surge of envy as he regarded the creature that was warm ant secure in its natural covering

After a time he was aware of the first far-away signals of sensation in his beaten fingers The faint tingling grew stronger till it evolved into a stinging ache that was excruciating but which the man hailed with satisfaction He stripped the mitten from his right hand and fetched forth the birch bark The exposed fingers were quickly going numb again Next he brought out his bunch of sulphur matches But the tremendous cold had already driven the life out of his fingers In his effort to separate one match from the others the whole bunch fell in the snow He tried to pick it out of the snow but failed The dead fingers could neither touch nor clutch He was very careful He drove the thought of his freezing feet and nose and cheeks out of his mind devoting his whole soul to the matches He watched using the sense of vision in place of that of touch and when he saw his fingers on each side the bunch he dosed them--that is he willed to close them for the wires were down and the fingers did not obey He pulled

the mitten on the right hand and beat it fiercely against his knee Then with both mittened hands he scooped the bunch of matches along with much snow into his lap Yet he was no better off

After some manipulation he managed to get the bunch between the heels of his mittened hands In this fashion he carried it to his mouth The ice crackled and snapped when by a violent effort he opened his mouth He drew the lower jaw in curled the upper lip out of the way and scraped the bunch with his upper teeth in order to separate a match He succeeded in getting one which he dropped on his lap He was no better off He could not pick it up Then he devised a way He picked it up in his teeth and scratched it on his leg Twenty times he scratched before he succeeded in lighting it As it flamed he held it with his teeth to the birch bark But the burning brimstone went up his nostrils and into his lungs causing him to cough spasmodically The match fell into the snow and went out

The old-timer an Sulphur Creek was right he thought in the moment of controlled despair that ensued after fifty below a man should travel with a partner He beat his hands but failed in exciting any sensation Suddenly he bared both hands removing the mittens with his teeth He caught the whole bunch between the heels of his hands His arm muscles not being frozen enabled him to press the hand-heels tightly against the matches Then he scratched the bunch along his leg It flared into flame seventy sulphur matches at once There was no wind to blow them out He kept his head to one side to escape the strangling fumes and held the blazing bunch to the birth bark As he so held it he became aware of sensation in his hand His flesh was burning He could smell it Deep down below the surface he could feel it The sensation developed into pain that grew acute And still he endured it holding the flame of the matches clumsily to the bark that would not light readily because his own burning hands were in the way absorbing most of the flame

To Build a FireContinued

At last when he could endure no more he jerked his hands apart The blazing matches fell sizzling into the snow but the birch bark was alight He began laying dry grasses and the tiniest twigs on the flame He could not pick and choose for he had to lift the fuel between the heels of his hands Small pieces of rotten wood and green moss clung to the twigs and he bit them off as well as he could with his teeth He cherished the flame carefully and awkwardly It meant life and it must not perish The withdrawal of blood from the surface of his body now made him begin to shiver and he grew more awkward A large piece of green moss fell squarely on the little fire He tried to poke it out with his fingers but his shivering frame made him poke too far and he disrupted the nucleus of the little fire the burning grasses and tiny twigs separating and scattering He tried to poke them together again but in spite of the tenseness of the effort his shivering got away with him and the twigs were hopelessly scattered Each twig gushed a puff of smoke and went out The fire-provider had failed As he looked apathetically about him his eyes chanced on the dog sitting across the ruins of the fire from him in the snow making restless hunching movements slightly lifting one forefoot and then the other shifting its weight back and forth on them with wistful eagerness

The sight of the dog put a wild idea into his head He remembered the tale of the man caught in a blizzard who killed a steer and crawled inside the carcass and so was saved He would kill the dog and bury his hands in the warm body until the numbness went out of them Then he could build another fire He spoke to the dog calling it to him but in his voice was a strange note of fear that frightened the animal who had never known the man to speak in such way before Something was the matter and its suspicious nature sensed danger--it knew not what danger but somewhere somehow in its brain arose an apprehension of the man It flattened its ears down at the sound of the mans voice and its restless

hunching movements and the liftings and shiftings of its forefeet became more pronounced but it would not come to the man He got on his hands and knees and crawled toward the dog This unusual posture again excited suspicion and the animal sidled mincingly away

The man sat up in the snow for a moment and struggled for calmness Then he pulled on his mittens by means of his teeth and got upon his feet He glanced down at first in order to assure himself that he was really standing up for the absence of sensation in his feet left him unrelated to the earth His erect position in itself started to drive the webs of suspicion from the dogs mind and when he spoke peremptorily with the sound of whiplashes in his voice the dog rendered its customary allegiance and came to him As it came within reaching distance the man lost his control His arms flashed out to the dog and he experienced genuine surprise when he discovered that his hands could not clutch that there was neither bend nor feeling in the fingers He had forgotten for the moment that they were frozen and that they were freezing more and more All this happened quickly and before the animal could get away he encircled its body with his arms He sat down in the snow and in this fashion held the dog while it snarled and whined and struggled

But it was all he could do hold its body encircled in his arms and sit there He realized that he could not kill the dog There was no way to do it With his helpless hands he could neither draw nor hold his sheath knife nor throttle the animal He released it and it plunged wildly away with tail between its legs and still snarling It halted forty feet away and surveyed him curiously with ears sharply pricked forward The man looked down at his hands in order to locate them and found them hanging on the ends of his arms It struck him as curious that one should have to use his eyes in order to find out where his hands were He began threshing his arms back and forth beating the mittened hands against

To Build a FireContinued

his sides He did this for five minutes violently and his heart pumped enough blood up to the surface to put a stop to his shivering But no sensation was aroused in the hands He had an impression that they hung like weights on the ends of his arms but when he tried to run the impression down he could not find it

A certain fear of death dull and oppressive came to him This fear quickly became poignant as he realized that it was no longer a mere matter of freezing his fingers and toes or of losing his hands and feet but that it was a matter of life and death with the chances against him This threw him into a panic and he turned and ran up the creek-bed along the old dim trail The dog joined in behind and kept up with him He ran blindly without intention in fear such as he had never known in his life Slowly as he plowed and floundered through the snow he began to see things again the banks of the creek the old timber-jams the leafless aspens and the sky The running made him feel better He did not shiver Maybe if he ran on his feet would thaw out and anyway if he ran far enough he would reach camp and the boys Without doubt he would lose some fingers and toes and some of his face but the boys would take care of him and save the rest of him when he got there And at the same time there was another thought in his mind that said he would never get to the camp and the boys that it was too many miles away that the freezing had too great a start on him and that he would soon be stiff and dead This thought he kept in the background and refused to consider Sometimes it pushed itself forward and demanded to be heard but he thrust it back and strove to think of other things

It struck him as curious that he could run at all on feet so frozen that he could not feel them when they struck the earth and took the weigh of his body He seemed to himself to skim along above the surface and to have no connection with the earth Somewhere he had once seen a winged Mercury

and he wondered if Mercury felt as he felt when skimming over the earth

His theory of running until he reached camp and the boys had one flaw in it he lacked the endurance Several times he stumbled and finally he tottered crumpled up and fell When he tried to rise he failed He must sit and rest he decided and next time he would merely walk and keep on going As he sat and regained his breath he noted that he was feeling quite warm and comfortable He was not shivering and it even seemed that a warm glow had come to his chest and trunk And yet when he touched his nose or cheeks there was no sensation Running would not thaw them out Nor would it thaw out his hands and feet Then the thought came to him that the frozen portions of his body must be extending He tried to keep this thought down to forget it to think of something else he was aware of the panicky feeling that it caused and he was afraid of the panic But the thought asserted itself and persisted until it produced a vision of his body totally frozen This was too much and he made another wild run along the trail Once he slowed down to a walk but the thought of the freezing extending itself made him run again

And all the time the dog ran with him at his heels When he fell down a second time it curled its tad over its forefeet and sat in front of him facing him curiously eager and intent The warmth and security of the animal angered him and he cursed it till it flattened down its ears appealingly This time the shivering came more quickly upon the man He was losing in his battle with the frost It was creeping into his body from all sides The thought of it drove him on but he ran no more than a hundred feet when he staggered and pitched headlong It was his last panic When he had recovered his breath and control he sat up and entertained in his mind the conception of meeting death with dignity However the conception did not come to him in such terms His idea of it was that he had been making a fool of

To Build a FireContinued

himself running around like a chicken with its head cut off--such was the simile that occurred to him Well he was bound to freeze anyway and he might as well take it decently With this new-found peace of mind came the first glimmerings of drowsiness A good idea he thought to sleep off to death It was like salting an anesthetic Freezing was not so bad as people thought There were lots worse ways to die

He pictured the boys finding his body next day Suddenly he found himself with them coming along the trail and looking for himself And still with them he came around a turn in the trail and found himself lying in the snow He did not belong with himself any more for even then he was out of himself standing with the boys and looking at himself in the snow It certainly was cold was his thought When he got back to the States he could tell the folks what real cold was He drifted on from this to a vision of the old-timer on Sulphur Creek He could see him quite clearly warm and comfortable and smoking a pipe

You were right old boss you were right the man mumbled to the old-timer of Sulphur Creek

Then the man drowsed off into what seemed to him the most comfortable and satisfying sleep he had ever known The dog sat facing him and waiting The brief day drew to a close in a long slow twilight There were no signs of a fire to be made and besides never in the dogs experience had it known a man to sit like that in the snow and make no fire As the twilight drew on its eager yearning for the fire mastered it and with a great lifting and shifting of forefeet it whined softly then flattened its ears down in anticipation of being chidden by the man But the man remained silent Later the dog whined loudly And still later it crept close to the man and caught the scent of death This made the animal bristle and back away A little longer it delayed howling under the stars that leaped and danced and shone brightly in the cold sky Then it turned and trotted up the trail in the direction of the camp it knew where were the other food-providers and fire-providers

To Build a FireContinued

Blogs can be a lot of work to maintainTwitter only gives you 140 characters

Facebook is just your friends

Now you can share a story no matter your social-web status

Stories are published for ALL FitnessDigestus readers Archived professionally and digitally in thousands of libraries

Sign with your real name pen-name or anonymousItrsquos easy and professional Go to httpLiveMediaFitnessDigestus

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Make Htory

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bull Free for FitnessDigestus customers or subscribersbull Your offer is delivered to the potential buyersbull No false or fake adsbull Selling to FitnessDigestus subscribers is safer with our blind box e-mail addresses

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Page 17: FitnessDigest.us Vol. 4.3 Cover

Adult SwimmingBy Susan Dawson-cook

I have taught dozens of adults how to swim Many of them were initially either afraid of water or somewhat uncomfortable in the aquatic environment Whats worked best is to get in the water with them and do activities that show them it can be fun and safe I make sure they feel safe and secure the entire time and even say things like if you have trouble standing up after you take some strokes I will help you or just reach for my hand if you need support

13 Many beginners have this fear ndash if they are in the horizontal position swimming they wont be able to stand up One woman cried she was so overjoyed she overcame her fear and learned to take her first strokes

Find more of Susanrsquos writing and published works at httplivemediaFitnessDigestus

Body image and fitness are hot topics for both men and women The Great Fitness Experiment is my hilarious poignant embarrassing and at times heart-breaking journey to find my way through the morass of contradictory claims and information in todayrsquos health- and fitness-obsessed world

Available in paperback or in eBookhttpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

If you have trouble standing up after you

take some strokesone women cried

she was so overjoyed

If you would like future issues delivered to a Facebook Twitter or e-mail account e-mail us at infoFitnessDigestus

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2 Deadwood Mickelson Trail MarathonSunday June 2 2013

Deadwood South Dakota

13 On June 2nd we will celebrate 12 years of offering runners from around the globe the most unique running experience of their life Where else in the world can you run on a course that takes you from an abandoned mining town across railroad trestles through a mountain past monolithic rock formations beside a babbling creek and finish in Deadwoodhellipa town that is a historic landmark

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Written Emily WheelerFor more information amp video visit httpLIveAdsFitnessDigestus

ldquoWild West town known primarily for its gamblers gunslingers and gold minersrdquo

Hope to see you at the finish

This Wild West town known primarily for its gamblers gunslingers and gold miners has turned into one of the premiere destination marathon venues in the US

13 The breathtaking beauty of our course the truly outstanding team of volunteers the hospitality of everyone associated with the event and paying attention to details are just a couple of reasons yoursquoll want to toe the line on June 2nd

The Deadwood Mickelson Trail Half and Full Marathon is a point to point course

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ldquoThe breathtaking beauty of our courserdquo

WaynesSkiandCyclenetlive links to Waynersquos at httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

MTM Charity Partner

13 Habitat for Humanity is a global nonprofit Christian housing organization that has helped to build more than 500000 decent affordable houses and served 25 million people worldwide since its founding in 1976 With the help of volunteers and donations of money and materials Habitat constructs rehabilitates and preserves homes in partnership with low-income families in need Operating in nearly 80 countries and with more than 1500 affiliates in the United States Habitat also advocates for fair and just housing policies and provides training and access to resources to help families improve their shelter conditions

Shop for Name BrandItems 24 Hours a Day

beginning in the historic mining town of Rochford the first 15 miles are on a paved road At this point the course becomes the Mickelson Trail (a rails to trails project) The next 12 miles are a mixture of gentle uphill and flat terrain

13 Then the course is either downhill or flat and finishes at the historic Engine House at end of the linehellipthe Deadwood Trailhead The Half Marathon is also a point to point course starting at the 131 mile mark of the full marathon Walker Friendly

All participants will receive a Commemorative Finisherrsquos Medal

Mickelson Trail Marathon Charity Partner is the Black Hills Habitat for HumanityMake your Marathon Matter Matching Funds

Make your Marathon matter by helping create decent shelter in the Black Hills ndash take the challenge to give at least $1 per race mile Our goal is to raise $3000 in 2012 for BH Habitat for Humanity to help provide shelter for more families in the Black Hills

Registrations are capped at 3000 runners If you want to be part of the Deadwood Mickelson Trail Marathon Weekend celebration go to LiveAdsFitnessDigestus and click on the MTM Marathon URL

Hope to see you at the Finish Line - ThanksEmily Wheeler Wheeler Event Management Inc

ldquoHope to see you at the finish linerdquo

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links

DAY had broken cold and gray exceedingly cold and gray when the man turned aside from the main Yukon trail and climbed the high earth-bank where a dim and little traveled trail led eastward through the fat spruce timberland It was a steep bank and he paused for breath at the top excusing the act to himself by looking at his watch It was nine oclock There was no sun nor hint of sun though there was not a cloud in the sky It was a

clear day and yet there seemed an intangible pall over the face of things a subtle gloom that made the day dark and that was due to the absence of sun This fact did not worry the man He was used to the lack of sun It had been days since he had seen the sun and he knew that a few more-days must pass before that cheerful orb due south would just peep above the sky-line and dip immediately from view

To Build a Fire - Hiking the Yukon TrailShort story fiction Written by Jack London (1876-1916)

The man flung a look back along the way he had come The Yukon lay a mile wide and hidden under three feet of ice On top of this ice were as many feet of snow It was all pure white rolling in gentle undulations where the ice jams of the freeze-up had formed North and south as far as his eye could see it was unbroken white save for a dark hairline that curved and twisted from around the spruce-covered island to the south and that curved and twisted away into the north where it disappeared behind another spruce-covered island This dark hair-line was the trail--the main trail--that led south five hundred miles to the Chilcoot Pass Dyea and salt water and that led north seventy miles to Dawson and still on to the north a thousand miles to Nulato and finally to St Michael on Bering Sea a thousand miles and half a thousand more

But all this--the mysterious far-reaching hair-line trail The absence of sun from the sky the tremendous cold and the strangeness and weirdness of it all--made no

impression on the man It was not because he was long used to it He was a newcomer In the land a chechaquo and this was his first winter The trouble with him was that he was without imagination He was quick and alert in the things of life but only in the things and not in the significances Fifty degrees below zero meant eighty-odd degrees of frost Such fact impressed him as being cold and uncomfortable and that was all It did not lead him to meditate upon his frailty as a creature of temperature and upon mans frailty in general able only to live within certain narrow limits of heat and cold and from there on it did not lead him to the conjectural field of immortality and mans place in the universe Fifty degrees below zero stood forte bite of frost that hurt and that must be guarded against by the use of mittens ear-flaps warm moccasins and thick socks Fifty degrees below zero was to him just precisely fifty degrees below zero That there should be anything more to it than that was a thought that never entered his head

To Build a FireContinued

Continued on page 62

Stand Up Paddle BoardingWOWSUPIowacom on LiveAds

It is important from time to time to slow down to go away by yourself and simply be --Eileen Caddy

Letrsquos Race13 My son is eight and our family is very active Im just hitting my peak racing age of about 34 years old The family members all support each otherrsquos activities They are a great cheering section when my wife and I compete in races There is a popular two mile fun run in our town that we my wife and I run every year We also have for-fun races with the kids around the house or across the football field For years Ive let the eight year old win a few and others I win by just a little bit I think he is wising up to my tactics of good fatherhood One day he said ldquoDad you are letting me win but I think I can beat you fair and squarerdquo He added ldquoYoursquore not that fast Ill bet you 10 dollars I can beat you in a two mile racerdquo Wanting to teach him a lesson about spouting off and writing checks his body cant cash I took him up on it I said All right you pick a time and place We will race two miles for 10 dollars He replied You know that two mile race you and mom do every year I can race you then I agreed and he quickly added Ill need 20 years to warm-up That would make me 54 and him 28 Irsquom preparing for the loss and putting 10 dollars aside now

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Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

In my first creative experience it was through music and I was interested in developing my values of creativity I was inspired by a band named Motley Crue and the song that captured my interest was Home Sweet home Dear reader what inspires you Is it music or inspirational quote thought or ideas To express how this song motivated my interests it helped give me faith in my own creative abilities in the process I began to write lyrics I eventually began to work on different styles of writing and broaden my writing skills What types of music inspire your creative thoughts What types of other inspiration values inspire your creative thoughts

13 Getting motivated is one of the key aspects of a successful weight-loss program Without this motivation there would be no drive to get up early or to avoid eating unhealthy snacks ndash that you absolutely love Yes you can thank your motivation for that When you are looking for weight-loss motivation sometimes it is hard to find Where can you find that extra umph to make it to your goal

The benefits of finding a motivator are something that cannot be paralleled It has been said mind over matter This coincides with our principle that no matter how hard the task you can accomplish the goal given the right mindset It is important to go into a new weight-loss program with a positive mental attitude

FINDI

NG TH

EM X InspirationX

Motivation

When I was introduced to William Shakespeare I was intrigued by his creative values and I started to work on developing a different aspect of writing I then watched the movie Free Jack there was a quote by Albert Einstein Imagination is more important than knowledge I thought about the in depth values of both concepts and then I applied both concepts and defined different creative concept Do you believe that anything is possible if you believe I know that I do believe that if an individual believes deeply enough one can accomplish their goals I had to believe in my own abilities and in my dreams and ignore the negative values that were impressed by others

Anything less can potentially hinder growth towards your goal

Some of the things that you should be thinking about when looking for motivators are people with good morals and a positive attitude This is because if the people helping you do not have a positive attitude then it is also difficult for you Some great places to look for a motivator are online blogs in the gym or even in your own family I am sure that in all of these places you will see someone else trying to accomplish the same or even more difficult goals than your own

Another key to finding motivation is to let it find you You should not have to go find a reason to go do something You will do it because you wanted to not because you were forced to

X

InspirationMotivation

More simply put motivation will find you because you will see something that inspires you to make a change in yourself That change may be a weight-loss goal or something else Maybe even an academic goal The true key is to maintain that motivation until you have achieved your goal

Regards Vincent ErrichielloUSMS Swimmer

InspirationMotivation

With believing so deeply within my own abilities and the faith that I could accomplish what I set out to achieve I wrote a lyric titled Dreams Are Only Real and in believing in this concept further defining its true meaning the concept became Dreams Are Only Real Until You Dont believe

Jeremy J TaylorCNFI Publishing

himTHROWINGWritten by anonymous contributor

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13 Johnny is not the best batter in our little league Matter-of-fact he is quiet awful At practice one afternoon Johnny hit a pitch really well The coach had pitched him inside on accident far enough inside that it almost hit him Johnny got his hit by using his bat to defend himself from that arrant pitch The coach told him ldquogood hitrdquo and Johnny yelled back ldquoWell I didnrsquot want the ball to hit merdquo13 Johnny improved his batting after that He was hitting the ball almost every time he got up At one point I said to coach ldquoHow did you get Johnny to improve his batting so quicklyrdquo He replyed Im throwing the ball it AT HIM every time

Body image and fitness are hot topics for both men and women The Great Fitness Experiment is my hilarious poignant embarrassing and at times heart-breaking journey to find my way through the morass of contradictory claims and information in todayrsquos health- and fitness-obsessed world

Available in paperback or in eBookVisit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

wwwnorthiafitnesscom on LiveAdsEmail northiowafitnessgmailcom

Phone 641-201-1035Strongest weight loss supplements

on the market

The Fall of Billy Hitchingsby Kirkus MacGowan

Available at Amazon

LOCATED IN ST ANSGAR IOWA

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entryFitnessDigestus

Send u

s yo

ur T

-shi

rt

READE

R T

-shi

rts

13 I was standing on shore fishing in my favorite spot A guy Irsquove never seen at the pond gets in and starts swimming After about 25 minutes of back and forth he stops at a place about 30 yards off shore He gives me a quick look and dices down below the water

His next lap he stops in the same place looks at me again and points down at the water He finished his swim and left I picked up my gear and moved to the other side of the outlet just a few yards from where he had stopped twice Caught a lunker in the first cast

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TOP TWEETS

Iowa Cubs (IowaCubs)Thanks to all our fans who showed up for the pre-game on-field catch with dad

Louise Pineda (forerunnerGPS)The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficultyWinston Churchill quotes

Softball Darlin (Softball_Darlin)My mom told me our team was gettin white uniforms for summer amp to try not to get them dirty Uh Have you seen me play Not gonna happen

I Swim I Suffer (ISwimISuffer)thatswimmerwho If the water is in your right ear for example then jump on your right leg and lean your head to the right side while jumping

I Swim and I Know It (iSwimWithIssues)During the summer you shower 467 times at the pool 17 times at hotels and 3 times at your house Truth

Everyday Health (WomensCancer)63000 Americans will be diagnosed w malignant melanoma (the deadliest skin cancer) this year Know your risk

US Paralympics (USParalympics)Want to be introduced to Paralympic sport Attend one of the Paralympic Experiences being held throughout the countryFi

tnes

sDig

est

US v

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SwimSwam (swimswamnews)Congrats to KenyaSwimmer on being selected to carry the Kenya flag swimswamcom

Better than sharing on a blog Twitter or Facebook and you can share a story even if you donrsquot maintain a social-web presencePublished for ALL FitnessDigestus readers

Sign with your real name pen-name or anonymoushttpLiveMediaFitnessDigestus

13 Funnest thing SPAM about some weight-loss supplements got posted on a friendrsquos Facebook My friend is an ultra-runner I notice there was also an ad for salami recipes on the same page The recipes were right next to the SPAM about diet-pills

13 Letrsquos see ndash it sounds like the beginning of a good joke Q What do you get when a friend tries to sell you ultra-runner endorsed salami-flavored-SPAM diet-pills on Facebook Answer Sick

Unsung Heroes1 Irsquove never swam open water and wanted to do a triathlon A friend that

races open water took extra time to swim with me at a lake I was much more comfortable after that

2 I was going on vacation and needed advice on a place to swim A friend living in the area took the time to help me find people to answer my questions

3 I was over eating and had complained to my friend about it She called me twice a day for three weeks just to remind me to eat healthy

4 I usually run to and from the gym It takes about 30 minutes to run both ways I didnrsquot have enough time to get there and back before a scheduled appointment I had A friend drove me to the gym saving me about 30 minutes I was able to run home and still had time to get to my appointment

SPAM DIET

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Visit the Suburban Mommy blog and learn more about AtresiaMicrotia a birth defect of the inner earFor links to SubMommy blog httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

SUBMOMMYBLOG

On Wednesday May 16 2012 at 7 PM simultaneous rides occurred around the

USA and the world

We all ride Now we can ride as one

One day One time One world world wide

Let the silence roar

322 locations world wide

The Ride of SilenceTonight we number many but ride as one

In honor of those not with us friends

mothers fathers sisters sons

With helmets on tight and heads down low

We ride in silence cautious and slow

The wheels start spinning in the lead pack

But tonight we ride and no one attacks

The dark sunglasses cover our tears

Remembering those we held so dear

Tonights ride is to make others aware

The road is there for all to share

To those not with us or by our side

May God be your partner on your final ride

- Mike Murgas

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 50 states

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 7 Continents

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 0 words spoken

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 1 million memories

Ride of Silence

ldquoCost-effective investments in bicycling boost our economy help individuals and government agencies save money and directly address key societal challenges such as obesity and road congestion In these tough economic times our federal government can only afford to invest in solutions that solve multiple problems Bicycling fits the billrdquo ndash PeopleForBikesorg

This photo collection was taken byRobert LaVallee of Mason City IA

To see his entire collection visithttpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

Non-subscriberSign-up for delivery of

the FREE edition at coopnetbiz

It provides an outstanding aerobic workout in less than half the time we would spend in still water It has allowed us as swim coaches to observe swimmers stroke characteristics up close and to see the effects of fatigue on stroke mechanics ~ Larry L Chazy NY

Swimming is an excellent exercise and now I can swim every day because its so convenient and private I can swim when I want and how long I want Im able to have it at a temperature that is comfortable to me The small size of an Endless Pool enabled me to install a pool where I could not install a regular size one

As an aging baby boomer nutrition professional I have yearned for consistent exercise that doesnt stress joints and will enable me to attain physical fitness cardiovascular health and weight control I can eat what I want and still firm up and lose weight ~ John C Columbus OH

Endless Pools make for long swims in small places The 8x15 Endless Pool is less than regulation size but offers the same benefits as a very large pool ~ Noah H Connecticut Post

The Endless Pool is a great strength builder I am amazed at the strength of the current I now swim against I did not buy it for that reason but because of my arthritis so the strength gain is a wonderful surprise

Endless PoolsTestimonials For more information visit httpLIveAdsFitnessDigestus

s w i m m i n g s h o r t s

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Baseball Walking Stick13 My sons friend grabbed his baseball bat and said to me this is my walking stick I politely ask him why he calls it that He replied because my dad says if I hit a home run with it I donrsquot have to run the bases ndash I can walk

My Bike My mountain bike was stolen a while back and my kids were really upset Ive been riding my road bike in its place Since then Ive been careful to lock my bike up when we go to the park

13 On this occasion I did not lock-up my sonrsquos bike up with mine He looked at me quizzically and said sternly lock my bike up too I tried to explain that his bike was not as expensive and therefor didnt need to be locked up Boy that was a mistake He made me feel a little dumb when he said Dad I dont care how expensive it is Its the only bike Irsquove got

North Iowa Roads

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A LEADER inSearch Engine Optimization

Technology

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Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

parent sports tipBy FitnessDigestus staff writer JGA

PAR

EN

T

TIP

Keeping Kids Focused13 Organize their thoughts Help them prioritize and make decisions based on value Even kids can understand the value of simple non-monetized choices Questions like ldquoShould I finish playing my gameboy game or pause it when they call my swimming eventrdquo

If kids are taught to make good decisions and not just find quick answers everyone wins

AugustGolf Month5th Friendship Day15th Relaxation Day25th Kiss and Make Up Day31st Trail Mix DaySeptemberLittle League Month12th Chocolate Milk Shake Day13th Positive Thinking Day16th Womenrsquos Friendship Day21st Miniature Golf DayOctoberBreast Cancer Awareness MonthNational Diabetes Month1st World Vegetarian Day4th Golf Day25th World Pasta Day

National Calendar

Au

gu

stSe

pte

mb

er

Oc

tob

er

Encourage friendships writing skills sharing thoughts and

experiencesEight different cards

YAGOTTAWANNA

Variety of pricing From single orders to bulk orders of 24 notecards

Learn more online

Stay in touch with your swimming or triathlon buddies

It is better to be safe then to try to beat the heat There are many options to stay cool and run during a hot-summer day Staying inside and running on the treadmill is a good one Remember staying safe is a top priority

Most workouts can be modified to work indoors This issuersquos workout is to do your usual run or interval set just stay inside and run it on the treadmill Visualize the different landmarks to see during your outdoor run

Coach Millerrsquos Quarterly ChallengeStay safe in the heatBy Mark Miller mmillerFitnessDigestus

A few years back we had a hot-spell similar to this yearrsquos record heat

I remember training for a long run and having to stop at the local swimming hole to cool off I literally took off my

shoes and jumped in with my running clothes on I was so hot

FitnessDigestUSEntertainment amp Inspiration

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OPEN WATER SWIMMING BY THE NUMBERS

In kilometers The shortest open water race included in the Fina World Championships

10107 How many miles it

is to swim from Cuba to the USA

5

1000Number of swimming strokes in a mile for a typical swimmer

31800About the number of calories it takes to swim 100 miles

LOCATED IN ST ANSGAR IOWA

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andor design for you

The minimum open water distance in kilometers that is considered a swimming-

marathon

On Facebook Visit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

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Open water safety means swimming in shallow water where there is a lifeguard or using an escort

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24 Hoursa Day

WaynesSkiandCyclenet

For links to Waynersquos visit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

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Googles

13 Swimming fans can really appreciate a 200 IM when their goggles fill with water How about an Olympian Swimming a leg of the 400 Free Relay with his goggles across his opened mouth ndash and going 45rsquos A great team swimmer an Olympian wouldnrsquot let down his teammates by throwing them off or fixing them

500 Fly13 A world class butterflyer asked if he could swim butterfly in the 500 yard freestyle during a dual meet His goal was to break five minutes After considering the competition it seemed like a great way to make him really work a hard fly swim so we agreed Problem was he swam a 502 and the opposing coach complained to the officials because he embarrassed his swimmers Oh well you canrsquot win lsquoem all

Stories sent in by Robert Steele

No-No-No13 The other morning I was teaching front-streamlines to snotty nosed 8 year olds (some are literally snotty-nosed) One boy was taking a big gulp of air and holding his breath When he lifted his head he had to exhale and inhale before submerging again Swimmers will understand this does not work very well Kids need to learn to exhale underwater The first time he did it I told him to exhale underwater The second time I stopped him looked him in the eye and reminded him to exhale underwater The third and fourth times I started to get a little frustrated ldquoJohnny you need to exhale underwater so you can breath betterrdquo The fifth time as his head popped up for a breath I quickly asked ldquoJohnny Do you even know what exhale meansrdquo as he submerged his head below the water I could see him shake his head no-no-no

Favorite Potato Chips13We try to limit the junk food the kids eat at our house For lunch one day our son wanted some potato chips I gave him 3 large chips with his sandwich He started to cry and said he wanted one more chip ldquoI wanted four chipsrdquo he screamed I took the plate back When he wasnt looking I broke a chip in half and give it back to him with four chips

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

13 My cancer story is one of uniqueness Leave it to me to do something like cancer to its fullest It did not begin with a mammogram diagnosis or a lump My journey began about 4 years ago with some suspicious activity that turned into Pagetrsquos disease of the nipple which signaled the underlying cancer On April 1st I found out about my breast cancer through a biopsy that came back as positive for Pagetrsquos disease The onslaught of tests learning and decisions were dizzying I immediately went for an evaluation of the suspicious tissue and had to begin making decisions for my mastectomy I quickly learned there is a test called the BRAC Analysis which is a genetic test for breast and ovarian cancer Finally a piece of good news for me I did not have the gene

Decisions Now it was time to make decisions about my mastectomy and how I was going to handle reconstruction I discussed my options with my boyfriend Brian friends family members and even my principalboss I read books searched the Internet and contacted people I

Brandi ShipmanCancer Survivor and elite triathlete

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

know and knew from my past that had been directly affected and that I thought might have answers for me The outpouring of love encouragement and help during this process was overwhelming After meeting with four different doctors two surgeons and two plastic surgeons I decided to go with immediate reconstruction and was lucky enough to find two wonderful doctors They were willing to work together just because I wanted them to even though they had never done so before My surgery was scheduled for mid May

Mental Toughness13 My mental preparation at this point was very important I had to scrap any idea of competing in triathlons for the rest of the year and focus on a positive attitude of getting better I stopped thinking about what I wasnrsquot going to able to do and started thinking about what I could do that I was alive and kept my mind on the fact that so many others had made it before me

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links

Part 213 I was prepared by the doctors survivors and literature to be ldquodownrdquo for several weeks after my surgery I even took the rest of the school year off My surgery went well and I was out of the hospital the next day A few friends came to visit while I was in the hospital and my principal and vice principal brought the most wonderful picture of the faculty wearing pink for me I can only imagine what it looked like at Thornton Elementary on that day in May 2009 a sea of pink all for Brandi Shipman Shortly after their visit I received a text from my friend Margie Massey My friends from the gym wore pink for me that day as well The support brought tears to my eyes I was so excited to come home and be comfortable in my own home I just wish the stupid drain that was attached could have stayed at the hospital The pain from that was worse than the pain from the mastectomy

the most

powerful picture

13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Recovery ndash May13 Once I got home I slept and watched a lot of TV Friends visited and brought yummy food and my favorites I am not supposed to eat I ate them all My friend and co-worker set up a cancer care calendar that alerted anyone who logged on when I was having a doctorrsquos appointment or when I was in need of anything I felt like royalty as everyone took care of me I think Brian secretly enjoyed the fact that he wouldnrsquot have to cook for me each night My recovery was quicker than I thought as I was doing my best to get better and get the stinkinrsquo drain out of my skin I was out walking within a week and running within 3 weeks I couldnrsquot believe my recovery I know it was from all the prayers love and good care from Brian and the loved ones around me Life was looking better each day

ldquoLife was looking

better each dayrdquo

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Part three and part

four of I am Survivor

will be published in

the next edition of

FitnessDigestus

Get the convenience of

digital-delivery

Sign-up or subscribe at

httpFitnessDigestus

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During the past 150 years we have witnessed many remarkable advances against cancer a disease known to humanity for thousands of years The advances highlighted below represent a sampling of what has been accomplished to date

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

1882 William Halsted performs the first radical mastectomy to treat breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast the lymph nodes under the arm (axillary lymph nodes) and the chest muscles behind the breast (pectoralis major and pectoralis minor muscles) are removed Radical mastectomy will remain the standard operation for breast cancer until latter half of the 20th century when the use of modified radical mastectomy becomes widely accepted

1932 David H Patey develops the modified radical mastectomy for breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast axillary lymph nodes and pectoralis minor muscle behind the breast are removed The modified radical mastectomy is less disfiguring than the radical mastectomy and will eventually replace the radical mastectomy as a standard treatment option for breast cancer

1953 James Watson and Francis Crick discover the molecular structure of DNA (the double helix)

1963 The Health Insurance Plan (HIP) of Greater New York Study begins HIP is the first randomized controlled trial of periodic breast cancer screening with mammography

1882

1932

1953

1963

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1976 The results of a randomized clinical trial show that women with early breast cancer who receive post-operative (adjuvant) combination chemotherapy with the drugs cyclophosphamide methotrexate and 5-FU have improved disease-free survival

1981 A randomized clinical trial in the United Kingdom shows for the first time that the rates of survival local recurrence and tumor metastasis among women whose breast cancer is treated with modified radical mastectomy are not substantially different from those of women who are treated with radical mastectomy

1993 An NCI-convened international workshop on screening for breast cancer reports that screening with mammography reduces breast cancer mortality among women ages 50-69 This conclusion is based on a review of published and unpublished data from eight randomized controlled trials

2004 Data from the Womens Health Initiative (WHI) study show that women who take estrogen in combination with the hormone progestin have a greater risk of developing breast cancer than women who take estrogen alone The results also show that menopausal hormone therapy with estrogen alone has no benefit in disease prevention specifically in reducing the risks of colorectal cancer coronary heart disease and dementia

1976

1981

1993

2004

Although we still have a long way to go to reduce the toll of cancer in the United States and worldwide our research and public health efforts are beginning to pay dividends

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

Volunteering vs Participating13 My girl friend and I are involved in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation The local chapter raises awareness for the cause with a fun-run each year We have volunteered to help with the race five years in a row This year we were stationed at a water table where the runners pick-up cups of water to drink Toward the end of the race there are very few runners There was a little time to chat about things We were talking about what we would wish for if we could have three wishes I told her I would wish for an end to Juvenile Diabetes and to lose 10 pounds Being nice I said ldquoyou can have my last wishrdquo She said I wish you would skip volunteering and just run this race next year

Admission Price Our aquatic center was having a promotion one night and advertised an elementary school night The kids could swim for free When we got to the pool we saw a promotional sign for the event In small lettering it read All swimmers must be accompanied by an adult We thought no big deal one of us can just stay and watch When we got to the front desk we found the lifeguard was enforcing the adult-admission price of $8

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CNFI Publishing - Products Books Chapbooks Bookmarks Plaques and Poetry Collector Cards Merchandising Products Coffee Mugs Mouse Pads Tiles 3x6 Coasters T - Shirts and Wall Plaques More info athttpliveadsFitnessDigestus

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

Featured PhotosFitnessDigestus feature

Chicago open water swim course at nighttop left

Kids race at Bicycle Blues and BBQtop right

Some team members volunteer at the local soup kitchenmiddle right

Ken Mauer loads the balls for hitting practice during a Twins baseball camp for

children 7-13 bottom right

Get your local event photos published in the next issue of FitnessDigestus E-mail

your photo to photoFitnessDigestus

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As he turned to go on he spat speculatively There was a sharp explosive crackle that startled him He spat again And again in the air before it could fall to the snow the spittle crackled He knew that at fifty below spittle crackled on the snow but this spittle had crackled in the air Undoubtedly it was colder than fifty below--how much colder he did not know But the temperature did not matter He was bound for the old claim on the left fork of Henderson Creek where the boys were already They had come over across the divide from the Indian Creek country while he had come the roundabout way to take a look at the possibilities of getting out logs in the spring from the islands in the Yukon He would be in to camp by six oclock a bit after dark it was true but the boys would be there a fire would be going and a hot supper would be ready As for lunch he pressed his hand against the protruding bundle under his jacket It was also under his shirt wrapped up in a handkerchief and lying against the naked skin It was the only way to keep the biscuits from freezing He smiled agreeably to himself as he thought of those biscuits each cut open and sopped in bacon grease and each enclosing a generous slice of fried bacon

He plunged in among the big spruce trees The trail was faint A foot of snow had fallen since the last sled had passed over and he was glad he was without a sled traveling light In fact he carried nothing but the lunch wrapped in the handkerchief He was surprised however at the cold It certainly was cold he concluded as he rubbed his numb nose and cheek-bones with his mittened hand He was a warm-whiskered man but the hair on his face did not protect the high cheek-bones and the eager nose that thrust itself aggressively into the frosty air

At the mans heels trotted a dog a big native husky the proper wolf-dog gray-coated and without any visible or temperamental difference from its brother the wild wolf The animal was depressed by the tremendous cold It knew that it was no time for

traveling Its instinct told it a truer tale than was told to the man by the mans judgment In reality it was not merely colder than fifty below zero it was colder than sixty below than seventy below It was seventy-five below zero Since the freezing point is thirty-two above zero it meant that one hundred and seven degrees of frost obtained The dog did not know anything about thermometers Possibly in its brain there was no sharp consciousness of a condition of very cold such as was in the mans brain But the brute had its instinct It experienced a vague but menacing apprehension that subdued it then made it slink along at the mans heels and that made it question eagerly every unwonted movement of the man as if expecting him to go into camp or to seek shelter somewhere and build a fire The dog had learned fire and it wanted fire or else to burrow under the snow and cuddle its warmth away from the air

The frozen moisture of its breathing had settled on its fur in a fine powder of frost and especially were its jowls muzzle and eyelashes whitened by its cry-stalled breath The mans red beard and mustache were likewise frosted but more solidly the deposit taking the form of ice and increasing with every warm moist breath he exhaled Also the man was chewing tobacco and the muzzle of ice held his lips so rigidly that he was unable to clear his chin when he expelled the juice The result was that a crystal beard of the color and solidity of amber was increasing its length on his chin If he fell down it would shatter itself like glass into brittle fragments But he did not mind the appendage It was the penalty all tobacco-chewers paid in that country and he had been out before in two cold snaps They had not been so cold as this he knew but by the spirit thermometer at Sixty Mile he knew they had been registered at fifty below and at fifty-five

He held on through the level stretch of woods for several miles crossed a wide flat of rigger-heads and dropped down a bank to the frozen bed of a

To Build a FireContinued

small stream This was Henderson Creek and he knew he was ten miles from the forks He looked at his watch It was ten oclock He was making four miles an hour and he calculated that he would arrive at the forks at half-past twelve He decided to celebrate that event by eating his lunch there

The dog dropped in again at his heels with a tail drooping discouragement as the man swung along the creek-bed The furrow of the old sled-trail was plainly visible but a dozen inches of snow covered the marks of the last runners In a month no man had come up or down that silent creek The man held steadily on He was not much given to thinking and just then particularly he had nothing to think about save that he would eat lunch at-the forks and that at six oclock he would be in camp with the boys There was nobody to talk to and had there been speech would have been impossible because of the ice-muzzle on his mouth So he continued monotonously to chew tobacco and to increase the length of his amber beard

Once in a while the thought reiterated itself that it was very cold and that he had never experienced such cold As he walked along he rubbed his cheek-bones and nose with the back of his mittened hand He did this automatically now and again changing hands But rub as he would the instant he stopped his cheek-bones went numb and the following instant the end of his nose went numb He was sure to frost his cheeks he knew that and experienced a pang of regret that he had not devised a nose-strap of the sort Bud wore in cold snaps Such a strap passed across the cheeks as well and saved them But it didnt matter much after all What were frosted cheeks A bit painful that was all they were never serious

Empty as the mans mind was of thoughts he was keenly observant and he noticed the changes in the creek the curves and bends and timber jams and always he sharply noted where he placed his feet Once coming around a bend he shied abruptly

like a startled horse curved away from the place where he had been walking and retreated several paces back along the trail The creek he knew was frozen clear to the bottom--no creek could contain water in that arctic winter--but he knew also that there were springs that bubbled out from the hillsides and ran along under the snow and on top the ice of the creek He knew that the coldest snaps never froze these springs and he knew likewise their danger They were traps They hid pools of water under the snow that might be three inches deep or three feet Sometimes a skin of ice half an inch thick covered them and in turn was covered by the snow Sometimes there were alternate layers of water and ice-skin so that when one broke through he kept on breaking through for a while sometimes wetting himself to the waist

That was why he had shied in such panic He had felt the give under his feet and heard the crackle of a snow-hidden ice-skin And to get his feet wet in such a temperature meant trouble and danger At the very least it meant delay for he would be forced to stop and build a fire and under its protection to bare his feet while he dried his socks and moccasins He stood and studied the creek-bed and its banks and decided that the flow of water came from the right He reflected a while rubbing his nose and cheeks then skirted to the left stepping gingerly and testing the footing for each step Once clear of the danger he took a fresh chew of tobacco and swung along at his four-mile gait

In the course of the next two hours he came upon several similar traps Usually the snow above the hidden pools had a sunken candied appearance that advertised the danger Once again however he had a close call and once suspecting danger he compelled the dog to go on in front The dog did not want to go It hung back until the man shoved it forward and then it went quickly across the white unbroken surface Suddenly it broke through floundered to one side and got away to firmer

To Build a FireContinued

To Build a FireContinued

footing It had wet its forefeet and legs and almost immediately the water that clung to it turned to ice It made quick efforts to lick the ice off its legs then dropped down in the snow and began to bite out the ice that had formed between the toes l his was a matter of instinct To permit the ice to remain would mean sore feet It did not know this It merely obeyed the mysterious prompting that arose from the deep crypts of its being But the man knew having achieved a judgment on the subject and he removed the mitten from his right hand and helped tear out the ice-particles He did not expose his fingers more than a minute and was astonished at the swift numbness that smote them It certainly was cold He pulled on the mitten hastily and beat the hand savagely across his chest

At twelve oclock the day was at its brightest Yet the sun was too far south an its winter journey to clear the horizon The bulge of the earth intervened between it arid Henderson Creek where the man walked under a clear sky at noon and cast no shadow At half-past twelve to the minute he arrived at the forks of the creek He was pleased at the speed he had made If he kept it up he would certainly be with the boys by six He unbuttoned his jacket and shirt and drew forth his lunch The action consumed no more than a quarter of a minute yet in that brief moment the numbness laid hold of the exposed fingers He did not put the mitten on but instead struck the fingers a dozen sharp smashes against his leg Then he sat down on a snow-covered log to eat The sting that followed upon the striking of his fingers against his leg ceased so quickly that he was startled He had had no chance to take a bite of biscuit He struck the fingers repeatedly and returned them to the mitten baring the other hand for the purpose of eating He tried to take a mouthful but the ice-muzzle prevented He had forgotten to build a fire and thaw out He chuckled at his foolishness and as he chuckled he noted the numbness creeping into the exposed fingers Also he noted that the stinging which had first come to his

toes when he sat down was already passing away He wandered whether the toes were warm or numb He moved them inside the moccasins and decided that they were numb

He pulled the mitten on hurriedly and stood up He was a bit frightened He stamped up and down until the stinging returned into the feet It certainly was cold was his thought That man from Sulphur Creek had spoken the truth when telling how cold it sometimes got in the country And he had laughed at him at the time That showed one must not be too sure of things There was no mistake about it it was cold He strode up and down stamping his feet and threshing his arms until reassured by the returning warmth Then he got out matches and proceeded to make a fire From the undergrowth where high water of the previous spring had lodged a supply of seasoned twigs he got his firewood Working carefully from a small beginning he soon had a roaring fire over which he thawed the ice from his face and in the protection of which he ate his biscuits For the moment the cold space was outwitted The dog took satisfaction in the fire stretching out close enough for warmth and far enough away to escape being singed

When the man had finished be filled his pipe and took his comfortable time over a smoke Then he pulled on his mittens settled the ear-flaps of his cap firmly about his ears and took the creek trail up the left fork The dog was disappointed and yearned back toward the fire This man did not know cold Possibly all the generations of his ancestry had been ignorant of cold of real cold of cold one hundred and seven degrees below freezing point But the dog knew all its ancestry knew and it had inherited the knowledge And it knew that it was not good to walk abroad in such fearful cold It was the time to lie snug in a hole in the snow and wait for a curtain of cloud to be drawn across the face of outer space whence this cold came On the other hand there was no keen intimacy between the dog and the man

The one was the toil-slave of the other and the only caresses it had ever received were the caresses of the whiplash and of harsh and menacing throat-sounds that threatened the whiplash So the dog made no effort to communicate its apprehension to the man It was not concerned in the welfare of the man it was for its own sake that it yearned back toward the fire But the man whistled and spoke to it with the sound of whiplashes and the dog swung in at the mans heel and followed after

The man took a chew of tobacco and proceeded to start a new amber beard Also his moist breath quickly powdered with white his mustache eyebrows and lashes There did not seem to be so many springs on the left fork of the Henderson and for half an hour the man saw no signs of any And then it happened At a place where there were no signs where the soft unbroken snow seemed to advertise solidity beneath tee man broke through It was not deep He wet himself halfway to the knees before he floundered out to the firm crust

He was angry and cursed his luck aloud He had hoped to get into camp with the boys at six oclock and this would delay him an hour for he would have to build a fire and dry out his foot-gear This was imperative at that low temperature--he knew that much and he turned aside to the bank which he climbed On top tangled in the underbrush about the trunks of several small spruce trees was a high-water deposit of dry firewood--sticks and twigs principally but also larger portions of seasoned branches and fine dry last-years grasses He threw down several large pieces on top of the snow This served for a foundation and prevented the young flame from drowning itself in the snow it otherwise would melt The flame he got by touching a match to a small shred of birch bark that he took from his pocket This burned even more readily than paper Placing it on the foundation he fed the young flame with wisps of dry grass and with the tiniest dry twigs

He worked slowly and carefully keenly aware of his danger Gradually as the flame grew stronger he increased the size of the twigs with which he fed it He squatted in the snow pulling the twigs out from their entanglement in the brush and feeding directly to the flame He knew there must be no failure When it is seventy-five below zero a man must not fail in his first attempt to build a fire--that is if his feet are wet If his feet are dry and he fails he can run along the trail for half a mile and restore his circulation But the circulation of wet and freezing feet cannot be restored by running when it is seventy-five below No matter how fast he runs the wet feet will freeze the harder

All this the man knew The old-timer on Sulphur Creek had told him about it the previous fall and now he was appreciating the advice Already all sensation had gone out of his feet To build the fire he had been forced to remove his mittens and the fingers had quickly gone numb His pace of four miles an hour had kept his heart pumping blood to the surface of his body and to all the extremities But the instant he stopped the action of the pump eased down The cold of space smote the unprotected tip of the planet and he being on that unprotected tip received the full force of the blow The blood of his body recoiled before it The blood was alive like the dog and like the dog it wanted to hide away and cover itself up from the fearful cold So long as he walked four miles an hour he pumped that blood willy-nilly to the surface but now it ebbed away and sank down into the recesses of his body The extremities were the first to feel its absence His wet feet froze the faster and his exposed fingers numbed the faster though they had not yet begun to freeze Nose and cheeks were already freezing while the skin of all his body chilled as it lost its blood

But he was safe Toes and nose and cheeks would be only touched by the frost for the fire was beginning to burn with strength He was feeding it

To Build a FireContinued

with twigs the size of his finger In another minute he would be able to feed it with branches the size of his wrier and then he could remove his wet toot-gear and while it dried he could keep his naked feet warm by the fire rubbing them at first of course with snow The fire was a success He was safe He remembered the advice of the old timer on Sulphur Creek and smiled The old-timer had been very serious in laying down the law that no man must travel alone in the Klondike after fifty below Well here he was he had had the accident he was alone and he had saved himself Those old-timers were rather womanish some of them he thought All a man had to do was to keep his head and he was all right Any man who was a man could travel alone But it was surprising the rapidity with which his cheeks and nose were freezing And he had not thought his fingers could go lifeless in so short a time Lifeless they were for he could scarcely make them move together to grip a twig and they seemed remote from his body and from him When he touched a twig he had to look and see whether or not he had hold of it The wires were pretty well down between him and his finger-ends

All of which counted for little There was the fire snapping and crackling and promising life with every dancing flame He started to untie his moccasins They were coated with ice the thick German socks were like sheaths of iron halfway to the knees and the moccasin strings were like rods of steel all twisted and knotted as by some conflagration For a moment he tugged with his numb fingers then realizing the folly of it he drew his sheath-knife

But before he could cut the strings it happened It was his own fault or rather his mistake He should not have built the fire under the spruce tree He should have built it in the open But it had been easier to pull the twigs from the brush and drop them directly on the fire Now the tree under which

he had done this carried a weight of snow on its boughs No wind had blown for weeks and each bough was fully freighted Each time he had pulled a twig he had communicated a slight agitation to the tree--an imperceptible agitation so far as he was concerned but an agitation sufficient to bring about the disaster High up in the tree one bough capsized its load of snow This fell on the boughs beneath capsizing them This process continued spreading out and involving the whole tree It grew like an avalanche and it descended without warning upon the man and the fire and the fire was blotted out Where it had burned was a mantle of fresh and disordered snow

The man was shocked It was as though he had just heard his own sentence of death For a moment he sat and stared at the spot where the fire had been Then he grew very calm Perhaps the old-timer on Sulphur Creek was right If he had only had a trail-mate he would have been in no danger now The trail-mate could have built the fire Well it was up to him to build the fire over again and this second time there must be no failure Even if he succeeded he would most likely lose some toes His feet must be badly frozen by now and there would be some time before the second fire Was ready

Such were his thoughts but he did not sit and think them He was busy all the time they were passing through his mind He made a new foundation for a fire this time in the open where no treacherous tree could blot it out Next he gathered dry grasses and tiny twigs from the high-water flotsam He could not bring his fingers together to pull them out but he was able to gather them by the handful In this way he got many rotten twigs and bits of green moss that were undesirable but it was the best he could do He worked methodically even collecting an armful of the larger branches to be used later when the fire gathered strength And all the while the dog sat and watched him a certain yearning wistfulness in its eyes for it looked upon

To Build a FireContinued

him as the fire-provider and the fire was slow in coming

When all was ready the man reached in his pocket for a second piece of birch bark He knew the bark was there and though he could not feel it with his fingers he could hear its crisp rustling as he fumbled for it Try as he would he could not clutch hold of it And all the time in his consciousness was the knowledge that each instant his feet were freezing This thought tended to put him in a panic but he fought against it and kept calm He pulled on his mittens with his teeth and threshed his arms back and forth beating his hands with all his might against his sides He did this sitting down and he stood up to do it and all the while the dog sat in the snow its wolf-brush of a tail curled around warmly over its forefeet its sharp wolf-ears pricked forward intently as it watched the man And the man as he beat and threshed with his arms and hands felt a great surge of envy as he regarded the creature that was warm ant secure in its natural covering

After a time he was aware of the first far-away signals of sensation in his beaten fingers The faint tingling grew stronger till it evolved into a stinging ache that was excruciating but which the man hailed with satisfaction He stripped the mitten from his right hand and fetched forth the birch bark The exposed fingers were quickly going numb again Next he brought out his bunch of sulphur matches But the tremendous cold had already driven the life out of his fingers In his effort to separate one match from the others the whole bunch fell in the snow He tried to pick it out of the snow but failed The dead fingers could neither touch nor clutch He was very careful He drove the thought of his freezing feet and nose and cheeks out of his mind devoting his whole soul to the matches He watched using the sense of vision in place of that of touch and when he saw his fingers on each side the bunch he dosed them--that is he willed to close them for the wires were down and the fingers did not obey He pulled

the mitten on the right hand and beat it fiercely against his knee Then with both mittened hands he scooped the bunch of matches along with much snow into his lap Yet he was no better off

After some manipulation he managed to get the bunch between the heels of his mittened hands In this fashion he carried it to his mouth The ice crackled and snapped when by a violent effort he opened his mouth He drew the lower jaw in curled the upper lip out of the way and scraped the bunch with his upper teeth in order to separate a match He succeeded in getting one which he dropped on his lap He was no better off He could not pick it up Then he devised a way He picked it up in his teeth and scratched it on his leg Twenty times he scratched before he succeeded in lighting it As it flamed he held it with his teeth to the birch bark But the burning brimstone went up his nostrils and into his lungs causing him to cough spasmodically The match fell into the snow and went out

The old-timer an Sulphur Creek was right he thought in the moment of controlled despair that ensued after fifty below a man should travel with a partner He beat his hands but failed in exciting any sensation Suddenly he bared both hands removing the mittens with his teeth He caught the whole bunch between the heels of his hands His arm muscles not being frozen enabled him to press the hand-heels tightly against the matches Then he scratched the bunch along his leg It flared into flame seventy sulphur matches at once There was no wind to blow them out He kept his head to one side to escape the strangling fumes and held the blazing bunch to the birth bark As he so held it he became aware of sensation in his hand His flesh was burning He could smell it Deep down below the surface he could feel it The sensation developed into pain that grew acute And still he endured it holding the flame of the matches clumsily to the bark that would not light readily because his own burning hands were in the way absorbing most of the flame

To Build a FireContinued

At last when he could endure no more he jerked his hands apart The blazing matches fell sizzling into the snow but the birch bark was alight He began laying dry grasses and the tiniest twigs on the flame He could not pick and choose for he had to lift the fuel between the heels of his hands Small pieces of rotten wood and green moss clung to the twigs and he bit them off as well as he could with his teeth He cherished the flame carefully and awkwardly It meant life and it must not perish The withdrawal of blood from the surface of his body now made him begin to shiver and he grew more awkward A large piece of green moss fell squarely on the little fire He tried to poke it out with his fingers but his shivering frame made him poke too far and he disrupted the nucleus of the little fire the burning grasses and tiny twigs separating and scattering He tried to poke them together again but in spite of the tenseness of the effort his shivering got away with him and the twigs were hopelessly scattered Each twig gushed a puff of smoke and went out The fire-provider had failed As he looked apathetically about him his eyes chanced on the dog sitting across the ruins of the fire from him in the snow making restless hunching movements slightly lifting one forefoot and then the other shifting its weight back and forth on them with wistful eagerness

The sight of the dog put a wild idea into his head He remembered the tale of the man caught in a blizzard who killed a steer and crawled inside the carcass and so was saved He would kill the dog and bury his hands in the warm body until the numbness went out of them Then he could build another fire He spoke to the dog calling it to him but in his voice was a strange note of fear that frightened the animal who had never known the man to speak in such way before Something was the matter and its suspicious nature sensed danger--it knew not what danger but somewhere somehow in its brain arose an apprehension of the man It flattened its ears down at the sound of the mans voice and its restless

hunching movements and the liftings and shiftings of its forefeet became more pronounced but it would not come to the man He got on his hands and knees and crawled toward the dog This unusual posture again excited suspicion and the animal sidled mincingly away

The man sat up in the snow for a moment and struggled for calmness Then he pulled on his mittens by means of his teeth and got upon his feet He glanced down at first in order to assure himself that he was really standing up for the absence of sensation in his feet left him unrelated to the earth His erect position in itself started to drive the webs of suspicion from the dogs mind and when he spoke peremptorily with the sound of whiplashes in his voice the dog rendered its customary allegiance and came to him As it came within reaching distance the man lost his control His arms flashed out to the dog and he experienced genuine surprise when he discovered that his hands could not clutch that there was neither bend nor feeling in the fingers He had forgotten for the moment that they were frozen and that they were freezing more and more All this happened quickly and before the animal could get away he encircled its body with his arms He sat down in the snow and in this fashion held the dog while it snarled and whined and struggled

But it was all he could do hold its body encircled in his arms and sit there He realized that he could not kill the dog There was no way to do it With his helpless hands he could neither draw nor hold his sheath knife nor throttle the animal He released it and it plunged wildly away with tail between its legs and still snarling It halted forty feet away and surveyed him curiously with ears sharply pricked forward The man looked down at his hands in order to locate them and found them hanging on the ends of his arms It struck him as curious that one should have to use his eyes in order to find out where his hands were He began threshing his arms back and forth beating the mittened hands against

To Build a FireContinued

his sides He did this for five minutes violently and his heart pumped enough blood up to the surface to put a stop to his shivering But no sensation was aroused in the hands He had an impression that they hung like weights on the ends of his arms but when he tried to run the impression down he could not find it

A certain fear of death dull and oppressive came to him This fear quickly became poignant as he realized that it was no longer a mere matter of freezing his fingers and toes or of losing his hands and feet but that it was a matter of life and death with the chances against him This threw him into a panic and he turned and ran up the creek-bed along the old dim trail The dog joined in behind and kept up with him He ran blindly without intention in fear such as he had never known in his life Slowly as he plowed and floundered through the snow he began to see things again the banks of the creek the old timber-jams the leafless aspens and the sky The running made him feel better He did not shiver Maybe if he ran on his feet would thaw out and anyway if he ran far enough he would reach camp and the boys Without doubt he would lose some fingers and toes and some of his face but the boys would take care of him and save the rest of him when he got there And at the same time there was another thought in his mind that said he would never get to the camp and the boys that it was too many miles away that the freezing had too great a start on him and that he would soon be stiff and dead This thought he kept in the background and refused to consider Sometimes it pushed itself forward and demanded to be heard but he thrust it back and strove to think of other things

It struck him as curious that he could run at all on feet so frozen that he could not feel them when they struck the earth and took the weigh of his body He seemed to himself to skim along above the surface and to have no connection with the earth Somewhere he had once seen a winged Mercury

and he wondered if Mercury felt as he felt when skimming over the earth

His theory of running until he reached camp and the boys had one flaw in it he lacked the endurance Several times he stumbled and finally he tottered crumpled up and fell When he tried to rise he failed He must sit and rest he decided and next time he would merely walk and keep on going As he sat and regained his breath he noted that he was feeling quite warm and comfortable He was not shivering and it even seemed that a warm glow had come to his chest and trunk And yet when he touched his nose or cheeks there was no sensation Running would not thaw them out Nor would it thaw out his hands and feet Then the thought came to him that the frozen portions of his body must be extending He tried to keep this thought down to forget it to think of something else he was aware of the panicky feeling that it caused and he was afraid of the panic But the thought asserted itself and persisted until it produced a vision of his body totally frozen This was too much and he made another wild run along the trail Once he slowed down to a walk but the thought of the freezing extending itself made him run again

And all the time the dog ran with him at his heels When he fell down a second time it curled its tad over its forefeet and sat in front of him facing him curiously eager and intent The warmth and security of the animal angered him and he cursed it till it flattened down its ears appealingly This time the shivering came more quickly upon the man He was losing in his battle with the frost It was creeping into his body from all sides The thought of it drove him on but he ran no more than a hundred feet when he staggered and pitched headlong It was his last panic When he had recovered his breath and control he sat up and entertained in his mind the conception of meeting death with dignity However the conception did not come to him in such terms His idea of it was that he had been making a fool of

To Build a FireContinued

himself running around like a chicken with its head cut off--such was the simile that occurred to him Well he was bound to freeze anyway and he might as well take it decently With this new-found peace of mind came the first glimmerings of drowsiness A good idea he thought to sleep off to death It was like salting an anesthetic Freezing was not so bad as people thought There were lots worse ways to die

He pictured the boys finding his body next day Suddenly he found himself with them coming along the trail and looking for himself And still with them he came around a turn in the trail and found himself lying in the snow He did not belong with himself any more for even then he was out of himself standing with the boys and looking at himself in the snow It certainly was cold was his thought When he got back to the States he could tell the folks what real cold was He drifted on from this to a vision of the old-timer on Sulphur Creek He could see him quite clearly warm and comfortable and smoking a pipe

You were right old boss you were right the man mumbled to the old-timer of Sulphur Creek

Then the man drowsed off into what seemed to him the most comfortable and satisfying sleep he had ever known The dog sat facing him and waiting The brief day drew to a close in a long slow twilight There were no signs of a fire to be made and besides never in the dogs experience had it known a man to sit like that in the snow and make no fire As the twilight drew on its eager yearning for the fire mastered it and with a great lifting and shifting of forefeet it whined softly then flattened its ears down in anticipation of being chidden by the man But the man remained silent Later the dog whined loudly And still later it crept close to the man and caught the scent of death This made the animal bristle and back away A little longer it delayed howling under the stars that leaped and danced and shone brightly in the cold sky Then it turned and trotted up the trail in the direction of the camp it knew where were the other food-providers and fire-providers

To Build a FireContinued

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Page 18: FitnessDigest.us Vol. 4.3 Cover

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2 Deadwood Mickelson Trail MarathonSunday June 2 2013

Deadwood South Dakota

13 On June 2nd we will celebrate 12 years of offering runners from around the globe the most unique running experience of their life Where else in the world can you run on a course that takes you from an abandoned mining town across railroad trestles through a mountain past monolithic rock formations beside a babbling creek and finish in Deadwoodhellipa town that is a historic landmark

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Written Emily WheelerFor more information amp video visit httpLIveAdsFitnessDigestus

ldquoWild West town known primarily for its gamblers gunslingers and gold minersrdquo

Hope to see you at the finish

This Wild West town known primarily for its gamblers gunslingers and gold miners has turned into one of the premiere destination marathon venues in the US

13 The breathtaking beauty of our course the truly outstanding team of volunteers the hospitality of everyone associated with the event and paying attention to details are just a couple of reasons yoursquoll want to toe the line on June 2nd

The Deadwood Mickelson Trail Half and Full Marathon is a point to point course

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ldquoThe breathtaking beauty of our courserdquo

WaynesSkiandCyclenetlive links to Waynersquos at httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

MTM Charity Partner

13 Habitat for Humanity is a global nonprofit Christian housing organization that has helped to build more than 500000 decent affordable houses and served 25 million people worldwide since its founding in 1976 With the help of volunteers and donations of money and materials Habitat constructs rehabilitates and preserves homes in partnership with low-income families in need Operating in nearly 80 countries and with more than 1500 affiliates in the United States Habitat also advocates for fair and just housing policies and provides training and access to resources to help families improve their shelter conditions

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beginning in the historic mining town of Rochford the first 15 miles are on a paved road At this point the course becomes the Mickelson Trail (a rails to trails project) The next 12 miles are a mixture of gentle uphill and flat terrain

13 Then the course is either downhill or flat and finishes at the historic Engine House at end of the linehellipthe Deadwood Trailhead The Half Marathon is also a point to point course starting at the 131 mile mark of the full marathon Walker Friendly

All participants will receive a Commemorative Finisherrsquos Medal

Mickelson Trail Marathon Charity Partner is the Black Hills Habitat for HumanityMake your Marathon Matter Matching Funds

Make your Marathon matter by helping create decent shelter in the Black Hills ndash take the challenge to give at least $1 per race mile Our goal is to raise $3000 in 2012 for BH Habitat for Humanity to help provide shelter for more families in the Black Hills

Registrations are capped at 3000 runners If you want to be part of the Deadwood Mickelson Trail Marathon Weekend celebration go to LiveAdsFitnessDigestus and click on the MTM Marathon URL

Hope to see you at the Finish Line - ThanksEmily Wheeler Wheeler Event Management Inc

ldquoHope to see you at the finish linerdquo

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links

DAY had broken cold and gray exceedingly cold and gray when the man turned aside from the main Yukon trail and climbed the high earth-bank where a dim and little traveled trail led eastward through the fat spruce timberland It was a steep bank and he paused for breath at the top excusing the act to himself by looking at his watch It was nine oclock There was no sun nor hint of sun though there was not a cloud in the sky It was a

clear day and yet there seemed an intangible pall over the face of things a subtle gloom that made the day dark and that was due to the absence of sun This fact did not worry the man He was used to the lack of sun It had been days since he had seen the sun and he knew that a few more-days must pass before that cheerful orb due south would just peep above the sky-line and dip immediately from view

To Build a Fire - Hiking the Yukon TrailShort story fiction Written by Jack London (1876-1916)

The man flung a look back along the way he had come The Yukon lay a mile wide and hidden under three feet of ice On top of this ice were as many feet of snow It was all pure white rolling in gentle undulations where the ice jams of the freeze-up had formed North and south as far as his eye could see it was unbroken white save for a dark hairline that curved and twisted from around the spruce-covered island to the south and that curved and twisted away into the north where it disappeared behind another spruce-covered island This dark hair-line was the trail--the main trail--that led south five hundred miles to the Chilcoot Pass Dyea and salt water and that led north seventy miles to Dawson and still on to the north a thousand miles to Nulato and finally to St Michael on Bering Sea a thousand miles and half a thousand more

But all this--the mysterious far-reaching hair-line trail The absence of sun from the sky the tremendous cold and the strangeness and weirdness of it all--made no

impression on the man It was not because he was long used to it He was a newcomer In the land a chechaquo and this was his first winter The trouble with him was that he was without imagination He was quick and alert in the things of life but only in the things and not in the significances Fifty degrees below zero meant eighty-odd degrees of frost Such fact impressed him as being cold and uncomfortable and that was all It did not lead him to meditate upon his frailty as a creature of temperature and upon mans frailty in general able only to live within certain narrow limits of heat and cold and from there on it did not lead him to the conjectural field of immortality and mans place in the universe Fifty degrees below zero stood forte bite of frost that hurt and that must be guarded against by the use of mittens ear-flaps warm moccasins and thick socks Fifty degrees below zero was to him just precisely fifty degrees below zero That there should be anything more to it than that was a thought that never entered his head

To Build a FireContinued

Continued on page 62

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It is important from time to time to slow down to go away by yourself and simply be --Eileen Caddy

Letrsquos Race13 My son is eight and our family is very active Im just hitting my peak racing age of about 34 years old The family members all support each otherrsquos activities They are a great cheering section when my wife and I compete in races There is a popular two mile fun run in our town that we my wife and I run every year We also have for-fun races with the kids around the house or across the football field For years Ive let the eight year old win a few and others I win by just a little bit I think he is wising up to my tactics of good fatherhood One day he said ldquoDad you are letting me win but I think I can beat you fair and squarerdquo He added ldquoYoursquore not that fast Ill bet you 10 dollars I can beat you in a two mile racerdquo Wanting to teach him a lesson about spouting off and writing checks his body cant cash I took him up on it I said All right you pick a time and place We will race two miles for 10 dollars He replied You know that two mile race you and mom do every year I can race you then I agreed and he quickly added Ill need 20 years to warm-up That would make me 54 and him 28 Irsquom preparing for the loss and putting 10 dollars aside now

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Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

In my first creative experience it was through music and I was interested in developing my values of creativity I was inspired by a band named Motley Crue and the song that captured my interest was Home Sweet home Dear reader what inspires you Is it music or inspirational quote thought or ideas To express how this song motivated my interests it helped give me faith in my own creative abilities in the process I began to write lyrics I eventually began to work on different styles of writing and broaden my writing skills What types of music inspire your creative thoughts What types of other inspiration values inspire your creative thoughts

13 Getting motivated is one of the key aspects of a successful weight-loss program Without this motivation there would be no drive to get up early or to avoid eating unhealthy snacks ndash that you absolutely love Yes you can thank your motivation for that When you are looking for weight-loss motivation sometimes it is hard to find Where can you find that extra umph to make it to your goal

The benefits of finding a motivator are something that cannot be paralleled It has been said mind over matter This coincides with our principle that no matter how hard the task you can accomplish the goal given the right mindset It is important to go into a new weight-loss program with a positive mental attitude

FINDI

NG TH

EM X InspirationX

Motivation

When I was introduced to William Shakespeare I was intrigued by his creative values and I started to work on developing a different aspect of writing I then watched the movie Free Jack there was a quote by Albert Einstein Imagination is more important than knowledge I thought about the in depth values of both concepts and then I applied both concepts and defined different creative concept Do you believe that anything is possible if you believe I know that I do believe that if an individual believes deeply enough one can accomplish their goals I had to believe in my own abilities and in my dreams and ignore the negative values that were impressed by others

Anything less can potentially hinder growth towards your goal

Some of the things that you should be thinking about when looking for motivators are people with good morals and a positive attitude This is because if the people helping you do not have a positive attitude then it is also difficult for you Some great places to look for a motivator are online blogs in the gym or even in your own family I am sure that in all of these places you will see someone else trying to accomplish the same or even more difficult goals than your own

Another key to finding motivation is to let it find you You should not have to go find a reason to go do something You will do it because you wanted to not because you were forced to

X

InspirationMotivation

More simply put motivation will find you because you will see something that inspires you to make a change in yourself That change may be a weight-loss goal or something else Maybe even an academic goal The true key is to maintain that motivation until you have achieved your goal

Regards Vincent ErrichielloUSMS Swimmer

InspirationMotivation

With believing so deeply within my own abilities and the faith that I could accomplish what I set out to achieve I wrote a lyric titled Dreams Are Only Real and in believing in this concept further defining its true meaning the concept became Dreams Are Only Real Until You Dont believe

Jeremy J TaylorCNFI Publishing

himTHROWINGWritten by anonymous contributor

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13 Johnny is not the best batter in our little league Matter-of-fact he is quiet awful At practice one afternoon Johnny hit a pitch really well The coach had pitched him inside on accident far enough inside that it almost hit him Johnny got his hit by using his bat to defend himself from that arrant pitch The coach told him ldquogood hitrdquo and Johnny yelled back ldquoWell I didnrsquot want the ball to hit merdquo13 Johnny improved his batting after that He was hitting the ball almost every time he got up At one point I said to coach ldquoHow did you get Johnny to improve his batting so quicklyrdquo He replyed Im throwing the ball it AT HIM every time

Body image and fitness are hot topics for both men and women The Great Fitness Experiment is my hilarious poignant embarrassing and at times heart-breaking journey to find my way through the morass of contradictory claims and information in todayrsquos health- and fitness-obsessed world

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Send u

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READE

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13 I was standing on shore fishing in my favorite spot A guy Irsquove never seen at the pond gets in and starts swimming After about 25 minutes of back and forth he stops at a place about 30 yards off shore He gives me a quick look and dices down below the water

His next lap he stops in the same place looks at me again and points down at the water He finished his swim and left I picked up my gear and moved to the other side of the outlet just a few yards from where he had stopped twice Caught a lunker in the first cast

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TOP TWEETS

Iowa Cubs (IowaCubs)Thanks to all our fans who showed up for the pre-game on-field catch with dad

Louise Pineda (forerunnerGPS)The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficultyWinston Churchill quotes

Softball Darlin (Softball_Darlin)My mom told me our team was gettin white uniforms for summer amp to try not to get them dirty Uh Have you seen me play Not gonna happen

I Swim I Suffer (ISwimISuffer)thatswimmerwho If the water is in your right ear for example then jump on your right leg and lean your head to the right side while jumping

I Swim and I Know It (iSwimWithIssues)During the summer you shower 467 times at the pool 17 times at hotels and 3 times at your house Truth

Everyday Health (WomensCancer)63000 Americans will be diagnosed w malignant melanoma (the deadliest skin cancer) this year Know your risk

US Paralympics (USParalympics)Want to be introduced to Paralympic sport Attend one of the Paralympic Experiences being held throughout the countryFi

tnes

sDig

est

US v

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2

SwimSwam (swimswamnews)Congrats to KenyaSwimmer on being selected to carry the Kenya flag swimswamcom

Better than sharing on a blog Twitter or Facebook and you can share a story even if you donrsquot maintain a social-web presencePublished for ALL FitnessDigestus readers

Sign with your real name pen-name or anonymoushttpLiveMediaFitnessDigestus

13 Funnest thing SPAM about some weight-loss supplements got posted on a friendrsquos Facebook My friend is an ultra-runner I notice there was also an ad for salami recipes on the same page The recipes were right next to the SPAM about diet-pills

13 Letrsquos see ndash it sounds like the beginning of a good joke Q What do you get when a friend tries to sell you ultra-runner endorsed salami-flavored-SPAM diet-pills on Facebook Answer Sick

Unsung Heroes1 Irsquove never swam open water and wanted to do a triathlon A friend that

races open water took extra time to swim with me at a lake I was much more comfortable after that

2 I was going on vacation and needed advice on a place to swim A friend living in the area took the time to help me find people to answer my questions

3 I was over eating and had complained to my friend about it She called me twice a day for three weeks just to remind me to eat healthy

4 I usually run to and from the gym It takes about 30 minutes to run both ways I didnrsquot have enough time to get there and back before a scheduled appointment I had A friend drove me to the gym saving me about 30 minutes I was able to run home and still had time to get to my appointment

SPAM DIET

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Visit the Suburban Mommy blog and learn more about AtresiaMicrotia a birth defect of the inner earFor links to SubMommy blog httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

SUBMOMMYBLOG

On Wednesday May 16 2012 at 7 PM simultaneous rides occurred around the

USA and the world

We all ride Now we can ride as one

One day One time One world world wide

Let the silence roar

322 locations world wide

The Ride of SilenceTonight we number many but ride as one

In honor of those not with us friends

mothers fathers sisters sons

With helmets on tight and heads down low

We ride in silence cautious and slow

The wheels start spinning in the lead pack

But tonight we ride and no one attacks

The dark sunglasses cover our tears

Remembering those we held so dear

Tonights ride is to make others aware

The road is there for all to share

To those not with us or by our side

May God be your partner on your final ride

- Mike Murgas

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 50 states

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 7 Continents

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 0 words spoken

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 1 million memories

Ride of Silence

ldquoCost-effective investments in bicycling boost our economy help individuals and government agencies save money and directly address key societal challenges such as obesity and road congestion In these tough economic times our federal government can only afford to invest in solutions that solve multiple problems Bicycling fits the billrdquo ndash PeopleForBikesorg

This photo collection was taken byRobert LaVallee of Mason City IA

To see his entire collection visithttpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

Non-subscriberSign-up for delivery of

the FREE edition at coopnetbiz

It provides an outstanding aerobic workout in less than half the time we would spend in still water It has allowed us as swim coaches to observe swimmers stroke characteristics up close and to see the effects of fatigue on stroke mechanics ~ Larry L Chazy NY

Swimming is an excellent exercise and now I can swim every day because its so convenient and private I can swim when I want and how long I want Im able to have it at a temperature that is comfortable to me The small size of an Endless Pool enabled me to install a pool where I could not install a regular size one

As an aging baby boomer nutrition professional I have yearned for consistent exercise that doesnt stress joints and will enable me to attain physical fitness cardiovascular health and weight control I can eat what I want and still firm up and lose weight ~ John C Columbus OH

Endless Pools make for long swims in small places The 8x15 Endless Pool is less than regulation size but offers the same benefits as a very large pool ~ Noah H Connecticut Post

The Endless Pool is a great strength builder I am amazed at the strength of the current I now swim against I did not buy it for that reason but because of my arthritis so the strength gain is a wonderful surprise

Endless PoolsTestimonials For more information visit httpLIveAdsFitnessDigestus

s w i m m i n g s h o r t s

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Baseball Walking Stick13 My sons friend grabbed his baseball bat and said to me this is my walking stick I politely ask him why he calls it that He replied because my dad says if I hit a home run with it I donrsquot have to run the bases ndash I can walk

My Bike My mountain bike was stolen a while back and my kids were really upset Ive been riding my road bike in its place Since then Ive been careful to lock my bike up when we go to the park

13 On this occasion I did not lock-up my sonrsquos bike up with mine He looked at me quizzically and said sternly lock my bike up too I tried to explain that his bike was not as expensive and therefor didnt need to be locked up Boy that was a mistake He made me feel a little dumb when he said Dad I dont care how expensive it is Its the only bike Irsquove got

North Iowa Roads

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A LEADER inSearch Engine Optimization

Technology

Increase your visitor page views and Facebook Likes

Are you moving to a new state Already hired your mover

E-mail blind box at box02FitnessDigestus will get

you the best rates on cable phone and internet

Digital Movers

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

parent sports tipBy FitnessDigestus staff writer JGA

PAR

EN

T

TIP

Keeping Kids Focused13 Organize their thoughts Help them prioritize and make decisions based on value Even kids can understand the value of simple non-monetized choices Questions like ldquoShould I finish playing my gameboy game or pause it when they call my swimming eventrdquo

If kids are taught to make good decisions and not just find quick answers everyone wins

AugustGolf Month5th Friendship Day15th Relaxation Day25th Kiss and Make Up Day31st Trail Mix DaySeptemberLittle League Month12th Chocolate Milk Shake Day13th Positive Thinking Day16th Womenrsquos Friendship Day21st Miniature Golf DayOctoberBreast Cancer Awareness MonthNational Diabetes Month1st World Vegetarian Day4th Golf Day25th World Pasta Day

National Calendar

Au

gu

stSe

pte

mb

er

Oc

tob

er

Encourage friendships writing skills sharing thoughts and

experiencesEight different cards

YAGOTTAWANNA

Variety of pricing From single orders to bulk orders of 24 notecards

Learn more online

Stay in touch with your swimming or triathlon buddies

It is better to be safe then to try to beat the heat There are many options to stay cool and run during a hot-summer day Staying inside and running on the treadmill is a good one Remember staying safe is a top priority

Most workouts can be modified to work indoors This issuersquos workout is to do your usual run or interval set just stay inside and run it on the treadmill Visualize the different landmarks to see during your outdoor run

Coach Millerrsquos Quarterly ChallengeStay safe in the heatBy Mark Miller mmillerFitnessDigestus

A few years back we had a hot-spell similar to this yearrsquos record heat

I remember training for a long run and having to stop at the local swimming hole to cool off I literally took off my

shoes and jumped in with my running clothes on I was so hot

FitnessDigestUSEntertainment amp Inspiration

Use coupon codeldquoRAMCSPRrdquo

at puresportshopcomfor 20 OFF

Nutritional Performance Sports Drinks with Protein

OPEN WATER SWIMMING BY THE NUMBERS

In kilometers The shortest open water race included in the Fina World Championships

10107 How many miles it

is to swim from Cuba to the USA

5

1000Number of swimming strokes in a mile for a typical swimmer

31800About the number of calories it takes to swim 100 miles

LOCATED IN ST ANSGAR IOWA

Business Cards Envelopes

Letterheads Programs

Vinyl Decals Signs

Posters Invites (graduation wedding showers etc)

Flyers Brochures

T-ShirtsShorts SweatshirtsSweats

Koozies Sashes

Business Forms Placemats

Postcards And Much More

Bridgette Beyer DesignerOwner

Bring your ideas in andVisual Aspect Designs can print

andor design for you

The minimum open water distance in kilometers that is considered a swimming-

marathon

On Facebook Visit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

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Open water safety means swimming in shallow water where there is a lifeguard or using an escort

Shop for Name BrandGear

24 Hoursa Day

WaynesSkiandCyclenet

For links to Waynersquos visit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

s w i m m i n g s h o r t s

Googles

13 Swimming fans can really appreciate a 200 IM when their goggles fill with water How about an Olympian Swimming a leg of the 400 Free Relay with his goggles across his opened mouth ndash and going 45rsquos A great team swimmer an Olympian wouldnrsquot let down his teammates by throwing them off or fixing them

500 Fly13 A world class butterflyer asked if he could swim butterfly in the 500 yard freestyle during a dual meet His goal was to break five minutes After considering the competition it seemed like a great way to make him really work a hard fly swim so we agreed Problem was he swam a 502 and the opposing coach complained to the officials because he embarrassed his swimmers Oh well you canrsquot win lsquoem all

Stories sent in by Robert Steele

No-No-No13 The other morning I was teaching front-streamlines to snotty nosed 8 year olds (some are literally snotty-nosed) One boy was taking a big gulp of air and holding his breath When he lifted his head he had to exhale and inhale before submerging again Swimmers will understand this does not work very well Kids need to learn to exhale underwater The first time he did it I told him to exhale underwater The second time I stopped him looked him in the eye and reminded him to exhale underwater The third and fourth times I started to get a little frustrated ldquoJohnny you need to exhale underwater so you can breath betterrdquo The fifth time as his head popped up for a breath I quickly asked ldquoJohnny Do you even know what exhale meansrdquo as he submerged his head below the water I could see him shake his head no-no-no

Favorite Potato Chips13We try to limit the junk food the kids eat at our house For lunch one day our son wanted some potato chips I gave him 3 large chips with his sandwich He started to cry and said he wanted one more chip ldquoI wanted four chipsrdquo he screamed I took the plate back When he wasnt looking I broke a chip in half and give it back to him with four chips

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

13 My cancer story is one of uniqueness Leave it to me to do something like cancer to its fullest It did not begin with a mammogram diagnosis or a lump My journey began about 4 years ago with some suspicious activity that turned into Pagetrsquos disease of the nipple which signaled the underlying cancer On April 1st I found out about my breast cancer through a biopsy that came back as positive for Pagetrsquos disease The onslaught of tests learning and decisions were dizzying I immediately went for an evaluation of the suspicious tissue and had to begin making decisions for my mastectomy I quickly learned there is a test called the BRAC Analysis which is a genetic test for breast and ovarian cancer Finally a piece of good news for me I did not have the gene

Decisions Now it was time to make decisions about my mastectomy and how I was going to handle reconstruction I discussed my options with my boyfriend Brian friends family members and even my principalboss I read books searched the Internet and contacted people I

Brandi ShipmanCancer Survivor and elite triathlete

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

know and knew from my past that had been directly affected and that I thought might have answers for me The outpouring of love encouragement and help during this process was overwhelming After meeting with four different doctors two surgeons and two plastic surgeons I decided to go with immediate reconstruction and was lucky enough to find two wonderful doctors They were willing to work together just because I wanted them to even though they had never done so before My surgery was scheduled for mid May

Mental Toughness13 My mental preparation at this point was very important I had to scrap any idea of competing in triathlons for the rest of the year and focus on a positive attitude of getting better I stopped thinking about what I wasnrsquot going to able to do and started thinking about what I could do that I was alive and kept my mind on the fact that so many others had made it before me

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links

Part 213 I was prepared by the doctors survivors and literature to be ldquodownrdquo for several weeks after my surgery I even took the rest of the school year off My surgery went well and I was out of the hospital the next day A few friends came to visit while I was in the hospital and my principal and vice principal brought the most wonderful picture of the faculty wearing pink for me I can only imagine what it looked like at Thornton Elementary on that day in May 2009 a sea of pink all for Brandi Shipman Shortly after their visit I received a text from my friend Margie Massey My friends from the gym wore pink for me that day as well The support brought tears to my eyes I was so excited to come home and be comfortable in my own home I just wish the stupid drain that was attached could have stayed at the hospital The pain from that was worse than the pain from the mastectomy

the most

powerful picture

13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Recovery ndash May13 Once I got home I slept and watched a lot of TV Friends visited and brought yummy food and my favorites I am not supposed to eat I ate them all My friend and co-worker set up a cancer care calendar that alerted anyone who logged on when I was having a doctorrsquos appointment or when I was in need of anything I felt like royalty as everyone took care of me I think Brian secretly enjoyed the fact that he wouldnrsquot have to cook for me each night My recovery was quicker than I thought as I was doing my best to get better and get the stinkinrsquo drain out of my skin I was out walking within a week and running within 3 weeks I couldnrsquot believe my recovery I know it was from all the prayers love and good care from Brian and the loved ones around me Life was looking better each day

ldquoLife was looking

better each dayrdquo

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Part three and part

four of I am Survivor

will be published in

the next edition of

FitnessDigestus

Get the convenience of

digital-delivery

Sign-up or subscribe at

httpFitnessDigestus

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During the past 150 years we have witnessed many remarkable advances against cancer a disease known to humanity for thousands of years The advances highlighted below represent a sampling of what has been accomplished to date

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

1882 William Halsted performs the first radical mastectomy to treat breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast the lymph nodes under the arm (axillary lymph nodes) and the chest muscles behind the breast (pectoralis major and pectoralis minor muscles) are removed Radical mastectomy will remain the standard operation for breast cancer until latter half of the 20th century when the use of modified radical mastectomy becomes widely accepted

1932 David H Patey develops the modified radical mastectomy for breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast axillary lymph nodes and pectoralis minor muscle behind the breast are removed The modified radical mastectomy is less disfiguring than the radical mastectomy and will eventually replace the radical mastectomy as a standard treatment option for breast cancer

1953 James Watson and Francis Crick discover the molecular structure of DNA (the double helix)

1963 The Health Insurance Plan (HIP) of Greater New York Study begins HIP is the first randomized controlled trial of periodic breast cancer screening with mammography

1882

1932

1953

1963

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1976 The results of a randomized clinical trial show that women with early breast cancer who receive post-operative (adjuvant) combination chemotherapy with the drugs cyclophosphamide methotrexate and 5-FU have improved disease-free survival

1981 A randomized clinical trial in the United Kingdom shows for the first time that the rates of survival local recurrence and tumor metastasis among women whose breast cancer is treated with modified radical mastectomy are not substantially different from those of women who are treated with radical mastectomy

1993 An NCI-convened international workshop on screening for breast cancer reports that screening with mammography reduces breast cancer mortality among women ages 50-69 This conclusion is based on a review of published and unpublished data from eight randomized controlled trials

2004 Data from the Womens Health Initiative (WHI) study show that women who take estrogen in combination with the hormone progestin have a greater risk of developing breast cancer than women who take estrogen alone The results also show that menopausal hormone therapy with estrogen alone has no benefit in disease prevention specifically in reducing the risks of colorectal cancer coronary heart disease and dementia

1976

1981

1993

2004

Although we still have a long way to go to reduce the toll of cancer in the United States and worldwide our research and public health efforts are beginning to pay dividends

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

Volunteering vs Participating13 My girl friend and I are involved in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation The local chapter raises awareness for the cause with a fun-run each year We have volunteered to help with the race five years in a row This year we were stationed at a water table where the runners pick-up cups of water to drink Toward the end of the race there are very few runners There was a little time to chat about things We were talking about what we would wish for if we could have three wishes I told her I would wish for an end to Juvenile Diabetes and to lose 10 pounds Being nice I said ldquoyou can have my last wishrdquo She said I wish you would skip volunteering and just run this race next year

Admission Price Our aquatic center was having a promotion one night and advertised an elementary school night The kids could swim for free When we got to the pool we saw a promotional sign for the event In small lettering it read All swimmers must be accompanied by an adult We thought no big deal one of us can just stay and watch When we got to the front desk we found the lifeguard was enforcing the adult-admission price of $8

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CNFI Publishing - Products Books Chapbooks Bookmarks Plaques and Poetry Collector Cards Merchandising Products Coffee Mugs Mouse Pads Tiles 3x6 Coasters T - Shirts and Wall Plaques More info athttpliveadsFitnessDigestus

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

Featured PhotosFitnessDigestus feature

Chicago open water swim course at nighttop left

Kids race at Bicycle Blues and BBQtop right

Some team members volunteer at the local soup kitchenmiddle right

Ken Mauer loads the balls for hitting practice during a Twins baseball camp for

children 7-13 bottom right

Get your local event photos published in the next issue of FitnessDigestus E-mail

your photo to photoFitnessDigestus

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As he turned to go on he spat speculatively There was a sharp explosive crackle that startled him He spat again And again in the air before it could fall to the snow the spittle crackled He knew that at fifty below spittle crackled on the snow but this spittle had crackled in the air Undoubtedly it was colder than fifty below--how much colder he did not know But the temperature did not matter He was bound for the old claim on the left fork of Henderson Creek where the boys were already They had come over across the divide from the Indian Creek country while he had come the roundabout way to take a look at the possibilities of getting out logs in the spring from the islands in the Yukon He would be in to camp by six oclock a bit after dark it was true but the boys would be there a fire would be going and a hot supper would be ready As for lunch he pressed his hand against the protruding bundle under his jacket It was also under his shirt wrapped up in a handkerchief and lying against the naked skin It was the only way to keep the biscuits from freezing He smiled agreeably to himself as he thought of those biscuits each cut open and sopped in bacon grease and each enclosing a generous slice of fried bacon

He plunged in among the big spruce trees The trail was faint A foot of snow had fallen since the last sled had passed over and he was glad he was without a sled traveling light In fact he carried nothing but the lunch wrapped in the handkerchief He was surprised however at the cold It certainly was cold he concluded as he rubbed his numb nose and cheek-bones with his mittened hand He was a warm-whiskered man but the hair on his face did not protect the high cheek-bones and the eager nose that thrust itself aggressively into the frosty air

At the mans heels trotted a dog a big native husky the proper wolf-dog gray-coated and without any visible or temperamental difference from its brother the wild wolf The animal was depressed by the tremendous cold It knew that it was no time for

traveling Its instinct told it a truer tale than was told to the man by the mans judgment In reality it was not merely colder than fifty below zero it was colder than sixty below than seventy below It was seventy-five below zero Since the freezing point is thirty-two above zero it meant that one hundred and seven degrees of frost obtained The dog did not know anything about thermometers Possibly in its brain there was no sharp consciousness of a condition of very cold such as was in the mans brain But the brute had its instinct It experienced a vague but menacing apprehension that subdued it then made it slink along at the mans heels and that made it question eagerly every unwonted movement of the man as if expecting him to go into camp or to seek shelter somewhere and build a fire The dog had learned fire and it wanted fire or else to burrow under the snow and cuddle its warmth away from the air

The frozen moisture of its breathing had settled on its fur in a fine powder of frost and especially were its jowls muzzle and eyelashes whitened by its cry-stalled breath The mans red beard and mustache were likewise frosted but more solidly the deposit taking the form of ice and increasing with every warm moist breath he exhaled Also the man was chewing tobacco and the muzzle of ice held his lips so rigidly that he was unable to clear his chin when he expelled the juice The result was that a crystal beard of the color and solidity of amber was increasing its length on his chin If he fell down it would shatter itself like glass into brittle fragments But he did not mind the appendage It was the penalty all tobacco-chewers paid in that country and he had been out before in two cold snaps They had not been so cold as this he knew but by the spirit thermometer at Sixty Mile he knew they had been registered at fifty below and at fifty-five

He held on through the level stretch of woods for several miles crossed a wide flat of rigger-heads and dropped down a bank to the frozen bed of a

To Build a FireContinued

small stream This was Henderson Creek and he knew he was ten miles from the forks He looked at his watch It was ten oclock He was making four miles an hour and he calculated that he would arrive at the forks at half-past twelve He decided to celebrate that event by eating his lunch there

The dog dropped in again at his heels with a tail drooping discouragement as the man swung along the creek-bed The furrow of the old sled-trail was plainly visible but a dozen inches of snow covered the marks of the last runners In a month no man had come up or down that silent creek The man held steadily on He was not much given to thinking and just then particularly he had nothing to think about save that he would eat lunch at-the forks and that at six oclock he would be in camp with the boys There was nobody to talk to and had there been speech would have been impossible because of the ice-muzzle on his mouth So he continued monotonously to chew tobacco and to increase the length of his amber beard

Once in a while the thought reiterated itself that it was very cold and that he had never experienced such cold As he walked along he rubbed his cheek-bones and nose with the back of his mittened hand He did this automatically now and again changing hands But rub as he would the instant he stopped his cheek-bones went numb and the following instant the end of his nose went numb He was sure to frost his cheeks he knew that and experienced a pang of regret that he had not devised a nose-strap of the sort Bud wore in cold snaps Such a strap passed across the cheeks as well and saved them But it didnt matter much after all What were frosted cheeks A bit painful that was all they were never serious

Empty as the mans mind was of thoughts he was keenly observant and he noticed the changes in the creek the curves and bends and timber jams and always he sharply noted where he placed his feet Once coming around a bend he shied abruptly

like a startled horse curved away from the place where he had been walking and retreated several paces back along the trail The creek he knew was frozen clear to the bottom--no creek could contain water in that arctic winter--but he knew also that there were springs that bubbled out from the hillsides and ran along under the snow and on top the ice of the creek He knew that the coldest snaps never froze these springs and he knew likewise their danger They were traps They hid pools of water under the snow that might be three inches deep or three feet Sometimes a skin of ice half an inch thick covered them and in turn was covered by the snow Sometimes there were alternate layers of water and ice-skin so that when one broke through he kept on breaking through for a while sometimes wetting himself to the waist

That was why he had shied in such panic He had felt the give under his feet and heard the crackle of a snow-hidden ice-skin And to get his feet wet in such a temperature meant trouble and danger At the very least it meant delay for he would be forced to stop and build a fire and under its protection to bare his feet while he dried his socks and moccasins He stood and studied the creek-bed and its banks and decided that the flow of water came from the right He reflected a while rubbing his nose and cheeks then skirted to the left stepping gingerly and testing the footing for each step Once clear of the danger he took a fresh chew of tobacco and swung along at his four-mile gait

In the course of the next two hours he came upon several similar traps Usually the snow above the hidden pools had a sunken candied appearance that advertised the danger Once again however he had a close call and once suspecting danger he compelled the dog to go on in front The dog did not want to go It hung back until the man shoved it forward and then it went quickly across the white unbroken surface Suddenly it broke through floundered to one side and got away to firmer

To Build a FireContinued

To Build a FireContinued

footing It had wet its forefeet and legs and almost immediately the water that clung to it turned to ice It made quick efforts to lick the ice off its legs then dropped down in the snow and began to bite out the ice that had formed between the toes l his was a matter of instinct To permit the ice to remain would mean sore feet It did not know this It merely obeyed the mysterious prompting that arose from the deep crypts of its being But the man knew having achieved a judgment on the subject and he removed the mitten from his right hand and helped tear out the ice-particles He did not expose his fingers more than a minute and was astonished at the swift numbness that smote them It certainly was cold He pulled on the mitten hastily and beat the hand savagely across his chest

At twelve oclock the day was at its brightest Yet the sun was too far south an its winter journey to clear the horizon The bulge of the earth intervened between it arid Henderson Creek where the man walked under a clear sky at noon and cast no shadow At half-past twelve to the minute he arrived at the forks of the creek He was pleased at the speed he had made If he kept it up he would certainly be with the boys by six He unbuttoned his jacket and shirt and drew forth his lunch The action consumed no more than a quarter of a minute yet in that brief moment the numbness laid hold of the exposed fingers He did not put the mitten on but instead struck the fingers a dozen sharp smashes against his leg Then he sat down on a snow-covered log to eat The sting that followed upon the striking of his fingers against his leg ceased so quickly that he was startled He had had no chance to take a bite of biscuit He struck the fingers repeatedly and returned them to the mitten baring the other hand for the purpose of eating He tried to take a mouthful but the ice-muzzle prevented He had forgotten to build a fire and thaw out He chuckled at his foolishness and as he chuckled he noted the numbness creeping into the exposed fingers Also he noted that the stinging which had first come to his

toes when he sat down was already passing away He wandered whether the toes were warm or numb He moved them inside the moccasins and decided that they were numb

He pulled the mitten on hurriedly and stood up He was a bit frightened He stamped up and down until the stinging returned into the feet It certainly was cold was his thought That man from Sulphur Creek had spoken the truth when telling how cold it sometimes got in the country And he had laughed at him at the time That showed one must not be too sure of things There was no mistake about it it was cold He strode up and down stamping his feet and threshing his arms until reassured by the returning warmth Then he got out matches and proceeded to make a fire From the undergrowth where high water of the previous spring had lodged a supply of seasoned twigs he got his firewood Working carefully from a small beginning he soon had a roaring fire over which he thawed the ice from his face and in the protection of which he ate his biscuits For the moment the cold space was outwitted The dog took satisfaction in the fire stretching out close enough for warmth and far enough away to escape being singed

When the man had finished be filled his pipe and took his comfortable time over a smoke Then he pulled on his mittens settled the ear-flaps of his cap firmly about his ears and took the creek trail up the left fork The dog was disappointed and yearned back toward the fire This man did not know cold Possibly all the generations of his ancestry had been ignorant of cold of real cold of cold one hundred and seven degrees below freezing point But the dog knew all its ancestry knew and it had inherited the knowledge And it knew that it was not good to walk abroad in such fearful cold It was the time to lie snug in a hole in the snow and wait for a curtain of cloud to be drawn across the face of outer space whence this cold came On the other hand there was no keen intimacy between the dog and the man

The one was the toil-slave of the other and the only caresses it had ever received were the caresses of the whiplash and of harsh and menacing throat-sounds that threatened the whiplash So the dog made no effort to communicate its apprehension to the man It was not concerned in the welfare of the man it was for its own sake that it yearned back toward the fire But the man whistled and spoke to it with the sound of whiplashes and the dog swung in at the mans heel and followed after

The man took a chew of tobacco and proceeded to start a new amber beard Also his moist breath quickly powdered with white his mustache eyebrows and lashes There did not seem to be so many springs on the left fork of the Henderson and for half an hour the man saw no signs of any And then it happened At a place where there were no signs where the soft unbroken snow seemed to advertise solidity beneath tee man broke through It was not deep He wet himself halfway to the knees before he floundered out to the firm crust

He was angry and cursed his luck aloud He had hoped to get into camp with the boys at six oclock and this would delay him an hour for he would have to build a fire and dry out his foot-gear This was imperative at that low temperature--he knew that much and he turned aside to the bank which he climbed On top tangled in the underbrush about the trunks of several small spruce trees was a high-water deposit of dry firewood--sticks and twigs principally but also larger portions of seasoned branches and fine dry last-years grasses He threw down several large pieces on top of the snow This served for a foundation and prevented the young flame from drowning itself in the snow it otherwise would melt The flame he got by touching a match to a small shred of birch bark that he took from his pocket This burned even more readily than paper Placing it on the foundation he fed the young flame with wisps of dry grass and with the tiniest dry twigs

He worked slowly and carefully keenly aware of his danger Gradually as the flame grew stronger he increased the size of the twigs with which he fed it He squatted in the snow pulling the twigs out from their entanglement in the brush and feeding directly to the flame He knew there must be no failure When it is seventy-five below zero a man must not fail in his first attempt to build a fire--that is if his feet are wet If his feet are dry and he fails he can run along the trail for half a mile and restore his circulation But the circulation of wet and freezing feet cannot be restored by running when it is seventy-five below No matter how fast he runs the wet feet will freeze the harder

All this the man knew The old-timer on Sulphur Creek had told him about it the previous fall and now he was appreciating the advice Already all sensation had gone out of his feet To build the fire he had been forced to remove his mittens and the fingers had quickly gone numb His pace of four miles an hour had kept his heart pumping blood to the surface of his body and to all the extremities But the instant he stopped the action of the pump eased down The cold of space smote the unprotected tip of the planet and he being on that unprotected tip received the full force of the blow The blood of his body recoiled before it The blood was alive like the dog and like the dog it wanted to hide away and cover itself up from the fearful cold So long as he walked four miles an hour he pumped that blood willy-nilly to the surface but now it ebbed away and sank down into the recesses of his body The extremities were the first to feel its absence His wet feet froze the faster and his exposed fingers numbed the faster though they had not yet begun to freeze Nose and cheeks were already freezing while the skin of all his body chilled as it lost its blood

But he was safe Toes and nose and cheeks would be only touched by the frost for the fire was beginning to burn with strength He was feeding it

To Build a FireContinued

with twigs the size of his finger In another minute he would be able to feed it with branches the size of his wrier and then he could remove his wet toot-gear and while it dried he could keep his naked feet warm by the fire rubbing them at first of course with snow The fire was a success He was safe He remembered the advice of the old timer on Sulphur Creek and smiled The old-timer had been very serious in laying down the law that no man must travel alone in the Klondike after fifty below Well here he was he had had the accident he was alone and he had saved himself Those old-timers were rather womanish some of them he thought All a man had to do was to keep his head and he was all right Any man who was a man could travel alone But it was surprising the rapidity with which his cheeks and nose were freezing And he had not thought his fingers could go lifeless in so short a time Lifeless they were for he could scarcely make them move together to grip a twig and they seemed remote from his body and from him When he touched a twig he had to look and see whether or not he had hold of it The wires were pretty well down between him and his finger-ends

All of which counted for little There was the fire snapping and crackling and promising life with every dancing flame He started to untie his moccasins They were coated with ice the thick German socks were like sheaths of iron halfway to the knees and the moccasin strings were like rods of steel all twisted and knotted as by some conflagration For a moment he tugged with his numb fingers then realizing the folly of it he drew his sheath-knife

But before he could cut the strings it happened It was his own fault or rather his mistake He should not have built the fire under the spruce tree He should have built it in the open But it had been easier to pull the twigs from the brush and drop them directly on the fire Now the tree under which

he had done this carried a weight of snow on its boughs No wind had blown for weeks and each bough was fully freighted Each time he had pulled a twig he had communicated a slight agitation to the tree--an imperceptible agitation so far as he was concerned but an agitation sufficient to bring about the disaster High up in the tree one bough capsized its load of snow This fell on the boughs beneath capsizing them This process continued spreading out and involving the whole tree It grew like an avalanche and it descended without warning upon the man and the fire and the fire was blotted out Where it had burned was a mantle of fresh and disordered snow

The man was shocked It was as though he had just heard his own sentence of death For a moment he sat and stared at the spot where the fire had been Then he grew very calm Perhaps the old-timer on Sulphur Creek was right If he had only had a trail-mate he would have been in no danger now The trail-mate could have built the fire Well it was up to him to build the fire over again and this second time there must be no failure Even if he succeeded he would most likely lose some toes His feet must be badly frozen by now and there would be some time before the second fire Was ready

Such were his thoughts but he did not sit and think them He was busy all the time they were passing through his mind He made a new foundation for a fire this time in the open where no treacherous tree could blot it out Next he gathered dry grasses and tiny twigs from the high-water flotsam He could not bring his fingers together to pull them out but he was able to gather them by the handful In this way he got many rotten twigs and bits of green moss that were undesirable but it was the best he could do He worked methodically even collecting an armful of the larger branches to be used later when the fire gathered strength And all the while the dog sat and watched him a certain yearning wistfulness in its eyes for it looked upon

To Build a FireContinued

him as the fire-provider and the fire was slow in coming

When all was ready the man reached in his pocket for a second piece of birch bark He knew the bark was there and though he could not feel it with his fingers he could hear its crisp rustling as he fumbled for it Try as he would he could not clutch hold of it And all the time in his consciousness was the knowledge that each instant his feet were freezing This thought tended to put him in a panic but he fought against it and kept calm He pulled on his mittens with his teeth and threshed his arms back and forth beating his hands with all his might against his sides He did this sitting down and he stood up to do it and all the while the dog sat in the snow its wolf-brush of a tail curled around warmly over its forefeet its sharp wolf-ears pricked forward intently as it watched the man And the man as he beat and threshed with his arms and hands felt a great surge of envy as he regarded the creature that was warm ant secure in its natural covering

After a time he was aware of the first far-away signals of sensation in his beaten fingers The faint tingling grew stronger till it evolved into a stinging ache that was excruciating but which the man hailed with satisfaction He stripped the mitten from his right hand and fetched forth the birch bark The exposed fingers were quickly going numb again Next he brought out his bunch of sulphur matches But the tremendous cold had already driven the life out of his fingers In his effort to separate one match from the others the whole bunch fell in the snow He tried to pick it out of the snow but failed The dead fingers could neither touch nor clutch He was very careful He drove the thought of his freezing feet and nose and cheeks out of his mind devoting his whole soul to the matches He watched using the sense of vision in place of that of touch and when he saw his fingers on each side the bunch he dosed them--that is he willed to close them for the wires were down and the fingers did not obey He pulled

the mitten on the right hand and beat it fiercely against his knee Then with both mittened hands he scooped the bunch of matches along with much snow into his lap Yet he was no better off

After some manipulation he managed to get the bunch between the heels of his mittened hands In this fashion he carried it to his mouth The ice crackled and snapped when by a violent effort he opened his mouth He drew the lower jaw in curled the upper lip out of the way and scraped the bunch with his upper teeth in order to separate a match He succeeded in getting one which he dropped on his lap He was no better off He could not pick it up Then he devised a way He picked it up in his teeth and scratched it on his leg Twenty times he scratched before he succeeded in lighting it As it flamed he held it with his teeth to the birch bark But the burning brimstone went up his nostrils and into his lungs causing him to cough spasmodically The match fell into the snow and went out

The old-timer an Sulphur Creek was right he thought in the moment of controlled despair that ensued after fifty below a man should travel with a partner He beat his hands but failed in exciting any sensation Suddenly he bared both hands removing the mittens with his teeth He caught the whole bunch between the heels of his hands His arm muscles not being frozen enabled him to press the hand-heels tightly against the matches Then he scratched the bunch along his leg It flared into flame seventy sulphur matches at once There was no wind to blow them out He kept his head to one side to escape the strangling fumes and held the blazing bunch to the birth bark As he so held it he became aware of sensation in his hand His flesh was burning He could smell it Deep down below the surface he could feel it The sensation developed into pain that grew acute And still he endured it holding the flame of the matches clumsily to the bark that would not light readily because his own burning hands were in the way absorbing most of the flame

To Build a FireContinued

At last when he could endure no more he jerked his hands apart The blazing matches fell sizzling into the snow but the birch bark was alight He began laying dry grasses and the tiniest twigs on the flame He could not pick and choose for he had to lift the fuel between the heels of his hands Small pieces of rotten wood and green moss clung to the twigs and he bit them off as well as he could with his teeth He cherished the flame carefully and awkwardly It meant life and it must not perish The withdrawal of blood from the surface of his body now made him begin to shiver and he grew more awkward A large piece of green moss fell squarely on the little fire He tried to poke it out with his fingers but his shivering frame made him poke too far and he disrupted the nucleus of the little fire the burning grasses and tiny twigs separating and scattering He tried to poke them together again but in spite of the tenseness of the effort his shivering got away with him and the twigs were hopelessly scattered Each twig gushed a puff of smoke and went out The fire-provider had failed As he looked apathetically about him his eyes chanced on the dog sitting across the ruins of the fire from him in the snow making restless hunching movements slightly lifting one forefoot and then the other shifting its weight back and forth on them with wistful eagerness

The sight of the dog put a wild idea into his head He remembered the tale of the man caught in a blizzard who killed a steer and crawled inside the carcass and so was saved He would kill the dog and bury his hands in the warm body until the numbness went out of them Then he could build another fire He spoke to the dog calling it to him but in his voice was a strange note of fear that frightened the animal who had never known the man to speak in such way before Something was the matter and its suspicious nature sensed danger--it knew not what danger but somewhere somehow in its brain arose an apprehension of the man It flattened its ears down at the sound of the mans voice and its restless

hunching movements and the liftings and shiftings of its forefeet became more pronounced but it would not come to the man He got on his hands and knees and crawled toward the dog This unusual posture again excited suspicion and the animal sidled mincingly away

The man sat up in the snow for a moment and struggled for calmness Then he pulled on his mittens by means of his teeth and got upon his feet He glanced down at first in order to assure himself that he was really standing up for the absence of sensation in his feet left him unrelated to the earth His erect position in itself started to drive the webs of suspicion from the dogs mind and when he spoke peremptorily with the sound of whiplashes in his voice the dog rendered its customary allegiance and came to him As it came within reaching distance the man lost his control His arms flashed out to the dog and he experienced genuine surprise when he discovered that his hands could not clutch that there was neither bend nor feeling in the fingers He had forgotten for the moment that they were frozen and that they were freezing more and more All this happened quickly and before the animal could get away he encircled its body with his arms He sat down in the snow and in this fashion held the dog while it snarled and whined and struggled

But it was all he could do hold its body encircled in his arms and sit there He realized that he could not kill the dog There was no way to do it With his helpless hands he could neither draw nor hold his sheath knife nor throttle the animal He released it and it plunged wildly away with tail between its legs and still snarling It halted forty feet away and surveyed him curiously with ears sharply pricked forward The man looked down at his hands in order to locate them and found them hanging on the ends of his arms It struck him as curious that one should have to use his eyes in order to find out where his hands were He began threshing his arms back and forth beating the mittened hands against

To Build a FireContinued

his sides He did this for five minutes violently and his heart pumped enough blood up to the surface to put a stop to his shivering But no sensation was aroused in the hands He had an impression that they hung like weights on the ends of his arms but when he tried to run the impression down he could not find it

A certain fear of death dull and oppressive came to him This fear quickly became poignant as he realized that it was no longer a mere matter of freezing his fingers and toes or of losing his hands and feet but that it was a matter of life and death with the chances against him This threw him into a panic and he turned and ran up the creek-bed along the old dim trail The dog joined in behind and kept up with him He ran blindly without intention in fear such as he had never known in his life Slowly as he plowed and floundered through the snow he began to see things again the banks of the creek the old timber-jams the leafless aspens and the sky The running made him feel better He did not shiver Maybe if he ran on his feet would thaw out and anyway if he ran far enough he would reach camp and the boys Without doubt he would lose some fingers and toes and some of his face but the boys would take care of him and save the rest of him when he got there And at the same time there was another thought in his mind that said he would never get to the camp and the boys that it was too many miles away that the freezing had too great a start on him and that he would soon be stiff and dead This thought he kept in the background and refused to consider Sometimes it pushed itself forward and demanded to be heard but he thrust it back and strove to think of other things

It struck him as curious that he could run at all on feet so frozen that he could not feel them when they struck the earth and took the weigh of his body He seemed to himself to skim along above the surface and to have no connection with the earth Somewhere he had once seen a winged Mercury

and he wondered if Mercury felt as he felt when skimming over the earth

His theory of running until he reached camp and the boys had one flaw in it he lacked the endurance Several times he stumbled and finally he tottered crumpled up and fell When he tried to rise he failed He must sit and rest he decided and next time he would merely walk and keep on going As he sat and regained his breath he noted that he was feeling quite warm and comfortable He was not shivering and it even seemed that a warm glow had come to his chest and trunk And yet when he touched his nose or cheeks there was no sensation Running would not thaw them out Nor would it thaw out his hands and feet Then the thought came to him that the frozen portions of his body must be extending He tried to keep this thought down to forget it to think of something else he was aware of the panicky feeling that it caused and he was afraid of the panic But the thought asserted itself and persisted until it produced a vision of his body totally frozen This was too much and he made another wild run along the trail Once he slowed down to a walk but the thought of the freezing extending itself made him run again

And all the time the dog ran with him at his heels When he fell down a second time it curled its tad over its forefeet and sat in front of him facing him curiously eager and intent The warmth and security of the animal angered him and he cursed it till it flattened down its ears appealingly This time the shivering came more quickly upon the man He was losing in his battle with the frost It was creeping into his body from all sides The thought of it drove him on but he ran no more than a hundred feet when he staggered and pitched headlong It was his last panic When he had recovered his breath and control he sat up and entertained in his mind the conception of meeting death with dignity However the conception did not come to him in such terms His idea of it was that he had been making a fool of

To Build a FireContinued

himself running around like a chicken with its head cut off--such was the simile that occurred to him Well he was bound to freeze anyway and he might as well take it decently With this new-found peace of mind came the first glimmerings of drowsiness A good idea he thought to sleep off to death It was like salting an anesthetic Freezing was not so bad as people thought There were lots worse ways to die

He pictured the boys finding his body next day Suddenly he found himself with them coming along the trail and looking for himself And still with them he came around a turn in the trail and found himself lying in the snow He did not belong with himself any more for even then he was out of himself standing with the boys and looking at himself in the snow It certainly was cold was his thought When he got back to the States he could tell the folks what real cold was He drifted on from this to a vision of the old-timer on Sulphur Creek He could see him quite clearly warm and comfortable and smoking a pipe

You were right old boss you were right the man mumbled to the old-timer of Sulphur Creek

Then the man drowsed off into what seemed to him the most comfortable and satisfying sleep he had ever known The dog sat facing him and waiting The brief day drew to a close in a long slow twilight There were no signs of a fire to be made and besides never in the dogs experience had it known a man to sit like that in the snow and make no fire As the twilight drew on its eager yearning for the fire mastered it and with a great lifting and shifting of forefeet it whined softly then flattened its ears down in anticipation of being chidden by the man But the man remained silent Later the dog whined loudly And still later it crept close to the man and caught the scent of death This made the animal bristle and back away A little longer it delayed howling under the stars that leaped and danced and shone brightly in the cold sky Then it turned and trotted up the trail in the direction of the camp it knew where were the other food-providers and fire-providers

To Build a FireContinued

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Page 19: FitnessDigest.us Vol. 4.3 Cover

13 On June 2nd we will celebrate 12 years of offering runners from around the globe the most unique running experience of their life Where else in the world can you run on a course that takes you from an abandoned mining town across railroad trestles through a mountain past monolithic rock formations beside a babbling creek and finish in Deadwoodhellipa town that is a historic landmark

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Written Emily WheelerFor more information amp video visit httpLIveAdsFitnessDigestus

ldquoWild West town known primarily for its gamblers gunslingers and gold minersrdquo

Hope to see you at the finish

This Wild West town known primarily for its gamblers gunslingers and gold miners has turned into one of the premiere destination marathon venues in the US

13 The breathtaking beauty of our course the truly outstanding team of volunteers the hospitality of everyone associated with the event and paying attention to details are just a couple of reasons yoursquoll want to toe the line on June 2nd

The Deadwood Mickelson Trail Half and Full Marathon is a point to point course

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ldquoThe breathtaking beauty of our courserdquo

WaynesSkiandCyclenetlive links to Waynersquos at httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

MTM Charity Partner

13 Habitat for Humanity is a global nonprofit Christian housing organization that has helped to build more than 500000 decent affordable houses and served 25 million people worldwide since its founding in 1976 With the help of volunteers and donations of money and materials Habitat constructs rehabilitates and preserves homes in partnership with low-income families in need Operating in nearly 80 countries and with more than 1500 affiliates in the United States Habitat also advocates for fair and just housing policies and provides training and access to resources to help families improve their shelter conditions

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beginning in the historic mining town of Rochford the first 15 miles are on a paved road At this point the course becomes the Mickelson Trail (a rails to trails project) The next 12 miles are a mixture of gentle uphill and flat terrain

13 Then the course is either downhill or flat and finishes at the historic Engine House at end of the linehellipthe Deadwood Trailhead The Half Marathon is also a point to point course starting at the 131 mile mark of the full marathon Walker Friendly

All participants will receive a Commemorative Finisherrsquos Medal

Mickelson Trail Marathon Charity Partner is the Black Hills Habitat for HumanityMake your Marathon Matter Matching Funds

Make your Marathon matter by helping create decent shelter in the Black Hills ndash take the challenge to give at least $1 per race mile Our goal is to raise $3000 in 2012 for BH Habitat for Humanity to help provide shelter for more families in the Black Hills

Registrations are capped at 3000 runners If you want to be part of the Deadwood Mickelson Trail Marathon Weekend celebration go to LiveAdsFitnessDigestus and click on the MTM Marathon URL

Hope to see you at the Finish Line - ThanksEmily Wheeler Wheeler Event Management Inc

ldquoHope to see you at the finish linerdquo

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links

DAY had broken cold and gray exceedingly cold and gray when the man turned aside from the main Yukon trail and climbed the high earth-bank where a dim and little traveled trail led eastward through the fat spruce timberland It was a steep bank and he paused for breath at the top excusing the act to himself by looking at his watch It was nine oclock There was no sun nor hint of sun though there was not a cloud in the sky It was a

clear day and yet there seemed an intangible pall over the face of things a subtle gloom that made the day dark and that was due to the absence of sun This fact did not worry the man He was used to the lack of sun It had been days since he had seen the sun and he knew that a few more-days must pass before that cheerful orb due south would just peep above the sky-line and dip immediately from view

To Build a Fire - Hiking the Yukon TrailShort story fiction Written by Jack London (1876-1916)

The man flung a look back along the way he had come The Yukon lay a mile wide and hidden under three feet of ice On top of this ice were as many feet of snow It was all pure white rolling in gentle undulations where the ice jams of the freeze-up had formed North and south as far as his eye could see it was unbroken white save for a dark hairline that curved and twisted from around the spruce-covered island to the south and that curved and twisted away into the north where it disappeared behind another spruce-covered island This dark hair-line was the trail--the main trail--that led south five hundred miles to the Chilcoot Pass Dyea and salt water and that led north seventy miles to Dawson and still on to the north a thousand miles to Nulato and finally to St Michael on Bering Sea a thousand miles and half a thousand more

But all this--the mysterious far-reaching hair-line trail The absence of sun from the sky the tremendous cold and the strangeness and weirdness of it all--made no

impression on the man It was not because he was long used to it He was a newcomer In the land a chechaquo and this was his first winter The trouble with him was that he was without imagination He was quick and alert in the things of life but only in the things and not in the significances Fifty degrees below zero meant eighty-odd degrees of frost Such fact impressed him as being cold and uncomfortable and that was all It did not lead him to meditate upon his frailty as a creature of temperature and upon mans frailty in general able only to live within certain narrow limits of heat and cold and from there on it did not lead him to the conjectural field of immortality and mans place in the universe Fifty degrees below zero stood forte bite of frost that hurt and that must be guarded against by the use of mittens ear-flaps warm moccasins and thick socks Fifty degrees below zero was to him just precisely fifty degrees below zero That there should be anything more to it than that was a thought that never entered his head

To Build a FireContinued

Continued on page 62

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It is important from time to time to slow down to go away by yourself and simply be --Eileen Caddy

Letrsquos Race13 My son is eight and our family is very active Im just hitting my peak racing age of about 34 years old The family members all support each otherrsquos activities They are a great cheering section when my wife and I compete in races There is a popular two mile fun run in our town that we my wife and I run every year We also have for-fun races with the kids around the house or across the football field For years Ive let the eight year old win a few and others I win by just a little bit I think he is wising up to my tactics of good fatherhood One day he said ldquoDad you are letting me win but I think I can beat you fair and squarerdquo He added ldquoYoursquore not that fast Ill bet you 10 dollars I can beat you in a two mile racerdquo Wanting to teach him a lesson about spouting off and writing checks his body cant cash I took him up on it I said All right you pick a time and place We will race two miles for 10 dollars He replied You know that two mile race you and mom do every year I can race you then I agreed and he quickly added Ill need 20 years to warm-up That would make me 54 and him 28 Irsquom preparing for the loss and putting 10 dollars aside now

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Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

In my first creative experience it was through music and I was interested in developing my values of creativity I was inspired by a band named Motley Crue and the song that captured my interest was Home Sweet home Dear reader what inspires you Is it music or inspirational quote thought or ideas To express how this song motivated my interests it helped give me faith in my own creative abilities in the process I began to write lyrics I eventually began to work on different styles of writing and broaden my writing skills What types of music inspire your creative thoughts What types of other inspiration values inspire your creative thoughts

13 Getting motivated is one of the key aspects of a successful weight-loss program Without this motivation there would be no drive to get up early or to avoid eating unhealthy snacks ndash that you absolutely love Yes you can thank your motivation for that When you are looking for weight-loss motivation sometimes it is hard to find Where can you find that extra umph to make it to your goal

The benefits of finding a motivator are something that cannot be paralleled It has been said mind over matter This coincides with our principle that no matter how hard the task you can accomplish the goal given the right mindset It is important to go into a new weight-loss program with a positive mental attitude

FINDI

NG TH

EM X InspirationX

Motivation

When I was introduced to William Shakespeare I was intrigued by his creative values and I started to work on developing a different aspect of writing I then watched the movie Free Jack there was a quote by Albert Einstein Imagination is more important than knowledge I thought about the in depth values of both concepts and then I applied both concepts and defined different creative concept Do you believe that anything is possible if you believe I know that I do believe that if an individual believes deeply enough one can accomplish their goals I had to believe in my own abilities and in my dreams and ignore the negative values that were impressed by others

Anything less can potentially hinder growth towards your goal

Some of the things that you should be thinking about when looking for motivators are people with good morals and a positive attitude This is because if the people helping you do not have a positive attitude then it is also difficult for you Some great places to look for a motivator are online blogs in the gym or even in your own family I am sure that in all of these places you will see someone else trying to accomplish the same or even more difficult goals than your own

Another key to finding motivation is to let it find you You should not have to go find a reason to go do something You will do it because you wanted to not because you were forced to

X

InspirationMotivation

More simply put motivation will find you because you will see something that inspires you to make a change in yourself That change may be a weight-loss goal or something else Maybe even an academic goal The true key is to maintain that motivation until you have achieved your goal

Regards Vincent ErrichielloUSMS Swimmer

InspirationMotivation

With believing so deeply within my own abilities and the faith that I could accomplish what I set out to achieve I wrote a lyric titled Dreams Are Only Real and in believing in this concept further defining its true meaning the concept became Dreams Are Only Real Until You Dont believe

Jeremy J TaylorCNFI Publishing

himTHROWINGWritten by anonymous contributor

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13 Johnny is not the best batter in our little league Matter-of-fact he is quiet awful At practice one afternoon Johnny hit a pitch really well The coach had pitched him inside on accident far enough inside that it almost hit him Johnny got his hit by using his bat to defend himself from that arrant pitch The coach told him ldquogood hitrdquo and Johnny yelled back ldquoWell I didnrsquot want the ball to hit merdquo13 Johnny improved his batting after that He was hitting the ball almost every time he got up At one point I said to coach ldquoHow did you get Johnny to improve his batting so quicklyrdquo He replyed Im throwing the ball it AT HIM every time

Body image and fitness are hot topics for both men and women The Great Fitness Experiment is my hilarious poignant embarrassing and at times heart-breaking journey to find my way through the morass of contradictory claims and information in todayrsquos health- and fitness-obsessed world

Available in paperback or in eBookVisit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

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Phone 641-201-1035Strongest weight loss supplements

on the market

The Fall of Billy Hitchingsby Kirkus MacGowan

Available at Amazon

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Posters Invites (graduation wedding showers etc)

Flyers Brochures

T-ShirtsShorts SweatshirtsSweats

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Postcards And Much More

Bridgette Beyer DesignerOwner

Bring your ideas in andVisual Aspect Designs can print

andor design for you

Black Lab LanyardsSpecializing in customized duck and goose call lanyards for waterfowl enthusiasts

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FitnessDigestus is now available at

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entryFitnessDigestus

Send u

s yo

ur T

-shi

rt

READE

R T

-shi

rts

13 I was standing on shore fishing in my favorite spot A guy Irsquove never seen at the pond gets in and starts swimming After about 25 minutes of back and forth he stops at a place about 30 yards off shore He gives me a quick look and dices down below the water

His next lap he stops in the same place looks at me again and points down at the water He finished his swim and left I picked up my gear and moved to the other side of the outlet just a few yards from where he had stopped twice Caught a lunker in the first cast

Swim Signs - Lunker

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TOP TWEETS

Iowa Cubs (IowaCubs)Thanks to all our fans who showed up for the pre-game on-field catch with dad

Louise Pineda (forerunnerGPS)The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficultyWinston Churchill quotes

Softball Darlin (Softball_Darlin)My mom told me our team was gettin white uniforms for summer amp to try not to get them dirty Uh Have you seen me play Not gonna happen

I Swim I Suffer (ISwimISuffer)thatswimmerwho If the water is in your right ear for example then jump on your right leg and lean your head to the right side while jumping

I Swim and I Know It (iSwimWithIssues)During the summer you shower 467 times at the pool 17 times at hotels and 3 times at your house Truth

Everyday Health (WomensCancer)63000 Americans will be diagnosed w malignant melanoma (the deadliest skin cancer) this year Know your risk

US Paralympics (USParalympics)Want to be introduced to Paralympic sport Attend one of the Paralympic Experiences being held throughout the countryFi

tnes

sDig

est

US v

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2

SwimSwam (swimswamnews)Congrats to KenyaSwimmer on being selected to carry the Kenya flag swimswamcom

Better than sharing on a blog Twitter or Facebook and you can share a story even if you donrsquot maintain a social-web presencePublished for ALL FitnessDigestus readers

Sign with your real name pen-name or anonymoushttpLiveMediaFitnessDigestus

13 Funnest thing SPAM about some weight-loss supplements got posted on a friendrsquos Facebook My friend is an ultra-runner I notice there was also an ad for salami recipes on the same page The recipes were right next to the SPAM about diet-pills

13 Letrsquos see ndash it sounds like the beginning of a good joke Q What do you get when a friend tries to sell you ultra-runner endorsed salami-flavored-SPAM diet-pills on Facebook Answer Sick

Unsung Heroes1 Irsquove never swam open water and wanted to do a triathlon A friend that

races open water took extra time to swim with me at a lake I was much more comfortable after that

2 I was going on vacation and needed advice on a place to swim A friend living in the area took the time to help me find people to answer my questions

3 I was over eating and had complained to my friend about it She called me twice a day for three weeks just to remind me to eat healthy

4 I usually run to and from the gym It takes about 30 minutes to run both ways I didnrsquot have enough time to get there and back before a scheduled appointment I had A friend drove me to the gym saving me about 30 minutes I was able to run home and still had time to get to my appointment

SPAM DIET

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Visit the Suburban Mommy blog and learn more about AtresiaMicrotia a birth defect of the inner earFor links to SubMommy blog httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

SUBMOMMYBLOG

On Wednesday May 16 2012 at 7 PM simultaneous rides occurred around the

USA and the world

We all ride Now we can ride as one

One day One time One world world wide

Let the silence roar

322 locations world wide

The Ride of SilenceTonight we number many but ride as one

In honor of those not with us friends

mothers fathers sisters sons

With helmets on tight and heads down low

We ride in silence cautious and slow

The wheels start spinning in the lead pack

But tonight we ride and no one attacks

The dark sunglasses cover our tears

Remembering those we held so dear

Tonights ride is to make others aware

The road is there for all to share

To those not with us or by our side

May God be your partner on your final ride

- Mike Murgas

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 50 states

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 7 Continents

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 0 words spoken

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 1 million memories

Ride of Silence

ldquoCost-effective investments in bicycling boost our economy help individuals and government agencies save money and directly address key societal challenges such as obesity and road congestion In these tough economic times our federal government can only afford to invest in solutions that solve multiple problems Bicycling fits the billrdquo ndash PeopleForBikesorg

This photo collection was taken byRobert LaVallee of Mason City IA

To see his entire collection visithttpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

Non-subscriberSign-up for delivery of

the FREE edition at coopnetbiz

It provides an outstanding aerobic workout in less than half the time we would spend in still water It has allowed us as swim coaches to observe swimmers stroke characteristics up close and to see the effects of fatigue on stroke mechanics ~ Larry L Chazy NY

Swimming is an excellent exercise and now I can swim every day because its so convenient and private I can swim when I want and how long I want Im able to have it at a temperature that is comfortable to me The small size of an Endless Pool enabled me to install a pool where I could not install a regular size one

As an aging baby boomer nutrition professional I have yearned for consistent exercise that doesnt stress joints and will enable me to attain physical fitness cardiovascular health and weight control I can eat what I want and still firm up and lose weight ~ John C Columbus OH

Endless Pools make for long swims in small places The 8x15 Endless Pool is less than regulation size but offers the same benefits as a very large pool ~ Noah H Connecticut Post

The Endless Pool is a great strength builder I am amazed at the strength of the current I now swim against I did not buy it for that reason but because of my arthritis so the strength gain is a wonderful surprise

Endless PoolsTestimonials For more information visit httpLIveAdsFitnessDigestus

s w i m m i n g s h o r t s

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Baseball Walking Stick13 My sons friend grabbed his baseball bat and said to me this is my walking stick I politely ask him why he calls it that He replied because my dad says if I hit a home run with it I donrsquot have to run the bases ndash I can walk

My Bike My mountain bike was stolen a while back and my kids were really upset Ive been riding my road bike in its place Since then Ive been careful to lock my bike up when we go to the park

13 On this occasion I did not lock-up my sonrsquos bike up with mine He looked at me quizzically and said sternly lock my bike up too I tried to explain that his bike was not as expensive and therefor didnt need to be locked up Boy that was a mistake He made me feel a little dumb when he said Dad I dont care how expensive it is Its the only bike Irsquove got

North Iowa Roads

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A LEADER inSearch Engine Optimization

Technology

Increase your visitor page views and Facebook Likes

Are you moving to a new state Already hired your mover

E-mail blind box at box02FitnessDigestus will get

you the best rates on cable phone and internet

Digital Movers

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

parent sports tipBy FitnessDigestus staff writer JGA

PAR

EN

T

TIP

Keeping Kids Focused13 Organize their thoughts Help them prioritize and make decisions based on value Even kids can understand the value of simple non-monetized choices Questions like ldquoShould I finish playing my gameboy game or pause it when they call my swimming eventrdquo

If kids are taught to make good decisions and not just find quick answers everyone wins

AugustGolf Month5th Friendship Day15th Relaxation Day25th Kiss and Make Up Day31st Trail Mix DaySeptemberLittle League Month12th Chocolate Milk Shake Day13th Positive Thinking Day16th Womenrsquos Friendship Day21st Miniature Golf DayOctoberBreast Cancer Awareness MonthNational Diabetes Month1st World Vegetarian Day4th Golf Day25th World Pasta Day

National Calendar

Au

gu

stSe

pte

mb

er

Oc

tob

er

Encourage friendships writing skills sharing thoughts and

experiencesEight different cards

YAGOTTAWANNA

Variety of pricing From single orders to bulk orders of 24 notecards

Learn more online

Stay in touch with your swimming or triathlon buddies

It is better to be safe then to try to beat the heat There are many options to stay cool and run during a hot-summer day Staying inside and running on the treadmill is a good one Remember staying safe is a top priority

Most workouts can be modified to work indoors This issuersquos workout is to do your usual run or interval set just stay inside and run it on the treadmill Visualize the different landmarks to see during your outdoor run

Coach Millerrsquos Quarterly ChallengeStay safe in the heatBy Mark Miller mmillerFitnessDigestus

A few years back we had a hot-spell similar to this yearrsquos record heat

I remember training for a long run and having to stop at the local swimming hole to cool off I literally took off my

shoes and jumped in with my running clothes on I was so hot

FitnessDigestUSEntertainment amp Inspiration

Use coupon codeldquoRAMCSPRrdquo

at puresportshopcomfor 20 OFF

Nutritional Performance Sports Drinks with Protein

OPEN WATER SWIMMING BY THE NUMBERS

In kilometers The shortest open water race included in the Fina World Championships

10107 How many miles it

is to swim from Cuba to the USA

5

1000Number of swimming strokes in a mile for a typical swimmer

31800About the number of calories it takes to swim 100 miles

LOCATED IN ST ANSGAR IOWA

Business Cards Envelopes

Letterheads Programs

Vinyl Decals Signs

Posters Invites (graduation wedding showers etc)

Flyers Brochures

T-ShirtsShorts SweatshirtsSweats

Koozies Sashes

Business Forms Placemats

Postcards And Much More

Bridgette Beyer DesignerOwner

Bring your ideas in andVisual Aspect Designs can print

andor design for you

The minimum open water distance in kilometers that is considered a swimming-

marathon

On Facebook Visit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

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Open water safety means swimming in shallow water where there is a lifeguard or using an escort

Shop for Name BrandGear

24 Hoursa Day

WaynesSkiandCyclenet

For links to Waynersquos visit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

s w i m m i n g s h o r t s

Googles

13 Swimming fans can really appreciate a 200 IM when their goggles fill with water How about an Olympian Swimming a leg of the 400 Free Relay with his goggles across his opened mouth ndash and going 45rsquos A great team swimmer an Olympian wouldnrsquot let down his teammates by throwing them off or fixing them

500 Fly13 A world class butterflyer asked if he could swim butterfly in the 500 yard freestyle during a dual meet His goal was to break five minutes After considering the competition it seemed like a great way to make him really work a hard fly swim so we agreed Problem was he swam a 502 and the opposing coach complained to the officials because he embarrassed his swimmers Oh well you canrsquot win lsquoem all

Stories sent in by Robert Steele

No-No-No13 The other morning I was teaching front-streamlines to snotty nosed 8 year olds (some are literally snotty-nosed) One boy was taking a big gulp of air and holding his breath When he lifted his head he had to exhale and inhale before submerging again Swimmers will understand this does not work very well Kids need to learn to exhale underwater The first time he did it I told him to exhale underwater The second time I stopped him looked him in the eye and reminded him to exhale underwater The third and fourth times I started to get a little frustrated ldquoJohnny you need to exhale underwater so you can breath betterrdquo The fifth time as his head popped up for a breath I quickly asked ldquoJohnny Do you even know what exhale meansrdquo as he submerged his head below the water I could see him shake his head no-no-no

Favorite Potato Chips13We try to limit the junk food the kids eat at our house For lunch one day our son wanted some potato chips I gave him 3 large chips with his sandwich He started to cry and said he wanted one more chip ldquoI wanted four chipsrdquo he screamed I took the plate back When he wasnt looking I broke a chip in half and give it back to him with four chips

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

13 My cancer story is one of uniqueness Leave it to me to do something like cancer to its fullest It did not begin with a mammogram diagnosis or a lump My journey began about 4 years ago with some suspicious activity that turned into Pagetrsquos disease of the nipple which signaled the underlying cancer On April 1st I found out about my breast cancer through a biopsy that came back as positive for Pagetrsquos disease The onslaught of tests learning and decisions were dizzying I immediately went for an evaluation of the suspicious tissue and had to begin making decisions for my mastectomy I quickly learned there is a test called the BRAC Analysis which is a genetic test for breast and ovarian cancer Finally a piece of good news for me I did not have the gene

Decisions Now it was time to make decisions about my mastectomy and how I was going to handle reconstruction I discussed my options with my boyfriend Brian friends family members and even my principalboss I read books searched the Internet and contacted people I

Brandi ShipmanCancer Survivor and elite triathlete

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

know and knew from my past that had been directly affected and that I thought might have answers for me The outpouring of love encouragement and help during this process was overwhelming After meeting with four different doctors two surgeons and two plastic surgeons I decided to go with immediate reconstruction and was lucky enough to find two wonderful doctors They were willing to work together just because I wanted them to even though they had never done so before My surgery was scheduled for mid May

Mental Toughness13 My mental preparation at this point was very important I had to scrap any idea of competing in triathlons for the rest of the year and focus on a positive attitude of getting better I stopped thinking about what I wasnrsquot going to able to do and started thinking about what I could do that I was alive and kept my mind on the fact that so many others had made it before me

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links

Part 213 I was prepared by the doctors survivors and literature to be ldquodownrdquo for several weeks after my surgery I even took the rest of the school year off My surgery went well and I was out of the hospital the next day A few friends came to visit while I was in the hospital and my principal and vice principal brought the most wonderful picture of the faculty wearing pink for me I can only imagine what it looked like at Thornton Elementary on that day in May 2009 a sea of pink all for Brandi Shipman Shortly after their visit I received a text from my friend Margie Massey My friends from the gym wore pink for me that day as well The support brought tears to my eyes I was so excited to come home and be comfortable in my own home I just wish the stupid drain that was attached could have stayed at the hospital The pain from that was worse than the pain from the mastectomy

the most

powerful picture

13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Recovery ndash May13 Once I got home I slept and watched a lot of TV Friends visited and brought yummy food and my favorites I am not supposed to eat I ate them all My friend and co-worker set up a cancer care calendar that alerted anyone who logged on when I was having a doctorrsquos appointment or when I was in need of anything I felt like royalty as everyone took care of me I think Brian secretly enjoyed the fact that he wouldnrsquot have to cook for me each night My recovery was quicker than I thought as I was doing my best to get better and get the stinkinrsquo drain out of my skin I was out walking within a week and running within 3 weeks I couldnrsquot believe my recovery I know it was from all the prayers love and good care from Brian and the loved ones around me Life was looking better each day

ldquoLife was looking

better each dayrdquo

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Part three and part

four of I am Survivor

will be published in

the next edition of

FitnessDigestus

Get the convenience of

digital-delivery

Sign-up or subscribe at

httpFitnessDigestus

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During the past 150 years we have witnessed many remarkable advances against cancer a disease known to humanity for thousands of years The advances highlighted below represent a sampling of what has been accomplished to date

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

1882 William Halsted performs the first radical mastectomy to treat breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast the lymph nodes under the arm (axillary lymph nodes) and the chest muscles behind the breast (pectoralis major and pectoralis minor muscles) are removed Radical mastectomy will remain the standard operation for breast cancer until latter half of the 20th century when the use of modified radical mastectomy becomes widely accepted

1932 David H Patey develops the modified radical mastectomy for breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast axillary lymph nodes and pectoralis minor muscle behind the breast are removed The modified radical mastectomy is less disfiguring than the radical mastectomy and will eventually replace the radical mastectomy as a standard treatment option for breast cancer

1953 James Watson and Francis Crick discover the molecular structure of DNA (the double helix)

1963 The Health Insurance Plan (HIP) of Greater New York Study begins HIP is the first randomized controlled trial of periodic breast cancer screening with mammography

1882

1932

1953

1963

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1976 The results of a randomized clinical trial show that women with early breast cancer who receive post-operative (adjuvant) combination chemotherapy with the drugs cyclophosphamide methotrexate and 5-FU have improved disease-free survival

1981 A randomized clinical trial in the United Kingdom shows for the first time that the rates of survival local recurrence and tumor metastasis among women whose breast cancer is treated with modified radical mastectomy are not substantially different from those of women who are treated with radical mastectomy

1993 An NCI-convened international workshop on screening for breast cancer reports that screening with mammography reduces breast cancer mortality among women ages 50-69 This conclusion is based on a review of published and unpublished data from eight randomized controlled trials

2004 Data from the Womens Health Initiative (WHI) study show that women who take estrogen in combination with the hormone progestin have a greater risk of developing breast cancer than women who take estrogen alone The results also show that menopausal hormone therapy with estrogen alone has no benefit in disease prevention specifically in reducing the risks of colorectal cancer coronary heart disease and dementia

1976

1981

1993

2004

Although we still have a long way to go to reduce the toll of cancer in the United States and worldwide our research and public health efforts are beginning to pay dividends

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

Volunteering vs Participating13 My girl friend and I are involved in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation The local chapter raises awareness for the cause with a fun-run each year We have volunteered to help with the race five years in a row This year we were stationed at a water table where the runners pick-up cups of water to drink Toward the end of the race there are very few runners There was a little time to chat about things We were talking about what we would wish for if we could have three wishes I told her I would wish for an end to Juvenile Diabetes and to lose 10 pounds Being nice I said ldquoyou can have my last wishrdquo She said I wish you would skip volunteering and just run this race next year

Admission Price Our aquatic center was having a promotion one night and advertised an elementary school night The kids could swim for free When we got to the pool we saw a promotional sign for the event In small lettering it read All swimmers must be accompanied by an adult We thought no big deal one of us can just stay and watch When we got to the front desk we found the lifeguard was enforcing the adult-admission price of $8

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CNFI Publishing - Products Books Chapbooks Bookmarks Plaques and Poetry Collector Cards Merchandising Products Coffee Mugs Mouse Pads Tiles 3x6 Coasters T - Shirts and Wall Plaques More info athttpliveadsFitnessDigestus

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

Featured PhotosFitnessDigestus feature

Chicago open water swim course at nighttop left

Kids race at Bicycle Blues and BBQtop right

Some team members volunteer at the local soup kitchenmiddle right

Ken Mauer loads the balls for hitting practice during a Twins baseball camp for

children 7-13 bottom right

Get your local event photos published in the next issue of FitnessDigestus E-mail

your photo to photoFitnessDigestus

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As he turned to go on he spat speculatively There was a sharp explosive crackle that startled him He spat again And again in the air before it could fall to the snow the spittle crackled He knew that at fifty below spittle crackled on the snow but this spittle had crackled in the air Undoubtedly it was colder than fifty below--how much colder he did not know But the temperature did not matter He was bound for the old claim on the left fork of Henderson Creek where the boys were already They had come over across the divide from the Indian Creek country while he had come the roundabout way to take a look at the possibilities of getting out logs in the spring from the islands in the Yukon He would be in to camp by six oclock a bit after dark it was true but the boys would be there a fire would be going and a hot supper would be ready As for lunch he pressed his hand against the protruding bundle under his jacket It was also under his shirt wrapped up in a handkerchief and lying against the naked skin It was the only way to keep the biscuits from freezing He smiled agreeably to himself as he thought of those biscuits each cut open and sopped in bacon grease and each enclosing a generous slice of fried bacon

He plunged in among the big spruce trees The trail was faint A foot of snow had fallen since the last sled had passed over and he was glad he was without a sled traveling light In fact he carried nothing but the lunch wrapped in the handkerchief He was surprised however at the cold It certainly was cold he concluded as he rubbed his numb nose and cheek-bones with his mittened hand He was a warm-whiskered man but the hair on his face did not protect the high cheek-bones and the eager nose that thrust itself aggressively into the frosty air

At the mans heels trotted a dog a big native husky the proper wolf-dog gray-coated and without any visible or temperamental difference from its brother the wild wolf The animal was depressed by the tremendous cold It knew that it was no time for

traveling Its instinct told it a truer tale than was told to the man by the mans judgment In reality it was not merely colder than fifty below zero it was colder than sixty below than seventy below It was seventy-five below zero Since the freezing point is thirty-two above zero it meant that one hundred and seven degrees of frost obtained The dog did not know anything about thermometers Possibly in its brain there was no sharp consciousness of a condition of very cold such as was in the mans brain But the brute had its instinct It experienced a vague but menacing apprehension that subdued it then made it slink along at the mans heels and that made it question eagerly every unwonted movement of the man as if expecting him to go into camp or to seek shelter somewhere and build a fire The dog had learned fire and it wanted fire or else to burrow under the snow and cuddle its warmth away from the air

The frozen moisture of its breathing had settled on its fur in a fine powder of frost and especially were its jowls muzzle and eyelashes whitened by its cry-stalled breath The mans red beard and mustache were likewise frosted but more solidly the deposit taking the form of ice and increasing with every warm moist breath he exhaled Also the man was chewing tobacco and the muzzle of ice held his lips so rigidly that he was unable to clear his chin when he expelled the juice The result was that a crystal beard of the color and solidity of amber was increasing its length on his chin If he fell down it would shatter itself like glass into brittle fragments But he did not mind the appendage It was the penalty all tobacco-chewers paid in that country and he had been out before in two cold snaps They had not been so cold as this he knew but by the spirit thermometer at Sixty Mile he knew they had been registered at fifty below and at fifty-five

He held on through the level stretch of woods for several miles crossed a wide flat of rigger-heads and dropped down a bank to the frozen bed of a

To Build a FireContinued

small stream This was Henderson Creek and he knew he was ten miles from the forks He looked at his watch It was ten oclock He was making four miles an hour and he calculated that he would arrive at the forks at half-past twelve He decided to celebrate that event by eating his lunch there

The dog dropped in again at his heels with a tail drooping discouragement as the man swung along the creek-bed The furrow of the old sled-trail was plainly visible but a dozen inches of snow covered the marks of the last runners In a month no man had come up or down that silent creek The man held steadily on He was not much given to thinking and just then particularly he had nothing to think about save that he would eat lunch at-the forks and that at six oclock he would be in camp with the boys There was nobody to talk to and had there been speech would have been impossible because of the ice-muzzle on his mouth So he continued monotonously to chew tobacco and to increase the length of his amber beard

Once in a while the thought reiterated itself that it was very cold and that he had never experienced such cold As he walked along he rubbed his cheek-bones and nose with the back of his mittened hand He did this automatically now and again changing hands But rub as he would the instant he stopped his cheek-bones went numb and the following instant the end of his nose went numb He was sure to frost his cheeks he knew that and experienced a pang of regret that he had not devised a nose-strap of the sort Bud wore in cold snaps Such a strap passed across the cheeks as well and saved them But it didnt matter much after all What were frosted cheeks A bit painful that was all they were never serious

Empty as the mans mind was of thoughts he was keenly observant and he noticed the changes in the creek the curves and bends and timber jams and always he sharply noted where he placed his feet Once coming around a bend he shied abruptly

like a startled horse curved away from the place where he had been walking and retreated several paces back along the trail The creek he knew was frozen clear to the bottom--no creek could contain water in that arctic winter--but he knew also that there were springs that bubbled out from the hillsides and ran along under the snow and on top the ice of the creek He knew that the coldest snaps never froze these springs and he knew likewise their danger They were traps They hid pools of water under the snow that might be three inches deep or three feet Sometimes a skin of ice half an inch thick covered them and in turn was covered by the snow Sometimes there were alternate layers of water and ice-skin so that when one broke through he kept on breaking through for a while sometimes wetting himself to the waist

That was why he had shied in such panic He had felt the give under his feet and heard the crackle of a snow-hidden ice-skin And to get his feet wet in such a temperature meant trouble and danger At the very least it meant delay for he would be forced to stop and build a fire and under its protection to bare his feet while he dried his socks and moccasins He stood and studied the creek-bed and its banks and decided that the flow of water came from the right He reflected a while rubbing his nose and cheeks then skirted to the left stepping gingerly and testing the footing for each step Once clear of the danger he took a fresh chew of tobacco and swung along at his four-mile gait

In the course of the next two hours he came upon several similar traps Usually the snow above the hidden pools had a sunken candied appearance that advertised the danger Once again however he had a close call and once suspecting danger he compelled the dog to go on in front The dog did not want to go It hung back until the man shoved it forward and then it went quickly across the white unbroken surface Suddenly it broke through floundered to one side and got away to firmer

To Build a FireContinued

To Build a FireContinued

footing It had wet its forefeet and legs and almost immediately the water that clung to it turned to ice It made quick efforts to lick the ice off its legs then dropped down in the snow and began to bite out the ice that had formed between the toes l his was a matter of instinct To permit the ice to remain would mean sore feet It did not know this It merely obeyed the mysterious prompting that arose from the deep crypts of its being But the man knew having achieved a judgment on the subject and he removed the mitten from his right hand and helped tear out the ice-particles He did not expose his fingers more than a minute and was astonished at the swift numbness that smote them It certainly was cold He pulled on the mitten hastily and beat the hand savagely across his chest

At twelve oclock the day was at its brightest Yet the sun was too far south an its winter journey to clear the horizon The bulge of the earth intervened between it arid Henderson Creek where the man walked under a clear sky at noon and cast no shadow At half-past twelve to the minute he arrived at the forks of the creek He was pleased at the speed he had made If he kept it up he would certainly be with the boys by six He unbuttoned his jacket and shirt and drew forth his lunch The action consumed no more than a quarter of a minute yet in that brief moment the numbness laid hold of the exposed fingers He did not put the mitten on but instead struck the fingers a dozen sharp smashes against his leg Then he sat down on a snow-covered log to eat The sting that followed upon the striking of his fingers against his leg ceased so quickly that he was startled He had had no chance to take a bite of biscuit He struck the fingers repeatedly and returned them to the mitten baring the other hand for the purpose of eating He tried to take a mouthful but the ice-muzzle prevented He had forgotten to build a fire and thaw out He chuckled at his foolishness and as he chuckled he noted the numbness creeping into the exposed fingers Also he noted that the stinging which had first come to his

toes when he sat down was already passing away He wandered whether the toes were warm or numb He moved them inside the moccasins and decided that they were numb

He pulled the mitten on hurriedly and stood up He was a bit frightened He stamped up and down until the stinging returned into the feet It certainly was cold was his thought That man from Sulphur Creek had spoken the truth when telling how cold it sometimes got in the country And he had laughed at him at the time That showed one must not be too sure of things There was no mistake about it it was cold He strode up and down stamping his feet and threshing his arms until reassured by the returning warmth Then he got out matches and proceeded to make a fire From the undergrowth where high water of the previous spring had lodged a supply of seasoned twigs he got his firewood Working carefully from a small beginning he soon had a roaring fire over which he thawed the ice from his face and in the protection of which he ate his biscuits For the moment the cold space was outwitted The dog took satisfaction in the fire stretching out close enough for warmth and far enough away to escape being singed

When the man had finished be filled his pipe and took his comfortable time over a smoke Then he pulled on his mittens settled the ear-flaps of his cap firmly about his ears and took the creek trail up the left fork The dog was disappointed and yearned back toward the fire This man did not know cold Possibly all the generations of his ancestry had been ignorant of cold of real cold of cold one hundred and seven degrees below freezing point But the dog knew all its ancestry knew and it had inherited the knowledge And it knew that it was not good to walk abroad in such fearful cold It was the time to lie snug in a hole in the snow and wait for a curtain of cloud to be drawn across the face of outer space whence this cold came On the other hand there was no keen intimacy between the dog and the man

The one was the toil-slave of the other and the only caresses it had ever received were the caresses of the whiplash and of harsh and menacing throat-sounds that threatened the whiplash So the dog made no effort to communicate its apprehension to the man It was not concerned in the welfare of the man it was for its own sake that it yearned back toward the fire But the man whistled and spoke to it with the sound of whiplashes and the dog swung in at the mans heel and followed after

The man took a chew of tobacco and proceeded to start a new amber beard Also his moist breath quickly powdered with white his mustache eyebrows and lashes There did not seem to be so many springs on the left fork of the Henderson and for half an hour the man saw no signs of any And then it happened At a place where there were no signs where the soft unbroken snow seemed to advertise solidity beneath tee man broke through It was not deep He wet himself halfway to the knees before he floundered out to the firm crust

He was angry and cursed his luck aloud He had hoped to get into camp with the boys at six oclock and this would delay him an hour for he would have to build a fire and dry out his foot-gear This was imperative at that low temperature--he knew that much and he turned aside to the bank which he climbed On top tangled in the underbrush about the trunks of several small spruce trees was a high-water deposit of dry firewood--sticks and twigs principally but also larger portions of seasoned branches and fine dry last-years grasses He threw down several large pieces on top of the snow This served for a foundation and prevented the young flame from drowning itself in the snow it otherwise would melt The flame he got by touching a match to a small shred of birch bark that he took from his pocket This burned even more readily than paper Placing it on the foundation he fed the young flame with wisps of dry grass and with the tiniest dry twigs

He worked slowly and carefully keenly aware of his danger Gradually as the flame grew stronger he increased the size of the twigs with which he fed it He squatted in the snow pulling the twigs out from their entanglement in the brush and feeding directly to the flame He knew there must be no failure When it is seventy-five below zero a man must not fail in his first attempt to build a fire--that is if his feet are wet If his feet are dry and he fails he can run along the trail for half a mile and restore his circulation But the circulation of wet and freezing feet cannot be restored by running when it is seventy-five below No matter how fast he runs the wet feet will freeze the harder

All this the man knew The old-timer on Sulphur Creek had told him about it the previous fall and now he was appreciating the advice Already all sensation had gone out of his feet To build the fire he had been forced to remove his mittens and the fingers had quickly gone numb His pace of four miles an hour had kept his heart pumping blood to the surface of his body and to all the extremities But the instant he stopped the action of the pump eased down The cold of space smote the unprotected tip of the planet and he being on that unprotected tip received the full force of the blow The blood of his body recoiled before it The blood was alive like the dog and like the dog it wanted to hide away and cover itself up from the fearful cold So long as he walked four miles an hour he pumped that blood willy-nilly to the surface but now it ebbed away and sank down into the recesses of his body The extremities were the first to feel its absence His wet feet froze the faster and his exposed fingers numbed the faster though they had not yet begun to freeze Nose and cheeks were already freezing while the skin of all his body chilled as it lost its blood

But he was safe Toes and nose and cheeks would be only touched by the frost for the fire was beginning to burn with strength He was feeding it

To Build a FireContinued

with twigs the size of his finger In another minute he would be able to feed it with branches the size of his wrier and then he could remove his wet toot-gear and while it dried he could keep his naked feet warm by the fire rubbing them at first of course with snow The fire was a success He was safe He remembered the advice of the old timer on Sulphur Creek and smiled The old-timer had been very serious in laying down the law that no man must travel alone in the Klondike after fifty below Well here he was he had had the accident he was alone and he had saved himself Those old-timers were rather womanish some of them he thought All a man had to do was to keep his head and he was all right Any man who was a man could travel alone But it was surprising the rapidity with which his cheeks and nose were freezing And he had not thought his fingers could go lifeless in so short a time Lifeless they were for he could scarcely make them move together to grip a twig and they seemed remote from his body and from him When he touched a twig he had to look and see whether or not he had hold of it The wires were pretty well down between him and his finger-ends

All of which counted for little There was the fire snapping and crackling and promising life with every dancing flame He started to untie his moccasins They were coated with ice the thick German socks were like sheaths of iron halfway to the knees and the moccasin strings were like rods of steel all twisted and knotted as by some conflagration For a moment he tugged with his numb fingers then realizing the folly of it he drew his sheath-knife

But before he could cut the strings it happened It was his own fault or rather his mistake He should not have built the fire under the spruce tree He should have built it in the open But it had been easier to pull the twigs from the brush and drop them directly on the fire Now the tree under which

he had done this carried a weight of snow on its boughs No wind had blown for weeks and each bough was fully freighted Each time he had pulled a twig he had communicated a slight agitation to the tree--an imperceptible agitation so far as he was concerned but an agitation sufficient to bring about the disaster High up in the tree one bough capsized its load of snow This fell on the boughs beneath capsizing them This process continued spreading out and involving the whole tree It grew like an avalanche and it descended without warning upon the man and the fire and the fire was blotted out Where it had burned was a mantle of fresh and disordered snow

The man was shocked It was as though he had just heard his own sentence of death For a moment he sat and stared at the spot where the fire had been Then he grew very calm Perhaps the old-timer on Sulphur Creek was right If he had only had a trail-mate he would have been in no danger now The trail-mate could have built the fire Well it was up to him to build the fire over again and this second time there must be no failure Even if he succeeded he would most likely lose some toes His feet must be badly frozen by now and there would be some time before the second fire Was ready

Such were his thoughts but he did not sit and think them He was busy all the time they were passing through his mind He made a new foundation for a fire this time in the open where no treacherous tree could blot it out Next he gathered dry grasses and tiny twigs from the high-water flotsam He could not bring his fingers together to pull them out but he was able to gather them by the handful In this way he got many rotten twigs and bits of green moss that were undesirable but it was the best he could do He worked methodically even collecting an armful of the larger branches to be used later when the fire gathered strength And all the while the dog sat and watched him a certain yearning wistfulness in its eyes for it looked upon

To Build a FireContinued

him as the fire-provider and the fire was slow in coming

When all was ready the man reached in his pocket for a second piece of birch bark He knew the bark was there and though he could not feel it with his fingers he could hear its crisp rustling as he fumbled for it Try as he would he could not clutch hold of it And all the time in his consciousness was the knowledge that each instant his feet were freezing This thought tended to put him in a panic but he fought against it and kept calm He pulled on his mittens with his teeth and threshed his arms back and forth beating his hands with all his might against his sides He did this sitting down and he stood up to do it and all the while the dog sat in the snow its wolf-brush of a tail curled around warmly over its forefeet its sharp wolf-ears pricked forward intently as it watched the man And the man as he beat and threshed with his arms and hands felt a great surge of envy as he regarded the creature that was warm ant secure in its natural covering

After a time he was aware of the first far-away signals of sensation in his beaten fingers The faint tingling grew stronger till it evolved into a stinging ache that was excruciating but which the man hailed with satisfaction He stripped the mitten from his right hand and fetched forth the birch bark The exposed fingers were quickly going numb again Next he brought out his bunch of sulphur matches But the tremendous cold had already driven the life out of his fingers In his effort to separate one match from the others the whole bunch fell in the snow He tried to pick it out of the snow but failed The dead fingers could neither touch nor clutch He was very careful He drove the thought of his freezing feet and nose and cheeks out of his mind devoting his whole soul to the matches He watched using the sense of vision in place of that of touch and when he saw his fingers on each side the bunch he dosed them--that is he willed to close them for the wires were down and the fingers did not obey He pulled

the mitten on the right hand and beat it fiercely against his knee Then with both mittened hands he scooped the bunch of matches along with much snow into his lap Yet he was no better off

After some manipulation he managed to get the bunch between the heels of his mittened hands In this fashion he carried it to his mouth The ice crackled and snapped when by a violent effort he opened his mouth He drew the lower jaw in curled the upper lip out of the way and scraped the bunch with his upper teeth in order to separate a match He succeeded in getting one which he dropped on his lap He was no better off He could not pick it up Then he devised a way He picked it up in his teeth and scratched it on his leg Twenty times he scratched before he succeeded in lighting it As it flamed he held it with his teeth to the birch bark But the burning brimstone went up his nostrils and into his lungs causing him to cough spasmodically The match fell into the snow and went out

The old-timer an Sulphur Creek was right he thought in the moment of controlled despair that ensued after fifty below a man should travel with a partner He beat his hands but failed in exciting any sensation Suddenly he bared both hands removing the mittens with his teeth He caught the whole bunch between the heels of his hands His arm muscles not being frozen enabled him to press the hand-heels tightly against the matches Then he scratched the bunch along his leg It flared into flame seventy sulphur matches at once There was no wind to blow them out He kept his head to one side to escape the strangling fumes and held the blazing bunch to the birth bark As he so held it he became aware of sensation in his hand His flesh was burning He could smell it Deep down below the surface he could feel it The sensation developed into pain that grew acute And still he endured it holding the flame of the matches clumsily to the bark that would not light readily because his own burning hands were in the way absorbing most of the flame

To Build a FireContinued

At last when he could endure no more he jerked his hands apart The blazing matches fell sizzling into the snow but the birch bark was alight He began laying dry grasses and the tiniest twigs on the flame He could not pick and choose for he had to lift the fuel between the heels of his hands Small pieces of rotten wood and green moss clung to the twigs and he bit them off as well as he could with his teeth He cherished the flame carefully and awkwardly It meant life and it must not perish The withdrawal of blood from the surface of his body now made him begin to shiver and he grew more awkward A large piece of green moss fell squarely on the little fire He tried to poke it out with his fingers but his shivering frame made him poke too far and he disrupted the nucleus of the little fire the burning grasses and tiny twigs separating and scattering He tried to poke them together again but in spite of the tenseness of the effort his shivering got away with him and the twigs were hopelessly scattered Each twig gushed a puff of smoke and went out The fire-provider had failed As he looked apathetically about him his eyes chanced on the dog sitting across the ruins of the fire from him in the snow making restless hunching movements slightly lifting one forefoot and then the other shifting its weight back and forth on them with wistful eagerness

The sight of the dog put a wild idea into his head He remembered the tale of the man caught in a blizzard who killed a steer and crawled inside the carcass and so was saved He would kill the dog and bury his hands in the warm body until the numbness went out of them Then he could build another fire He spoke to the dog calling it to him but in his voice was a strange note of fear that frightened the animal who had never known the man to speak in such way before Something was the matter and its suspicious nature sensed danger--it knew not what danger but somewhere somehow in its brain arose an apprehension of the man It flattened its ears down at the sound of the mans voice and its restless

hunching movements and the liftings and shiftings of its forefeet became more pronounced but it would not come to the man He got on his hands and knees and crawled toward the dog This unusual posture again excited suspicion and the animal sidled mincingly away

The man sat up in the snow for a moment and struggled for calmness Then he pulled on his mittens by means of his teeth and got upon his feet He glanced down at first in order to assure himself that he was really standing up for the absence of sensation in his feet left him unrelated to the earth His erect position in itself started to drive the webs of suspicion from the dogs mind and when he spoke peremptorily with the sound of whiplashes in his voice the dog rendered its customary allegiance and came to him As it came within reaching distance the man lost his control His arms flashed out to the dog and he experienced genuine surprise when he discovered that his hands could not clutch that there was neither bend nor feeling in the fingers He had forgotten for the moment that they were frozen and that they were freezing more and more All this happened quickly and before the animal could get away he encircled its body with his arms He sat down in the snow and in this fashion held the dog while it snarled and whined and struggled

But it was all he could do hold its body encircled in his arms and sit there He realized that he could not kill the dog There was no way to do it With his helpless hands he could neither draw nor hold his sheath knife nor throttle the animal He released it and it plunged wildly away with tail between its legs and still snarling It halted forty feet away and surveyed him curiously with ears sharply pricked forward The man looked down at his hands in order to locate them and found them hanging on the ends of his arms It struck him as curious that one should have to use his eyes in order to find out where his hands were He began threshing his arms back and forth beating the mittened hands against

To Build a FireContinued

his sides He did this for five minutes violently and his heart pumped enough blood up to the surface to put a stop to his shivering But no sensation was aroused in the hands He had an impression that they hung like weights on the ends of his arms but when he tried to run the impression down he could not find it

A certain fear of death dull and oppressive came to him This fear quickly became poignant as he realized that it was no longer a mere matter of freezing his fingers and toes or of losing his hands and feet but that it was a matter of life and death with the chances against him This threw him into a panic and he turned and ran up the creek-bed along the old dim trail The dog joined in behind and kept up with him He ran blindly without intention in fear such as he had never known in his life Slowly as he plowed and floundered through the snow he began to see things again the banks of the creek the old timber-jams the leafless aspens and the sky The running made him feel better He did not shiver Maybe if he ran on his feet would thaw out and anyway if he ran far enough he would reach camp and the boys Without doubt he would lose some fingers and toes and some of his face but the boys would take care of him and save the rest of him when he got there And at the same time there was another thought in his mind that said he would never get to the camp and the boys that it was too many miles away that the freezing had too great a start on him and that he would soon be stiff and dead This thought he kept in the background and refused to consider Sometimes it pushed itself forward and demanded to be heard but he thrust it back and strove to think of other things

It struck him as curious that he could run at all on feet so frozen that he could not feel them when they struck the earth and took the weigh of his body He seemed to himself to skim along above the surface and to have no connection with the earth Somewhere he had once seen a winged Mercury

and he wondered if Mercury felt as he felt when skimming over the earth

His theory of running until he reached camp and the boys had one flaw in it he lacked the endurance Several times he stumbled and finally he tottered crumpled up and fell When he tried to rise he failed He must sit and rest he decided and next time he would merely walk and keep on going As he sat and regained his breath he noted that he was feeling quite warm and comfortable He was not shivering and it even seemed that a warm glow had come to his chest and trunk And yet when he touched his nose or cheeks there was no sensation Running would not thaw them out Nor would it thaw out his hands and feet Then the thought came to him that the frozen portions of his body must be extending He tried to keep this thought down to forget it to think of something else he was aware of the panicky feeling that it caused and he was afraid of the panic But the thought asserted itself and persisted until it produced a vision of his body totally frozen This was too much and he made another wild run along the trail Once he slowed down to a walk but the thought of the freezing extending itself made him run again

And all the time the dog ran with him at his heels When he fell down a second time it curled its tad over its forefeet and sat in front of him facing him curiously eager and intent The warmth and security of the animal angered him and he cursed it till it flattened down its ears appealingly This time the shivering came more quickly upon the man He was losing in his battle with the frost It was creeping into his body from all sides The thought of it drove him on but he ran no more than a hundred feet when he staggered and pitched headlong It was his last panic When he had recovered his breath and control he sat up and entertained in his mind the conception of meeting death with dignity However the conception did not come to him in such terms His idea of it was that he had been making a fool of

To Build a FireContinued

himself running around like a chicken with its head cut off--such was the simile that occurred to him Well he was bound to freeze anyway and he might as well take it decently With this new-found peace of mind came the first glimmerings of drowsiness A good idea he thought to sleep off to death It was like salting an anesthetic Freezing was not so bad as people thought There were lots worse ways to die

He pictured the boys finding his body next day Suddenly he found himself with them coming along the trail and looking for himself And still with them he came around a turn in the trail and found himself lying in the snow He did not belong with himself any more for even then he was out of himself standing with the boys and looking at himself in the snow It certainly was cold was his thought When he got back to the States he could tell the folks what real cold was He drifted on from this to a vision of the old-timer on Sulphur Creek He could see him quite clearly warm and comfortable and smoking a pipe

You were right old boss you were right the man mumbled to the old-timer of Sulphur Creek

Then the man drowsed off into what seemed to him the most comfortable and satisfying sleep he had ever known The dog sat facing him and waiting The brief day drew to a close in a long slow twilight There were no signs of a fire to be made and besides never in the dogs experience had it known a man to sit like that in the snow and make no fire As the twilight drew on its eager yearning for the fire mastered it and with a great lifting and shifting of forefeet it whined softly then flattened its ears down in anticipation of being chidden by the man But the man remained silent Later the dog whined loudly And still later it crept close to the man and caught the scent of death This made the animal bristle and back away A little longer it delayed howling under the stars that leaped and danced and shone brightly in the cold sky Then it turned and trotted up the trail in the direction of the camp it knew where were the other food-providers and fire-providers

To Build a FireContinued

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Stories are published for ALL FitnessDigestus readers Archived professionally and digitally in thousands of libraries

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Page 20: FitnessDigest.us Vol. 4.3 Cover

This Wild West town known primarily for its gamblers gunslingers and gold miners has turned into one of the premiere destination marathon venues in the US

13 The breathtaking beauty of our course the truly outstanding team of volunteers the hospitality of everyone associated with the event and paying attention to details are just a couple of reasons yoursquoll want to toe the line on June 2nd

The Deadwood Mickelson Trail Half and Full Marathon is a point to point course

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ldquoThe breathtaking beauty of our courserdquo

WaynesSkiandCyclenetlive links to Waynersquos at httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

MTM Charity Partner

13 Habitat for Humanity is a global nonprofit Christian housing organization that has helped to build more than 500000 decent affordable houses and served 25 million people worldwide since its founding in 1976 With the help of volunteers and donations of money and materials Habitat constructs rehabilitates and preserves homes in partnership with low-income families in need Operating in nearly 80 countries and with more than 1500 affiliates in the United States Habitat also advocates for fair and just housing policies and provides training and access to resources to help families improve their shelter conditions

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beginning in the historic mining town of Rochford the first 15 miles are on a paved road At this point the course becomes the Mickelson Trail (a rails to trails project) The next 12 miles are a mixture of gentle uphill and flat terrain

13 Then the course is either downhill or flat and finishes at the historic Engine House at end of the linehellipthe Deadwood Trailhead The Half Marathon is also a point to point course starting at the 131 mile mark of the full marathon Walker Friendly

All participants will receive a Commemorative Finisherrsquos Medal

Mickelson Trail Marathon Charity Partner is the Black Hills Habitat for HumanityMake your Marathon Matter Matching Funds

Make your Marathon matter by helping create decent shelter in the Black Hills ndash take the challenge to give at least $1 per race mile Our goal is to raise $3000 in 2012 for BH Habitat for Humanity to help provide shelter for more families in the Black Hills

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Hope to see you at the Finish Line - ThanksEmily Wheeler Wheeler Event Management Inc

ldquoHope to see you at the finish linerdquo

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links

DAY had broken cold and gray exceedingly cold and gray when the man turned aside from the main Yukon trail and climbed the high earth-bank where a dim and little traveled trail led eastward through the fat spruce timberland It was a steep bank and he paused for breath at the top excusing the act to himself by looking at his watch It was nine oclock There was no sun nor hint of sun though there was not a cloud in the sky It was a

clear day and yet there seemed an intangible pall over the face of things a subtle gloom that made the day dark and that was due to the absence of sun This fact did not worry the man He was used to the lack of sun It had been days since he had seen the sun and he knew that a few more-days must pass before that cheerful orb due south would just peep above the sky-line and dip immediately from view

To Build a Fire - Hiking the Yukon TrailShort story fiction Written by Jack London (1876-1916)

The man flung a look back along the way he had come The Yukon lay a mile wide and hidden under three feet of ice On top of this ice were as many feet of snow It was all pure white rolling in gentle undulations where the ice jams of the freeze-up had formed North and south as far as his eye could see it was unbroken white save for a dark hairline that curved and twisted from around the spruce-covered island to the south and that curved and twisted away into the north where it disappeared behind another spruce-covered island This dark hair-line was the trail--the main trail--that led south five hundred miles to the Chilcoot Pass Dyea and salt water and that led north seventy miles to Dawson and still on to the north a thousand miles to Nulato and finally to St Michael on Bering Sea a thousand miles and half a thousand more

But all this--the mysterious far-reaching hair-line trail The absence of sun from the sky the tremendous cold and the strangeness and weirdness of it all--made no

impression on the man It was not because he was long used to it He was a newcomer In the land a chechaquo and this was his first winter The trouble with him was that he was without imagination He was quick and alert in the things of life but only in the things and not in the significances Fifty degrees below zero meant eighty-odd degrees of frost Such fact impressed him as being cold and uncomfortable and that was all It did not lead him to meditate upon his frailty as a creature of temperature and upon mans frailty in general able only to live within certain narrow limits of heat and cold and from there on it did not lead him to the conjectural field of immortality and mans place in the universe Fifty degrees below zero stood forte bite of frost that hurt and that must be guarded against by the use of mittens ear-flaps warm moccasins and thick socks Fifty degrees below zero was to him just precisely fifty degrees below zero That there should be anything more to it than that was a thought that never entered his head

To Build a FireContinued

Continued on page 62

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It is important from time to time to slow down to go away by yourself and simply be --Eileen Caddy

Letrsquos Race13 My son is eight and our family is very active Im just hitting my peak racing age of about 34 years old The family members all support each otherrsquos activities They are a great cheering section when my wife and I compete in races There is a popular two mile fun run in our town that we my wife and I run every year We also have for-fun races with the kids around the house or across the football field For years Ive let the eight year old win a few and others I win by just a little bit I think he is wising up to my tactics of good fatherhood One day he said ldquoDad you are letting me win but I think I can beat you fair and squarerdquo He added ldquoYoursquore not that fast Ill bet you 10 dollars I can beat you in a two mile racerdquo Wanting to teach him a lesson about spouting off and writing checks his body cant cash I took him up on it I said All right you pick a time and place We will race two miles for 10 dollars He replied You know that two mile race you and mom do every year I can race you then I agreed and he quickly added Ill need 20 years to warm-up That would make me 54 and him 28 Irsquom preparing for the loss and putting 10 dollars aside now

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Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

In my first creative experience it was through music and I was interested in developing my values of creativity I was inspired by a band named Motley Crue and the song that captured my interest was Home Sweet home Dear reader what inspires you Is it music or inspirational quote thought or ideas To express how this song motivated my interests it helped give me faith in my own creative abilities in the process I began to write lyrics I eventually began to work on different styles of writing and broaden my writing skills What types of music inspire your creative thoughts What types of other inspiration values inspire your creative thoughts

13 Getting motivated is one of the key aspects of a successful weight-loss program Without this motivation there would be no drive to get up early or to avoid eating unhealthy snacks ndash that you absolutely love Yes you can thank your motivation for that When you are looking for weight-loss motivation sometimes it is hard to find Where can you find that extra umph to make it to your goal

The benefits of finding a motivator are something that cannot be paralleled It has been said mind over matter This coincides with our principle that no matter how hard the task you can accomplish the goal given the right mindset It is important to go into a new weight-loss program with a positive mental attitude

FINDI

NG TH

EM X InspirationX

Motivation

When I was introduced to William Shakespeare I was intrigued by his creative values and I started to work on developing a different aspect of writing I then watched the movie Free Jack there was a quote by Albert Einstein Imagination is more important than knowledge I thought about the in depth values of both concepts and then I applied both concepts and defined different creative concept Do you believe that anything is possible if you believe I know that I do believe that if an individual believes deeply enough one can accomplish their goals I had to believe in my own abilities and in my dreams and ignore the negative values that were impressed by others

Anything less can potentially hinder growth towards your goal

Some of the things that you should be thinking about when looking for motivators are people with good morals and a positive attitude This is because if the people helping you do not have a positive attitude then it is also difficult for you Some great places to look for a motivator are online blogs in the gym or even in your own family I am sure that in all of these places you will see someone else trying to accomplish the same or even more difficult goals than your own

Another key to finding motivation is to let it find you You should not have to go find a reason to go do something You will do it because you wanted to not because you were forced to

X

InspirationMotivation

More simply put motivation will find you because you will see something that inspires you to make a change in yourself That change may be a weight-loss goal or something else Maybe even an academic goal The true key is to maintain that motivation until you have achieved your goal

Regards Vincent ErrichielloUSMS Swimmer

InspirationMotivation

With believing so deeply within my own abilities and the faith that I could accomplish what I set out to achieve I wrote a lyric titled Dreams Are Only Real and in believing in this concept further defining its true meaning the concept became Dreams Are Only Real Until You Dont believe

Jeremy J TaylorCNFI Publishing

himTHROWINGWritten by anonymous contributor

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13 Johnny is not the best batter in our little league Matter-of-fact he is quiet awful At practice one afternoon Johnny hit a pitch really well The coach had pitched him inside on accident far enough inside that it almost hit him Johnny got his hit by using his bat to defend himself from that arrant pitch The coach told him ldquogood hitrdquo and Johnny yelled back ldquoWell I didnrsquot want the ball to hit merdquo13 Johnny improved his batting after that He was hitting the ball almost every time he got up At one point I said to coach ldquoHow did you get Johnny to improve his batting so quicklyrdquo He replyed Im throwing the ball it AT HIM every time

Body image and fitness are hot topics for both men and women The Great Fitness Experiment is my hilarious poignant embarrassing and at times heart-breaking journey to find my way through the morass of contradictory claims and information in todayrsquos health- and fitness-obsessed world

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The Fall of Billy Hitchingsby Kirkus MacGowan

Available at Amazon

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Posters Invites (graduation wedding showers etc)

Flyers Brochures

T-ShirtsShorts SweatshirtsSweats

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Postcards And Much More

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entryFitnessDigestus

Send u

s yo

ur T

-shi

rt

READE

R T

-shi

rts

13 I was standing on shore fishing in my favorite spot A guy Irsquove never seen at the pond gets in and starts swimming After about 25 minutes of back and forth he stops at a place about 30 yards off shore He gives me a quick look and dices down below the water

His next lap he stops in the same place looks at me again and points down at the water He finished his swim and left I picked up my gear and moved to the other side of the outlet just a few yards from where he had stopped twice Caught a lunker in the first cast

Swim Signs - Lunker

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Call to order 641ndash423ndash3111

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TOP TWEETS

Iowa Cubs (IowaCubs)Thanks to all our fans who showed up for the pre-game on-field catch with dad

Louise Pineda (forerunnerGPS)The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficultyWinston Churchill quotes

Softball Darlin (Softball_Darlin)My mom told me our team was gettin white uniforms for summer amp to try not to get them dirty Uh Have you seen me play Not gonna happen

I Swim I Suffer (ISwimISuffer)thatswimmerwho If the water is in your right ear for example then jump on your right leg and lean your head to the right side while jumping

I Swim and I Know It (iSwimWithIssues)During the summer you shower 467 times at the pool 17 times at hotels and 3 times at your house Truth

Everyday Health (WomensCancer)63000 Americans will be diagnosed w malignant melanoma (the deadliest skin cancer) this year Know your risk

US Paralympics (USParalympics)Want to be introduced to Paralympic sport Attend one of the Paralympic Experiences being held throughout the countryFi

tnes

sDig

est

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SwimSwam (swimswamnews)Congrats to KenyaSwimmer on being selected to carry the Kenya flag swimswamcom

Better than sharing on a blog Twitter or Facebook and you can share a story even if you donrsquot maintain a social-web presencePublished for ALL FitnessDigestus readers

Sign with your real name pen-name or anonymoushttpLiveMediaFitnessDigestus

13 Funnest thing SPAM about some weight-loss supplements got posted on a friendrsquos Facebook My friend is an ultra-runner I notice there was also an ad for salami recipes on the same page The recipes were right next to the SPAM about diet-pills

13 Letrsquos see ndash it sounds like the beginning of a good joke Q What do you get when a friend tries to sell you ultra-runner endorsed salami-flavored-SPAM diet-pills on Facebook Answer Sick

Unsung Heroes1 Irsquove never swam open water and wanted to do a triathlon A friend that

races open water took extra time to swim with me at a lake I was much more comfortable after that

2 I was going on vacation and needed advice on a place to swim A friend living in the area took the time to help me find people to answer my questions

3 I was over eating and had complained to my friend about it She called me twice a day for three weeks just to remind me to eat healthy

4 I usually run to and from the gym It takes about 30 minutes to run both ways I didnrsquot have enough time to get there and back before a scheduled appointment I had A friend drove me to the gym saving me about 30 minutes I was able to run home and still had time to get to my appointment

SPAM DIET

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Visit the Suburban Mommy blog and learn more about AtresiaMicrotia a birth defect of the inner earFor links to SubMommy blog httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

SUBMOMMYBLOG

On Wednesday May 16 2012 at 7 PM simultaneous rides occurred around the

USA and the world

We all ride Now we can ride as one

One day One time One world world wide

Let the silence roar

322 locations world wide

The Ride of SilenceTonight we number many but ride as one

In honor of those not with us friends

mothers fathers sisters sons

With helmets on tight and heads down low

We ride in silence cautious and slow

The wheels start spinning in the lead pack

But tonight we ride and no one attacks

The dark sunglasses cover our tears

Remembering those we held so dear

Tonights ride is to make others aware

The road is there for all to share

To those not with us or by our side

May God be your partner on your final ride

- Mike Murgas

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 50 states

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 7 Continents

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 0 words spoken

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 1 million memories

Ride of Silence

ldquoCost-effective investments in bicycling boost our economy help individuals and government agencies save money and directly address key societal challenges such as obesity and road congestion In these tough economic times our federal government can only afford to invest in solutions that solve multiple problems Bicycling fits the billrdquo ndash PeopleForBikesorg

This photo collection was taken byRobert LaVallee of Mason City IA

To see his entire collection visithttpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

Non-subscriberSign-up for delivery of

the FREE edition at coopnetbiz

It provides an outstanding aerobic workout in less than half the time we would spend in still water It has allowed us as swim coaches to observe swimmers stroke characteristics up close and to see the effects of fatigue on stroke mechanics ~ Larry L Chazy NY

Swimming is an excellent exercise and now I can swim every day because its so convenient and private I can swim when I want and how long I want Im able to have it at a temperature that is comfortable to me The small size of an Endless Pool enabled me to install a pool where I could not install a regular size one

As an aging baby boomer nutrition professional I have yearned for consistent exercise that doesnt stress joints and will enable me to attain physical fitness cardiovascular health and weight control I can eat what I want and still firm up and lose weight ~ John C Columbus OH

Endless Pools make for long swims in small places The 8x15 Endless Pool is less than regulation size but offers the same benefits as a very large pool ~ Noah H Connecticut Post

The Endless Pool is a great strength builder I am amazed at the strength of the current I now swim against I did not buy it for that reason but because of my arthritis so the strength gain is a wonderful surprise

Endless PoolsTestimonials For more information visit httpLIveAdsFitnessDigestus

s w i m m i n g s h o r t s

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Baseball Walking Stick13 My sons friend grabbed his baseball bat and said to me this is my walking stick I politely ask him why he calls it that He replied because my dad says if I hit a home run with it I donrsquot have to run the bases ndash I can walk

My Bike My mountain bike was stolen a while back and my kids were really upset Ive been riding my road bike in its place Since then Ive been careful to lock my bike up when we go to the park

13 On this occasion I did not lock-up my sonrsquos bike up with mine He looked at me quizzically and said sternly lock my bike up too I tried to explain that his bike was not as expensive and therefor didnt need to be locked up Boy that was a mistake He made me feel a little dumb when he said Dad I dont care how expensive it is Its the only bike Irsquove got

North Iowa Roads

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A LEADER inSearch Engine Optimization

Technology

Increase your visitor page views and Facebook Likes

Are you moving to a new state Already hired your mover

E-mail blind box at box02FitnessDigestus will get

you the best rates on cable phone and internet

Digital Movers

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

parent sports tipBy FitnessDigestus staff writer JGA

PAR

EN

T

TIP

Keeping Kids Focused13 Organize their thoughts Help them prioritize and make decisions based on value Even kids can understand the value of simple non-monetized choices Questions like ldquoShould I finish playing my gameboy game or pause it when they call my swimming eventrdquo

If kids are taught to make good decisions and not just find quick answers everyone wins

AugustGolf Month5th Friendship Day15th Relaxation Day25th Kiss and Make Up Day31st Trail Mix DaySeptemberLittle League Month12th Chocolate Milk Shake Day13th Positive Thinking Day16th Womenrsquos Friendship Day21st Miniature Golf DayOctoberBreast Cancer Awareness MonthNational Diabetes Month1st World Vegetarian Day4th Golf Day25th World Pasta Day

National Calendar

Au

gu

stSe

pte

mb

er

Oc

tob

er

Encourage friendships writing skills sharing thoughts and

experiencesEight different cards

YAGOTTAWANNA

Variety of pricing From single orders to bulk orders of 24 notecards

Learn more online

Stay in touch with your swimming or triathlon buddies

It is better to be safe then to try to beat the heat There are many options to stay cool and run during a hot-summer day Staying inside and running on the treadmill is a good one Remember staying safe is a top priority

Most workouts can be modified to work indoors This issuersquos workout is to do your usual run or interval set just stay inside and run it on the treadmill Visualize the different landmarks to see during your outdoor run

Coach Millerrsquos Quarterly ChallengeStay safe in the heatBy Mark Miller mmillerFitnessDigestus

A few years back we had a hot-spell similar to this yearrsquos record heat

I remember training for a long run and having to stop at the local swimming hole to cool off I literally took off my

shoes and jumped in with my running clothes on I was so hot

FitnessDigestUSEntertainment amp Inspiration

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OPEN WATER SWIMMING BY THE NUMBERS

In kilometers The shortest open water race included in the Fina World Championships

10107 How many miles it

is to swim from Cuba to the USA

5

1000Number of swimming strokes in a mile for a typical swimmer

31800About the number of calories it takes to swim 100 miles

LOCATED IN ST ANSGAR IOWA

Business Cards Envelopes

Letterheads Programs

Vinyl Decals Signs

Posters Invites (graduation wedding showers etc)

Flyers Brochures

T-ShirtsShorts SweatshirtsSweats

Koozies Sashes

Business Forms Placemats

Postcards And Much More

Bridgette Beyer DesignerOwner

Bring your ideas in andVisual Aspect Designs can print

andor design for you

The minimum open water distance in kilometers that is considered a swimming-

marathon

On Facebook Visit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

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Open water safety means swimming in shallow water where there is a lifeguard or using an escort

Shop for Name BrandGear

24 Hoursa Day

WaynesSkiandCyclenet

For links to Waynersquos visit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

s w i m m i n g s h o r t s

Googles

13 Swimming fans can really appreciate a 200 IM when their goggles fill with water How about an Olympian Swimming a leg of the 400 Free Relay with his goggles across his opened mouth ndash and going 45rsquos A great team swimmer an Olympian wouldnrsquot let down his teammates by throwing them off or fixing them

500 Fly13 A world class butterflyer asked if he could swim butterfly in the 500 yard freestyle during a dual meet His goal was to break five minutes After considering the competition it seemed like a great way to make him really work a hard fly swim so we agreed Problem was he swam a 502 and the opposing coach complained to the officials because he embarrassed his swimmers Oh well you canrsquot win lsquoem all

Stories sent in by Robert Steele

No-No-No13 The other morning I was teaching front-streamlines to snotty nosed 8 year olds (some are literally snotty-nosed) One boy was taking a big gulp of air and holding his breath When he lifted his head he had to exhale and inhale before submerging again Swimmers will understand this does not work very well Kids need to learn to exhale underwater The first time he did it I told him to exhale underwater The second time I stopped him looked him in the eye and reminded him to exhale underwater The third and fourth times I started to get a little frustrated ldquoJohnny you need to exhale underwater so you can breath betterrdquo The fifth time as his head popped up for a breath I quickly asked ldquoJohnny Do you even know what exhale meansrdquo as he submerged his head below the water I could see him shake his head no-no-no

Favorite Potato Chips13We try to limit the junk food the kids eat at our house For lunch one day our son wanted some potato chips I gave him 3 large chips with his sandwich He started to cry and said he wanted one more chip ldquoI wanted four chipsrdquo he screamed I took the plate back When he wasnt looking I broke a chip in half and give it back to him with four chips

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

13 My cancer story is one of uniqueness Leave it to me to do something like cancer to its fullest It did not begin with a mammogram diagnosis or a lump My journey began about 4 years ago with some suspicious activity that turned into Pagetrsquos disease of the nipple which signaled the underlying cancer On April 1st I found out about my breast cancer through a biopsy that came back as positive for Pagetrsquos disease The onslaught of tests learning and decisions were dizzying I immediately went for an evaluation of the suspicious tissue and had to begin making decisions for my mastectomy I quickly learned there is a test called the BRAC Analysis which is a genetic test for breast and ovarian cancer Finally a piece of good news for me I did not have the gene

Decisions Now it was time to make decisions about my mastectomy and how I was going to handle reconstruction I discussed my options with my boyfriend Brian friends family members and even my principalboss I read books searched the Internet and contacted people I

Brandi ShipmanCancer Survivor and elite triathlete

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

know and knew from my past that had been directly affected and that I thought might have answers for me The outpouring of love encouragement and help during this process was overwhelming After meeting with four different doctors two surgeons and two plastic surgeons I decided to go with immediate reconstruction and was lucky enough to find two wonderful doctors They were willing to work together just because I wanted them to even though they had never done so before My surgery was scheduled for mid May

Mental Toughness13 My mental preparation at this point was very important I had to scrap any idea of competing in triathlons for the rest of the year and focus on a positive attitude of getting better I stopped thinking about what I wasnrsquot going to able to do and started thinking about what I could do that I was alive and kept my mind on the fact that so many others had made it before me

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links

Part 213 I was prepared by the doctors survivors and literature to be ldquodownrdquo for several weeks after my surgery I even took the rest of the school year off My surgery went well and I was out of the hospital the next day A few friends came to visit while I was in the hospital and my principal and vice principal brought the most wonderful picture of the faculty wearing pink for me I can only imagine what it looked like at Thornton Elementary on that day in May 2009 a sea of pink all for Brandi Shipman Shortly after their visit I received a text from my friend Margie Massey My friends from the gym wore pink for me that day as well The support brought tears to my eyes I was so excited to come home and be comfortable in my own home I just wish the stupid drain that was attached could have stayed at the hospital The pain from that was worse than the pain from the mastectomy

the most

powerful picture

13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Recovery ndash May13 Once I got home I slept and watched a lot of TV Friends visited and brought yummy food and my favorites I am not supposed to eat I ate them all My friend and co-worker set up a cancer care calendar that alerted anyone who logged on when I was having a doctorrsquos appointment or when I was in need of anything I felt like royalty as everyone took care of me I think Brian secretly enjoyed the fact that he wouldnrsquot have to cook for me each night My recovery was quicker than I thought as I was doing my best to get better and get the stinkinrsquo drain out of my skin I was out walking within a week and running within 3 weeks I couldnrsquot believe my recovery I know it was from all the prayers love and good care from Brian and the loved ones around me Life was looking better each day

ldquoLife was looking

better each dayrdquo

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Part three and part

four of I am Survivor

will be published in

the next edition of

FitnessDigestus

Get the convenience of

digital-delivery

Sign-up or subscribe at

httpFitnessDigestus

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During the past 150 years we have witnessed many remarkable advances against cancer a disease known to humanity for thousands of years The advances highlighted below represent a sampling of what has been accomplished to date

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

1882 William Halsted performs the first radical mastectomy to treat breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast the lymph nodes under the arm (axillary lymph nodes) and the chest muscles behind the breast (pectoralis major and pectoralis minor muscles) are removed Radical mastectomy will remain the standard operation for breast cancer until latter half of the 20th century when the use of modified radical mastectomy becomes widely accepted

1932 David H Patey develops the modified radical mastectomy for breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast axillary lymph nodes and pectoralis minor muscle behind the breast are removed The modified radical mastectomy is less disfiguring than the radical mastectomy and will eventually replace the radical mastectomy as a standard treatment option for breast cancer

1953 James Watson and Francis Crick discover the molecular structure of DNA (the double helix)

1963 The Health Insurance Plan (HIP) of Greater New York Study begins HIP is the first randomized controlled trial of periodic breast cancer screening with mammography

1882

1932

1953

1963

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1976 The results of a randomized clinical trial show that women with early breast cancer who receive post-operative (adjuvant) combination chemotherapy with the drugs cyclophosphamide methotrexate and 5-FU have improved disease-free survival

1981 A randomized clinical trial in the United Kingdom shows for the first time that the rates of survival local recurrence and tumor metastasis among women whose breast cancer is treated with modified radical mastectomy are not substantially different from those of women who are treated with radical mastectomy

1993 An NCI-convened international workshop on screening for breast cancer reports that screening with mammography reduces breast cancer mortality among women ages 50-69 This conclusion is based on a review of published and unpublished data from eight randomized controlled trials

2004 Data from the Womens Health Initiative (WHI) study show that women who take estrogen in combination with the hormone progestin have a greater risk of developing breast cancer than women who take estrogen alone The results also show that menopausal hormone therapy with estrogen alone has no benefit in disease prevention specifically in reducing the risks of colorectal cancer coronary heart disease and dementia

1976

1981

1993

2004

Although we still have a long way to go to reduce the toll of cancer in the United States and worldwide our research and public health efforts are beginning to pay dividends

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

Volunteering vs Participating13 My girl friend and I are involved in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation The local chapter raises awareness for the cause with a fun-run each year We have volunteered to help with the race five years in a row This year we were stationed at a water table where the runners pick-up cups of water to drink Toward the end of the race there are very few runners There was a little time to chat about things We were talking about what we would wish for if we could have three wishes I told her I would wish for an end to Juvenile Diabetes and to lose 10 pounds Being nice I said ldquoyou can have my last wishrdquo She said I wish you would skip volunteering and just run this race next year

Admission Price Our aquatic center was having a promotion one night and advertised an elementary school night The kids could swim for free When we got to the pool we saw a promotional sign for the event In small lettering it read All swimmers must be accompanied by an adult We thought no big deal one of us can just stay and watch When we got to the front desk we found the lifeguard was enforcing the adult-admission price of $8

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CNFI Publishing - Products Books Chapbooks Bookmarks Plaques and Poetry Collector Cards Merchandising Products Coffee Mugs Mouse Pads Tiles 3x6 Coasters T - Shirts and Wall Plaques More info athttpliveadsFitnessDigestus

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

Featured PhotosFitnessDigestus feature

Chicago open water swim course at nighttop left

Kids race at Bicycle Blues and BBQtop right

Some team members volunteer at the local soup kitchenmiddle right

Ken Mauer loads the balls for hitting practice during a Twins baseball camp for

children 7-13 bottom right

Get your local event photos published in the next issue of FitnessDigestus E-mail

your photo to photoFitnessDigestus

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As he turned to go on he spat speculatively There was a sharp explosive crackle that startled him He spat again And again in the air before it could fall to the snow the spittle crackled He knew that at fifty below spittle crackled on the snow but this spittle had crackled in the air Undoubtedly it was colder than fifty below--how much colder he did not know But the temperature did not matter He was bound for the old claim on the left fork of Henderson Creek where the boys were already They had come over across the divide from the Indian Creek country while he had come the roundabout way to take a look at the possibilities of getting out logs in the spring from the islands in the Yukon He would be in to camp by six oclock a bit after dark it was true but the boys would be there a fire would be going and a hot supper would be ready As for lunch he pressed his hand against the protruding bundle under his jacket It was also under his shirt wrapped up in a handkerchief and lying against the naked skin It was the only way to keep the biscuits from freezing He smiled agreeably to himself as he thought of those biscuits each cut open and sopped in bacon grease and each enclosing a generous slice of fried bacon

He plunged in among the big spruce trees The trail was faint A foot of snow had fallen since the last sled had passed over and he was glad he was without a sled traveling light In fact he carried nothing but the lunch wrapped in the handkerchief He was surprised however at the cold It certainly was cold he concluded as he rubbed his numb nose and cheek-bones with his mittened hand He was a warm-whiskered man but the hair on his face did not protect the high cheek-bones and the eager nose that thrust itself aggressively into the frosty air

At the mans heels trotted a dog a big native husky the proper wolf-dog gray-coated and without any visible or temperamental difference from its brother the wild wolf The animal was depressed by the tremendous cold It knew that it was no time for

traveling Its instinct told it a truer tale than was told to the man by the mans judgment In reality it was not merely colder than fifty below zero it was colder than sixty below than seventy below It was seventy-five below zero Since the freezing point is thirty-two above zero it meant that one hundred and seven degrees of frost obtained The dog did not know anything about thermometers Possibly in its brain there was no sharp consciousness of a condition of very cold such as was in the mans brain But the brute had its instinct It experienced a vague but menacing apprehension that subdued it then made it slink along at the mans heels and that made it question eagerly every unwonted movement of the man as if expecting him to go into camp or to seek shelter somewhere and build a fire The dog had learned fire and it wanted fire or else to burrow under the snow and cuddle its warmth away from the air

The frozen moisture of its breathing had settled on its fur in a fine powder of frost and especially were its jowls muzzle and eyelashes whitened by its cry-stalled breath The mans red beard and mustache were likewise frosted but more solidly the deposit taking the form of ice and increasing with every warm moist breath he exhaled Also the man was chewing tobacco and the muzzle of ice held his lips so rigidly that he was unable to clear his chin when he expelled the juice The result was that a crystal beard of the color and solidity of amber was increasing its length on his chin If he fell down it would shatter itself like glass into brittle fragments But he did not mind the appendage It was the penalty all tobacco-chewers paid in that country and he had been out before in two cold snaps They had not been so cold as this he knew but by the spirit thermometer at Sixty Mile he knew they had been registered at fifty below and at fifty-five

He held on through the level stretch of woods for several miles crossed a wide flat of rigger-heads and dropped down a bank to the frozen bed of a

To Build a FireContinued

small stream This was Henderson Creek and he knew he was ten miles from the forks He looked at his watch It was ten oclock He was making four miles an hour and he calculated that he would arrive at the forks at half-past twelve He decided to celebrate that event by eating his lunch there

The dog dropped in again at his heels with a tail drooping discouragement as the man swung along the creek-bed The furrow of the old sled-trail was plainly visible but a dozen inches of snow covered the marks of the last runners In a month no man had come up or down that silent creek The man held steadily on He was not much given to thinking and just then particularly he had nothing to think about save that he would eat lunch at-the forks and that at six oclock he would be in camp with the boys There was nobody to talk to and had there been speech would have been impossible because of the ice-muzzle on his mouth So he continued monotonously to chew tobacco and to increase the length of his amber beard

Once in a while the thought reiterated itself that it was very cold and that he had never experienced such cold As he walked along he rubbed his cheek-bones and nose with the back of his mittened hand He did this automatically now and again changing hands But rub as he would the instant he stopped his cheek-bones went numb and the following instant the end of his nose went numb He was sure to frost his cheeks he knew that and experienced a pang of regret that he had not devised a nose-strap of the sort Bud wore in cold snaps Such a strap passed across the cheeks as well and saved them But it didnt matter much after all What were frosted cheeks A bit painful that was all they were never serious

Empty as the mans mind was of thoughts he was keenly observant and he noticed the changes in the creek the curves and bends and timber jams and always he sharply noted where he placed his feet Once coming around a bend he shied abruptly

like a startled horse curved away from the place where he had been walking and retreated several paces back along the trail The creek he knew was frozen clear to the bottom--no creek could contain water in that arctic winter--but he knew also that there were springs that bubbled out from the hillsides and ran along under the snow and on top the ice of the creek He knew that the coldest snaps never froze these springs and he knew likewise their danger They were traps They hid pools of water under the snow that might be three inches deep or three feet Sometimes a skin of ice half an inch thick covered them and in turn was covered by the snow Sometimes there were alternate layers of water and ice-skin so that when one broke through he kept on breaking through for a while sometimes wetting himself to the waist

That was why he had shied in such panic He had felt the give under his feet and heard the crackle of a snow-hidden ice-skin And to get his feet wet in such a temperature meant trouble and danger At the very least it meant delay for he would be forced to stop and build a fire and under its protection to bare his feet while he dried his socks and moccasins He stood and studied the creek-bed and its banks and decided that the flow of water came from the right He reflected a while rubbing his nose and cheeks then skirted to the left stepping gingerly and testing the footing for each step Once clear of the danger he took a fresh chew of tobacco and swung along at his four-mile gait

In the course of the next two hours he came upon several similar traps Usually the snow above the hidden pools had a sunken candied appearance that advertised the danger Once again however he had a close call and once suspecting danger he compelled the dog to go on in front The dog did not want to go It hung back until the man shoved it forward and then it went quickly across the white unbroken surface Suddenly it broke through floundered to one side and got away to firmer

To Build a FireContinued

To Build a FireContinued

footing It had wet its forefeet and legs and almost immediately the water that clung to it turned to ice It made quick efforts to lick the ice off its legs then dropped down in the snow and began to bite out the ice that had formed between the toes l his was a matter of instinct To permit the ice to remain would mean sore feet It did not know this It merely obeyed the mysterious prompting that arose from the deep crypts of its being But the man knew having achieved a judgment on the subject and he removed the mitten from his right hand and helped tear out the ice-particles He did not expose his fingers more than a minute and was astonished at the swift numbness that smote them It certainly was cold He pulled on the mitten hastily and beat the hand savagely across his chest

At twelve oclock the day was at its brightest Yet the sun was too far south an its winter journey to clear the horizon The bulge of the earth intervened between it arid Henderson Creek where the man walked under a clear sky at noon and cast no shadow At half-past twelve to the minute he arrived at the forks of the creek He was pleased at the speed he had made If he kept it up he would certainly be with the boys by six He unbuttoned his jacket and shirt and drew forth his lunch The action consumed no more than a quarter of a minute yet in that brief moment the numbness laid hold of the exposed fingers He did not put the mitten on but instead struck the fingers a dozen sharp smashes against his leg Then he sat down on a snow-covered log to eat The sting that followed upon the striking of his fingers against his leg ceased so quickly that he was startled He had had no chance to take a bite of biscuit He struck the fingers repeatedly and returned them to the mitten baring the other hand for the purpose of eating He tried to take a mouthful but the ice-muzzle prevented He had forgotten to build a fire and thaw out He chuckled at his foolishness and as he chuckled he noted the numbness creeping into the exposed fingers Also he noted that the stinging which had first come to his

toes when he sat down was already passing away He wandered whether the toes were warm or numb He moved them inside the moccasins and decided that they were numb

He pulled the mitten on hurriedly and stood up He was a bit frightened He stamped up and down until the stinging returned into the feet It certainly was cold was his thought That man from Sulphur Creek had spoken the truth when telling how cold it sometimes got in the country And he had laughed at him at the time That showed one must not be too sure of things There was no mistake about it it was cold He strode up and down stamping his feet and threshing his arms until reassured by the returning warmth Then he got out matches and proceeded to make a fire From the undergrowth where high water of the previous spring had lodged a supply of seasoned twigs he got his firewood Working carefully from a small beginning he soon had a roaring fire over which he thawed the ice from his face and in the protection of which he ate his biscuits For the moment the cold space was outwitted The dog took satisfaction in the fire stretching out close enough for warmth and far enough away to escape being singed

When the man had finished be filled his pipe and took his comfortable time over a smoke Then he pulled on his mittens settled the ear-flaps of his cap firmly about his ears and took the creek trail up the left fork The dog was disappointed and yearned back toward the fire This man did not know cold Possibly all the generations of his ancestry had been ignorant of cold of real cold of cold one hundred and seven degrees below freezing point But the dog knew all its ancestry knew and it had inherited the knowledge And it knew that it was not good to walk abroad in such fearful cold It was the time to lie snug in a hole in the snow and wait for a curtain of cloud to be drawn across the face of outer space whence this cold came On the other hand there was no keen intimacy between the dog and the man

The one was the toil-slave of the other and the only caresses it had ever received were the caresses of the whiplash and of harsh and menacing throat-sounds that threatened the whiplash So the dog made no effort to communicate its apprehension to the man It was not concerned in the welfare of the man it was for its own sake that it yearned back toward the fire But the man whistled and spoke to it with the sound of whiplashes and the dog swung in at the mans heel and followed after

The man took a chew of tobacco and proceeded to start a new amber beard Also his moist breath quickly powdered with white his mustache eyebrows and lashes There did not seem to be so many springs on the left fork of the Henderson and for half an hour the man saw no signs of any And then it happened At a place where there were no signs where the soft unbroken snow seemed to advertise solidity beneath tee man broke through It was not deep He wet himself halfway to the knees before he floundered out to the firm crust

He was angry and cursed his luck aloud He had hoped to get into camp with the boys at six oclock and this would delay him an hour for he would have to build a fire and dry out his foot-gear This was imperative at that low temperature--he knew that much and he turned aside to the bank which he climbed On top tangled in the underbrush about the trunks of several small spruce trees was a high-water deposit of dry firewood--sticks and twigs principally but also larger portions of seasoned branches and fine dry last-years grasses He threw down several large pieces on top of the snow This served for a foundation and prevented the young flame from drowning itself in the snow it otherwise would melt The flame he got by touching a match to a small shred of birch bark that he took from his pocket This burned even more readily than paper Placing it on the foundation he fed the young flame with wisps of dry grass and with the tiniest dry twigs

He worked slowly and carefully keenly aware of his danger Gradually as the flame grew stronger he increased the size of the twigs with which he fed it He squatted in the snow pulling the twigs out from their entanglement in the brush and feeding directly to the flame He knew there must be no failure When it is seventy-five below zero a man must not fail in his first attempt to build a fire--that is if his feet are wet If his feet are dry and he fails he can run along the trail for half a mile and restore his circulation But the circulation of wet and freezing feet cannot be restored by running when it is seventy-five below No matter how fast he runs the wet feet will freeze the harder

All this the man knew The old-timer on Sulphur Creek had told him about it the previous fall and now he was appreciating the advice Already all sensation had gone out of his feet To build the fire he had been forced to remove his mittens and the fingers had quickly gone numb His pace of four miles an hour had kept his heart pumping blood to the surface of his body and to all the extremities But the instant he stopped the action of the pump eased down The cold of space smote the unprotected tip of the planet and he being on that unprotected tip received the full force of the blow The blood of his body recoiled before it The blood was alive like the dog and like the dog it wanted to hide away and cover itself up from the fearful cold So long as he walked four miles an hour he pumped that blood willy-nilly to the surface but now it ebbed away and sank down into the recesses of his body The extremities were the first to feel its absence His wet feet froze the faster and his exposed fingers numbed the faster though they had not yet begun to freeze Nose and cheeks were already freezing while the skin of all his body chilled as it lost its blood

But he was safe Toes and nose and cheeks would be only touched by the frost for the fire was beginning to burn with strength He was feeding it

To Build a FireContinued

with twigs the size of his finger In another minute he would be able to feed it with branches the size of his wrier and then he could remove his wet toot-gear and while it dried he could keep his naked feet warm by the fire rubbing them at first of course with snow The fire was a success He was safe He remembered the advice of the old timer on Sulphur Creek and smiled The old-timer had been very serious in laying down the law that no man must travel alone in the Klondike after fifty below Well here he was he had had the accident he was alone and he had saved himself Those old-timers were rather womanish some of them he thought All a man had to do was to keep his head and he was all right Any man who was a man could travel alone But it was surprising the rapidity with which his cheeks and nose were freezing And he had not thought his fingers could go lifeless in so short a time Lifeless they were for he could scarcely make them move together to grip a twig and they seemed remote from his body and from him When he touched a twig he had to look and see whether or not he had hold of it The wires were pretty well down between him and his finger-ends

All of which counted for little There was the fire snapping and crackling and promising life with every dancing flame He started to untie his moccasins They were coated with ice the thick German socks were like sheaths of iron halfway to the knees and the moccasin strings were like rods of steel all twisted and knotted as by some conflagration For a moment he tugged with his numb fingers then realizing the folly of it he drew his sheath-knife

But before he could cut the strings it happened It was his own fault or rather his mistake He should not have built the fire under the spruce tree He should have built it in the open But it had been easier to pull the twigs from the brush and drop them directly on the fire Now the tree under which

he had done this carried a weight of snow on its boughs No wind had blown for weeks and each bough was fully freighted Each time he had pulled a twig he had communicated a slight agitation to the tree--an imperceptible agitation so far as he was concerned but an agitation sufficient to bring about the disaster High up in the tree one bough capsized its load of snow This fell on the boughs beneath capsizing them This process continued spreading out and involving the whole tree It grew like an avalanche and it descended without warning upon the man and the fire and the fire was blotted out Where it had burned was a mantle of fresh and disordered snow

The man was shocked It was as though he had just heard his own sentence of death For a moment he sat and stared at the spot where the fire had been Then he grew very calm Perhaps the old-timer on Sulphur Creek was right If he had only had a trail-mate he would have been in no danger now The trail-mate could have built the fire Well it was up to him to build the fire over again and this second time there must be no failure Even if he succeeded he would most likely lose some toes His feet must be badly frozen by now and there would be some time before the second fire Was ready

Such were his thoughts but he did not sit and think them He was busy all the time they were passing through his mind He made a new foundation for a fire this time in the open where no treacherous tree could blot it out Next he gathered dry grasses and tiny twigs from the high-water flotsam He could not bring his fingers together to pull them out but he was able to gather them by the handful In this way he got many rotten twigs and bits of green moss that were undesirable but it was the best he could do He worked methodically even collecting an armful of the larger branches to be used later when the fire gathered strength And all the while the dog sat and watched him a certain yearning wistfulness in its eyes for it looked upon

To Build a FireContinued

him as the fire-provider and the fire was slow in coming

When all was ready the man reached in his pocket for a second piece of birch bark He knew the bark was there and though he could not feel it with his fingers he could hear its crisp rustling as he fumbled for it Try as he would he could not clutch hold of it And all the time in his consciousness was the knowledge that each instant his feet were freezing This thought tended to put him in a panic but he fought against it and kept calm He pulled on his mittens with his teeth and threshed his arms back and forth beating his hands with all his might against his sides He did this sitting down and he stood up to do it and all the while the dog sat in the snow its wolf-brush of a tail curled around warmly over its forefeet its sharp wolf-ears pricked forward intently as it watched the man And the man as he beat and threshed with his arms and hands felt a great surge of envy as he regarded the creature that was warm ant secure in its natural covering

After a time he was aware of the first far-away signals of sensation in his beaten fingers The faint tingling grew stronger till it evolved into a stinging ache that was excruciating but which the man hailed with satisfaction He stripped the mitten from his right hand and fetched forth the birch bark The exposed fingers were quickly going numb again Next he brought out his bunch of sulphur matches But the tremendous cold had already driven the life out of his fingers In his effort to separate one match from the others the whole bunch fell in the snow He tried to pick it out of the snow but failed The dead fingers could neither touch nor clutch He was very careful He drove the thought of his freezing feet and nose and cheeks out of his mind devoting his whole soul to the matches He watched using the sense of vision in place of that of touch and when he saw his fingers on each side the bunch he dosed them--that is he willed to close them for the wires were down and the fingers did not obey He pulled

the mitten on the right hand and beat it fiercely against his knee Then with both mittened hands he scooped the bunch of matches along with much snow into his lap Yet he was no better off

After some manipulation he managed to get the bunch between the heels of his mittened hands In this fashion he carried it to his mouth The ice crackled and snapped when by a violent effort he opened his mouth He drew the lower jaw in curled the upper lip out of the way and scraped the bunch with his upper teeth in order to separate a match He succeeded in getting one which he dropped on his lap He was no better off He could not pick it up Then he devised a way He picked it up in his teeth and scratched it on his leg Twenty times he scratched before he succeeded in lighting it As it flamed he held it with his teeth to the birch bark But the burning brimstone went up his nostrils and into his lungs causing him to cough spasmodically The match fell into the snow and went out

The old-timer an Sulphur Creek was right he thought in the moment of controlled despair that ensued after fifty below a man should travel with a partner He beat his hands but failed in exciting any sensation Suddenly he bared both hands removing the mittens with his teeth He caught the whole bunch between the heels of his hands His arm muscles not being frozen enabled him to press the hand-heels tightly against the matches Then he scratched the bunch along his leg It flared into flame seventy sulphur matches at once There was no wind to blow them out He kept his head to one side to escape the strangling fumes and held the blazing bunch to the birth bark As he so held it he became aware of sensation in his hand His flesh was burning He could smell it Deep down below the surface he could feel it The sensation developed into pain that grew acute And still he endured it holding the flame of the matches clumsily to the bark that would not light readily because his own burning hands were in the way absorbing most of the flame

To Build a FireContinued

At last when he could endure no more he jerked his hands apart The blazing matches fell sizzling into the snow but the birch bark was alight He began laying dry grasses and the tiniest twigs on the flame He could not pick and choose for he had to lift the fuel between the heels of his hands Small pieces of rotten wood and green moss clung to the twigs and he bit them off as well as he could with his teeth He cherished the flame carefully and awkwardly It meant life and it must not perish The withdrawal of blood from the surface of his body now made him begin to shiver and he grew more awkward A large piece of green moss fell squarely on the little fire He tried to poke it out with his fingers but his shivering frame made him poke too far and he disrupted the nucleus of the little fire the burning grasses and tiny twigs separating and scattering He tried to poke them together again but in spite of the tenseness of the effort his shivering got away with him and the twigs were hopelessly scattered Each twig gushed a puff of smoke and went out The fire-provider had failed As he looked apathetically about him his eyes chanced on the dog sitting across the ruins of the fire from him in the snow making restless hunching movements slightly lifting one forefoot and then the other shifting its weight back and forth on them with wistful eagerness

The sight of the dog put a wild idea into his head He remembered the tale of the man caught in a blizzard who killed a steer and crawled inside the carcass and so was saved He would kill the dog and bury his hands in the warm body until the numbness went out of them Then he could build another fire He spoke to the dog calling it to him but in his voice was a strange note of fear that frightened the animal who had never known the man to speak in such way before Something was the matter and its suspicious nature sensed danger--it knew not what danger but somewhere somehow in its brain arose an apprehension of the man It flattened its ears down at the sound of the mans voice and its restless

hunching movements and the liftings and shiftings of its forefeet became more pronounced but it would not come to the man He got on his hands and knees and crawled toward the dog This unusual posture again excited suspicion and the animal sidled mincingly away

The man sat up in the snow for a moment and struggled for calmness Then he pulled on his mittens by means of his teeth and got upon his feet He glanced down at first in order to assure himself that he was really standing up for the absence of sensation in his feet left him unrelated to the earth His erect position in itself started to drive the webs of suspicion from the dogs mind and when he spoke peremptorily with the sound of whiplashes in his voice the dog rendered its customary allegiance and came to him As it came within reaching distance the man lost his control His arms flashed out to the dog and he experienced genuine surprise when he discovered that his hands could not clutch that there was neither bend nor feeling in the fingers He had forgotten for the moment that they were frozen and that they were freezing more and more All this happened quickly and before the animal could get away he encircled its body with his arms He sat down in the snow and in this fashion held the dog while it snarled and whined and struggled

But it was all he could do hold its body encircled in his arms and sit there He realized that he could not kill the dog There was no way to do it With his helpless hands he could neither draw nor hold his sheath knife nor throttle the animal He released it and it plunged wildly away with tail between its legs and still snarling It halted forty feet away and surveyed him curiously with ears sharply pricked forward The man looked down at his hands in order to locate them and found them hanging on the ends of his arms It struck him as curious that one should have to use his eyes in order to find out where his hands were He began threshing his arms back and forth beating the mittened hands against

To Build a FireContinued

his sides He did this for five minutes violently and his heart pumped enough blood up to the surface to put a stop to his shivering But no sensation was aroused in the hands He had an impression that they hung like weights on the ends of his arms but when he tried to run the impression down he could not find it

A certain fear of death dull and oppressive came to him This fear quickly became poignant as he realized that it was no longer a mere matter of freezing his fingers and toes or of losing his hands and feet but that it was a matter of life and death with the chances against him This threw him into a panic and he turned and ran up the creek-bed along the old dim trail The dog joined in behind and kept up with him He ran blindly without intention in fear such as he had never known in his life Slowly as he plowed and floundered through the snow he began to see things again the banks of the creek the old timber-jams the leafless aspens and the sky The running made him feel better He did not shiver Maybe if he ran on his feet would thaw out and anyway if he ran far enough he would reach camp and the boys Without doubt he would lose some fingers and toes and some of his face but the boys would take care of him and save the rest of him when he got there And at the same time there was another thought in his mind that said he would never get to the camp and the boys that it was too many miles away that the freezing had too great a start on him and that he would soon be stiff and dead This thought he kept in the background and refused to consider Sometimes it pushed itself forward and demanded to be heard but he thrust it back and strove to think of other things

It struck him as curious that he could run at all on feet so frozen that he could not feel them when they struck the earth and took the weigh of his body He seemed to himself to skim along above the surface and to have no connection with the earth Somewhere he had once seen a winged Mercury

and he wondered if Mercury felt as he felt when skimming over the earth

His theory of running until he reached camp and the boys had one flaw in it he lacked the endurance Several times he stumbled and finally he tottered crumpled up and fell When he tried to rise he failed He must sit and rest he decided and next time he would merely walk and keep on going As he sat and regained his breath he noted that he was feeling quite warm and comfortable He was not shivering and it even seemed that a warm glow had come to his chest and trunk And yet when he touched his nose or cheeks there was no sensation Running would not thaw them out Nor would it thaw out his hands and feet Then the thought came to him that the frozen portions of his body must be extending He tried to keep this thought down to forget it to think of something else he was aware of the panicky feeling that it caused and he was afraid of the panic But the thought asserted itself and persisted until it produced a vision of his body totally frozen This was too much and he made another wild run along the trail Once he slowed down to a walk but the thought of the freezing extending itself made him run again

And all the time the dog ran with him at his heels When he fell down a second time it curled its tad over its forefeet and sat in front of him facing him curiously eager and intent The warmth and security of the animal angered him and he cursed it till it flattened down its ears appealingly This time the shivering came more quickly upon the man He was losing in his battle with the frost It was creeping into his body from all sides The thought of it drove him on but he ran no more than a hundred feet when he staggered and pitched headlong It was his last panic When he had recovered his breath and control he sat up and entertained in his mind the conception of meeting death with dignity However the conception did not come to him in such terms His idea of it was that he had been making a fool of

To Build a FireContinued

himself running around like a chicken with its head cut off--such was the simile that occurred to him Well he was bound to freeze anyway and he might as well take it decently With this new-found peace of mind came the first glimmerings of drowsiness A good idea he thought to sleep off to death It was like salting an anesthetic Freezing was not so bad as people thought There were lots worse ways to die

He pictured the boys finding his body next day Suddenly he found himself with them coming along the trail and looking for himself And still with them he came around a turn in the trail and found himself lying in the snow He did not belong with himself any more for even then he was out of himself standing with the boys and looking at himself in the snow It certainly was cold was his thought When he got back to the States he could tell the folks what real cold was He drifted on from this to a vision of the old-timer on Sulphur Creek He could see him quite clearly warm and comfortable and smoking a pipe

You were right old boss you were right the man mumbled to the old-timer of Sulphur Creek

Then the man drowsed off into what seemed to him the most comfortable and satisfying sleep he had ever known The dog sat facing him and waiting The brief day drew to a close in a long slow twilight There were no signs of a fire to be made and besides never in the dogs experience had it known a man to sit like that in the snow and make no fire As the twilight drew on its eager yearning for the fire mastered it and with a great lifting and shifting of forefeet it whined softly then flattened its ears down in anticipation of being chidden by the man But the man remained silent Later the dog whined loudly And still later it crept close to the man and caught the scent of death This made the animal bristle and back away A little longer it delayed howling under the stars that leaped and danced and shone brightly in the cold sky Then it turned and trotted up the trail in the direction of the camp it knew where were the other food-providers and fire-providers

To Build a FireContinued

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Page 21: FitnessDigest.us Vol. 4.3 Cover

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DAY had broken cold and gray exceedingly cold and gray when the man turned aside from the main Yukon trail and climbed the high earth-bank where a dim and little traveled trail led eastward through the fat spruce timberland It was a steep bank and he paused for breath at the top excusing the act to himself by looking at his watch It was nine oclock There was no sun nor hint of sun though there was not a cloud in the sky It was a

clear day and yet there seemed an intangible pall over the face of things a subtle gloom that made the day dark and that was due to the absence of sun This fact did not worry the man He was used to the lack of sun It had been days since he had seen the sun and he knew that a few more-days must pass before that cheerful orb due south would just peep above the sky-line and dip immediately from view

To Build a Fire - Hiking the Yukon TrailShort story fiction Written by Jack London (1876-1916)

The man flung a look back along the way he had come The Yukon lay a mile wide and hidden under three feet of ice On top of this ice were as many feet of snow It was all pure white rolling in gentle undulations where the ice jams of the freeze-up had formed North and south as far as his eye could see it was unbroken white save for a dark hairline that curved and twisted from around the spruce-covered island to the south and that curved and twisted away into the north where it disappeared behind another spruce-covered island This dark hair-line was the trail--the main trail--that led south five hundred miles to the Chilcoot Pass Dyea and salt water and that led north seventy miles to Dawson and still on to the north a thousand miles to Nulato and finally to St Michael on Bering Sea a thousand miles and half a thousand more

But all this--the mysterious far-reaching hair-line trail The absence of sun from the sky the tremendous cold and the strangeness and weirdness of it all--made no

impression on the man It was not because he was long used to it He was a newcomer In the land a chechaquo and this was his first winter The trouble with him was that he was without imagination He was quick and alert in the things of life but only in the things and not in the significances Fifty degrees below zero meant eighty-odd degrees of frost Such fact impressed him as being cold and uncomfortable and that was all It did not lead him to meditate upon his frailty as a creature of temperature and upon mans frailty in general able only to live within certain narrow limits of heat and cold and from there on it did not lead him to the conjectural field of immortality and mans place in the universe Fifty degrees below zero stood forte bite of frost that hurt and that must be guarded against by the use of mittens ear-flaps warm moccasins and thick socks Fifty degrees below zero was to him just precisely fifty degrees below zero That there should be anything more to it than that was a thought that never entered his head

To Build a FireContinued

Continued on page 62

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It is important from time to time to slow down to go away by yourself and simply be --Eileen Caddy

Letrsquos Race13 My son is eight and our family is very active Im just hitting my peak racing age of about 34 years old The family members all support each otherrsquos activities They are a great cheering section when my wife and I compete in races There is a popular two mile fun run in our town that we my wife and I run every year We also have for-fun races with the kids around the house or across the football field For years Ive let the eight year old win a few and others I win by just a little bit I think he is wising up to my tactics of good fatherhood One day he said ldquoDad you are letting me win but I think I can beat you fair and squarerdquo He added ldquoYoursquore not that fast Ill bet you 10 dollars I can beat you in a two mile racerdquo Wanting to teach him a lesson about spouting off and writing checks his body cant cash I took him up on it I said All right you pick a time and place We will race two miles for 10 dollars He replied You know that two mile race you and mom do every year I can race you then I agreed and he quickly added Ill need 20 years to warm-up That would make me 54 and him 28 Irsquom preparing for the loss and putting 10 dollars aside now

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Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

In my first creative experience it was through music and I was interested in developing my values of creativity I was inspired by a band named Motley Crue and the song that captured my interest was Home Sweet home Dear reader what inspires you Is it music or inspirational quote thought or ideas To express how this song motivated my interests it helped give me faith in my own creative abilities in the process I began to write lyrics I eventually began to work on different styles of writing and broaden my writing skills What types of music inspire your creative thoughts What types of other inspiration values inspire your creative thoughts

13 Getting motivated is one of the key aspects of a successful weight-loss program Without this motivation there would be no drive to get up early or to avoid eating unhealthy snacks ndash that you absolutely love Yes you can thank your motivation for that When you are looking for weight-loss motivation sometimes it is hard to find Where can you find that extra umph to make it to your goal

The benefits of finding a motivator are something that cannot be paralleled It has been said mind over matter This coincides with our principle that no matter how hard the task you can accomplish the goal given the right mindset It is important to go into a new weight-loss program with a positive mental attitude

FINDI

NG TH

EM X InspirationX

Motivation

When I was introduced to William Shakespeare I was intrigued by his creative values and I started to work on developing a different aspect of writing I then watched the movie Free Jack there was a quote by Albert Einstein Imagination is more important than knowledge I thought about the in depth values of both concepts and then I applied both concepts and defined different creative concept Do you believe that anything is possible if you believe I know that I do believe that if an individual believes deeply enough one can accomplish their goals I had to believe in my own abilities and in my dreams and ignore the negative values that were impressed by others

Anything less can potentially hinder growth towards your goal

Some of the things that you should be thinking about when looking for motivators are people with good morals and a positive attitude This is because if the people helping you do not have a positive attitude then it is also difficult for you Some great places to look for a motivator are online blogs in the gym or even in your own family I am sure that in all of these places you will see someone else trying to accomplish the same or even more difficult goals than your own

Another key to finding motivation is to let it find you You should not have to go find a reason to go do something You will do it because you wanted to not because you were forced to

X

InspirationMotivation

More simply put motivation will find you because you will see something that inspires you to make a change in yourself That change may be a weight-loss goal or something else Maybe even an academic goal The true key is to maintain that motivation until you have achieved your goal

Regards Vincent ErrichielloUSMS Swimmer

InspirationMotivation

With believing so deeply within my own abilities and the faith that I could accomplish what I set out to achieve I wrote a lyric titled Dreams Are Only Real and in believing in this concept further defining its true meaning the concept became Dreams Are Only Real Until You Dont believe

Jeremy J TaylorCNFI Publishing

himTHROWINGWritten by anonymous contributor

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13 Johnny is not the best batter in our little league Matter-of-fact he is quiet awful At practice one afternoon Johnny hit a pitch really well The coach had pitched him inside on accident far enough inside that it almost hit him Johnny got his hit by using his bat to defend himself from that arrant pitch The coach told him ldquogood hitrdquo and Johnny yelled back ldquoWell I didnrsquot want the ball to hit merdquo13 Johnny improved his batting after that He was hitting the ball almost every time he got up At one point I said to coach ldquoHow did you get Johnny to improve his batting so quicklyrdquo He replyed Im throwing the ball it AT HIM every time

Body image and fitness are hot topics for both men and women The Great Fitness Experiment is my hilarious poignant embarrassing and at times heart-breaking journey to find my way through the morass of contradictory claims and information in todayrsquos health- and fitness-obsessed world

Available in paperback or in eBookVisit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

wwwnorthiafitnesscom on LiveAdsEmail northiowafitnessgmailcom

Phone 641-201-1035Strongest weight loss supplements

on the market

The Fall of Billy Hitchingsby Kirkus MacGowan

Available at Amazon

LOCATED IN ST ANSGAR IOWA

Business Cards Envelopes

Letterheads Programs

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Posters Invites (graduation wedding showers etc)

Flyers Brochures

T-ShirtsShorts SweatshirtsSweats

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Business Forms Placemats

Postcards And Much More

Bridgette Beyer DesignerOwner

Bring your ideas in andVisual Aspect Designs can print

andor design for you

Black Lab LanyardsSpecializing in customized duck and goose call lanyards for waterfowl enthusiasts

For more information on this productVisit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

FitnessDigestus is now available at

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entryFitnessDigestus

Send u

s yo

ur T

-shi

rt

READE

R T

-shi

rts

13 I was standing on shore fishing in my favorite spot A guy Irsquove never seen at the pond gets in and starts swimming After about 25 minutes of back and forth he stops at a place about 30 yards off shore He gives me a quick look and dices down below the water

His next lap he stops in the same place looks at me again and points down at the water He finished his swim and left I picked up my gear and moved to the other side of the outlet just a few yards from where he had stopped twice Caught a lunker in the first cast

Swim Signs - Lunker

BankersPromotional and Advertising Specialties

Call to order 641ndash423ndash3111

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TOP TWEETS

Iowa Cubs (IowaCubs)Thanks to all our fans who showed up for the pre-game on-field catch with dad

Louise Pineda (forerunnerGPS)The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficultyWinston Churchill quotes

Softball Darlin (Softball_Darlin)My mom told me our team was gettin white uniforms for summer amp to try not to get them dirty Uh Have you seen me play Not gonna happen

I Swim I Suffer (ISwimISuffer)thatswimmerwho If the water is in your right ear for example then jump on your right leg and lean your head to the right side while jumping

I Swim and I Know It (iSwimWithIssues)During the summer you shower 467 times at the pool 17 times at hotels and 3 times at your house Truth

Everyday Health (WomensCancer)63000 Americans will be diagnosed w malignant melanoma (the deadliest skin cancer) this year Know your risk

US Paralympics (USParalympics)Want to be introduced to Paralympic sport Attend one of the Paralympic Experiences being held throughout the countryFi

tnes

sDig

est

US v

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2

SwimSwam (swimswamnews)Congrats to KenyaSwimmer on being selected to carry the Kenya flag swimswamcom

Better than sharing on a blog Twitter or Facebook and you can share a story even if you donrsquot maintain a social-web presencePublished for ALL FitnessDigestus readers

Sign with your real name pen-name or anonymoushttpLiveMediaFitnessDigestus

13 Funnest thing SPAM about some weight-loss supplements got posted on a friendrsquos Facebook My friend is an ultra-runner I notice there was also an ad for salami recipes on the same page The recipes were right next to the SPAM about diet-pills

13 Letrsquos see ndash it sounds like the beginning of a good joke Q What do you get when a friend tries to sell you ultra-runner endorsed salami-flavored-SPAM diet-pills on Facebook Answer Sick

Unsung Heroes1 Irsquove never swam open water and wanted to do a triathlon A friend that

races open water took extra time to swim with me at a lake I was much more comfortable after that

2 I was going on vacation and needed advice on a place to swim A friend living in the area took the time to help me find people to answer my questions

3 I was over eating and had complained to my friend about it She called me twice a day for three weeks just to remind me to eat healthy

4 I usually run to and from the gym It takes about 30 minutes to run both ways I didnrsquot have enough time to get there and back before a scheduled appointment I had A friend drove me to the gym saving me about 30 minutes I was able to run home and still had time to get to my appointment

SPAM DIET

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Visit the Suburban Mommy blog and learn more about AtresiaMicrotia a birth defect of the inner earFor links to SubMommy blog httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

SUBMOMMYBLOG

On Wednesday May 16 2012 at 7 PM simultaneous rides occurred around the

USA and the world

We all ride Now we can ride as one

One day One time One world world wide

Let the silence roar

322 locations world wide

The Ride of SilenceTonight we number many but ride as one

In honor of those not with us friends

mothers fathers sisters sons

With helmets on tight and heads down low

We ride in silence cautious and slow

The wheels start spinning in the lead pack

But tonight we ride and no one attacks

The dark sunglasses cover our tears

Remembering those we held so dear

Tonights ride is to make others aware

The road is there for all to share

To those not with us or by our side

May God be your partner on your final ride

- Mike Murgas

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 50 states

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 7 Continents

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 0 words spoken

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 1 million memories

Ride of Silence

ldquoCost-effective investments in bicycling boost our economy help individuals and government agencies save money and directly address key societal challenges such as obesity and road congestion In these tough economic times our federal government can only afford to invest in solutions that solve multiple problems Bicycling fits the billrdquo ndash PeopleForBikesorg

This photo collection was taken byRobert LaVallee of Mason City IA

To see his entire collection visithttpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

Non-subscriberSign-up for delivery of

the FREE edition at coopnetbiz

It provides an outstanding aerobic workout in less than half the time we would spend in still water It has allowed us as swim coaches to observe swimmers stroke characteristics up close and to see the effects of fatigue on stroke mechanics ~ Larry L Chazy NY

Swimming is an excellent exercise and now I can swim every day because its so convenient and private I can swim when I want and how long I want Im able to have it at a temperature that is comfortable to me The small size of an Endless Pool enabled me to install a pool where I could not install a regular size one

As an aging baby boomer nutrition professional I have yearned for consistent exercise that doesnt stress joints and will enable me to attain physical fitness cardiovascular health and weight control I can eat what I want and still firm up and lose weight ~ John C Columbus OH

Endless Pools make for long swims in small places The 8x15 Endless Pool is less than regulation size but offers the same benefits as a very large pool ~ Noah H Connecticut Post

The Endless Pool is a great strength builder I am amazed at the strength of the current I now swim against I did not buy it for that reason but because of my arthritis so the strength gain is a wonderful surprise

Endless PoolsTestimonials For more information visit httpLIveAdsFitnessDigestus

s w i m m i n g s h o r t s

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Baseball Walking Stick13 My sons friend grabbed his baseball bat and said to me this is my walking stick I politely ask him why he calls it that He replied because my dad says if I hit a home run with it I donrsquot have to run the bases ndash I can walk

My Bike My mountain bike was stolen a while back and my kids were really upset Ive been riding my road bike in its place Since then Ive been careful to lock my bike up when we go to the park

13 On this occasion I did not lock-up my sonrsquos bike up with mine He looked at me quizzically and said sternly lock my bike up too I tried to explain that his bike was not as expensive and therefor didnt need to be locked up Boy that was a mistake He made me feel a little dumb when he said Dad I dont care how expensive it is Its the only bike Irsquove got

North Iowa Roads

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A LEADER inSearch Engine Optimization

Technology

Increase your visitor page views and Facebook Likes

Are you moving to a new state Already hired your mover

E-mail blind box at box02FitnessDigestus will get

you the best rates on cable phone and internet

Digital Movers

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

parent sports tipBy FitnessDigestus staff writer JGA

PAR

EN

T

TIP

Keeping Kids Focused13 Organize their thoughts Help them prioritize and make decisions based on value Even kids can understand the value of simple non-monetized choices Questions like ldquoShould I finish playing my gameboy game or pause it when they call my swimming eventrdquo

If kids are taught to make good decisions and not just find quick answers everyone wins

AugustGolf Month5th Friendship Day15th Relaxation Day25th Kiss and Make Up Day31st Trail Mix DaySeptemberLittle League Month12th Chocolate Milk Shake Day13th Positive Thinking Day16th Womenrsquos Friendship Day21st Miniature Golf DayOctoberBreast Cancer Awareness MonthNational Diabetes Month1st World Vegetarian Day4th Golf Day25th World Pasta Day

National Calendar

Au

gu

stSe

pte

mb

er

Oc

tob

er

Encourage friendships writing skills sharing thoughts and

experiencesEight different cards

YAGOTTAWANNA

Variety of pricing From single orders to bulk orders of 24 notecards

Learn more online

Stay in touch with your swimming or triathlon buddies

It is better to be safe then to try to beat the heat There are many options to stay cool and run during a hot-summer day Staying inside and running on the treadmill is a good one Remember staying safe is a top priority

Most workouts can be modified to work indoors This issuersquos workout is to do your usual run or interval set just stay inside and run it on the treadmill Visualize the different landmarks to see during your outdoor run

Coach Millerrsquos Quarterly ChallengeStay safe in the heatBy Mark Miller mmillerFitnessDigestus

A few years back we had a hot-spell similar to this yearrsquos record heat

I remember training for a long run and having to stop at the local swimming hole to cool off I literally took off my

shoes and jumped in with my running clothes on I was so hot

FitnessDigestUSEntertainment amp Inspiration

Use coupon codeldquoRAMCSPRrdquo

at puresportshopcomfor 20 OFF

Nutritional Performance Sports Drinks with Protein

OPEN WATER SWIMMING BY THE NUMBERS

In kilometers The shortest open water race included in the Fina World Championships

10107 How many miles it

is to swim from Cuba to the USA

5

1000Number of swimming strokes in a mile for a typical swimmer

31800About the number of calories it takes to swim 100 miles

LOCATED IN ST ANSGAR IOWA

Business Cards Envelopes

Letterheads Programs

Vinyl Decals Signs

Posters Invites (graduation wedding showers etc)

Flyers Brochures

T-ShirtsShorts SweatshirtsSweats

Koozies Sashes

Business Forms Placemats

Postcards And Much More

Bridgette Beyer DesignerOwner

Bring your ideas in andVisual Aspect Designs can print

andor design for you

The minimum open water distance in kilometers that is considered a swimming-

marathon

On Facebook Visit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

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Open water safety means swimming in shallow water where there is a lifeguard or using an escort

Shop for Name BrandGear

24 Hoursa Day

WaynesSkiandCyclenet

For links to Waynersquos visit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

s w i m m i n g s h o r t s

Googles

13 Swimming fans can really appreciate a 200 IM when their goggles fill with water How about an Olympian Swimming a leg of the 400 Free Relay with his goggles across his opened mouth ndash and going 45rsquos A great team swimmer an Olympian wouldnrsquot let down his teammates by throwing them off or fixing them

500 Fly13 A world class butterflyer asked if he could swim butterfly in the 500 yard freestyle during a dual meet His goal was to break five minutes After considering the competition it seemed like a great way to make him really work a hard fly swim so we agreed Problem was he swam a 502 and the opposing coach complained to the officials because he embarrassed his swimmers Oh well you canrsquot win lsquoem all

Stories sent in by Robert Steele

No-No-No13 The other morning I was teaching front-streamlines to snotty nosed 8 year olds (some are literally snotty-nosed) One boy was taking a big gulp of air and holding his breath When he lifted his head he had to exhale and inhale before submerging again Swimmers will understand this does not work very well Kids need to learn to exhale underwater The first time he did it I told him to exhale underwater The second time I stopped him looked him in the eye and reminded him to exhale underwater The third and fourth times I started to get a little frustrated ldquoJohnny you need to exhale underwater so you can breath betterrdquo The fifth time as his head popped up for a breath I quickly asked ldquoJohnny Do you even know what exhale meansrdquo as he submerged his head below the water I could see him shake his head no-no-no

Favorite Potato Chips13We try to limit the junk food the kids eat at our house For lunch one day our son wanted some potato chips I gave him 3 large chips with his sandwich He started to cry and said he wanted one more chip ldquoI wanted four chipsrdquo he screamed I took the plate back When he wasnt looking I broke a chip in half and give it back to him with four chips

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

13 My cancer story is one of uniqueness Leave it to me to do something like cancer to its fullest It did not begin with a mammogram diagnosis or a lump My journey began about 4 years ago with some suspicious activity that turned into Pagetrsquos disease of the nipple which signaled the underlying cancer On April 1st I found out about my breast cancer through a biopsy that came back as positive for Pagetrsquos disease The onslaught of tests learning and decisions were dizzying I immediately went for an evaluation of the suspicious tissue and had to begin making decisions for my mastectomy I quickly learned there is a test called the BRAC Analysis which is a genetic test for breast and ovarian cancer Finally a piece of good news for me I did not have the gene

Decisions Now it was time to make decisions about my mastectomy and how I was going to handle reconstruction I discussed my options with my boyfriend Brian friends family members and even my principalboss I read books searched the Internet and contacted people I

Brandi ShipmanCancer Survivor and elite triathlete

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

know and knew from my past that had been directly affected and that I thought might have answers for me The outpouring of love encouragement and help during this process was overwhelming After meeting with four different doctors two surgeons and two plastic surgeons I decided to go with immediate reconstruction and was lucky enough to find two wonderful doctors They were willing to work together just because I wanted them to even though they had never done so before My surgery was scheduled for mid May

Mental Toughness13 My mental preparation at this point was very important I had to scrap any idea of competing in triathlons for the rest of the year and focus on a positive attitude of getting better I stopped thinking about what I wasnrsquot going to able to do and started thinking about what I could do that I was alive and kept my mind on the fact that so many others had made it before me

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links

Part 213 I was prepared by the doctors survivors and literature to be ldquodownrdquo for several weeks after my surgery I even took the rest of the school year off My surgery went well and I was out of the hospital the next day A few friends came to visit while I was in the hospital and my principal and vice principal brought the most wonderful picture of the faculty wearing pink for me I can only imagine what it looked like at Thornton Elementary on that day in May 2009 a sea of pink all for Brandi Shipman Shortly after their visit I received a text from my friend Margie Massey My friends from the gym wore pink for me that day as well The support brought tears to my eyes I was so excited to come home and be comfortable in my own home I just wish the stupid drain that was attached could have stayed at the hospital The pain from that was worse than the pain from the mastectomy

the most

powerful picture

13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Recovery ndash May13 Once I got home I slept and watched a lot of TV Friends visited and brought yummy food and my favorites I am not supposed to eat I ate them all My friend and co-worker set up a cancer care calendar that alerted anyone who logged on when I was having a doctorrsquos appointment or when I was in need of anything I felt like royalty as everyone took care of me I think Brian secretly enjoyed the fact that he wouldnrsquot have to cook for me each night My recovery was quicker than I thought as I was doing my best to get better and get the stinkinrsquo drain out of my skin I was out walking within a week and running within 3 weeks I couldnrsquot believe my recovery I know it was from all the prayers love and good care from Brian and the loved ones around me Life was looking better each day

ldquoLife was looking

better each dayrdquo

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Part three and part

four of I am Survivor

will be published in

the next edition of

FitnessDigestus

Get the convenience of

digital-delivery

Sign-up or subscribe at

httpFitnessDigestus

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During the past 150 years we have witnessed many remarkable advances against cancer a disease known to humanity for thousands of years The advances highlighted below represent a sampling of what has been accomplished to date

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

1882 William Halsted performs the first radical mastectomy to treat breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast the lymph nodes under the arm (axillary lymph nodes) and the chest muscles behind the breast (pectoralis major and pectoralis minor muscles) are removed Radical mastectomy will remain the standard operation for breast cancer until latter half of the 20th century when the use of modified radical mastectomy becomes widely accepted

1932 David H Patey develops the modified radical mastectomy for breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast axillary lymph nodes and pectoralis minor muscle behind the breast are removed The modified radical mastectomy is less disfiguring than the radical mastectomy and will eventually replace the radical mastectomy as a standard treatment option for breast cancer

1953 James Watson and Francis Crick discover the molecular structure of DNA (the double helix)

1963 The Health Insurance Plan (HIP) of Greater New York Study begins HIP is the first randomized controlled trial of periodic breast cancer screening with mammography

1882

1932

1953

1963

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1976 The results of a randomized clinical trial show that women with early breast cancer who receive post-operative (adjuvant) combination chemotherapy with the drugs cyclophosphamide methotrexate and 5-FU have improved disease-free survival

1981 A randomized clinical trial in the United Kingdom shows for the first time that the rates of survival local recurrence and tumor metastasis among women whose breast cancer is treated with modified radical mastectomy are not substantially different from those of women who are treated with radical mastectomy

1993 An NCI-convened international workshop on screening for breast cancer reports that screening with mammography reduces breast cancer mortality among women ages 50-69 This conclusion is based on a review of published and unpublished data from eight randomized controlled trials

2004 Data from the Womens Health Initiative (WHI) study show that women who take estrogen in combination with the hormone progestin have a greater risk of developing breast cancer than women who take estrogen alone The results also show that menopausal hormone therapy with estrogen alone has no benefit in disease prevention specifically in reducing the risks of colorectal cancer coronary heart disease and dementia

1976

1981

1993

2004

Although we still have a long way to go to reduce the toll of cancer in the United States and worldwide our research and public health efforts are beginning to pay dividends

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

Volunteering vs Participating13 My girl friend and I are involved in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation The local chapter raises awareness for the cause with a fun-run each year We have volunteered to help with the race five years in a row This year we were stationed at a water table where the runners pick-up cups of water to drink Toward the end of the race there are very few runners There was a little time to chat about things We were talking about what we would wish for if we could have three wishes I told her I would wish for an end to Juvenile Diabetes and to lose 10 pounds Being nice I said ldquoyou can have my last wishrdquo She said I wish you would skip volunteering and just run this race next year

Admission Price Our aquatic center was having a promotion one night and advertised an elementary school night The kids could swim for free When we got to the pool we saw a promotional sign for the event In small lettering it read All swimmers must be accompanied by an adult We thought no big deal one of us can just stay and watch When we got to the front desk we found the lifeguard was enforcing the adult-admission price of $8

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CNFI Publishing - Products Books Chapbooks Bookmarks Plaques and Poetry Collector Cards Merchandising Products Coffee Mugs Mouse Pads Tiles 3x6 Coasters T - Shirts and Wall Plaques More info athttpliveadsFitnessDigestus

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

Featured PhotosFitnessDigestus feature

Chicago open water swim course at nighttop left

Kids race at Bicycle Blues and BBQtop right

Some team members volunteer at the local soup kitchenmiddle right

Ken Mauer loads the balls for hitting practice during a Twins baseball camp for

children 7-13 bottom right

Get your local event photos published in the next issue of FitnessDigestus E-mail

your photo to photoFitnessDigestus

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As he turned to go on he spat speculatively There was a sharp explosive crackle that startled him He spat again And again in the air before it could fall to the snow the spittle crackled He knew that at fifty below spittle crackled on the snow but this spittle had crackled in the air Undoubtedly it was colder than fifty below--how much colder he did not know But the temperature did not matter He was bound for the old claim on the left fork of Henderson Creek where the boys were already They had come over across the divide from the Indian Creek country while he had come the roundabout way to take a look at the possibilities of getting out logs in the spring from the islands in the Yukon He would be in to camp by six oclock a bit after dark it was true but the boys would be there a fire would be going and a hot supper would be ready As for lunch he pressed his hand against the protruding bundle under his jacket It was also under his shirt wrapped up in a handkerchief and lying against the naked skin It was the only way to keep the biscuits from freezing He smiled agreeably to himself as he thought of those biscuits each cut open and sopped in bacon grease and each enclosing a generous slice of fried bacon

He plunged in among the big spruce trees The trail was faint A foot of snow had fallen since the last sled had passed over and he was glad he was without a sled traveling light In fact he carried nothing but the lunch wrapped in the handkerchief He was surprised however at the cold It certainly was cold he concluded as he rubbed his numb nose and cheek-bones with his mittened hand He was a warm-whiskered man but the hair on his face did not protect the high cheek-bones and the eager nose that thrust itself aggressively into the frosty air

At the mans heels trotted a dog a big native husky the proper wolf-dog gray-coated and without any visible or temperamental difference from its brother the wild wolf The animal was depressed by the tremendous cold It knew that it was no time for

traveling Its instinct told it a truer tale than was told to the man by the mans judgment In reality it was not merely colder than fifty below zero it was colder than sixty below than seventy below It was seventy-five below zero Since the freezing point is thirty-two above zero it meant that one hundred and seven degrees of frost obtained The dog did not know anything about thermometers Possibly in its brain there was no sharp consciousness of a condition of very cold such as was in the mans brain But the brute had its instinct It experienced a vague but menacing apprehension that subdued it then made it slink along at the mans heels and that made it question eagerly every unwonted movement of the man as if expecting him to go into camp or to seek shelter somewhere and build a fire The dog had learned fire and it wanted fire or else to burrow under the snow and cuddle its warmth away from the air

The frozen moisture of its breathing had settled on its fur in a fine powder of frost and especially were its jowls muzzle and eyelashes whitened by its cry-stalled breath The mans red beard and mustache were likewise frosted but more solidly the deposit taking the form of ice and increasing with every warm moist breath he exhaled Also the man was chewing tobacco and the muzzle of ice held his lips so rigidly that he was unable to clear his chin when he expelled the juice The result was that a crystal beard of the color and solidity of amber was increasing its length on his chin If he fell down it would shatter itself like glass into brittle fragments But he did not mind the appendage It was the penalty all tobacco-chewers paid in that country and he had been out before in two cold snaps They had not been so cold as this he knew but by the spirit thermometer at Sixty Mile he knew they had been registered at fifty below and at fifty-five

He held on through the level stretch of woods for several miles crossed a wide flat of rigger-heads and dropped down a bank to the frozen bed of a

To Build a FireContinued

small stream This was Henderson Creek and he knew he was ten miles from the forks He looked at his watch It was ten oclock He was making four miles an hour and he calculated that he would arrive at the forks at half-past twelve He decided to celebrate that event by eating his lunch there

The dog dropped in again at his heels with a tail drooping discouragement as the man swung along the creek-bed The furrow of the old sled-trail was plainly visible but a dozen inches of snow covered the marks of the last runners In a month no man had come up or down that silent creek The man held steadily on He was not much given to thinking and just then particularly he had nothing to think about save that he would eat lunch at-the forks and that at six oclock he would be in camp with the boys There was nobody to talk to and had there been speech would have been impossible because of the ice-muzzle on his mouth So he continued monotonously to chew tobacco and to increase the length of his amber beard

Once in a while the thought reiterated itself that it was very cold and that he had never experienced such cold As he walked along he rubbed his cheek-bones and nose with the back of his mittened hand He did this automatically now and again changing hands But rub as he would the instant he stopped his cheek-bones went numb and the following instant the end of his nose went numb He was sure to frost his cheeks he knew that and experienced a pang of regret that he had not devised a nose-strap of the sort Bud wore in cold snaps Such a strap passed across the cheeks as well and saved them But it didnt matter much after all What were frosted cheeks A bit painful that was all they were never serious

Empty as the mans mind was of thoughts he was keenly observant and he noticed the changes in the creek the curves and bends and timber jams and always he sharply noted where he placed his feet Once coming around a bend he shied abruptly

like a startled horse curved away from the place where he had been walking and retreated several paces back along the trail The creek he knew was frozen clear to the bottom--no creek could contain water in that arctic winter--but he knew also that there were springs that bubbled out from the hillsides and ran along under the snow and on top the ice of the creek He knew that the coldest snaps never froze these springs and he knew likewise their danger They were traps They hid pools of water under the snow that might be three inches deep or three feet Sometimes a skin of ice half an inch thick covered them and in turn was covered by the snow Sometimes there were alternate layers of water and ice-skin so that when one broke through he kept on breaking through for a while sometimes wetting himself to the waist

That was why he had shied in such panic He had felt the give under his feet and heard the crackle of a snow-hidden ice-skin And to get his feet wet in such a temperature meant trouble and danger At the very least it meant delay for he would be forced to stop and build a fire and under its protection to bare his feet while he dried his socks and moccasins He stood and studied the creek-bed and its banks and decided that the flow of water came from the right He reflected a while rubbing his nose and cheeks then skirted to the left stepping gingerly and testing the footing for each step Once clear of the danger he took a fresh chew of tobacco and swung along at his four-mile gait

In the course of the next two hours he came upon several similar traps Usually the snow above the hidden pools had a sunken candied appearance that advertised the danger Once again however he had a close call and once suspecting danger he compelled the dog to go on in front The dog did not want to go It hung back until the man shoved it forward and then it went quickly across the white unbroken surface Suddenly it broke through floundered to one side and got away to firmer

To Build a FireContinued

To Build a FireContinued

footing It had wet its forefeet and legs and almost immediately the water that clung to it turned to ice It made quick efforts to lick the ice off its legs then dropped down in the snow and began to bite out the ice that had formed between the toes l his was a matter of instinct To permit the ice to remain would mean sore feet It did not know this It merely obeyed the mysterious prompting that arose from the deep crypts of its being But the man knew having achieved a judgment on the subject and he removed the mitten from his right hand and helped tear out the ice-particles He did not expose his fingers more than a minute and was astonished at the swift numbness that smote them It certainly was cold He pulled on the mitten hastily and beat the hand savagely across his chest

At twelve oclock the day was at its brightest Yet the sun was too far south an its winter journey to clear the horizon The bulge of the earth intervened between it arid Henderson Creek where the man walked under a clear sky at noon and cast no shadow At half-past twelve to the minute he arrived at the forks of the creek He was pleased at the speed he had made If he kept it up he would certainly be with the boys by six He unbuttoned his jacket and shirt and drew forth his lunch The action consumed no more than a quarter of a minute yet in that brief moment the numbness laid hold of the exposed fingers He did not put the mitten on but instead struck the fingers a dozen sharp smashes against his leg Then he sat down on a snow-covered log to eat The sting that followed upon the striking of his fingers against his leg ceased so quickly that he was startled He had had no chance to take a bite of biscuit He struck the fingers repeatedly and returned them to the mitten baring the other hand for the purpose of eating He tried to take a mouthful but the ice-muzzle prevented He had forgotten to build a fire and thaw out He chuckled at his foolishness and as he chuckled he noted the numbness creeping into the exposed fingers Also he noted that the stinging which had first come to his

toes when he sat down was already passing away He wandered whether the toes were warm or numb He moved them inside the moccasins and decided that they were numb

He pulled the mitten on hurriedly and stood up He was a bit frightened He stamped up and down until the stinging returned into the feet It certainly was cold was his thought That man from Sulphur Creek had spoken the truth when telling how cold it sometimes got in the country And he had laughed at him at the time That showed one must not be too sure of things There was no mistake about it it was cold He strode up and down stamping his feet and threshing his arms until reassured by the returning warmth Then he got out matches and proceeded to make a fire From the undergrowth where high water of the previous spring had lodged a supply of seasoned twigs he got his firewood Working carefully from a small beginning he soon had a roaring fire over which he thawed the ice from his face and in the protection of which he ate his biscuits For the moment the cold space was outwitted The dog took satisfaction in the fire stretching out close enough for warmth and far enough away to escape being singed

When the man had finished be filled his pipe and took his comfortable time over a smoke Then he pulled on his mittens settled the ear-flaps of his cap firmly about his ears and took the creek trail up the left fork The dog was disappointed and yearned back toward the fire This man did not know cold Possibly all the generations of his ancestry had been ignorant of cold of real cold of cold one hundred and seven degrees below freezing point But the dog knew all its ancestry knew and it had inherited the knowledge And it knew that it was not good to walk abroad in such fearful cold It was the time to lie snug in a hole in the snow and wait for a curtain of cloud to be drawn across the face of outer space whence this cold came On the other hand there was no keen intimacy between the dog and the man

The one was the toil-slave of the other and the only caresses it had ever received were the caresses of the whiplash and of harsh and menacing throat-sounds that threatened the whiplash So the dog made no effort to communicate its apprehension to the man It was not concerned in the welfare of the man it was for its own sake that it yearned back toward the fire But the man whistled and spoke to it with the sound of whiplashes and the dog swung in at the mans heel and followed after

The man took a chew of tobacco and proceeded to start a new amber beard Also his moist breath quickly powdered with white his mustache eyebrows and lashes There did not seem to be so many springs on the left fork of the Henderson and for half an hour the man saw no signs of any And then it happened At a place where there were no signs where the soft unbroken snow seemed to advertise solidity beneath tee man broke through It was not deep He wet himself halfway to the knees before he floundered out to the firm crust

He was angry and cursed his luck aloud He had hoped to get into camp with the boys at six oclock and this would delay him an hour for he would have to build a fire and dry out his foot-gear This was imperative at that low temperature--he knew that much and he turned aside to the bank which he climbed On top tangled in the underbrush about the trunks of several small spruce trees was a high-water deposit of dry firewood--sticks and twigs principally but also larger portions of seasoned branches and fine dry last-years grasses He threw down several large pieces on top of the snow This served for a foundation and prevented the young flame from drowning itself in the snow it otherwise would melt The flame he got by touching a match to a small shred of birch bark that he took from his pocket This burned even more readily than paper Placing it on the foundation he fed the young flame with wisps of dry grass and with the tiniest dry twigs

He worked slowly and carefully keenly aware of his danger Gradually as the flame grew stronger he increased the size of the twigs with which he fed it He squatted in the snow pulling the twigs out from their entanglement in the brush and feeding directly to the flame He knew there must be no failure When it is seventy-five below zero a man must not fail in his first attempt to build a fire--that is if his feet are wet If his feet are dry and he fails he can run along the trail for half a mile and restore his circulation But the circulation of wet and freezing feet cannot be restored by running when it is seventy-five below No matter how fast he runs the wet feet will freeze the harder

All this the man knew The old-timer on Sulphur Creek had told him about it the previous fall and now he was appreciating the advice Already all sensation had gone out of his feet To build the fire he had been forced to remove his mittens and the fingers had quickly gone numb His pace of four miles an hour had kept his heart pumping blood to the surface of his body and to all the extremities But the instant he stopped the action of the pump eased down The cold of space smote the unprotected tip of the planet and he being on that unprotected tip received the full force of the blow The blood of his body recoiled before it The blood was alive like the dog and like the dog it wanted to hide away and cover itself up from the fearful cold So long as he walked four miles an hour he pumped that blood willy-nilly to the surface but now it ebbed away and sank down into the recesses of his body The extremities were the first to feel its absence His wet feet froze the faster and his exposed fingers numbed the faster though they had not yet begun to freeze Nose and cheeks were already freezing while the skin of all his body chilled as it lost its blood

But he was safe Toes and nose and cheeks would be only touched by the frost for the fire was beginning to burn with strength He was feeding it

To Build a FireContinued

with twigs the size of his finger In another minute he would be able to feed it with branches the size of his wrier and then he could remove his wet toot-gear and while it dried he could keep his naked feet warm by the fire rubbing them at first of course with snow The fire was a success He was safe He remembered the advice of the old timer on Sulphur Creek and smiled The old-timer had been very serious in laying down the law that no man must travel alone in the Klondike after fifty below Well here he was he had had the accident he was alone and he had saved himself Those old-timers were rather womanish some of them he thought All a man had to do was to keep his head and he was all right Any man who was a man could travel alone But it was surprising the rapidity with which his cheeks and nose were freezing And he had not thought his fingers could go lifeless in so short a time Lifeless they were for he could scarcely make them move together to grip a twig and they seemed remote from his body and from him When he touched a twig he had to look and see whether or not he had hold of it The wires were pretty well down between him and his finger-ends

All of which counted for little There was the fire snapping and crackling and promising life with every dancing flame He started to untie his moccasins They were coated with ice the thick German socks were like sheaths of iron halfway to the knees and the moccasin strings were like rods of steel all twisted and knotted as by some conflagration For a moment he tugged with his numb fingers then realizing the folly of it he drew his sheath-knife

But before he could cut the strings it happened It was his own fault or rather his mistake He should not have built the fire under the spruce tree He should have built it in the open But it had been easier to pull the twigs from the brush and drop them directly on the fire Now the tree under which

he had done this carried a weight of snow on its boughs No wind had blown for weeks and each bough was fully freighted Each time he had pulled a twig he had communicated a slight agitation to the tree--an imperceptible agitation so far as he was concerned but an agitation sufficient to bring about the disaster High up in the tree one bough capsized its load of snow This fell on the boughs beneath capsizing them This process continued spreading out and involving the whole tree It grew like an avalanche and it descended without warning upon the man and the fire and the fire was blotted out Where it had burned was a mantle of fresh and disordered snow

The man was shocked It was as though he had just heard his own sentence of death For a moment he sat and stared at the spot where the fire had been Then he grew very calm Perhaps the old-timer on Sulphur Creek was right If he had only had a trail-mate he would have been in no danger now The trail-mate could have built the fire Well it was up to him to build the fire over again and this second time there must be no failure Even if he succeeded he would most likely lose some toes His feet must be badly frozen by now and there would be some time before the second fire Was ready

Such were his thoughts but he did not sit and think them He was busy all the time they were passing through his mind He made a new foundation for a fire this time in the open where no treacherous tree could blot it out Next he gathered dry grasses and tiny twigs from the high-water flotsam He could not bring his fingers together to pull them out but he was able to gather them by the handful In this way he got many rotten twigs and bits of green moss that were undesirable but it was the best he could do He worked methodically even collecting an armful of the larger branches to be used later when the fire gathered strength And all the while the dog sat and watched him a certain yearning wistfulness in its eyes for it looked upon

To Build a FireContinued

him as the fire-provider and the fire was slow in coming

When all was ready the man reached in his pocket for a second piece of birch bark He knew the bark was there and though he could not feel it with his fingers he could hear its crisp rustling as he fumbled for it Try as he would he could not clutch hold of it And all the time in his consciousness was the knowledge that each instant his feet were freezing This thought tended to put him in a panic but he fought against it and kept calm He pulled on his mittens with his teeth and threshed his arms back and forth beating his hands with all his might against his sides He did this sitting down and he stood up to do it and all the while the dog sat in the snow its wolf-brush of a tail curled around warmly over its forefeet its sharp wolf-ears pricked forward intently as it watched the man And the man as he beat and threshed with his arms and hands felt a great surge of envy as he regarded the creature that was warm ant secure in its natural covering

After a time he was aware of the first far-away signals of sensation in his beaten fingers The faint tingling grew stronger till it evolved into a stinging ache that was excruciating but which the man hailed with satisfaction He stripped the mitten from his right hand and fetched forth the birch bark The exposed fingers were quickly going numb again Next he brought out his bunch of sulphur matches But the tremendous cold had already driven the life out of his fingers In his effort to separate one match from the others the whole bunch fell in the snow He tried to pick it out of the snow but failed The dead fingers could neither touch nor clutch He was very careful He drove the thought of his freezing feet and nose and cheeks out of his mind devoting his whole soul to the matches He watched using the sense of vision in place of that of touch and when he saw his fingers on each side the bunch he dosed them--that is he willed to close them for the wires were down and the fingers did not obey He pulled

the mitten on the right hand and beat it fiercely against his knee Then with both mittened hands he scooped the bunch of matches along with much snow into his lap Yet he was no better off

After some manipulation he managed to get the bunch between the heels of his mittened hands In this fashion he carried it to his mouth The ice crackled and snapped when by a violent effort he opened his mouth He drew the lower jaw in curled the upper lip out of the way and scraped the bunch with his upper teeth in order to separate a match He succeeded in getting one which he dropped on his lap He was no better off He could not pick it up Then he devised a way He picked it up in his teeth and scratched it on his leg Twenty times he scratched before he succeeded in lighting it As it flamed he held it with his teeth to the birch bark But the burning brimstone went up his nostrils and into his lungs causing him to cough spasmodically The match fell into the snow and went out

The old-timer an Sulphur Creek was right he thought in the moment of controlled despair that ensued after fifty below a man should travel with a partner He beat his hands but failed in exciting any sensation Suddenly he bared both hands removing the mittens with his teeth He caught the whole bunch between the heels of his hands His arm muscles not being frozen enabled him to press the hand-heels tightly against the matches Then he scratched the bunch along his leg It flared into flame seventy sulphur matches at once There was no wind to blow them out He kept his head to one side to escape the strangling fumes and held the blazing bunch to the birth bark As he so held it he became aware of sensation in his hand His flesh was burning He could smell it Deep down below the surface he could feel it The sensation developed into pain that grew acute And still he endured it holding the flame of the matches clumsily to the bark that would not light readily because his own burning hands were in the way absorbing most of the flame

To Build a FireContinued

At last when he could endure no more he jerked his hands apart The blazing matches fell sizzling into the snow but the birch bark was alight He began laying dry grasses and the tiniest twigs on the flame He could not pick and choose for he had to lift the fuel between the heels of his hands Small pieces of rotten wood and green moss clung to the twigs and he bit them off as well as he could with his teeth He cherished the flame carefully and awkwardly It meant life and it must not perish The withdrawal of blood from the surface of his body now made him begin to shiver and he grew more awkward A large piece of green moss fell squarely on the little fire He tried to poke it out with his fingers but his shivering frame made him poke too far and he disrupted the nucleus of the little fire the burning grasses and tiny twigs separating and scattering He tried to poke them together again but in spite of the tenseness of the effort his shivering got away with him and the twigs were hopelessly scattered Each twig gushed a puff of smoke and went out The fire-provider had failed As he looked apathetically about him his eyes chanced on the dog sitting across the ruins of the fire from him in the snow making restless hunching movements slightly lifting one forefoot and then the other shifting its weight back and forth on them with wistful eagerness

The sight of the dog put a wild idea into his head He remembered the tale of the man caught in a blizzard who killed a steer and crawled inside the carcass and so was saved He would kill the dog and bury his hands in the warm body until the numbness went out of them Then he could build another fire He spoke to the dog calling it to him but in his voice was a strange note of fear that frightened the animal who had never known the man to speak in such way before Something was the matter and its suspicious nature sensed danger--it knew not what danger but somewhere somehow in its brain arose an apprehension of the man It flattened its ears down at the sound of the mans voice and its restless

hunching movements and the liftings and shiftings of its forefeet became more pronounced but it would not come to the man He got on his hands and knees and crawled toward the dog This unusual posture again excited suspicion and the animal sidled mincingly away

The man sat up in the snow for a moment and struggled for calmness Then he pulled on his mittens by means of his teeth and got upon his feet He glanced down at first in order to assure himself that he was really standing up for the absence of sensation in his feet left him unrelated to the earth His erect position in itself started to drive the webs of suspicion from the dogs mind and when he spoke peremptorily with the sound of whiplashes in his voice the dog rendered its customary allegiance and came to him As it came within reaching distance the man lost his control His arms flashed out to the dog and he experienced genuine surprise when he discovered that his hands could not clutch that there was neither bend nor feeling in the fingers He had forgotten for the moment that they were frozen and that they were freezing more and more All this happened quickly and before the animal could get away he encircled its body with his arms He sat down in the snow and in this fashion held the dog while it snarled and whined and struggled

But it was all he could do hold its body encircled in his arms and sit there He realized that he could not kill the dog There was no way to do it With his helpless hands he could neither draw nor hold his sheath knife nor throttle the animal He released it and it plunged wildly away with tail between its legs and still snarling It halted forty feet away and surveyed him curiously with ears sharply pricked forward The man looked down at his hands in order to locate them and found them hanging on the ends of his arms It struck him as curious that one should have to use his eyes in order to find out where his hands were He began threshing his arms back and forth beating the mittened hands against

To Build a FireContinued

his sides He did this for five minutes violently and his heart pumped enough blood up to the surface to put a stop to his shivering But no sensation was aroused in the hands He had an impression that they hung like weights on the ends of his arms but when he tried to run the impression down he could not find it

A certain fear of death dull and oppressive came to him This fear quickly became poignant as he realized that it was no longer a mere matter of freezing his fingers and toes or of losing his hands and feet but that it was a matter of life and death with the chances against him This threw him into a panic and he turned and ran up the creek-bed along the old dim trail The dog joined in behind and kept up with him He ran blindly without intention in fear such as he had never known in his life Slowly as he plowed and floundered through the snow he began to see things again the banks of the creek the old timber-jams the leafless aspens and the sky The running made him feel better He did not shiver Maybe if he ran on his feet would thaw out and anyway if he ran far enough he would reach camp and the boys Without doubt he would lose some fingers and toes and some of his face but the boys would take care of him and save the rest of him when he got there And at the same time there was another thought in his mind that said he would never get to the camp and the boys that it was too many miles away that the freezing had too great a start on him and that he would soon be stiff and dead This thought he kept in the background and refused to consider Sometimes it pushed itself forward and demanded to be heard but he thrust it back and strove to think of other things

It struck him as curious that he could run at all on feet so frozen that he could not feel them when they struck the earth and took the weigh of his body He seemed to himself to skim along above the surface and to have no connection with the earth Somewhere he had once seen a winged Mercury

and he wondered if Mercury felt as he felt when skimming over the earth

His theory of running until he reached camp and the boys had one flaw in it he lacked the endurance Several times he stumbled and finally he tottered crumpled up and fell When he tried to rise he failed He must sit and rest he decided and next time he would merely walk and keep on going As he sat and regained his breath he noted that he was feeling quite warm and comfortable He was not shivering and it even seemed that a warm glow had come to his chest and trunk And yet when he touched his nose or cheeks there was no sensation Running would not thaw them out Nor would it thaw out his hands and feet Then the thought came to him that the frozen portions of his body must be extending He tried to keep this thought down to forget it to think of something else he was aware of the panicky feeling that it caused and he was afraid of the panic But the thought asserted itself and persisted until it produced a vision of his body totally frozen This was too much and he made another wild run along the trail Once he slowed down to a walk but the thought of the freezing extending itself made him run again

And all the time the dog ran with him at his heels When he fell down a second time it curled its tad over its forefeet and sat in front of him facing him curiously eager and intent The warmth and security of the animal angered him and he cursed it till it flattened down its ears appealingly This time the shivering came more quickly upon the man He was losing in his battle with the frost It was creeping into his body from all sides The thought of it drove him on but he ran no more than a hundred feet when he staggered and pitched headlong It was his last panic When he had recovered his breath and control he sat up and entertained in his mind the conception of meeting death with dignity However the conception did not come to him in such terms His idea of it was that he had been making a fool of

To Build a FireContinued

himself running around like a chicken with its head cut off--such was the simile that occurred to him Well he was bound to freeze anyway and he might as well take it decently With this new-found peace of mind came the first glimmerings of drowsiness A good idea he thought to sleep off to death It was like salting an anesthetic Freezing was not so bad as people thought There were lots worse ways to die

He pictured the boys finding his body next day Suddenly he found himself with them coming along the trail and looking for himself And still with them he came around a turn in the trail and found himself lying in the snow He did not belong with himself any more for even then he was out of himself standing with the boys and looking at himself in the snow It certainly was cold was his thought When he got back to the States he could tell the folks what real cold was He drifted on from this to a vision of the old-timer on Sulphur Creek He could see him quite clearly warm and comfortable and smoking a pipe

You were right old boss you were right the man mumbled to the old-timer of Sulphur Creek

Then the man drowsed off into what seemed to him the most comfortable and satisfying sleep he had ever known The dog sat facing him and waiting The brief day drew to a close in a long slow twilight There were no signs of a fire to be made and besides never in the dogs experience had it known a man to sit like that in the snow and make no fire As the twilight drew on its eager yearning for the fire mastered it and with a great lifting and shifting of forefeet it whined softly then flattened its ears down in anticipation of being chidden by the man But the man remained silent Later the dog whined loudly And still later it crept close to the man and caught the scent of death This made the animal bristle and back away A little longer it delayed howling under the stars that leaped and danced and shone brightly in the cold sky Then it turned and trotted up the trail in the direction of the camp it knew where were the other food-providers and fire-providers

To Build a FireContinued

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Page 22: FitnessDigest.us Vol. 4.3 Cover

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DAY had broken cold and gray exceedingly cold and gray when the man turned aside from the main Yukon trail and climbed the high earth-bank where a dim and little traveled trail led eastward through the fat spruce timberland It was a steep bank and he paused for breath at the top excusing the act to himself by looking at his watch It was nine oclock There was no sun nor hint of sun though there was not a cloud in the sky It was a

clear day and yet there seemed an intangible pall over the face of things a subtle gloom that made the day dark and that was due to the absence of sun This fact did not worry the man He was used to the lack of sun It had been days since he had seen the sun and he knew that a few more-days must pass before that cheerful orb due south would just peep above the sky-line and dip immediately from view

To Build a Fire - Hiking the Yukon TrailShort story fiction Written by Jack London (1876-1916)

The man flung a look back along the way he had come The Yukon lay a mile wide and hidden under three feet of ice On top of this ice were as many feet of snow It was all pure white rolling in gentle undulations where the ice jams of the freeze-up had formed North and south as far as his eye could see it was unbroken white save for a dark hairline that curved and twisted from around the spruce-covered island to the south and that curved and twisted away into the north where it disappeared behind another spruce-covered island This dark hair-line was the trail--the main trail--that led south five hundred miles to the Chilcoot Pass Dyea and salt water and that led north seventy miles to Dawson and still on to the north a thousand miles to Nulato and finally to St Michael on Bering Sea a thousand miles and half a thousand more

But all this--the mysterious far-reaching hair-line trail The absence of sun from the sky the tremendous cold and the strangeness and weirdness of it all--made no

impression on the man It was not because he was long used to it He was a newcomer In the land a chechaquo and this was his first winter The trouble with him was that he was without imagination He was quick and alert in the things of life but only in the things and not in the significances Fifty degrees below zero meant eighty-odd degrees of frost Such fact impressed him as being cold and uncomfortable and that was all It did not lead him to meditate upon his frailty as a creature of temperature and upon mans frailty in general able only to live within certain narrow limits of heat and cold and from there on it did not lead him to the conjectural field of immortality and mans place in the universe Fifty degrees below zero stood forte bite of frost that hurt and that must be guarded against by the use of mittens ear-flaps warm moccasins and thick socks Fifty degrees below zero was to him just precisely fifty degrees below zero That there should be anything more to it than that was a thought that never entered his head

To Build a FireContinued

Continued on page 62

Stand Up Paddle BoardingWOWSUPIowacom on LiveAds

It is important from time to time to slow down to go away by yourself and simply be --Eileen Caddy

Letrsquos Race13 My son is eight and our family is very active Im just hitting my peak racing age of about 34 years old The family members all support each otherrsquos activities They are a great cheering section when my wife and I compete in races There is a popular two mile fun run in our town that we my wife and I run every year We also have for-fun races with the kids around the house or across the football field For years Ive let the eight year old win a few and others I win by just a little bit I think he is wising up to my tactics of good fatherhood One day he said ldquoDad you are letting me win but I think I can beat you fair and squarerdquo He added ldquoYoursquore not that fast Ill bet you 10 dollars I can beat you in a two mile racerdquo Wanting to teach him a lesson about spouting off and writing checks his body cant cash I took him up on it I said All right you pick a time and place We will race two miles for 10 dollars He replied You know that two mile race you and mom do every year I can race you then I agreed and he quickly added Ill need 20 years to warm-up That would make me 54 and him 28 Irsquom preparing for the loss and putting 10 dollars aside now

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Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

In my first creative experience it was through music and I was interested in developing my values of creativity I was inspired by a band named Motley Crue and the song that captured my interest was Home Sweet home Dear reader what inspires you Is it music or inspirational quote thought or ideas To express how this song motivated my interests it helped give me faith in my own creative abilities in the process I began to write lyrics I eventually began to work on different styles of writing and broaden my writing skills What types of music inspire your creative thoughts What types of other inspiration values inspire your creative thoughts

13 Getting motivated is one of the key aspects of a successful weight-loss program Without this motivation there would be no drive to get up early or to avoid eating unhealthy snacks ndash that you absolutely love Yes you can thank your motivation for that When you are looking for weight-loss motivation sometimes it is hard to find Where can you find that extra umph to make it to your goal

The benefits of finding a motivator are something that cannot be paralleled It has been said mind over matter This coincides with our principle that no matter how hard the task you can accomplish the goal given the right mindset It is important to go into a new weight-loss program with a positive mental attitude

FINDI

NG TH

EM X InspirationX

Motivation

When I was introduced to William Shakespeare I was intrigued by his creative values and I started to work on developing a different aspect of writing I then watched the movie Free Jack there was a quote by Albert Einstein Imagination is more important than knowledge I thought about the in depth values of both concepts and then I applied both concepts and defined different creative concept Do you believe that anything is possible if you believe I know that I do believe that if an individual believes deeply enough one can accomplish their goals I had to believe in my own abilities and in my dreams and ignore the negative values that were impressed by others

Anything less can potentially hinder growth towards your goal

Some of the things that you should be thinking about when looking for motivators are people with good morals and a positive attitude This is because if the people helping you do not have a positive attitude then it is also difficult for you Some great places to look for a motivator are online blogs in the gym or even in your own family I am sure that in all of these places you will see someone else trying to accomplish the same or even more difficult goals than your own

Another key to finding motivation is to let it find you You should not have to go find a reason to go do something You will do it because you wanted to not because you were forced to

X

InspirationMotivation

More simply put motivation will find you because you will see something that inspires you to make a change in yourself That change may be a weight-loss goal or something else Maybe even an academic goal The true key is to maintain that motivation until you have achieved your goal

Regards Vincent ErrichielloUSMS Swimmer

InspirationMotivation

With believing so deeply within my own abilities and the faith that I could accomplish what I set out to achieve I wrote a lyric titled Dreams Are Only Real and in believing in this concept further defining its true meaning the concept became Dreams Are Only Real Until You Dont believe

Jeremy J TaylorCNFI Publishing

himTHROWINGWritten by anonymous contributor

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13 Johnny is not the best batter in our little league Matter-of-fact he is quiet awful At practice one afternoon Johnny hit a pitch really well The coach had pitched him inside on accident far enough inside that it almost hit him Johnny got his hit by using his bat to defend himself from that arrant pitch The coach told him ldquogood hitrdquo and Johnny yelled back ldquoWell I didnrsquot want the ball to hit merdquo13 Johnny improved his batting after that He was hitting the ball almost every time he got up At one point I said to coach ldquoHow did you get Johnny to improve his batting so quicklyrdquo He replyed Im throwing the ball it AT HIM every time

Body image and fitness are hot topics for both men and women The Great Fitness Experiment is my hilarious poignant embarrassing and at times heart-breaking journey to find my way through the morass of contradictory claims and information in todayrsquos health- and fitness-obsessed world

Available in paperback or in eBookVisit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

wwwnorthiafitnesscom on LiveAdsEmail northiowafitnessgmailcom

Phone 641-201-1035Strongest weight loss supplements

on the market

The Fall of Billy Hitchingsby Kirkus MacGowan

Available at Amazon

LOCATED IN ST ANSGAR IOWA

Business Cards Envelopes

Letterheads Programs

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Posters Invites (graduation wedding showers etc)

Flyers Brochures

T-ShirtsShorts SweatshirtsSweats

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Business Forms Placemats

Postcards And Much More

Bridgette Beyer DesignerOwner

Bring your ideas in andVisual Aspect Designs can print

andor design for you

Black Lab LanyardsSpecializing in customized duck and goose call lanyards for waterfowl enthusiasts

For more information on this productVisit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

FitnessDigestus is now available at

WOWSUPIOWAcom

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entryFitnessDigestus

Send u

s yo

ur T

-shi

rt

READE

R T

-shi

rts

13 I was standing on shore fishing in my favorite spot A guy Irsquove never seen at the pond gets in and starts swimming After about 25 minutes of back and forth he stops at a place about 30 yards off shore He gives me a quick look and dices down below the water

His next lap he stops in the same place looks at me again and points down at the water He finished his swim and left I picked up my gear and moved to the other side of the outlet just a few yards from where he had stopped twice Caught a lunker in the first cast

Swim Signs - Lunker

BankersPromotional and Advertising Specialties

Call to order 641ndash423ndash3111

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Black Lab LanyardsSpecializing in customized duck and goose call lanyards for waterfowl enthusiastsCustomized Duck and Goose Call Lanyards

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Visit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus for more information

TOP TWEETS

Iowa Cubs (IowaCubs)Thanks to all our fans who showed up for the pre-game on-field catch with dad

Louise Pineda (forerunnerGPS)The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficultyWinston Churchill quotes

Softball Darlin (Softball_Darlin)My mom told me our team was gettin white uniforms for summer amp to try not to get them dirty Uh Have you seen me play Not gonna happen

I Swim I Suffer (ISwimISuffer)thatswimmerwho If the water is in your right ear for example then jump on your right leg and lean your head to the right side while jumping

I Swim and I Know It (iSwimWithIssues)During the summer you shower 467 times at the pool 17 times at hotels and 3 times at your house Truth

Everyday Health (WomensCancer)63000 Americans will be diagnosed w malignant melanoma (the deadliest skin cancer) this year Know your risk

US Paralympics (USParalympics)Want to be introduced to Paralympic sport Attend one of the Paralympic Experiences being held throughout the countryFi

tnes

sDig

est

US v

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2

SwimSwam (swimswamnews)Congrats to KenyaSwimmer on being selected to carry the Kenya flag swimswamcom

Better than sharing on a blog Twitter or Facebook and you can share a story even if you donrsquot maintain a social-web presencePublished for ALL FitnessDigestus readers

Sign with your real name pen-name or anonymoushttpLiveMediaFitnessDigestus

13 Funnest thing SPAM about some weight-loss supplements got posted on a friendrsquos Facebook My friend is an ultra-runner I notice there was also an ad for salami recipes on the same page The recipes were right next to the SPAM about diet-pills

13 Letrsquos see ndash it sounds like the beginning of a good joke Q What do you get when a friend tries to sell you ultra-runner endorsed salami-flavored-SPAM diet-pills on Facebook Answer Sick

Unsung Heroes1 Irsquove never swam open water and wanted to do a triathlon A friend that

races open water took extra time to swim with me at a lake I was much more comfortable after that

2 I was going on vacation and needed advice on a place to swim A friend living in the area took the time to help me find people to answer my questions

3 I was over eating and had complained to my friend about it She called me twice a day for three weeks just to remind me to eat healthy

4 I usually run to and from the gym It takes about 30 minutes to run both ways I didnrsquot have enough time to get there and back before a scheduled appointment I had A friend drove me to the gym saving me about 30 minutes I was able to run home and still had time to get to my appointment

SPAM DIET

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Visit the Suburban Mommy blog and learn more about AtresiaMicrotia a birth defect of the inner earFor links to SubMommy blog httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

SUBMOMMYBLOG

On Wednesday May 16 2012 at 7 PM simultaneous rides occurred around the

USA and the world

We all ride Now we can ride as one

One day One time One world world wide

Let the silence roar

322 locations world wide

The Ride of SilenceTonight we number many but ride as one

In honor of those not with us friends

mothers fathers sisters sons

With helmets on tight and heads down low

We ride in silence cautious and slow

The wheels start spinning in the lead pack

But tonight we ride and no one attacks

The dark sunglasses cover our tears

Remembering those we held so dear

Tonights ride is to make others aware

The road is there for all to share

To those not with us or by our side

May God be your partner on your final ride

- Mike Murgas

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 50 states

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 7 Continents

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 0 words spoken

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 1 million memories

Ride of Silence

ldquoCost-effective investments in bicycling boost our economy help individuals and government agencies save money and directly address key societal challenges such as obesity and road congestion In these tough economic times our federal government can only afford to invest in solutions that solve multiple problems Bicycling fits the billrdquo ndash PeopleForBikesorg

This photo collection was taken byRobert LaVallee of Mason City IA

To see his entire collection visithttpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

Non-subscriberSign-up for delivery of

the FREE edition at coopnetbiz

It provides an outstanding aerobic workout in less than half the time we would spend in still water It has allowed us as swim coaches to observe swimmers stroke characteristics up close and to see the effects of fatigue on stroke mechanics ~ Larry L Chazy NY

Swimming is an excellent exercise and now I can swim every day because its so convenient and private I can swim when I want and how long I want Im able to have it at a temperature that is comfortable to me The small size of an Endless Pool enabled me to install a pool where I could not install a regular size one

As an aging baby boomer nutrition professional I have yearned for consistent exercise that doesnt stress joints and will enable me to attain physical fitness cardiovascular health and weight control I can eat what I want and still firm up and lose weight ~ John C Columbus OH

Endless Pools make for long swims in small places The 8x15 Endless Pool is less than regulation size but offers the same benefits as a very large pool ~ Noah H Connecticut Post

The Endless Pool is a great strength builder I am amazed at the strength of the current I now swim against I did not buy it for that reason but because of my arthritis so the strength gain is a wonderful surprise

Endless PoolsTestimonials For more information visit httpLIveAdsFitnessDigestus

s w i m m i n g s h o r t s

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Baseball Walking Stick13 My sons friend grabbed his baseball bat and said to me this is my walking stick I politely ask him why he calls it that He replied because my dad says if I hit a home run with it I donrsquot have to run the bases ndash I can walk

My Bike My mountain bike was stolen a while back and my kids were really upset Ive been riding my road bike in its place Since then Ive been careful to lock my bike up when we go to the park

13 On this occasion I did not lock-up my sonrsquos bike up with mine He looked at me quizzically and said sternly lock my bike up too I tried to explain that his bike was not as expensive and therefor didnt need to be locked up Boy that was a mistake He made me feel a little dumb when he said Dad I dont care how expensive it is Its the only bike Irsquove got

North Iowa Roads

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A LEADER inSearch Engine Optimization

Technology

Increase your visitor page views and Facebook Likes

Are you moving to a new state Already hired your mover

E-mail blind box at box02FitnessDigestus will get

you the best rates on cable phone and internet

Digital Movers

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

parent sports tipBy FitnessDigestus staff writer JGA

PAR

EN

T

TIP

Keeping Kids Focused13 Organize their thoughts Help them prioritize and make decisions based on value Even kids can understand the value of simple non-monetized choices Questions like ldquoShould I finish playing my gameboy game or pause it when they call my swimming eventrdquo

If kids are taught to make good decisions and not just find quick answers everyone wins

AugustGolf Month5th Friendship Day15th Relaxation Day25th Kiss and Make Up Day31st Trail Mix DaySeptemberLittle League Month12th Chocolate Milk Shake Day13th Positive Thinking Day16th Womenrsquos Friendship Day21st Miniature Golf DayOctoberBreast Cancer Awareness MonthNational Diabetes Month1st World Vegetarian Day4th Golf Day25th World Pasta Day

National Calendar

Au

gu

stSe

pte

mb

er

Oc

tob

er

Encourage friendships writing skills sharing thoughts and

experiencesEight different cards

YAGOTTAWANNA

Variety of pricing From single orders to bulk orders of 24 notecards

Learn more online

Stay in touch with your swimming or triathlon buddies

It is better to be safe then to try to beat the heat There are many options to stay cool and run during a hot-summer day Staying inside and running on the treadmill is a good one Remember staying safe is a top priority

Most workouts can be modified to work indoors This issuersquos workout is to do your usual run or interval set just stay inside and run it on the treadmill Visualize the different landmarks to see during your outdoor run

Coach Millerrsquos Quarterly ChallengeStay safe in the heatBy Mark Miller mmillerFitnessDigestus

A few years back we had a hot-spell similar to this yearrsquos record heat

I remember training for a long run and having to stop at the local swimming hole to cool off I literally took off my

shoes and jumped in with my running clothes on I was so hot

FitnessDigestUSEntertainment amp Inspiration

Use coupon codeldquoRAMCSPRrdquo

at puresportshopcomfor 20 OFF

Nutritional Performance Sports Drinks with Protein

OPEN WATER SWIMMING BY THE NUMBERS

In kilometers The shortest open water race included in the Fina World Championships

10107 How many miles it

is to swim from Cuba to the USA

5

1000Number of swimming strokes in a mile for a typical swimmer

31800About the number of calories it takes to swim 100 miles

LOCATED IN ST ANSGAR IOWA

Business Cards Envelopes

Letterheads Programs

Vinyl Decals Signs

Posters Invites (graduation wedding showers etc)

Flyers Brochures

T-ShirtsShorts SweatshirtsSweats

Koozies Sashes

Business Forms Placemats

Postcards And Much More

Bridgette Beyer DesignerOwner

Bring your ideas in andVisual Aspect Designs can print

andor design for you

The minimum open water distance in kilometers that is considered a swimming-

marathon

On Facebook Visit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

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Open water safety means swimming in shallow water where there is a lifeguard or using an escort

Shop for Name BrandGear

24 Hoursa Day

WaynesSkiandCyclenet

For links to Waynersquos visit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

s w i m m i n g s h o r t s

Googles

13 Swimming fans can really appreciate a 200 IM when their goggles fill with water How about an Olympian Swimming a leg of the 400 Free Relay with his goggles across his opened mouth ndash and going 45rsquos A great team swimmer an Olympian wouldnrsquot let down his teammates by throwing them off or fixing them

500 Fly13 A world class butterflyer asked if he could swim butterfly in the 500 yard freestyle during a dual meet His goal was to break five minutes After considering the competition it seemed like a great way to make him really work a hard fly swim so we agreed Problem was he swam a 502 and the opposing coach complained to the officials because he embarrassed his swimmers Oh well you canrsquot win lsquoem all

Stories sent in by Robert Steele

No-No-No13 The other morning I was teaching front-streamlines to snotty nosed 8 year olds (some are literally snotty-nosed) One boy was taking a big gulp of air and holding his breath When he lifted his head he had to exhale and inhale before submerging again Swimmers will understand this does not work very well Kids need to learn to exhale underwater The first time he did it I told him to exhale underwater The second time I stopped him looked him in the eye and reminded him to exhale underwater The third and fourth times I started to get a little frustrated ldquoJohnny you need to exhale underwater so you can breath betterrdquo The fifth time as his head popped up for a breath I quickly asked ldquoJohnny Do you even know what exhale meansrdquo as he submerged his head below the water I could see him shake his head no-no-no

Favorite Potato Chips13We try to limit the junk food the kids eat at our house For lunch one day our son wanted some potato chips I gave him 3 large chips with his sandwich He started to cry and said he wanted one more chip ldquoI wanted four chipsrdquo he screamed I took the plate back When he wasnt looking I broke a chip in half and give it back to him with four chips

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

13 My cancer story is one of uniqueness Leave it to me to do something like cancer to its fullest It did not begin with a mammogram diagnosis or a lump My journey began about 4 years ago with some suspicious activity that turned into Pagetrsquos disease of the nipple which signaled the underlying cancer On April 1st I found out about my breast cancer through a biopsy that came back as positive for Pagetrsquos disease The onslaught of tests learning and decisions were dizzying I immediately went for an evaluation of the suspicious tissue and had to begin making decisions for my mastectomy I quickly learned there is a test called the BRAC Analysis which is a genetic test for breast and ovarian cancer Finally a piece of good news for me I did not have the gene

Decisions Now it was time to make decisions about my mastectomy and how I was going to handle reconstruction I discussed my options with my boyfriend Brian friends family members and even my principalboss I read books searched the Internet and contacted people I

Brandi ShipmanCancer Survivor and elite triathlete

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

know and knew from my past that had been directly affected and that I thought might have answers for me The outpouring of love encouragement and help during this process was overwhelming After meeting with four different doctors two surgeons and two plastic surgeons I decided to go with immediate reconstruction and was lucky enough to find two wonderful doctors They were willing to work together just because I wanted them to even though they had never done so before My surgery was scheduled for mid May

Mental Toughness13 My mental preparation at this point was very important I had to scrap any idea of competing in triathlons for the rest of the year and focus on a positive attitude of getting better I stopped thinking about what I wasnrsquot going to able to do and started thinking about what I could do that I was alive and kept my mind on the fact that so many others had made it before me

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links

Part 213 I was prepared by the doctors survivors and literature to be ldquodownrdquo for several weeks after my surgery I even took the rest of the school year off My surgery went well and I was out of the hospital the next day A few friends came to visit while I was in the hospital and my principal and vice principal brought the most wonderful picture of the faculty wearing pink for me I can only imagine what it looked like at Thornton Elementary on that day in May 2009 a sea of pink all for Brandi Shipman Shortly after their visit I received a text from my friend Margie Massey My friends from the gym wore pink for me that day as well The support brought tears to my eyes I was so excited to come home and be comfortable in my own home I just wish the stupid drain that was attached could have stayed at the hospital The pain from that was worse than the pain from the mastectomy

the most

powerful picture

13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Recovery ndash May13 Once I got home I slept and watched a lot of TV Friends visited and brought yummy food and my favorites I am not supposed to eat I ate them all My friend and co-worker set up a cancer care calendar that alerted anyone who logged on when I was having a doctorrsquos appointment or when I was in need of anything I felt like royalty as everyone took care of me I think Brian secretly enjoyed the fact that he wouldnrsquot have to cook for me each night My recovery was quicker than I thought as I was doing my best to get better and get the stinkinrsquo drain out of my skin I was out walking within a week and running within 3 weeks I couldnrsquot believe my recovery I know it was from all the prayers love and good care from Brian and the loved ones around me Life was looking better each day

ldquoLife was looking

better each dayrdquo

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Part three and part

four of I am Survivor

will be published in

the next edition of

FitnessDigestus

Get the convenience of

digital-delivery

Sign-up or subscribe at

httpFitnessDigestus

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During the past 150 years we have witnessed many remarkable advances against cancer a disease known to humanity for thousands of years The advances highlighted below represent a sampling of what has been accomplished to date

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

1882 William Halsted performs the first radical mastectomy to treat breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast the lymph nodes under the arm (axillary lymph nodes) and the chest muscles behind the breast (pectoralis major and pectoralis minor muscles) are removed Radical mastectomy will remain the standard operation for breast cancer until latter half of the 20th century when the use of modified radical mastectomy becomes widely accepted

1932 David H Patey develops the modified radical mastectomy for breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast axillary lymph nodes and pectoralis minor muscle behind the breast are removed The modified radical mastectomy is less disfiguring than the radical mastectomy and will eventually replace the radical mastectomy as a standard treatment option for breast cancer

1953 James Watson and Francis Crick discover the molecular structure of DNA (the double helix)

1963 The Health Insurance Plan (HIP) of Greater New York Study begins HIP is the first randomized controlled trial of periodic breast cancer screening with mammography

1882

1932

1953

1963

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1976 The results of a randomized clinical trial show that women with early breast cancer who receive post-operative (adjuvant) combination chemotherapy with the drugs cyclophosphamide methotrexate and 5-FU have improved disease-free survival

1981 A randomized clinical trial in the United Kingdom shows for the first time that the rates of survival local recurrence and tumor metastasis among women whose breast cancer is treated with modified radical mastectomy are not substantially different from those of women who are treated with radical mastectomy

1993 An NCI-convened international workshop on screening for breast cancer reports that screening with mammography reduces breast cancer mortality among women ages 50-69 This conclusion is based on a review of published and unpublished data from eight randomized controlled trials

2004 Data from the Womens Health Initiative (WHI) study show that women who take estrogen in combination with the hormone progestin have a greater risk of developing breast cancer than women who take estrogen alone The results also show that menopausal hormone therapy with estrogen alone has no benefit in disease prevention specifically in reducing the risks of colorectal cancer coronary heart disease and dementia

1976

1981

1993

2004

Although we still have a long way to go to reduce the toll of cancer in the United States and worldwide our research and public health efforts are beginning to pay dividends

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

Volunteering vs Participating13 My girl friend and I are involved in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation The local chapter raises awareness for the cause with a fun-run each year We have volunteered to help with the race five years in a row This year we were stationed at a water table where the runners pick-up cups of water to drink Toward the end of the race there are very few runners There was a little time to chat about things We were talking about what we would wish for if we could have three wishes I told her I would wish for an end to Juvenile Diabetes and to lose 10 pounds Being nice I said ldquoyou can have my last wishrdquo She said I wish you would skip volunteering and just run this race next year

Admission Price Our aquatic center was having a promotion one night and advertised an elementary school night The kids could swim for free When we got to the pool we saw a promotional sign for the event In small lettering it read All swimmers must be accompanied by an adult We thought no big deal one of us can just stay and watch When we got to the front desk we found the lifeguard was enforcing the adult-admission price of $8

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CNFI Publishing - Products Books Chapbooks Bookmarks Plaques and Poetry Collector Cards Merchandising Products Coffee Mugs Mouse Pads Tiles 3x6 Coasters T - Shirts and Wall Plaques More info athttpliveadsFitnessDigestus

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

Featured PhotosFitnessDigestus feature

Chicago open water swim course at nighttop left

Kids race at Bicycle Blues and BBQtop right

Some team members volunteer at the local soup kitchenmiddle right

Ken Mauer loads the balls for hitting practice during a Twins baseball camp for

children 7-13 bottom right

Get your local event photos published in the next issue of FitnessDigestus E-mail

your photo to photoFitnessDigestus

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As he turned to go on he spat speculatively There was a sharp explosive crackle that startled him He spat again And again in the air before it could fall to the snow the spittle crackled He knew that at fifty below spittle crackled on the snow but this spittle had crackled in the air Undoubtedly it was colder than fifty below--how much colder he did not know But the temperature did not matter He was bound for the old claim on the left fork of Henderson Creek where the boys were already They had come over across the divide from the Indian Creek country while he had come the roundabout way to take a look at the possibilities of getting out logs in the spring from the islands in the Yukon He would be in to camp by six oclock a bit after dark it was true but the boys would be there a fire would be going and a hot supper would be ready As for lunch he pressed his hand against the protruding bundle under his jacket It was also under his shirt wrapped up in a handkerchief and lying against the naked skin It was the only way to keep the biscuits from freezing He smiled agreeably to himself as he thought of those biscuits each cut open and sopped in bacon grease and each enclosing a generous slice of fried bacon

He plunged in among the big spruce trees The trail was faint A foot of snow had fallen since the last sled had passed over and he was glad he was without a sled traveling light In fact he carried nothing but the lunch wrapped in the handkerchief He was surprised however at the cold It certainly was cold he concluded as he rubbed his numb nose and cheek-bones with his mittened hand He was a warm-whiskered man but the hair on his face did not protect the high cheek-bones and the eager nose that thrust itself aggressively into the frosty air

At the mans heels trotted a dog a big native husky the proper wolf-dog gray-coated and without any visible or temperamental difference from its brother the wild wolf The animal was depressed by the tremendous cold It knew that it was no time for

traveling Its instinct told it a truer tale than was told to the man by the mans judgment In reality it was not merely colder than fifty below zero it was colder than sixty below than seventy below It was seventy-five below zero Since the freezing point is thirty-two above zero it meant that one hundred and seven degrees of frost obtained The dog did not know anything about thermometers Possibly in its brain there was no sharp consciousness of a condition of very cold such as was in the mans brain But the brute had its instinct It experienced a vague but menacing apprehension that subdued it then made it slink along at the mans heels and that made it question eagerly every unwonted movement of the man as if expecting him to go into camp or to seek shelter somewhere and build a fire The dog had learned fire and it wanted fire or else to burrow under the snow and cuddle its warmth away from the air

The frozen moisture of its breathing had settled on its fur in a fine powder of frost and especially were its jowls muzzle and eyelashes whitened by its cry-stalled breath The mans red beard and mustache were likewise frosted but more solidly the deposit taking the form of ice and increasing with every warm moist breath he exhaled Also the man was chewing tobacco and the muzzle of ice held his lips so rigidly that he was unable to clear his chin when he expelled the juice The result was that a crystal beard of the color and solidity of amber was increasing its length on his chin If he fell down it would shatter itself like glass into brittle fragments But he did not mind the appendage It was the penalty all tobacco-chewers paid in that country and he had been out before in two cold snaps They had not been so cold as this he knew but by the spirit thermometer at Sixty Mile he knew they had been registered at fifty below and at fifty-five

He held on through the level stretch of woods for several miles crossed a wide flat of rigger-heads and dropped down a bank to the frozen bed of a

To Build a FireContinued

small stream This was Henderson Creek and he knew he was ten miles from the forks He looked at his watch It was ten oclock He was making four miles an hour and he calculated that he would arrive at the forks at half-past twelve He decided to celebrate that event by eating his lunch there

The dog dropped in again at his heels with a tail drooping discouragement as the man swung along the creek-bed The furrow of the old sled-trail was plainly visible but a dozen inches of snow covered the marks of the last runners In a month no man had come up or down that silent creek The man held steadily on He was not much given to thinking and just then particularly he had nothing to think about save that he would eat lunch at-the forks and that at six oclock he would be in camp with the boys There was nobody to talk to and had there been speech would have been impossible because of the ice-muzzle on his mouth So he continued monotonously to chew tobacco and to increase the length of his amber beard

Once in a while the thought reiterated itself that it was very cold and that he had never experienced such cold As he walked along he rubbed his cheek-bones and nose with the back of his mittened hand He did this automatically now and again changing hands But rub as he would the instant he stopped his cheek-bones went numb and the following instant the end of his nose went numb He was sure to frost his cheeks he knew that and experienced a pang of regret that he had not devised a nose-strap of the sort Bud wore in cold snaps Such a strap passed across the cheeks as well and saved them But it didnt matter much after all What were frosted cheeks A bit painful that was all they were never serious

Empty as the mans mind was of thoughts he was keenly observant and he noticed the changes in the creek the curves and bends and timber jams and always he sharply noted where he placed his feet Once coming around a bend he shied abruptly

like a startled horse curved away from the place where he had been walking and retreated several paces back along the trail The creek he knew was frozen clear to the bottom--no creek could contain water in that arctic winter--but he knew also that there were springs that bubbled out from the hillsides and ran along under the snow and on top the ice of the creek He knew that the coldest snaps never froze these springs and he knew likewise their danger They were traps They hid pools of water under the snow that might be three inches deep or three feet Sometimes a skin of ice half an inch thick covered them and in turn was covered by the snow Sometimes there were alternate layers of water and ice-skin so that when one broke through he kept on breaking through for a while sometimes wetting himself to the waist

That was why he had shied in such panic He had felt the give under his feet and heard the crackle of a snow-hidden ice-skin And to get his feet wet in such a temperature meant trouble and danger At the very least it meant delay for he would be forced to stop and build a fire and under its protection to bare his feet while he dried his socks and moccasins He stood and studied the creek-bed and its banks and decided that the flow of water came from the right He reflected a while rubbing his nose and cheeks then skirted to the left stepping gingerly and testing the footing for each step Once clear of the danger he took a fresh chew of tobacco and swung along at his four-mile gait

In the course of the next two hours he came upon several similar traps Usually the snow above the hidden pools had a sunken candied appearance that advertised the danger Once again however he had a close call and once suspecting danger he compelled the dog to go on in front The dog did not want to go It hung back until the man shoved it forward and then it went quickly across the white unbroken surface Suddenly it broke through floundered to one side and got away to firmer

To Build a FireContinued

To Build a FireContinued

footing It had wet its forefeet and legs and almost immediately the water that clung to it turned to ice It made quick efforts to lick the ice off its legs then dropped down in the snow and began to bite out the ice that had formed between the toes l his was a matter of instinct To permit the ice to remain would mean sore feet It did not know this It merely obeyed the mysterious prompting that arose from the deep crypts of its being But the man knew having achieved a judgment on the subject and he removed the mitten from his right hand and helped tear out the ice-particles He did not expose his fingers more than a minute and was astonished at the swift numbness that smote them It certainly was cold He pulled on the mitten hastily and beat the hand savagely across his chest

At twelve oclock the day was at its brightest Yet the sun was too far south an its winter journey to clear the horizon The bulge of the earth intervened between it arid Henderson Creek where the man walked under a clear sky at noon and cast no shadow At half-past twelve to the minute he arrived at the forks of the creek He was pleased at the speed he had made If he kept it up he would certainly be with the boys by six He unbuttoned his jacket and shirt and drew forth his lunch The action consumed no more than a quarter of a minute yet in that brief moment the numbness laid hold of the exposed fingers He did not put the mitten on but instead struck the fingers a dozen sharp smashes against his leg Then he sat down on a snow-covered log to eat The sting that followed upon the striking of his fingers against his leg ceased so quickly that he was startled He had had no chance to take a bite of biscuit He struck the fingers repeatedly and returned them to the mitten baring the other hand for the purpose of eating He tried to take a mouthful but the ice-muzzle prevented He had forgotten to build a fire and thaw out He chuckled at his foolishness and as he chuckled he noted the numbness creeping into the exposed fingers Also he noted that the stinging which had first come to his

toes when he sat down was already passing away He wandered whether the toes were warm or numb He moved them inside the moccasins and decided that they were numb

He pulled the mitten on hurriedly and stood up He was a bit frightened He stamped up and down until the stinging returned into the feet It certainly was cold was his thought That man from Sulphur Creek had spoken the truth when telling how cold it sometimes got in the country And he had laughed at him at the time That showed one must not be too sure of things There was no mistake about it it was cold He strode up and down stamping his feet and threshing his arms until reassured by the returning warmth Then he got out matches and proceeded to make a fire From the undergrowth where high water of the previous spring had lodged a supply of seasoned twigs he got his firewood Working carefully from a small beginning he soon had a roaring fire over which he thawed the ice from his face and in the protection of which he ate his biscuits For the moment the cold space was outwitted The dog took satisfaction in the fire stretching out close enough for warmth and far enough away to escape being singed

When the man had finished be filled his pipe and took his comfortable time over a smoke Then he pulled on his mittens settled the ear-flaps of his cap firmly about his ears and took the creek trail up the left fork The dog was disappointed and yearned back toward the fire This man did not know cold Possibly all the generations of his ancestry had been ignorant of cold of real cold of cold one hundred and seven degrees below freezing point But the dog knew all its ancestry knew and it had inherited the knowledge And it knew that it was not good to walk abroad in such fearful cold It was the time to lie snug in a hole in the snow and wait for a curtain of cloud to be drawn across the face of outer space whence this cold came On the other hand there was no keen intimacy between the dog and the man

The one was the toil-slave of the other and the only caresses it had ever received were the caresses of the whiplash and of harsh and menacing throat-sounds that threatened the whiplash So the dog made no effort to communicate its apprehension to the man It was not concerned in the welfare of the man it was for its own sake that it yearned back toward the fire But the man whistled and spoke to it with the sound of whiplashes and the dog swung in at the mans heel and followed after

The man took a chew of tobacco and proceeded to start a new amber beard Also his moist breath quickly powdered with white his mustache eyebrows and lashes There did not seem to be so many springs on the left fork of the Henderson and for half an hour the man saw no signs of any And then it happened At a place where there were no signs where the soft unbroken snow seemed to advertise solidity beneath tee man broke through It was not deep He wet himself halfway to the knees before he floundered out to the firm crust

He was angry and cursed his luck aloud He had hoped to get into camp with the boys at six oclock and this would delay him an hour for he would have to build a fire and dry out his foot-gear This was imperative at that low temperature--he knew that much and he turned aside to the bank which he climbed On top tangled in the underbrush about the trunks of several small spruce trees was a high-water deposit of dry firewood--sticks and twigs principally but also larger portions of seasoned branches and fine dry last-years grasses He threw down several large pieces on top of the snow This served for a foundation and prevented the young flame from drowning itself in the snow it otherwise would melt The flame he got by touching a match to a small shred of birch bark that he took from his pocket This burned even more readily than paper Placing it on the foundation he fed the young flame with wisps of dry grass and with the tiniest dry twigs

He worked slowly and carefully keenly aware of his danger Gradually as the flame grew stronger he increased the size of the twigs with which he fed it He squatted in the snow pulling the twigs out from their entanglement in the brush and feeding directly to the flame He knew there must be no failure When it is seventy-five below zero a man must not fail in his first attempt to build a fire--that is if his feet are wet If his feet are dry and he fails he can run along the trail for half a mile and restore his circulation But the circulation of wet and freezing feet cannot be restored by running when it is seventy-five below No matter how fast he runs the wet feet will freeze the harder

All this the man knew The old-timer on Sulphur Creek had told him about it the previous fall and now he was appreciating the advice Already all sensation had gone out of his feet To build the fire he had been forced to remove his mittens and the fingers had quickly gone numb His pace of four miles an hour had kept his heart pumping blood to the surface of his body and to all the extremities But the instant he stopped the action of the pump eased down The cold of space smote the unprotected tip of the planet and he being on that unprotected tip received the full force of the blow The blood of his body recoiled before it The blood was alive like the dog and like the dog it wanted to hide away and cover itself up from the fearful cold So long as he walked four miles an hour he pumped that blood willy-nilly to the surface but now it ebbed away and sank down into the recesses of his body The extremities were the first to feel its absence His wet feet froze the faster and his exposed fingers numbed the faster though they had not yet begun to freeze Nose and cheeks were already freezing while the skin of all his body chilled as it lost its blood

But he was safe Toes and nose and cheeks would be only touched by the frost for the fire was beginning to burn with strength He was feeding it

To Build a FireContinued

with twigs the size of his finger In another minute he would be able to feed it with branches the size of his wrier and then he could remove his wet toot-gear and while it dried he could keep his naked feet warm by the fire rubbing them at first of course with snow The fire was a success He was safe He remembered the advice of the old timer on Sulphur Creek and smiled The old-timer had been very serious in laying down the law that no man must travel alone in the Klondike after fifty below Well here he was he had had the accident he was alone and he had saved himself Those old-timers were rather womanish some of them he thought All a man had to do was to keep his head and he was all right Any man who was a man could travel alone But it was surprising the rapidity with which his cheeks and nose were freezing And he had not thought his fingers could go lifeless in so short a time Lifeless they were for he could scarcely make them move together to grip a twig and they seemed remote from his body and from him When he touched a twig he had to look and see whether or not he had hold of it The wires were pretty well down between him and his finger-ends

All of which counted for little There was the fire snapping and crackling and promising life with every dancing flame He started to untie his moccasins They were coated with ice the thick German socks were like sheaths of iron halfway to the knees and the moccasin strings were like rods of steel all twisted and knotted as by some conflagration For a moment he tugged with his numb fingers then realizing the folly of it he drew his sheath-knife

But before he could cut the strings it happened It was his own fault or rather his mistake He should not have built the fire under the spruce tree He should have built it in the open But it had been easier to pull the twigs from the brush and drop them directly on the fire Now the tree under which

he had done this carried a weight of snow on its boughs No wind had blown for weeks and each bough was fully freighted Each time he had pulled a twig he had communicated a slight agitation to the tree--an imperceptible agitation so far as he was concerned but an agitation sufficient to bring about the disaster High up in the tree one bough capsized its load of snow This fell on the boughs beneath capsizing them This process continued spreading out and involving the whole tree It grew like an avalanche and it descended without warning upon the man and the fire and the fire was blotted out Where it had burned was a mantle of fresh and disordered snow

The man was shocked It was as though he had just heard his own sentence of death For a moment he sat and stared at the spot where the fire had been Then he grew very calm Perhaps the old-timer on Sulphur Creek was right If he had only had a trail-mate he would have been in no danger now The trail-mate could have built the fire Well it was up to him to build the fire over again and this second time there must be no failure Even if he succeeded he would most likely lose some toes His feet must be badly frozen by now and there would be some time before the second fire Was ready

Such were his thoughts but he did not sit and think them He was busy all the time they were passing through his mind He made a new foundation for a fire this time in the open where no treacherous tree could blot it out Next he gathered dry grasses and tiny twigs from the high-water flotsam He could not bring his fingers together to pull them out but he was able to gather them by the handful In this way he got many rotten twigs and bits of green moss that were undesirable but it was the best he could do He worked methodically even collecting an armful of the larger branches to be used later when the fire gathered strength And all the while the dog sat and watched him a certain yearning wistfulness in its eyes for it looked upon

To Build a FireContinued

him as the fire-provider and the fire was slow in coming

When all was ready the man reached in his pocket for a second piece of birch bark He knew the bark was there and though he could not feel it with his fingers he could hear its crisp rustling as he fumbled for it Try as he would he could not clutch hold of it And all the time in his consciousness was the knowledge that each instant his feet were freezing This thought tended to put him in a panic but he fought against it and kept calm He pulled on his mittens with his teeth and threshed his arms back and forth beating his hands with all his might against his sides He did this sitting down and he stood up to do it and all the while the dog sat in the snow its wolf-brush of a tail curled around warmly over its forefeet its sharp wolf-ears pricked forward intently as it watched the man And the man as he beat and threshed with his arms and hands felt a great surge of envy as he regarded the creature that was warm ant secure in its natural covering

After a time he was aware of the first far-away signals of sensation in his beaten fingers The faint tingling grew stronger till it evolved into a stinging ache that was excruciating but which the man hailed with satisfaction He stripped the mitten from his right hand and fetched forth the birch bark The exposed fingers were quickly going numb again Next he brought out his bunch of sulphur matches But the tremendous cold had already driven the life out of his fingers In his effort to separate one match from the others the whole bunch fell in the snow He tried to pick it out of the snow but failed The dead fingers could neither touch nor clutch He was very careful He drove the thought of his freezing feet and nose and cheeks out of his mind devoting his whole soul to the matches He watched using the sense of vision in place of that of touch and when he saw his fingers on each side the bunch he dosed them--that is he willed to close them for the wires were down and the fingers did not obey He pulled

the mitten on the right hand and beat it fiercely against his knee Then with both mittened hands he scooped the bunch of matches along with much snow into his lap Yet he was no better off

After some manipulation he managed to get the bunch between the heels of his mittened hands In this fashion he carried it to his mouth The ice crackled and snapped when by a violent effort he opened his mouth He drew the lower jaw in curled the upper lip out of the way and scraped the bunch with his upper teeth in order to separate a match He succeeded in getting one which he dropped on his lap He was no better off He could not pick it up Then he devised a way He picked it up in his teeth and scratched it on his leg Twenty times he scratched before he succeeded in lighting it As it flamed he held it with his teeth to the birch bark But the burning brimstone went up his nostrils and into his lungs causing him to cough spasmodically The match fell into the snow and went out

The old-timer an Sulphur Creek was right he thought in the moment of controlled despair that ensued after fifty below a man should travel with a partner He beat his hands but failed in exciting any sensation Suddenly he bared both hands removing the mittens with his teeth He caught the whole bunch between the heels of his hands His arm muscles not being frozen enabled him to press the hand-heels tightly against the matches Then he scratched the bunch along his leg It flared into flame seventy sulphur matches at once There was no wind to blow them out He kept his head to one side to escape the strangling fumes and held the blazing bunch to the birth bark As he so held it he became aware of sensation in his hand His flesh was burning He could smell it Deep down below the surface he could feel it The sensation developed into pain that grew acute And still he endured it holding the flame of the matches clumsily to the bark that would not light readily because his own burning hands were in the way absorbing most of the flame

To Build a FireContinued

At last when he could endure no more he jerked his hands apart The blazing matches fell sizzling into the snow but the birch bark was alight He began laying dry grasses and the tiniest twigs on the flame He could not pick and choose for he had to lift the fuel between the heels of his hands Small pieces of rotten wood and green moss clung to the twigs and he bit them off as well as he could with his teeth He cherished the flame carefully and awkwardly It meant life and it must not perish The withdrawal of blood from the surface of his body now made him begin to shiver and he grew more awkward A large piece of green moss fell squarely on the little fire He tried to poke it out with his fingers but his shivering frame made him poke too far and he disrupted the nucleus of the little fire the burning grasses and tiny twigs separating and scattering He tried to poke them together again but in spite of the tenseness of the effort his shivering got away with him and the twigs were hopelessly scattered Each twig gushed a puff of smoke and went out The fire-provider had failed As he looked apathetically about him his eyes chanced on the dog sitting across the ruins of the fire from him in the snow making restless hunching movements slightly lifting one forefoot and then the other shifting its weight back and forth on them with wistful eagerness

The sight of the dog put a wild idea into his head He remembered the tale of the man caught in a blizzard who killed a steer and crawled inside the carcass and so was saved He would kill the dog and bury his hands in the warm body until the numbness went out of them Then he could build another fire He spoke to the dog calling it to him but in his voice was a strange note of fear that frightened the animal who had never known the man to speak in such way before Something was the matter and its suspicious nature sensed danger--it knew not what danger but somewhere somehow in its brain arose an apprehension of the man It flattened its ears down at the sound of the mans voice and its restless

hunching movements and the liftings and shiftings of its forefeet became more pronounced but it would not come to the man He got on his hands and knees and crawled toward the dog This unusual posture again excited suspicion and the animal sidled mincingly away

The man sat up in the snow for a moment and struggled for calmness Then he pulled on his mittens by means of his teeth and got upon his feet He glanced down at first in order to assure himself that he was really standing up for the absence of sensation in his feet left him unrelated to the earth His erect position in itself started to drive the webs of suspicion from the dogs mind and when he spoke peremptorily with the sound of whiplashes in his voice the dog rendered its customary allegiance and came to him As it came within reaching distance the man lost his control His arms flashed out to the dog and he experienced genuine surprise when he discovered that his hands could not clutch that there was neither bend nor feeling in the fingers He had forgotten for the moment that they were frozen and that they were freezing more and more All this happened quickly and before the animal could get away he encircled its body with his arms He sat down in the snow and in this fashion held the dog while it snarled and whined and struggled

But it was all he could do hold its body encircled in his arms and sit there He realized that he could not kill the dog There was no way to do it With his helpless hands he could neither draw nor hold his sheath knife nor throttle the animal He released it and it plunged wildly away with tail between its legs and still snarling It halted forty feet away and surveyed him curiously with ears sharply pricked forward The man looked down at his hands in order to locate them and found them hanging on the ends of his arms It struck him as curious that one should have to use his eyes in order to find out where his hands were He began threshing his arms back and forth beating the mittened hands against

To Build a FireContinued

his sides He did this for five minutes violently and his heart pumped enough blood up to the surface to put a stop to his shivering But no sensation was aroused in the hands He had an impression that they hung like weights on the ends of his arms but when he tried to run the impression down he could not find it

A certain fear of death dull and oppressive came to him This fear quickly became poignant as he realized that it was no longer a mere matter of freezing his fingers and toes or of losing his hands and feet but that it was a matter of life and death with the chances against him This threw him into a panic and he turned and ran up the creek-bed along the old dim trail The dog joined in behind and kept up with him He ran blindly without intention in fear such as he had never known in his life Slowly as he plowed and floundered through the snow he began to see things again the banks of the creek the old timber-jams the leafless aspens and the sky The running made him feel better He did not shiver Maybe if he ran on his feet would thaw out and anyway if he ran far enough he would reach camp and the boys Without doubt he would lose some fingers and toes and some of his face but the boys would take care of him and save the rest of him when he got there And at the same time there was another thought in his mind that said he would never get to the camp and the boys that it was too many miles away that the freezing had too great a start on him and that he would soon be stiff and dead This thought he kept in the background and refused to consider Sometimes it pushed itself forward and demanded to be heard but he thrust it back and strove to think of other things

It struck him as curious that he could run at all on feet so frozen that he could not feel them when they struck the earth and took the weigh of his body He seemed to himself to skim along above the surface and to have no connection with the earth Somewhere he had once seen a winged Mercury

and he wondered if Mercury felt as he felt when skimming over the earth

His theory of running until he reached camp and the boys had one flaw in it he lacked the endurance Several times he stumbled and finally he tottered crumpled up and fell When he tried to rise he failed He must sit and rest he decided and next time he would merely walk and keep on going As he sat and regained his breath he noted that he was feeling quite warm and comfortable He was not shivering and it even seemed that a warm glow had come to his chest and trunk And yet when he touched his nose or cheeks there was no sensation Running would not thaw them out Nor would it thaw out his hands and feet Then the thought came to him that the frozen portions of his body must be extending He tried to keep this thought down to forget it to think of something else he was aware of the panicky feeling that it caused and he was afraid of the panic But the thought asserted itself and persisted until it produced a vision of his body totally frozen This was too much and he made another wild run along the trail Once he slowed down to a walk but the thought of the freezing extending itself made him run again

And all the time the dog ran with him at his heels When he fell down a second time it curled its tad over its forefeet and sat in front of him facing him curiously eager and intent The warmth and security of the animal angered him and he cursed it till it flattened down its ears appealingly This time the shivering came more quickly upon the man He was losing in his battle with the frost It was creeping into his body from all sides The thought of it drove him on but he ran no more than a hundred feet when he staggered and pitched headlong It was his last panic When he had recovered his breath and control he sat up and entertained in his mind the conception of meeting death with dignity However the conception did not come to him in such terms His idea of it was that he had been making a fool of

To Build a FireContinued

himself running around like a chicken with its head cut off--such was the simile that occurred to him Well he was bound to freeze anyway and he might as well take it decently With this new-found peace of mind came the first glimmerings of drowsiness A good idea he thought to sleep off to death It was like salting an anesthetic Freezing was not so bad as people thought There were lots worse ways to die

He pictured the boys finding his body next day Suddenly he found himself with them coming along the trail and looking for himself And still with them he came around a turn in the trail and found himself lying in the snow He did not belong with himself any more for even then he was out of himself standing with the boys and looking at himself in the snow It certainly was cold was his thought When he got back to the States he could tell the folks what real cold was He drifted on from this to a vision of the old-timer on Sulphur Creek He could see him quite clearly warm and comfortable and smoking a pipe

You were right old boss you were right the man mumbled to the old-timer of Sulphur Creek

Then the man drowsed off into what seemed to him the most comfortable and satisfying sleep he had ever known The dog sat facing him and waiting The brief day drew to a close in a long slow twilight There were no signs of a fire to be made and besides never in the dogs experience had it known a man to sit like that in the snow and make no fire As the twilight drew on its eager yearning for the fire mastered it and with a great lifting and shifting of forefeet it whined softly then flattened its ears down in anticipation of being chidden by the man But the man remained silent Later the dog whined loudly And still later it crept close to the man and caught the scent of death This made the animal bristle and back away A little longer it delayed howling under the stars that leaped and danced and shone brightly in the cold sky Then it turned and trotted up the trail in the direction of the camp it knew where were the other food-providers and fire-providers

To Build a FireContinued

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Page 23: FitnessDigest.us Vol. 4.3 Cover

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DAY had broken cold and gray exceedingly cold and gray when the man turned aside from the main Yukon trail and climbed the high earth-bank where a dim and little traveled trail led eastward through the fat spruce timberland It was a steep bank and he paused for breath at the top excusing the act to himself by looking at his watch It was nine oclock There was no sun nor hint of sun though there was not a cloud in the sky It was a

clear day and yet there seemed an intangible pall over the face of things a subtle gloom that made the day dark and that was due to the absence of sun This fact did not worry the man He was used to the lack of sun It had been days since he had seen the sun and he knew that a few more-days must pass before that cheerful orb due south would just peep above the sky-line and dip immediately from view

To Build a Fire - Hiking the Yukon TrailShort story fiction Written by Jack London (1876-1916)

The man flung a look back along the way he had come The Yukon lay a mile wide and hidden under three feet of ice On top of this ice were as many feet of snow It was all pure white rolling in gentle undulations where the ice jams of the freeze-up had formed North and south as far as his eye could see it was unbroken white save for a dark hairline that curved and twisted from around the spruce-covered island to the south and that curved and twisted away into the north where it disappeared behind another spruce-covered island This dark hair-line was the trail--the main trail--that led south five hundred miles to the Chilcoot Pass Dyea and salt water and that led north seventy miles to Dawson and still on to the north a thousand miles to Nulato and finally to St Michael on Bering Sea a thousand miles and half a thousand more

But all this--the mysterious far-reaching hair-line trail The absence of sun from the sky the tremendous cold and the strangeness and weirdness of it all--made no

impression on the man It was not because he was long used to it He was a newcomer In the land a chechaquo and this was his first winter The trouble with him was that he was without imagination He was quick and alert in the things of life but only in the things and not in the significances Fifty degrees below zero meant eighty-odd degrees of frost Such fact impressed him as being cold and uncomfortable and that was all It did not lead him to meditate upon his frailty as a creature of temperature and upon mans frailty in general able only to live within certain narrow limits of heat and cold and from there on it did not lead him to the conjectural field of immortality and mans place in the universe Fifty degrees below zero stood forte bite of frost that hurt and that must be guarded against by the use of mittens ear-flaps warm moccasins and thick socks Fifty degrees below zero was to him just precisely fifty degrees below zero That there should be anything more to it than that was a thought that never entered his head

To Build a FireContinued

Continued on page 62

Stand Up Paddle BoardingWOWSUPIowacom on LiveAds

It is important from time to time to slow down to go away by yourself and simply be --Eileen Caddy

Letrsquos Race13 My son is eight and our family is very active Im just hitting my peak racing age of about 34 years old The family members all support each otherrsquos activities They are a great cheering section when my wife and I compete in races There is a popular two mile fun run in our town that we my wife and I run every year We also have for-fun races with the kids around the house or across the football field For years Ive let the eight year old win a few and others I win by just a little bit I think he is wising up to my tactics of good fatherhood One day he said ldquoDad you are letting me win but I think I can beat you fair and squarerdquo He added ldquoYoursquore not that fast Ill bet you 10 dollars I can beat you in a two mile racerdquo Wanting to teach him a lesson about spouting off and writing checks his body cant cash I took him up on it I said All right you pick a time and place We will race two miles for 10 dollars He replied You know that two mile race you and mom do every year I can race you then I agreed and he quickly added Ill need 20 years to warm-up That would make me 54 and him 28 Irsquom preparing for the loss and putting 10 dollars aside now

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Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

In my first creative experience it was through music and I was interested in developing my values of creativity I was inspired by a band named Motley Crue and the song that captured my interest was Home Sweet home Dear reader what inspires you Is it music or inspirational quote thought or ideas To express how this song motivated my interests it helped give me faith in my own creative abilities in the process I began to write lyrics I eventually began to work on different styles of writing and broaden my writing skills What types of music inspire your creative thoughts What types of other inspiration values inspire your creative thoughts

13 Getting motivated is one of the key aspects of a successful weight-loss program Without this motivation there would be no drive to get up early or to avoid eating unhealthy snacks ndash that you absolutely love Yes you can thank your motivation for that When you are looking for weight-loss motivation sometimes it is hard to find Where can you find that extra umph to make it to your goal

The benefits of finding a motivator are something that cannot be paralleled It has been said mind over matter This coincides with our principle that no matter how hard the task you can accomplish the goal given the right mindset It is important to go into a new weight-loss program with a positive mental attitude

FINDI

NG TH

EM X InspirationX

Motivation

When I was introduced to William Shakespeare I was intrigued by his creative values and I started to work on developing a different aspect of writing I then watched the movie Free Jack there was a quote by Albert Einstein Imagination is more important than knowledge I thought about the in depth values of both concepts and then I applied both concepts and defined different creative concept Do you believe that anything is possible if you believe I know that I do believe that if an individual believes deeply enough one can accomplish their goals I had to believe in my own abilities and in my dreams and ignore the negative values that were impressed by others

Anything less can potentially hinder growth towards your goal

Some of the things that you should be thinking about when looking for motivators are people with good morals and a positive attitude This is because if the people helping you do not have a positive attitude then it is also difficult for you Some great places to look for a motivator are online blogs in the gym or even in your own family I am sure that in all of these places you will see someone else trying to accomplish the same or even more difficult goals than your own

Another key to finding motivation is to let it find you You should not have to go find a reason to go do something You will do it because you wanted to not because you were forced to

X

InspirationMotivation

More simply put motivation will find you because you will see something that inspires you to make a change in yourself That change may be a weight-loss goal or something else Maybe even an academic goal The true key is to maintain that motivation until you have achieved your goal

Regards Vincent ErrichielloUSMS Swimmer

InspirationMotivation

With believing so deeply within my own abilities and the faith that I could accomplish what I set out to achieve I wrote a lyric titled Dreams Are Only Real and in believing in this concept further defining its true meaning the concept became Dreams Are Only Real Until You Dont believe

Jeremy J TaylorCNFI Publishing

himTHROWINGWritten by anonymous contributor

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13 Johnny is not the best batter in our little league Matter-of-fact he is quiet awful At practice one afternoon Johnny hit a pitch really well The coach had pitched him inside on accident far enough inside that it almost hit him Johnny got his hit by using his bat to defend himself from that arrant pitch The coach told him ldquogood hitrdquo and Johnny yelled back ldquoWell I didnrsquot want the ball to hit merdquo13 Johnny improved his batting after that He was hitting the ball almost every time he got up At one point I said to coach ldquoHow did you get Johnny to improve his batting so quicklyrdquo He replyed Im throwing the ball it AT HIM every time

Body image and fitness are hot topics for both men and women The Great Fitness Experiment is my hilarious poignant embarrassing and at times heart-breaking journey to find my way through the morass of contradictory claims and information in todayrsquos health- and fitness-obsessed world

Available in paperback or in eBookVisit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

wwwnorthiafitnesscom on LiveAdsEmail northiowafitnessgmailcom

Phone 641-201-1035Strongest weight loss supplements

on the market

The Fall of Billy Hitchingsby Kirkus MacGowan

Available at Amazon

LOCATED IN ST ANSGAR IOWA

Business Cards Envelopes

Letterheads Programs

Vinyl Decals Signs

Posters Invites (graduation wedding showers etc)

Flyers Brochures

T-ShirtsShorts SweatshirtsSweats

Koozies Sashes

Business Forms Placemats

Postcards And Much More

Bridgette Beyer DesignerOwner

Bring your ideas in andVisual Aspect Designs can print

andor design for you

Black Lab LanyardsSpecializing in customized duck and goose call lanyards for waterfowl enthusiasts

For more information on this productVisit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

FitnessDigestus is now available at

WOWSUPIOWAcom

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entryFitnessDigestus

Send u

s yo

ur T

-shi

rt

READE

R T

-shi

rts

13 I was standing on shore fishing in my favorite spot A guy Irsquove never seen at the pond gets in and starts swimming After about 25 minutes of back and forth he stops at a place about 30 yards off shore He gives me a quick look and dices down below the water

His next lap he stops in the same place looks at me again and points down at the water He finished his swim and left I picked up my gear and moved to the other side of the outlet just a few yards from where he had stopped twice Caught a lunker in the first cast

Swim Signs - Lunker

BankersPromotional and Advertising Specialties

Call to order 641ndash423ndash3111

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Black Lab LanyardsSpecializing in customized duck and goose call lanyards for waterfowl enthusiastsCustomized Duck and Goose Call Lanyards

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Visit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus for more information

TOP TWEETS

Iowa Cubs (IowaCubs)Thanks to all our fans who showed up for the pre-game on-field catch with dad

Louise Pineda (forerunnerGPS)The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficultyWinston Churchill quotes

Softball Darlin (Softball_Darlin)My mom told me our team was gettin white uniforms for summer amp to try not to get them dirty Uh Have you seen me play Not gonna happen

I Swim I Suffer (ISwimISuffer)thatswimmerwho If the water is in your right ear for example then jump on your right leg and lean your head to the right side while jumping

I Swim and I Know It (iSwimWithIssues)During the summer you shower 467 times at the pool 17 times at hotels and 3 times at your house Truth

Everyday Health (WomensCancer)63000 Americans will be diagnosed w malignant melanoma (the deadliest skin cancer) this year Know your risk

US Paralympics (USParalympics)Want to be introduced to Paralympic sport Attend one of the Paralympic Experiences being held throughout the countryFi

tnes

sDig

est

US v

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2

SwimSwam (swimswamnews)Congrats to KenyaSwimmer on being selected to carry the Kenya flag swimswamcom

Better than sharing on a blog Twitter or Facebook and you can share a story even if you donrsquot maintain a social-web presencePublished for ALL FitnessDigestus readers

Sign with your real name pen-name or anonymoushttpLiveMediaFitnessDigestus

13 Funnest thing SPAM about some weight-loss supplements got posted on a friendrsquos Facebook My friend is an ultra-runner I notice there was also an ad for salami recipes on the same page The recipes were right next to the SPAM about diet-pills

13 Letrsquos see ndash it sounds like the beginning of a good joke Q What do you get when a friend tries to sell you ultra-runner endorsed salami-flavored-SPAM diet-pills on Facebook Answer Sick

Unsung Heroes1 Irsquove never swam open water and wanted to do a triathlon A friend that

races open water took extra time to swim with me at a lake I was much more comfortable after that

2 I was going on vacation and needed advice on a place to swim A friend living in the area took the time to help me find people to answer my questions

3 I was over eating and had complained to my friend about it She called me twice a day for three weeks just to remind me to eat healthy

4 I usually run to and from the gym It takes about 30 minutes to run both ways I didnrsquot have enough time to get there and back before a scheduled appointment I had A friend drove me to the gym saving me about 30 minutes I was able to run home and still had time to get to my appointment

SPAM DIET

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Visit the Suburban Mommy blog and learn more about AtresiaMicrotia a birth defect of the inner earFor links to SubMommy blog httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

SUBMOMMYBLOG

On Wednesday May 16 2012 at 7 PM simultaneous rides occurred around the

USA and the world

We all ride Now we can ride as one

One day One time One world world wide

Let the silence roar

322 locations world wide

The Ride of SilenceTonight we number many but ride as one

In honor of those not with us friends

mothers fathers sisters sons

With helmets on tight and heads down low

We ride in silence cautious and slow

The wheels start spinning in the lead pack

But tonight we ride and no one attacks

The dark sunglasses cover our tears

Remembering those we held so dear

Tonights ride is to make others aware

The road is there for all to share

To those not with us or by our side

May God be your partner on your final ride

- Mike Murgas

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 50 states

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 7 Continents

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 0 words spoken

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 1 million memories

Ride of Silence

ldquoCost-effective investments in bicycling boost our economy help individuals and government agencies save money and directly address key societal challenges such as obesity and road congestion In these tough economic times our federal government can only afford to invest in solutions that solve multiple problems Bicycling fits the billrdquo ndash PeopleForBikesorg

This photo collection was taken byRobert LaVallee of Mason City IA

To see his entire collection visithttpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

Non-subscriberSign-up for delivery of

the FREE edition at coopnetbiz

It provides an outstanding aerobic workout in less than half the time we would spend in still water It has allowed us as swim coaches to observe swimmers stroke characteristics up close and to see the effects of fatigue on stroke mechanics ~ Larry L Chazy NY

Swimming is an excellent exercise and now I can swim every day because its so convenient and private I can swim when I want and how long I want Im able to have it at a temperature that is comfortable to me The small size of an Endless Pool enabled me to install a pool where I could not install a regular size one

As an aging baby boomer nutrition professional I have yearned for consistent exercise that doesnt stress joints and will enable me to attain physical fitness cardiovascular health and weight control I can eat what I want and still firm up and lose weight ~ John C Columbus OH

Endless Pools make for long swims in small places The 8x15 Endless Pool is less than regulation size but offers the same benefits as a very large pool ~ Noah H Connecticut Post

The Endless Pool is a great strength builder I am amazed at the strength of the current I now swim against I did not buy it for that reason but because of my arthritis so the strength gain is a wonderful surprise

Endless PoolsTestimonials For more information visit httpLIveAdsFitnessDigestus

s w i m m i n g s h o r t s

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Baseball Walking Stick13 My sons friend grabbed his baseball bat and said to me this is my walking stick I politely ask him why he calls it that He replied because my dad says if I hit a home run with it I donrsquot have to run the bases ndash I can walk

My Bike My mountain bike was stolen a while back and my kids were really upset Ive been riding my road bike in its place Since then Ive been careful to lock my bike up when we go to the park

13 On this occasion I did not lock-up my sonrsquos bike up with mine He looked at me quizzically and said sternly lock my bike up too I tried to explain that his bike was not as expensive and therefor didnt need to be locked up Boy that was a mistake He made me feel a little dumb when he said Dad I dont care how expensive it is Its the only bike Irsquove got

North Iowa Roads

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A LEADER inSearch Engine Optimization

Technology

Increase your visitor page views and Facebook Likes

Are you moving to a new state Already hired your mover

E-mail blind box at box02FitnessDigestus will get

you the best rates on cable phone and internet

Digital Movers

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

parent sports tipBy FitnessDigestus staff writer JGA

PAR

EN

T

TIP

Keeping Kids Focused13 Organize their thoughts Help them prioritize and make decisions based on value Even kids can understand the value of simple non-monetized choices Questions like ldquoShould I finish playing my gameboy game or pause it when they call my swimming eventrdquo

If kids are taught to make good decisions and not just find quick answers everyone wins

AugustGolf Month5th Friendship Day15th Relaxation Day25th Kiss and Make Up Day31st Trail Mix DaySeptemberLittle League Month12th Chocolate Milk Shake Day13th Positive Thinking Day16th Womenrsquos Friendship Day21st Miniature Golf DayOctoberBreast Cancer Awareness MonthNational Diabetes Month1st World Vegetarian Day4th Golf Day25th World Pasta Day

National Calendar

Au

gu

stSe

pte

mb

er

Oc

tob

er

Encourage friendships writing skills sharing thoughts and

experiencesEight different cards

YAGOTTAWANNA

Variety of pricing From single orders to bulk orders of 24 notecards

Learn more online

Stay in touch with your swimming or triathlon buddies

It is better to be safe then to try to beat the heat There are many options to stay cool and run during a hot-summer day Staying inside and running on the treadmill is a good one Remember staying safe is a top priority

Most workouts can be modified to work indoors This issuersquos workout is to do your usual run or interval set just stay inside and run it on the treadmill Visualize the different landmarks to see during your outdoor run

Coach Millerrsquos Quarterly ChallengeStay safe in the heatBy Mark Miller mmillerFitnessDigestus

A few years back we had a hot-spell similar to this yearrsquos record heat

I remember training for a long run and having to stop at the local swimming hole to cool off I literally took off my

shoes and jumped in with my running clothes on I was so hot

FitnessDigestUSEntertainment amp Inspiration

Use coupon codeldquoRAMCSPRrdquo

at puresportshopcomfor 20 OFF

Nutritional Performance Sports Drinks with Protein

OPEN WATER SWIMMING BY THE NUMBERS

In kilometers The shortest open water race included in the Fina World Championships

10107 How many miles it

is to swim from Cuba to the USA

5

1000Number of swimming strokes in a mile for a typical swimmer

31800About the number of calories it takes to swim 100 miles

LOCATED IN ST ANSGAR IOWA

Business Cards Envelopes

Letterheads Programs

Vinyl Decals Signs

Posters Invites (graduation wedding showers etc)

Flyers Brochures

T-ShirtsShorts SweatshirtsSweats

Koozies Sashes

Business Forms Placemats

Postcards And Much More

Bridgette Beyer DesignerOwner

Bring your ideas in andVisual Aspect Designs can print

andor design for you

The minimum open water distance in kilometers that is considered a swimming-

marathon

On Facebook Visit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

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Open water safety means swimming in shallow water where there is a lifeguard or using an escort

Shop for Name BrandGear

24 Hoursa Day

WaynesSkiandCyclenet

For links to Waynersquos visit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

s w i m m i n g s h o r t s

Googles

13 Swimming fans can really appreciate a 200 IM when their goggles fill with water How about an Olympian Swimming a leg of the 400 Free Relay with his goggles across his opened mouth ndash and going 45rsquos A great team swimmer an Olympian wouldnrsquot let down his teammates by throwing them off or fixing them

500 Fly13 A world class butterflyer asked if he could swim butterfly in the 500 yard freestyle during a dual meet His goal was to break five minutes After considering the competition it seemed like a great way to make him really work a hard fly swim so we agreed Problem was he swam a 502 and the opposing coach complained to the officials because he embarrassed his swimmers Oh well you canrsquot win lsquoem all

Stories sent in by Robert Steele

No-No-No13 The other morning I was teaching front-streamlines to snotty nosed 8 year olds (some are literally snotty-nosed) One boy was taking a big gulp of air and holding his breath When he lifted his head he had to exhale and inhale before submerging again Swimmers will understand this does not work very well Kids need to learn to exhale underwater The first time he did it I told him to exhale underwater The second time I stopped him looked him in the eye and reminded him to exhale underwater The third and fourth times I started to get a little frustrated ldquoJohnny you need to exhale underwater so you can breath betterrdquo The fifth time as his head popped up for a breath I quickly asked ldquoJohnny Do you even know what exhale meansrdquo as he submerged his head below the water I could see him shake his head no-no-no

Favorite Potato Chips13We try to limit the junk food the kids eat at our house For lunch one day our son wanted some potato chips I gave him 3 large chips with his sandwich He started to cry and said he wanted one more chip ldquoI wanted four chipsrdquo he screamed I took the plate back When he wasnt looking I broke a chip in half and give it back to him with four chips

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

13 My cancer story is one of uniqueness Leave it to me to do something like cancer to its fullest It did not begin with a mammogram diagnosis or a lump My journey began about 4 years ago with some suspicious activity that turned into Pagetrsquos disease of the nipple which signaled the underlying cancer On April 1st I found out about my breast cancer through a biopsy that came back as positive for Pagetrsquos disease The onslaught of tests learning and decisions were dizzying I immediately went for an evaluation of the suspicious tissue and had to begin making decisions for my mastectomy I quickly learned there is a test called the BRAC Analysis which is a genetic test for breast and ovarian cancer Finally a piece of good news for me I did not have the gene

Decisions Now it was time to make decisions about my mastectomy and how I was going to handle reconstruction I discussed my options with my boyfriend Brian friends family members and even my principalboss I read books searched the Internet and contacted people I

Brandi ShipmanCancer Survivor and elite triathlete

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

know and knew from my past that had been directly affected and that I thought might have answers for me The outpouring of love encouragement and help during this process was overwhelming After meeting with four different doctors two surgeons and two plastic surgeons I decided to go with immediate reconstruction and was lucky enough to find two wonderful doctors They were willing to work together just because I wanted them to even though they had never done so before My surgery was scheduled for mid May

Mental Toughness13 My mental preparation at this point was very important I had to scrap any idea of competing in triathlons for the rest of the year and focus on a positive attitude of getting better I stopped thinking about what I wasnrsquot going to able to do and started thinking about what I could do that I was alive and kept my mind on the fact that so many others had made it before me

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links

Part 213 I was prepared by the doctors survivors and literature to be ldquodownrdquo for several weeks after my surgery I even took the rest of the school year off My surgery went well and I was out of the hospital the next day A few friends came to visit while I was in the hospital and my principal and vice principal brought the most wonderful picture of the faculty wearing pink for me I can only imagine what it looked like at Thornton Elementary on that day in May 2009 a sea of pink all for Brandi Shipman Shortly after their visit I received a text from my friend Margie Massey My friends from the gym wore pink for me that day as well The support brought tears to my eyes I was so excited to come home and be comfortable in my own home I just wish the stupid drain that was attached could have stayed at the hospital The pain from that was worse than the pain from the mastectomy

the most

powerful picture

13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Recovery ndash May13 Once I got home I slept and watched a lot of TV Friends visited and brought yummy food and my favorites I am not supposed to eat I ate them all My friend and co-worker set up a cancer care calendar that alerted anyone who logged on when I was having a doctorrsquos appointment or when I was in need of anything I felt like royalty as everyone took care of me I think Brian secretly enjoyed the fact that he wouldnrsquot have to cook for me each night My recovery was quicker than I thought as I was doing my best to get better and get the stinkinrsquo drain out of my skin I was out walking within a week and running within 3 weeks I couldnrsquot believe my recovery I know it was from all the prayers love and good care from Brian and the loved ones around me Life was looking better each day

ldquoLife was looking

better each dayrdquo

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Part three and part

four of I am Survivor

will be published in

the next edition of

FitnessDigestus

Get the convenience of

digital-delivery

Sign-up or subscribe at

httpFitnessDigestus

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During the past 150 years we have witnessed many remarkable advances against cancer a disease known to humanity for thousands of years The advances highlighted below represent a sampling of what has been accomplished to date

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

1882 William Halsted performs the first radical mastectomy to treat breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast the lymph nodes under the arm (axillary lymph nodes) and the chest muscles behind the breast (pectoralis major and pectoralis minor muscles) are removed Radical mastectomy will remain the standard operation for breast cancer until latter half of the 20th century when the use of modified radical mastectomy becomes widely accepted

1932 David H Patey develops the modified radical mastectomy for breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast axillary lymph nodes and pectoralis minor muscle behind the breast are removed The modified radical mastectomy is less disfiguring than the radical mastectomy and will eventually replace the radical mastectomy as a standard treatment option for breast cancer

1953 James Watson and Francis Crick discover the molecular structure of DNA (the double helix)

1963 The Health Insurance Plan (HIP) of Greater New York Study begins HIP is the first randomized controlled trial of periodic breast cancer screening with mammography

1882

1932

1953

1963

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1976 The results of a randomized clinical trial show that women with early breast cancer who receive post-operative (adjuvant) combination chemotherapy with the drugs cyclophosphamide methotrexate and 5-FU have improved disease-free survival

1981 A randomized clinical trial in the United Kingdom shows for the first time that the rates of survival local recurrence and tumor metastasis among women whose breast cancer is treated with modified radical mastectomy are not substantially different from those of women who are treated with radical mastectomy

1993 An NCI-convened international workshop on screening for breast cancer reports that screening with mammography reduces breast cancer mortality among women ages 50-69 This conclusion is based on a review of published and unpublished data from eight randomized controlled trials

2004 Data from the Womens Health Initiative (WHI) study show that women who take estrogen in combination with the hormone progestin have a greater risk of developing breast cancer than women who take estrogen alone The results also show that menopausal hormone therapy with estrogen alone has no benefit in disease prevention specifically in reducing the risks of colorectal cancer coronary heart disease and dementia

1976

1981

1993

2004

Although we still have a long way to go to reduce the toll of cancer in the United States and worldwide our research and public health efforts are beginning to pay dividends

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

Volunteering vs Participating13 My girl friend and I are involved in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation The local chapter raises awareness for the cause with a fun-run each year We have volunteered to help with the race five years in a row This year we were stationed at a water table where the runners pick-up cups of water to drink Toward the end of the race there are very few runners There was a little time to chat about things We were talking about what we would wish for if we could have three wishes I told her I would wish for an end to Juvenile Diabetes and to lose 10 pounds Being nice I said ldquoyou can have my last wishrdquo She said I wish you would skip volunteering and just run this race next year

Admission Price Our aquatic center was having a promotion one night and advertised an elementary school night The kids could swim for free When we got to the pool we saw a promotional sign for the event In small lettering it read All swimmers must be accompanied by an adult We thought no big deal one of us can just stay and watch When we got to the front desk we found the lifeguard was enforcing the adult-admission price of $8

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CNFI Publishing - Products Books Chapbooks Bookmarks Plaques and Poetry Collector Cards Merchandising Products Coffee Mugs Mouse Pads Tiles 3x6 Coasters T - Shirts and Wall Plaques More info athttpliveadsFitnessDigestus

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

Featured PhotosFitnessDigestus feature

Chicago open water swim course at nighttop left

Kids race at Bicycle Blues and BBQtop right

Some team members volunteer at the local soup kitchenmiddle right

Ken Mauer loads the balls for hitting practice during a Twins baseball camp for

children 7-13 bottom right

Get your local event photos published in the next issue of FitnessDigestus E-mail

your photo to photoFitnessDigestus

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As he turned to go on he spat speculatively There was a sharp explosive crackle that startled him He spat again And again in the air before it could fall to the snow the spittle crackled He knew that at fifty below spittle crackled on the snow but this spittle had crackled in the air Undoubtedly it was colder than fifty below--how much colder he did not know But the temperature did not matter He was bound for the old claim on the left fork of Henderson Creek where the boys were already They had come over across the divide from the Indian Creek country while he had come the roundabout way to take a look at the possibilities of getting out logs in the spring from the islands in the Yukon He would be in to camp by six oclock a bit after dark it was true but the boys would be there a fire would be going and a hot supper would be ready As for lunch he pressed his hand against the protruding bundle under his jacket It was also under his shirt wrapped up in a handkerchief and lying against the naked skin It was the only way to keep the biscuits from freezing He smiled agreeably to himself as he thought of those biscuits each cut open and sopped in bacon grease and each enclosing a generous slice of fried bacon

He plunged in among the big spruce trees The trail was faint A foot of snow had fallen since the last sled had passed over and he was glad he was without a sled traveling light In fact he carried nothing but the lunch wrapped in the handkerchief He was surprised however at the cold It certainly was cold he concluded as he rubbed his numb nose and cheek-bones with his mittened hand He was a warm-whiskered man but the hair on his face did not protect the high cheek-bones and the eager nose that thrust itself aggressively into the frosty air

At the mans heels trotted a dog a big native husky the proper wolf-dog gray-coated and without any visible or temperamental difference from its brother the wild wolf The animal was depressed by the tremendous cold It knew that it was no time for

traveling Its instinct told it a truer tale than was told to the man by the mans judgment In reality it was not merely colder than fifty below zero it was colder than sixty below than seventy below It was seventy-five below zero Since the freezing point is thirty-two above zero it meant that one hundred and seven degrees of frost obtained The dog did not know anything about thermometers Possibly in its brain there was no sharp consciousness of a condition of very cold such as was in the mans brain But the brute had its instinct It experienced a vague but menacing apprehension that subdued it then made it slink along at the mans heels and that made it question eagerly every unwonted movement of the man as if expecting him to go into camp or to seek shelter somewhere and build a fire The dog had learned fire and it wanted fire or else to burrow under the snow and cuddle its warmth away from the air

The frozen moisture of its breathing had settled on its fur in a fine powder of frost and especially were its jowls muzzle and eyelashes whitened by its cry-stalled breath The mans red beard and mustache were likewise frosted but more solidly the deposit taking the form of ice and increasing with every warm moist breath he exhaled Also the man was chewing tobacco and the muzzle of ice held his lips so rigidly that he was unable to clear his chin when he expelled the juice The result was that a crystal beard of the color and solidity of amber was increasing its length on his chin If he fell down it would shatter itself like glass into brittle fragments But he did not mind the appendage It was the penalty all tobacco-chewers paid in that country and he had been out before in two cold snaps They had not been so cold as this he knew but by the spirit thermometer at Sixty Mile he knew they had been registered at fifty below and at fifty-five

He held on through the level stretch of woods for several miles crossed a wide flat of rigger-heads and dropped down a bank to the frozen bed of a

To Build a FireContinued

small stream This was Henderson Creek and he knew he was ten miles from the forks He looked at his watch It was ten oclock He was making four miles an hour and he calculated that he would arrive at the forks at half-past twelve He decided to celebrate that event by eating his lunch there

The dog dropped in again at his heels with a tail drooping discouragement as the man swung along the creek-bed The furrow of the old sled-trail was plainly visible but a dozen inches of snow covered the marks of the last runners In a month no man had come up or down that silent creek The man held steadily on He was not much given to thinking and just then particularly he had nothing to think about save that he would eat lunch at-the forks and that at six oclock he would be in camp with the boys There was nobody to talk to and had there been speech would have been impossible because of the ice-muzzle on his mouth So he continued monotonously to chew tobacco and to increase the length of his amber beard

Once in a while the thought reiterated itself that it was very cold and that he had never experienced such cold As he walked along he rubbed his cheek-bones and nose with the back of his mittened hand He did this automatically now and again changing hands But rub as he would the instant he stopped his cheek-bones went numb and the following instant the end of his nose went numb He was sure to frost his cheeks he knew that and experienced a pang of regret that he had not devised a nose-strap of the sort Bud wore in cold snaps Such a strap passed across the cheeks as well and saved them But it didnt matter much after all What were frosted cheeks A bit painful that was all they were never serious

Empty as the mans mind was of thoughts he was keenly observant and he noticed the changes in the creek the curves and bends and timber jams and always he sharply noted where he placed his feet Once coming around a bend he shied abruptly

like a startled horse curved away from the place where he had been walking and retreated several paces back along the trail The creek he knew was frozen clear to the bottom--no creek could contain water in that arctic winter--but he knew also that there were springs that bubbled out from the hillsides and ran along under the snow and on top the ice of the creek He knew that the coldest snaps never froze these springs and he knew likewise their danger They were traps They hid pools of water under the snow that might be three inches deep or three feet Sometimes a skin of ice half an inch thick covered them and in turn was covered by the snow Sometimes there were alternate layers of water and ice-skin so that when one broke through he kept on breaking through for a while sometimes wetting himself to the waist

That was why he had shied in such panic He had felt the give under his feet and heard the crackle of a snow-hidden ice-skin And to get his feet wet in such a temperature meant trouble and danger At the very least it meant delay for he would be forced to stop and build a fire and under its protection to bare his feet while he dried his socks and moccasins He stood and studied the creek-bed and its banks and decided that the flow of water came from the right He reflected a while rubbing his nose and cheeks then skirted to the left stepping gingerly and testing the footing for each step Once clear of the danger he took a fresh chew of tobacco and swung along at his four-mile gait

In the course of the next two hours he came upon several similar traps Usually the snow above the hidden pools had a sunken candied appearance that advertised the danger Once again however he had a close call and once suspecting danger he compelled the dog to go on in front The dog did not want to go It hung back until the man shoved it forward and then it went quickly across the white unbroken surface Suddenly it broke through floundered to one side and got away to firmer

To Build a FireContinued

To Build a FireContinued

footing It had wet its forefeet and legs and almost immediately the water that clung to it turned to ice It made quick efforts to lick the ice off its legs then dropped down in the snow and began to bite out the ice that had formed between the toes l his was a matter of instinct To permit the ice to remain would mean sore feet It did not know this It merely obeyed the mysterious prompting that arose from the deep crypts of its being But the man knew having achieved a judgment on the subject and he removed the mitten from his right hand and helped tear out the ice-particles He did not expose his fingers more than a minute and was astonished at the swift numbness that smote them It certainly was cold He pulled on the mitten hastily and beat the hand savagely across his chest

At twelve oclock the day was at its brightest Yet the sun was too far south an its winter journey to clear the horizon The bulge of the earth intervened between it arid Henderson Creek where the man walked under a clear sky at noon and cast no shadow At half-past twelve to the minute he arrived at the forks of the creek He was pleased at the speed he had made If he kept it up he would certainly be with the boys by six He unbuttoned his jacket and shirt and drew forth his lunch The action consumed no more than a quarter of a minute yet in that brief moment the numbness laid hold of the exposed fingers He did not put the mitten on but instead struck the fingers a dozen sharp smashes against his leg Then he sat down on a snow-covered log to eat The sting that followed upon the striking of his fingers against his leg ceased so quickly that he was startled He had had no chance to take a bite of biscuit He struck the fingers repeatedly and returned them to the mitten baring the other hand for the purpose of eating He tried to take a mouthful but the ice-muzzle prevented He had forgotten to build a fire and thaw out He chuckled at his foolishness and as he chuckled he noted the numbness creeping into the exposed fingers Also he noted that the stinging which had first come to his

toes when he sat down was already passing away He wandered whether the toes were warm or numb He moved them inside the moccasins and decided that they were numb

He pulled the mitten on hurriedly and stood up He was a bit frightened He stamped up and down until the stinging returned into the feet It certainly was cold was his thought That man from Sulphur Creek had spoken the truth when telling how cold it sometimes got in the country And he had laughed at him at the time That showed one must not be too sure of things There was no mistake about it it was cold He strode up and down stamping his feet and threshing his arms until reassured by the returning warmth Then he got out matches and proceeded to make a fire From the undergrowth where high water of the previous spring had lodged a supply of seasoned twigs he got his firewood Working carefully from a small beginning he soon had a roaring fire over which he thawed the ice from his face and in the protection of which he ate his biscuits For the moment the cold space was outwitted The dog took satisfaction in the fire stretching out close enough for warmth and far enough away to escape being singed

When the man had finished be filled his pipe and took his comfortable time over a smoke Then he pulled on his mittens settled the ear-flaps of his cap firmly about his ears and took the creek trail up the left fork The dog was disappointed and yearned back toward the fire This man did not know cold Possibly all the generations of his ancestry had been ignorant of cold of real cold of cold one hundred and seven degrees below freezing point But the dog knew all its ancestry knew and it had inherited the knowledge And it knew that it was not good to walk abroad in such fearful cold It was the time to lie snug in a hole in the snow and wait for a curtain of cloud to be drawn across the face of outer space whence this cold came On the other hand there was no keen intimacy between the dog and the man

The one was the toil-slave of the other and the only caresses it had ever received were the caresses of the whiplash and of harsh and menacing throat-sounds that threatened the whiplash So the dog made no effort to communicate its apprehension to the man It was not concerned in the welfare of the man it was for its own sake that it yearned back toward the fire But the man whistled and spoke to it with the sound of whiplashes and the dog swung in at the mans heel and followed after

The man took a chew of tobacco and proceeded to start a new amber beard Also his moist breath quickly powdered with white his mustache eyebrows and lashes There did not seem to be so many springs on the left fork of the Henderson and for half an hour the man saw no signs of any And then it happened At a place where there were no signs where the soft unbroken snow seemed to advertise solidity beneath tee man broke through It was not deep He wet himself halfway to the knees before he floundered out to the firm crust

He was angry and cursed his luck aloud He had hoped to get into camp with the boys at six oclock and this would delay him an hour for he would have to build a fire and dry out his foot-gear This was imperative at that low temperature--he knew that much and he turned aside to the bank which he climbed On top tangled in the underbrush about the trunks of several small spruce trees was a high-water deposit of dry firewood--sticks and twigs principally but also larger portions of seasoned branches and fine dry last-years grasses He threw down several large pieces on top of the snow This served for a foundation and prevented the young flame from drowning itself in the snow it otherwise would melt The flame he got by touching a match to a small shred of birch bark that he took from his pocket This burned even more readily than paper Placing it on the foundation he fed the young flame with wisps of dry grass and with the tiniest dry twigs

He worked slowly and carefully keenly aware of his danger Gradually as the flame grew stronger he increased the size of the twigs with which he fed it He squatted in the snow pulling the twigs out from their entanglement in the brush and feeding directly to the flame He knew there must be no failure When it is seventy-five below zero a man must not fail in his first attempt to build a fire--that is if his feet are wet If his feet are dry and he fails he can run along the trail for half a mile and restore his circulation But the circulation of wet and freezing feet cannot be restored by running when it is seventy-five below No matter how fast he runs the wet feet will freeze the harder

All this the man knew The old-timer on Sulphur Creek had told him about it the previous fall and now he was appreciating the advice Already all sensation had gone out of his feet To build the fire he had been forced to remove his mittens and the fingers had quickly gone numb His pace of four miles an hour had kept his heart pumping blood to the surface of his body and to all the extremities But the instant he stopped the action of the pump eased down The cold of space smote the unprotected tip of the planet and he being on that unprotected tip received the full force of the blow The blood of his body recoiled before it The blood was alive like the dog and like the dog it wanted to hide away and cover itself up from the fearful cold So long as he walked four miles an hour he pumped that blood willy-nilly to the surface but now it ebbed away and sank down into the recesses of his body The extremities were the first to feel its absence His wet feet froze the faster and his exposed fingers numbed the faster though they had not yet begun to freeze Nose and cheeks were already freezing while the skin of all his body chilled as it lost its blood

But he was safe Toes and nose and cheeks would be only touched by the frost for the fire was beginning to burn with strength He was feeding it

To Build a FireContinued

with twigs the size of his finger In another minute he would be able to feed it with branches the size of his wrier and then he could remove his wet toot-gear and while it dried he could keep his naked feet warm by the fire rubbing them at first of course with snow The fire was a success He was safe He remembered the advice of the old timer on Sulphur Creek and smiled The old-timer had been very serious in laying down the law that no man must travel alone in the Klondike after fifty below Well here he was he had had the accident he was alone and he had saved himself Those old-timers were rather womanish some of them he thought All a man had to do was to keep his head and he was all right Any man who was a man could travel alone But it was surprising the rapidity with which his cheeks and nose were freezing And he had not thought his fingers could go lifeless in so short a time Lifeless they were for he could scarcely make them move together to grip a twig and they seemed remote from his body and from him When he touched a twig he had to look and see whether or not he had hold of it The wires were pretty well down between him and his finger-ends

All of which counted for little There was the fire snapping and crackling and promising life with every dancing flame He started to untie his moccasins They were coated with ice the thick German socks were like sheaths of iron halfway to the knees and the moccasin strings were like rods of steel all twisted and knotted as by some conflagration For a moment he tugged with his numb fingers then realizing the folly of it he drew his sheath-knife

But before he could cut the strings it happened It was his own fault or rather his mistake He should not have built the fire under the spruce tree He should have built it in the open But it had been easier to pull the twigs from the brush and drop them directly on the fire Now the tree under which

he had done this carried a weight of snow on its boughs No wind had blown for weeks and each bough was fully freighted Each time he had pulled a twig he had communicated a slight agitation to the tree--an imperceptible agitation so far as he was concerned but an agitation sufficient to bring about the disaster High up in the tree one bough capsized its load of snow This fell on the boughs beneath capsizing them This process continued spreading out and involving the whole tree It grew like an avalanche and it descended without warning upon the man and the fire and the fire was blotted out Where it had burned was a mantle of fresh and disordered snow

The man was shocked It was as though he had just heard his own sentence of death For a moment he sat and stared at the spot where the fire had been Then he grew very calm Perhaps the old-timer on Sulphur Creek was right If he had only had a trail-mate he would have been in no danger now The trail-mate could have built the fire Well it was up to him to build the fire over again and this second time there must be no failure Even if he succeeded he would most likely lose some toes His feet must be badly frozen by now and there would be some time before the second fire Was ready

Such were his thoughts but he did not sit and think them He was busy all the time they were passing through his mind He made a new foundation for a fire this time in the open where no treacherous tree could blot it out Next he gathered dry grasses and tiny twigs from the high-water flotsam He could not bring his fingers together to pull them out but he was able to gather them by the handful In this way he got many rotten twigs and bits of green moss that were undesirable but it was the best he could do He worked methodically even collecting an armful of the larger branches to be used later when the fire gathered strength And all the while the dog sat and watched him a certain yearning wistfulness in its eyes for it looked upon

To Build a FireContinued

him as the fire-provider and the fire was slow in coming

When all was ready the man reached in his pocket for a second piece of birch bark He knew the bark was there and though he could not feel it with his fingers he could hear its crisp rustling as he fumbled for it Try as he would he could not clutch hold of it And all the time in his consciousness was the knowledge that each instant his feet were freezing This thought tended to put him in a panic but he fought against it and kept calm He pulled on his mittens with his teeth and threshed his arms back and forth beating his hands with all his might against his sides He did this sitting down and he stood up to do it and all the while the dog sat in the snow its wolf-brush of a tail curled around warmly over its forefeet its sharp wolf-ears pricked forward intently as it watched the man And the man as he beat and threshed with his arms and hands felt a great surge of envy as he regarded the creature that was warm ant secure in its natural covering

After a time he was aware of the first far-away signals of sensation in his beaten fingers The faint tingling grew stronger till it evolved into a stinging ache that was excruciating but which the man hailed with satisfaction He stripped the mitten from his right hand and fetched forth the birch bark The exposed fingers were quickly going numb again Next he brought out his bunch of sulphur matches But the tremendous cold had already driven the life out of his fingers In his effort to separate one match from the others the whole bunch fell in the snow He tried to pick it out of the snow but failed The dead fingers could neither touch nor clutch He was very careful He drove the thought of his freezing feet and nose and cheeks out of his mind devoting his whole soul to the matches He watched using the sense of vision in place of that of touch and when he saw his fingers on each side the bunch he dosed them--that is he willed to close them for the wires were down and the fingers did not obey He pulled

the mitten on the right hand and beat it fiercely against his knee Then with both mittened hands he scooped the bunch of matches along with much snow into his lap Yet he was no better off

After some manipulation he managed to get the bunch between the heels of his mittened hands In this fashion he carried it to his mouth The ice crackled and snapped when by a violent effort he opened his mouth He drew the lower jaw in curled the upper lip out of the way and scraped the bunch with his upper teeth in order to separate a match He succeeded in getting one which he dropped on his lap He was no better off He could not pick it up Then he devised a way He picked it up in his teeth and scratched it on his leg Twenty times he scratched before he succeeded in lighting it As it flamed he held it with his teeth to the birch bark But the burning brimstone went up his nostrils and into his lungs causing him to cough spasmodically The match fell into the snow and went out

The old-timer an Sulphur Creek was right he thought in the moment of controlled despair that ensued after fifty below a man should travel with a partner He beat his hands but failed in exciting any sensation Suddenly he bared both hands removing the mittens with his teeth He caught the whole bunch between the heels of his hands His arm muscles not being frozen enabled him to press the hand-heels tightly against the matches Then he scratched the bunch along his leg It flared into flame seventy sulphur matches at once There was no wind to blow them out He kept his head to one side to escape the strangling fumes and held the blazing bunch to the birth bark As he so held it he became aware of sensation in his hand His flesh was burning He could smell it Deep down below the surface he could feel it The sensation developed into pain that grew acute And still he endured it holding the flame of the matches clumsily to the bark that would not light readily because his own burning hands were in the way absorbing most of the flame

To Build a FireContinued

At last when he could endure no more he jerked his hands apart The blazing matches fell sizzling into the snow but the birch bark was alight He began laying dry grasses and the tiniest twigs on the flame He could not pick and choose for he had to lift the fuel between the heels of his hands Small pieces of rotten wood and green moss clung to the twigs and he bit them off as well as he could with his teeth He cherished the flame carefully and awkwardly It meant life and it must not perish The withdrawal of blood from the surface of his body now made him begin to shiver and he grew more awkward A large piece of green moss fell squarely on the little fire He tried to poke it out with his fingers but his shivering frame made him poke too far and he disrupted the nucleus of the little fire the burning grasses and tiny twigs separating and scattering He tried to poke them together again but in spite of the tenseness of the effort his shivering got away with him and the twigs were hopelessly scattered Each twig gushed a puff of smoke and went out The fire-provider had failed As he looked apathetically about him his eyes chanced on the dog sitting across the ruins of the fire from him in the snow making restless hunching movements slightly lifting one forefoot and then the other shifting its weight back and forth on them with wistful eagerness

The sight of the dog put a wild idea into his head He remembered the tale of the man caught in a blizzard who killed a steer and crawled inside the carcass and so was saved He would kill the dog and bury his hands in the warm body until the numbness went out of them Then he could build another fire He spoke to the dog calling it to him but in his voice was a strange note of fear that frightened the animal who had never known the man to speak in such way before Something was the matter and its suspicious nature sensed danger--it knew not what danger but somewhere somehow in its brain arose an apprehension of the man It flattened its ears down at the sound of the mans voice and its restless

hunching movements and the liftings and shiftings of its forefeet became more pronounced but it would not come to the man He got on his hands and knees and crawled toward the dog This unusual posture again excited suspicion and the animal sidled mincingly away

The man sat up in the snow for a moment and struggled for calmness Then he pulled on his mittens by means of his teeth and got upon his feet He glanced down at first in order to assure himself that he was really standing up for the absence of sensation in his feet left him unrelated to the earth His erect position in itself started to drive the webs of suspicion from the dogs mind and when he spoke peremptorily with the sound of whiplashes in his voice the dog rendered its customary allegiance and came to him As it came within reaching distance the man lost his control His arms flashed out to the dog and he experienced genuine surprise when he discovered that his hands could not clutch that there was neither bend nor feeling in the fingers He had forgotten for the moment that they were frozen and that they were freezing more and more All this happened quickly and before the animal could get away he encircled its body with his arms He sat down in the snow and in this fashion held the dog while it snarled and whined and struggled

But it was all he could do hold its body encircled in his arms and sit there He realized that he could not kill the dog There was no way to do it With his helpless hands he could neither draw nor hold his sheath knife nor throttle the animal He released it and it plunged wildly away with tail between its legs and still snarling It halted forty feet away and surveyed him curiously with ears sharply pricked forward The man looked down at his hands in order to locate them and found them hanging on the ends of his arms It struck him as curious that one should have to use his eyes in order to find out where his hands were He began threshing his arms back and forth beating the mittened hands against

To Build a FireContinued

his sides He did this for five minutes violently and his heart pumped enough blood up to the surface to put a stop to his shivering But no sensation was aroused in the hands He had an impression that they hung like weights on the ends of his arms but when he tried to run the impression down he could not find it

A certain fear of death dull and oppressive came to him This fear quickly became poignant as he realized that it was no longer a mere matter of freezing his fingers and toes or of losing his hands and feet but that it was a matter of life and death with the chances against him This threw him into a panic and he turned and ran up the creek-bed along the old dim trail The dog joined in behind and kept up with him He ran blindly without intention in fear such as he had never known in his life Slowly as he plowed and floundered through the snow he began to see things again the banks of the creek the old timber-jams the leafless aspens and the sky The running made him feel better He did not shiver Maybe if he ran on his feet would thaw out and anyway if he ran far enough he would reach camp and the boys Without doubt he would lose some fingers and toes and some of his face but the boys would take care of him and save the rest of him when he got there And at the same time there was another thought in his mind that said he would never get to the camp and the boys that it was too many miles away that the freezing had too great a start on him and that he would soon be stiff and dead This thought he kept in the background and refused to consider Sometimes it pushed itself forward and demanded to be heard but he thrust it back and strove to think of other things

It struck him as curious that he could run at all on feet so frozen that he could not feel them when they struck the earth and took the weigh of his body He seemed to himself to skim along above the surface and to have no connection with the earth Somewhere he had once seen a winged Mercury

and he wondered if Mercury felt as he felt when skimming over the earth

His theory of running until he reached camp and the boys had one flaw in it he lacked the endurance Several times he stumbled and finally he tottered crumpled up and fell When he tried to rise he failed He must sit and rest he decided and next time he would merely walk and keep on going As he sat and regained his breath he noted that he was feeling quite warm and comfortable He was not shivering and it even seemed that a warm glow had come to his chest and trunk And yet when he touched his nose or cheeks there was no sensation Running would not thaw them out Nor would it thaw out his hands and feet Then the thought came to him that the frozen portions of his body must be extending He tried to keep this thought down to forget it to think of something else he was aware of the panicky feeling that it caused and he was afraid of the panic But the thought asserted itself and persisted until it produced a vision of his body totally frozen This was too much and he made another wild run along the trail Once he slowed down to a walk but the thought of the freezing extending itself made him run again

And all the time the dog ran with him at his heels When he fell down a second time it curled its tad over its forefeet and sat in front of him facing him curiously eager and intent The warmth and security of the animal angered him and he cursed it till it flattened down its ears appealingly This time the shivering came more quickly upon the man He was losing in his battle with the frost It was creeping into his body from all sides The thought of it drove him on but he ran no more than a hundred feet when he staggered and pitched headlong It was his last panic When he had recovered his breath and control he sat up and entertained in his mind the conception of meeting death with dignity However the conception did not come to him in such terms His idea of it was that he had been making a fool of

To Build a FireContinued

himself running around like a chicken with its head cut off--such was the simile that occurred to him Well he was bound to freeze anyway and he might as well take it decently With this new-found peace of mind came the first glimmerings of drowsiness A good idea he thought to sleep off to death It was like salting an anesthetic Freezing was not so bad as people thought There were lots worse ways to die

He pictured the boys finding his body next day Suddenly he found himself with them coming along the trail and looking for himself And still with them he came around a turn in the trail and found himself lying in the snow He did not belong with himself any more for even then he was out of himself standing with the boys and looking at himself in the snow It certainly was cold was his thought When he got back to the States he could tell the folks what real cold was He drifted on from this to a vision of the old-timer on Sulphur Creek He could see him quite clearly warm and comfortable and smoking a pipe

You were right old boss you were right the man mumbled to the old-timer of Sulphur Creek

Then the man drowsed off into what seemed to him the most comfortable and satisfying sleep he had ever known The dog sat facing him and waiting The brief day drew to a close in a long slow twilight There were no signs of a fire to be made and besides never in the dogs experience had it known a man to sit like that in the snow and make no fire As the twilight drew on its eager yearning for the fire mastered it and with a great lifting and shifting of forefeet it whined softly then flattened its ears down in anticipation of being chidden by the man But the man remained silent Later the dog whined loudly And still later it crept close to the man and caught the scent of death This made the animal bristle and back away A little longer it delayed howling under the stars that leaped and danced and shone brightly in the cold sky Then it turned and trotted up the trail in the direction of the camp it knew where were the other food-providers and fire-providers

To Build a FireContinued

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Page 24: FitnessDigest.us Vol. 4.3 Cover

The man flung a look back along the way he had come The Yukon lay a mile wide and hidden under three feet of ice On top of this ice were as many feet of snow It was all pure white rolling in gentle undulations where the ice jams of the freeze-up had formed North and south as far as his eye could see it was unbroken white save for a dark hairline that curved and twisted from around the spruce-covered island to the south and that curved and twisted away into the north where it disappeared behind another spruce-covered island This dark hair-line was the trail--the main trail--that led south five hundred miles to the Chilcoot Pass Dyea and salt water and that led north seventy miles to Dawson and still on to the north a thousand miles to Nulato and finally to St Michael on Bering Sea a thousand miles and half a thousand more

But all this--the mysterious far-reaching hair-line trail The absence of sun from the sky the tremendous cold and the strangeness and weirdness of it all--made no

impression on the man It was not because he was long used to it He was a newcomer In the land a chechaquo and this was his first winter The trouble with him was that he was without imagination He was quick and alert in the things of life but only in the things and not in the significances Fifty degrees below zero meant eighty-odd degrees of frost Such fact impressed him as being cold and uncomfortable and that was all It did not lead him to meditate upon his frailty as a creature of temperature and upon mans frailty in general able only to live within certain narrow limits of heat and cold and from there on it did not lead him to the conjectural field of immortality and mans place in the universe Fifty degrees below zero stood forte bite of frost that hurt and that must be guarded against by the use of mittens ear-flaps warm moccasins and thick socks Fifty degrees below zero was to him just precisely fifty degrees below zero That there should be anything more to it than that was a thought that never entered his head

To Build a FireContinued

Continued on page 62

Stand Up Paddle BoardingWOWSUPIowacom on LiveAds

It is important from time to time to slow down to go away by yourself and simply be --Eileen Caddy

Letrsquos Race13 My son is eight and our family is very active Im just hitting my peak racing age of about 34 years old The family members all support each otherrsquos activities They are a great cheering section when my wife and I compete in races There is a popular two mile fun run in our town that we my wife and I run every year We also have for-fun races with the kids around the house or across the football field For years Ive let the eight year old win a few and others I win by just a little bit I think he is wising up to my tactics of good fatherhood One day he said ldquoDad you are letting me win but I think I can beat you fair and squarerdquo He added ldquoYoursquore not that fast Ill bet you 10 dollars I can beat you in a two mile racerdquo Wanting to teach him a lesson about spouting off and writing checks his body cant cash I took him up on it I said All right you pick a time and place We will race two miles for 10 dollars He replied You know that two mile race you and mom do every year I can race you then I agreed and he quickly added Ill need 20 years to warm-up That would make me 54 and him 28 Irsquom preparing for the loss and putting 10 dollars aside now

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Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

In my first creative experience it was through music and I was interested in developing my values of creativity I was inspired by a band named Motley Crue and the song that captured my interest was Home Sweet home Dear reader what inspires you Is it music or inspirational quote thought or ideas To express how this song motivated my interests it helped give me faith in my own creative abilities in the process I began to write lyrics I eventually began to work on different styles of writing and broaden my writing skills What types of music inspire your creative thoughts What types of other inspiration values inspire your creative thoughts

13 Getting motivated is one of the key aspects of a successful weight-loss program Without this motivation there would be no drive to get up early or to avoid eating unhealthy snacks ndash that you absolutely love Yes you can thank your motivation for that When you are looking for weight-loss motivation sometimes it is hard to find Where can you find that extra umph to make it to your goal

The benefits of finding a motivator are something that cannot be paralleled It has been said mind over matter This coincides with our principle that no matter how hard the task you can accomplish the goal given the right mindset It is important to go into a new weight-loss program with a positive mental attitude

FINDI

NG TH

EM X InspirationX

Motivation

When I was introduced to William Shakespeare I was intrigued by his creative values and I started to work on developing a different aspect of writing I then watched the movie Free Jack there was a quote by Albert Einstein Imagination is more important than knowledge I thought about the in depth values of both concepts and then I applied both concepts and defined different creative concept Do you believe that anything is possible if you believe I know that I do believe that if an individual believes deeply enough one can accomplish their goals I had to believe in my own abilities and in my dreams and ignore the negative values that were impressed by others

Anything less can potentially hinder growth towards your goal

Some of the things that you should be thinking about when looking for motivators are people with good morals and a positive attitude This is because if the people helping you do not have a positive attitude then it is also difficult for you Some great places to look for a motivator are online blogs in the gym or even in your own family I am sure that in all of these places you will see someone else trying to accomplish the same or even more difficult goals than your own

Another key to finding motivation is to let it find you You should not have to go find a reason to go do something You will do it because you wanted to not because you were forced to

X

InspirationMotivation

More simply put motivation will find you because you will see something that inspires you to make a change in yourself That change may be a weight-loss goal or something else Maybe even an academic goal The true key is to maintain that motivation until you have achieved your goal

Regards Vincent ErrichielloUSMS Swimmer

InspirationMotivation

With believing so deeply within my own abilities and the faith that I could accomplish what I set out to achieve I wrote a lyric titled Dreams Are Only Real and in believing in this concept further defining its true meaning the concept became Dreams Are Only Real Until You Dont believe

Jeremy J TaylorCNFI Publishing

himTHROWINGWritten by anonymous contributor

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13 Johnny is not the best batter in our little league Matter-of-fact he is quiet awful At practice one afternoon Johnny hit a pitch really well The coach had pitched him inside on accident far enough inside that it almost hit him Johnny got his hit by using his bat to defend himself from that arrant pitch The coach told him ldquogood hitrdquo and Johnny yelled back ldquoWell I didnrsquot want the ball to hit merdquo13 Johnny improved his batting after that He was hitting the ball almost every time he got up At one point I said to coach ldquoHow did you get Johnny to improve his batting so quicklyrdquo He replyed Im throwing the ball it AT HIM every time

Body image and fitness are hot topics for both men and women The Great Fitness Experiment is my hilarious poignant embarrassing and at times heart-breaking journey to find my way through the morass of contradictory claims and information in todayrsquos health- and fitness-obsessed world

Available in paperback or in eBookVisit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

wwwnorthiafitnesscom on LiveAdsEmail northiowafitnessgmailcom

Phone 641-201-1035Strongest weight loss supplements

on the market

The Fall of Billy Hitchingsby Kirkus MacGowan

Available at Amazon

LOCATED IN ST ANSGAR IOWA

Business Cards Envelopes

Letterheads Programs

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Posters Invites (graduation wedding showers etc)

Flyers Brochures

T-ShirtsShorts SweatshirtsSweats

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Business Forms Placemats

Postcards And Much More

Bridgette Beyer DesignerOwner

Bring your ideas in andVisual Aspect Designs can print

andor design for you

Black Lab LanyardsSpecializing in customized duck and goose call lanyards for waterfowl enthusiasts

For more information on this productVisit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

FitnessDigestus is now available at

WOWSUPIOWAcom

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entryFitnessDigestus

Send u

s yo

ur T

-shi

rt

READE

R T

-shi

rts

13 I was standing on shore fishing in my favorite spot A guy Irsquove never seen at the pond gets in and starts swimming After about 25 minutes of back and forth he stops at a place about 30 yards off shore He gives me a quick look and dices down below the water

His next lap he stops in the same place looks at me again and points down at the water He finished his swim and left I picked up my gear and moved to the other side of the outlet just a few yards from where he had stopped twice Caught a lunker in the first cast

Swim Signs - Lunker

BankersPromotional and Advertising Specialties

Call to order 641ndash423ndash3111

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Black Lab LanyardsSpecializing in customized duck and goose call lanyards for waterfowl enthusiastsCustomized Duck and Goose Call Lanyards

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Visit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus for more information

TOP TWEETS

Iowa Cubs (IowaCubs)Thanks to all our fans who showed up for the pre-game on-field catch with dad

Louise Pineda (forerunnerGPS)The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficultyWinston Churchill quotes

Softball Darlin (Softball_Darlin)My mom told me our team was gettin white uniforms for summer amp to try not to get them dirty Uh Have you seen me play Not gonna happen

I Swim I Suffer (ISwimISuffer)thatswimmerwho If the water is in your right ear for example then jump on your right leg and lean your head to the right side while jumping

I Swim and I Know It (iSwimWithIssues)During the summer you shower 467 times at the pool 17 times at hotels and 3 times at your house Truth

Everyday Health (WomensCancer)63000 Americans will be diagnosed w malignant melanoma (the deadliest skin cancer) this year Know your risk

US Paralympics (USParalympics)Want to be introduced to Paralympic sport Attend one of the Paralympic Experiences being held throughout the countryFi

tnes

sDig

est

US v

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2

SwimSwam (swimswamnews)Congrats to KenyaSwimmer on being selected to carry the Kenya flag swimswamcom

Better than sharing on a blog Twitter or Facebook and you can share a story even if you donrsquot maintain a social-web presencePublished for ALL FitnessDigestus readers

Sign with your real name pen-name or anonymoushttpLiveMediaFitnessDigestus

13 Funnest thing SPAM about some weight-loss supplements got posted on a friendrsquos Facebook My friend is an ultra-runner I notice there was also an ad for salami recipes on the same page The recipes were right next to the SPAM about diet-pills

13 Letrsquos see ndash it sounds like the beginning of a good joke Q What do you get when a friend tries to sell you ultra-runner endorsed salami-flavored-SPAM diet-pills on Facebook Answer Sick

Unsung Heroes1 Irsquove never swam open water and wanted to do a triathlon A friend that

races open water took extra time to swim with me at a lake I was much more comfortable after that

2 I was going on vacation and needed advice on a place to swim A friend living in the area took the time to help me find people to answer my questions

3 I was over eating and had complained to my friend about it She called me twice a day for three weeks just to remind me to eat healthy

4 I usually run to and from the gym It takes about 30 minutes to run both ways I didnrsquot have enough time to get there and back before a scheduled appointment I had A friend drove me to the gym saving me about 30 minutes I was able to run home and still had time to get to my appointment

SPAM DIET

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Visit the Suburban Mommy blog and learn more about AtresiaMicrotia a birth defect of the inner earFor links to SubMommy blog httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

SUBMOMMYBLOG

On Wednesday May 16 2012 at 7 PM simultaneous rides occurred around the

USA and the world

We all ride Now we can ride as one

One day One time One world world wide

Let the silence roar

322 locations world wide

The Ride of SilenceTonight we number many but ride as one

In honor of those not with us friends

mothers fathers sisters sons

With helmets on tight and heads down low

We ride in silence cautious and slow

The wheels start spinning in the lead pack

But tonight we ride and no one attacks

The dark sunglasses cover our tears

Remembering those we held so dear

Tonights ride is to make others aware

The road is there for all to share

To those not with us or by our side

May God be your partner on your final ride

- Mike Murgas

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 50 states

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 7 Continents

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 0 words spoken

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 1 million memories

Ride of Silence

ldquoCost-effective investments in bicycling boost our economy help individuals and government agencies save money and directly address key societal challenges such as obesity and road congestion In these tough economic times our federal government can only afford to invest in solutions that solve multiple problems Bicycling fits the billrdquo ndash PeopleForBikesorg

This photo collection was taken byRobert LaVallee of Mason City IA

To see his entire collection visithttpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

Non-subscriberSign-up for delivery of

the FREE edition at coopnetbiz

It provides an outstanding aerobic workout in less than half the time we would spend in still water It has allowed us as swim coaches to observe swimmers stroke characteristics up close and to see the effects of fatigue on stroke mechanics ~ Larry L Chazy NY

Swimming is an excellent exercise and now I can swim every day because its so convenient and private I can swim when I want and how long I want Im able to have it at a temperature that is comfortable to me The small size of an Endless Pool enabled me to install a pool where I could not install a regular size one

As an aging baby boomer nutrition professional I have yearned for consistent exercise that doesnt stress joints and will enable me to attain physical fitness cardiovascular health and weight control I can eat what I want and still firm up and lose weight ~ John C Columbus OH

Endless Pools make for long swims in small places The 8x15 Endless Pool is less than regulation size but offers the same benefits as a very large pool ~ Noah H Connecticut Post

The Endless Pool is a great strength builder I am amazed at the strength of the current I now swim against I did not buy it for that reason but because of my arthritis so the strength gain is a wonderful surprise

Endless PoolsTestimonials For more information visit httpLIveAdsFitnessDigestus

s w i m m i n g s h o r t s

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Baseball Walking Stick13 My sons friend grabbed his baseball bat and said to me this is my walking stick I politely ask him why he calls it that He replied because my dad says if I hit a home run with it I donrsquot have to run the bases ndash I can walk

My Bike My mountain bike was stolen a while back and my kids were really upset Ive been riding my road bike in its place Since then Ive been careful to lock my bike up when we go to the park

13 On this occasion I did not lock-up my sonrsquos bike up with mine He looked at me quizzically and said sternly lock my bike up too I tried to explain that his bike was not as expensive and therefor didnt need to be locked up Boy that was a mistake He made me feel a little dumb when he said Dad I dont care how expensive it is Its the only bike Irsquove got

North Iowa Roads

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A LEADER inSearch Engine Optimization

Technology

Increase your visitor page views and Facebook Likes

Are you moving to a new state Already hired your mover

E-mail blind box at box02FitnessDigestus will get

you the best rates on cable phone and internet

Digital Movers

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

parent sports tipBy FitnessDigestus staff writer JGA

PAR

EN

T

TIP

Keeping Kids Focused13 Organize their thoughts Help them prioritize and make decisions based on value Even kids can understand the value of simple non-monetized choices Questions like ldquoShould I finish playing my gameboy game or pause it when they call my swimming eventrdquo

If kids are taught to make good decisions and not just find quick answers everyone wins

AugustGolf Month5th Friendship Day15th Relaxation Day25th Kiss and Make Up Day31st Trail Mix DaySeptemberLittle League Month12th Chocolate Milk Shake Day13th Positive Thinking Day16th Womenrsquos Friendship Day21st Miniature Golf DayOctoberBreast Cancer Awareness MonthNational Diabetes Month1st World Vegetarian Day4th Golf Day25th World Pasta Day

National Calendar

Au

gu

stSe

pte

mb

er

Oc

tob

er

Encourage friendships writing skills sharing thoughts and

experiencesEight different cards

YAGOTTAWANNA

Variety of pricing From single orders to bulk orders of 24 notecards

Learn more online

Stay in touch with your swimming or triathlon buddies

It is better to be safe then to try to beat the heat There are many options to stay cool and run during a hot-summer day Staying inside and running on the treadmill is a good one Remember staying safe is a top priority

Most workouts can be modified to work indoors This issuersquos workout is to do your usual run or interval set just stay inside and run it on the treadmill Visualize the different landmarks to see during your outdoor run

Coach Millerrsquos Quarterly ChallengeStay safe in the heatBy Mark Miller mmillerFitnessDigestus

A few years back we had a hot-spell similar to this yearrsquos record heat

I remember training for a long run and having to stop at the local swimming hole to cool off I literally took off my

shoes and jumped in with my running clothes on I was so hot

FitnessDigestUSEntertainment amp Inspiration

Use coupon codeldquoRAMCSPRrdquo

at puresportshopcomfor 20 OFF

Nutritional Performance Sports Drinks with Protein

OPEN WATER SWIMMING BY THE NUMBERS

In kilometers The shortest open water race included in the Fina World Championships

10107 How many miles it

is to swim from Cuba to the USA

5

1000Number of swimming strokes in a mile for a typical swimmer

31800About the number of calories it takes to swim 100 miles

LOCATED IN ST ANSGAR IOWA

Business Cards Envelopes

Letterheads Programs

Vinyl Decals Signs

Posters Invites (graduation wedding showers etc)

Flyers Brochures

T-ShirtsShorts SweatshirtsSweats

Koozies Sashes

Business Forms Placemats

Postcards And Much More

Bridgette Beyer DesignerOwner

Bring your ideas in andVisual Aspect Designs can print

andor design for you

The minimum open water distance in kilometers that is considered a swimming-

marathon

On Facebook Visit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

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Open water safety means swimming in shallow water where there is a lifeguard or using an escort

Shop for Name BrandGear

24 Hoursa Day

WaynesSkiandCyclenet

For links to Waynersquos visit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

s w i m m i n g s h o r t s

Googles

13 Swimming fans can really appreciate a 200 IM when their goggles fill with water How about an Olympian Swimming a leg of the 400 Free Relay with his goggles across his opened mouth ndash and going 45rsquos A great team swimmer an Olympian wouldnrsquot let down his teammates by throwing them off or fixing them

500 Fly13 A world class butterflyer asked if he could swim butterfly in the 500 yard freestyle during a dual meet His goal was to break five minutes After considering the competition it seemed like a great way to make him really work a hard fly swim so we agreed Problem was he swam a 502 and the opposing coach complained to the officials because he embarrassed his swimmers Oh well you canrsquot win lsquoem all

Stories sent in by Robert Steele

No-No-No13 The other morning I was teaching front-streamlines to snotty nosed 8 year olds (some are literally snotty-nosed) One boy was taking a big gulp of air and holding his breath When he lifted his head he had to exhale and inhale before submerging again Swimmers will understand this does not work very well Kids need to learn to exhale underwater The first time he did it I told him to exhale underwater The second time I stopped him looked him in the eye and reminded him to exhale underwater The third and fourth times I started to get a little frustrated ldquoJohnny you need to exhale underwater so you can breath betterrdquo The fifth time as his head popped up for a breath I quickly asked ldquoJohnny Do you even know what exhale meansrdquo as he submerged his head below the water I could see him shake his head no-no-no

Favorite Potato Chips13We try to limit the junk food the kids eat at our house For lunch one day our son wanted some potato chips I gave him 3 large chips with his sandwich He started to cry and said he wanted one more chip ldquoI wanted four chipsrdquo he screamed I took the plate back When he wasnt looking I broke a chip in half and give it back to him with four chips

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

13 My cancer story is one of uniqueness Leave it to me to do something like cancer to its fullest It did not begin with a mammogram diagnosis or a lump My journey began about 4 years ago with some suspicious activity that turned into Pagetrsquos disease of the nipple which signaled the underlying cancer On April 1st I found out about my breast cancer through a biopsy that came back as positive for Pagetrsquos disease The onslaught of tests learning and decisions were dizzying I immediately went for an evaluation of the suspicious tissue and had to begin making decisions for my mastectomy I quickly learned there is a test called the BRAC Analysis which is a genetic test for breast and ovarian cancer Finally a piece of good news for me I did not have the gene

Decisions Now it was time to make decisions about my mastectomy and how I was going to handle reconstruction I discussed my options with my boyfriend Brian friends family members and even my principalboss I read books searched the Internet and contacted people I

Brandi ShipmanCancer Survivor and elite triathlete

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

know and knew from my past that had been directly affected and that I thought might have answers for me The outpouring of love encouragement and help during this process was overwhelming After meeting with four different doctors two surgeons and two plastic surgeons I decided to go with immediate reconstruction and was lucky enough to find two wonderful doctors They were willing to work together just because I wanted them to even though they had never done so before My surgery was scheduled for mid May

Mental Toughness13 My mental preparation at this point was very important I had to scrap any idea of competing in triathlons for the rest of the year and focus on a positive attitude of getting better I stopped thinking about what I wasnrsquot going to able to do and started thinking about what I could do that I was alive and kept my mind on the fact that so many others had made it before me

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links

Part 213 I was prepared by the doctors survivors and literature to be ldquodownrdquo for several weeks after my surgery I even took the rest of the school year off My surgery went well and I was out of the hospital the next day A few friends came to visit while I was in the hospital and my principal and vice principal brought the most wonderful picture of the faculty wearing pink for me I can only imagine what it looked like at Thornton Elementary on that day in May 2009 a sea of pink all for Brandi Shipman Shortly after their visit I received a text from my friend Margie Massey My friends from the gym wore pink for me that day as well The support brought tears to my eyes I was so excited to come home and be comfortable in my own home I just wish the stupid drain that was attached could have stayed at the hospital The pain from that was worse than the pain from the mastectomy

the most

powerful picture

13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Recovery ndash May13 Once I got home I slept and watched a lot of TV Friends visited and brought yummy food and my favorites I am not supposed to eat I ate them all My friend and co-worker set up a cancer care calendar that alerted anyone who logged on when I was having a doctorrsquos appointment or when I was in need of anything I felt like royalty as everyone took care of me I think Brian secretly enjoyed the fact that he wouldnrsquot have to cook for me each night My recovery was quicker than I thought as I was doing my best to get better and get the stinkinrsquo drain out of my skin I was out walking within a week and running within 3 weeks I couldnrsquot believe my recovery I know it was from all the prayers love and good care from Brian and the loved ones around me Life was looking better each day

ldquoLife was looking

better each dayrdquo

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Part three and part

four of I am Survivor

will be published in

the next edition of

FitnessDigestus

Get the convenience of

digital-delivery

Sign-up or subscribe at

httpFitnessDigestus

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During the past 150 years we have witnessed many remarkable advances against cancer a disease known to humanity for thousands of years The advances highlighted below represent a sampling of what has been accomplished to date

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

1882 William Halsted performs the first radical mastectomy to treat breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast the lymph nodes under the arm (axillary lymph nodes) and the chest muscles behind the breast (pectoralis major and pectoralis minor muscles) are removed Radical mastectomy will remain the standard operation for breast cancer until latter half of the 20th century when the use of modified radical mastectomy becomes widely accepted

1932 David H Patey develops the modified radical mastectomy for breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast axillary lymph nodes and pectoralis minor muscle behind the breast are removed The modified radical mastectomy is less disfiguring than the radical mastectomy and will eventually replace the radical mastectomy as a standard treatment option for breast cancer

1953 James Watson and Francis Crick discover the molecular structure of DNA (the double helix)

1963 The Health Insurance Plan (HIP) of Greater New York Study begins HIP is the first randomized controlled trial of periodic breast cancer screening with mammography

1882

1932

1953

1963

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1976 The results of a randomized clinical trial show that women with early breast cancer who receive post-operative (adjuvant) combination chemotherapy with the drugs cyclophosphamide methotrexate and 5-FU have improved disease-free survival

1981 A randomized clinical trial in the United Kingdom shows for the first time that the rates of survival local recurrence and tumor metastasis among women whose breast cancer is treated with modified radical mastectomy are not substantially different from those of women who are treated with radical mastectomy

1993 An NCI-convened international workshop on screening for breast cancer reports that screening with mammography reduces breast cancer mortality among women ages 50-69 This conclusion is based on a review of published and unpublished data from eight randomized controlled trials

2004 Data from the Womens Health Initiative (WHI) study show that women who take estrogen in combination with the hormone progestin have a greater risk of developing breast cancer than women who take estrogen alone The results also show that menopausal hormone therapy with estrogen alone has no benefit in disease prevention specifically in reducing the risks of colorectal cancer coronary heart disease and dementia

1976

1981

1993

2004

Although we still have a long way to go to reduce the toll of cancer in the United States and worldwide our research and public health efforts are beginning to pay dividends

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

Volunteering vs Participating13 My girl friend and I are involved in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation The local chapter raises awareness for the cause with a fun-run each year We have volunteered to help with the race five years in a row This year we were stationed at a water table where the runners pick-up cups of water to drink Toward the end of the race there are very few runners There was a little time to chat about things We were talking about what we would wish for if we could have three wishes I told her I would wish for an end to Juvenile Diabetes and to lose 10 pounds Being nice I said ldquoyou can have my last wishrdquo She said I wish you would skip volunteering and just run this race next year

Admission Price Our aquatic center was having a promotion one night and advertised an elementary school night The kids could swim for free When we got to the pool we saw a promotional sign for the event In small lettering it read All swimmers must be accompanied by an adult We thought no big deal one of us can just stay and watch When we got to the front desk we found the lifeguard was enforcing the adult-admission price of $8

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CNFI Publishing - Products Books Chapbooks Bookmarks Plaques and Poetry Collector Cards Merchandising Products Coffee Mugs Mouse Pads Tiles 3x6 Coasters T - Shirts and Wall Plaques More info athttpliveadsFitnessDigestus

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

Featured PhotosFitnessDigestus feature

Chicago open water swim course at nighttop left

Kids race at Bicycle Blues and BBQtop right

Some team members volunteer at the local soup kitchenmiddle right

Ken Mauer loads the balls for hitting practice during a Twins baseball camp for

children 7-13 bottom right

Get your local event photos published in the next issue of FitnessDigestus E-mail

your photo to photoFitnessDigestus

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As he turned to go on he spat speculatively There was a sharp explosive crackle that startled him He spat again And again in the air before it could fall to the snow the spittle crackled He knew that at fifty below spittle crackled on the snow but this spittle had crackled in the air Undoubtedly it was colder than fifty below--how much colder he did not know But the temperature did not matter He was bound for the old claim on the left fork of Henderson Creek where the boys were already They had come over across the divide from the Indian Creek country while he had come the roundabout way to take a look at the possibilities of getting out logs in the spring from the islands in the Yukon He would be in to camp by six oclock a bit after dark it was true but the boys would be there a fire would be going and a hot supper would be ready As for lunch he pressed his hand against the protruding bundle under his jacket It was also under his shirt wrapped up in a handkerchief and lying against the naked skin It was the only way to keep the biscuits from freezing He smiled agreeably to himself as he thought of those biscuits each cut open and sopped in bacon grease and each enclosing a generous slice of fried bacon

He plunged in among the big spruce trees The trail was faint A foot of snow had fallen since the last sled had passed over and he was glad he was without a sled traveling light In fact he carried nothing but the lunch wrapped in the handkerchief He was surprised however at the cold It certainly was cold he concluded as he rubbed his numb nose and cheek-bones with his mittened hand He was a warm-whiskered man but the hair on his face did not protect the high cheek-bones and the eager nose that thrust itself aggressively into the frosty air

At the mans heels trotted a dog a big native husky the proper wolf-dog gray-coated and without any visible or temperamental difference from its brother the wild wolf The animal was depressed by the tremendous cold It knew that it was no time for

traveling Its instinct told it a truer tale than was told to the man by the mans judgment In reality it was not merely colder than fifty below zero it was colder than sixty below than seventy below It was seventy-five below zero Since the freezing point is thirty-two above zero it meant that one hundred and seven degrees of frost obtained The dog did not know anything about thermometers Possibly in its brain there was no sharp consciousness of a condition of very cold such as was in the mans brain But the brute had its instinct It experienced a vague but menacing apprehension that subdued it then made it slink along at the mans heels and that made it question eagerly every unwonted movement of the man as if expecting him to go into camp or to seek shelter somewhere and build a fire The dog had learned fire and it wanted fire or else to burrow under the snow and cuddle its warmth away from the air

The frozen moisture of its breathing had settled on its fur in a fine powder of frost and especially were its jowls muzzle and eyelashes whitened by its cry-stalled breath The mans red beard and mustache were likewise frosted but more solidly the deposit taking the form of ice and increasing with every warm moist breath he exhaled Also the man was chewing tobacco and the muzzle of ice held his lips so rigidly that he was unable to clear his chin when he expelled the juice The result was that a crystal beard of the color and solidity of amber was increasing its length on his chin If he fell down it would shatter itself like glass into brittle fragments But he did not mind the appendage It was the penalty all tobacco-chewers paid in that country and he had been out before in two cold snaps They had not been so cold as this he knew but by the spirit thermometer at Sixty Mile he knew they had been registered at fifty below and at fifty-five

He held on through the level stretch of woods for several miles crossed a wide flat of rigger-heads and dropped down a bank to the frozen bed of a

To Build a FireContinued

small stream This was Henderson Creek and he knew he was ten miles from the forks He looked at his watch It was ten oclock He was making four miles an hour and he calculated that he would arrive at the forks at half-past twelve He decided to celebrate that event by eating his lunch there

The dog dropped in again at his heels with a tail drooping discouragement as the man swung along the creek-bed The furrow of the old sled-trail was plainly visible but a dozen inches of snow covered the marks of the last runners In a month no man had come up or down that silent creek The man held steadily on He was not much given to thinking and just then particularly he had nothing to think about save that he would eat lunch at-the forks and that at six oclock he would be in camp with the boys There was nobody to talk to and had there been speech would have been impossible because of the ice-muzzle on his mouth So he continued monotonously to chew tobacco and to increase the length of his amber beard

Once in a while the thought reiterated itself that it was very cold and that he had never experienced such cold As he walked along he rubbed his cheek-bones and nose with the back of his mittened hand He did this automatically now and again changing hands But rub as he would the instant he stopped his cheek-bones went numb and the following instant the end of his nose went numb He was sure to frost his cheeks he knew that and experienced a pang of regret that he had not devised a nose-strap of the sort Bud wore in cold snaps Such a strap passed across the cheeks as well and saved them But it didnt matter much after all What were frosted cheeks A bit painful that was all they were never serious

Empty as the mans mind was of thoughts he was keenly observant and he noticed the changes in the creek the curves and bends and timber jams and always he sharply noted where he placed his feet Once coming around a bend he shied abruptly

like a startled horse curved away from the place where he had been walking and retreated several paces back along the trail The creek he knew was frozen clear to the bottom--no creek could contain water in that arctic winter--but he knew also that there were springs that bubbled out from the hillsides and ran along under the snow and on top the ice of the creek He knew that the coldest snaps never froze these springs and he knew likewise their danger They were traps They hid pools of water under the snow that might be three inches deep or three feet Sometimes a skin of ice half an inch thick covered them and in turn was covered by the snow Sometimes there were alternate layers of water and ice-skin so that when one broke through he kept on breaking through for a while sometimes wetting himself to the waist

That was why he had shied in such panic He had felt the give under his feet and heard the crackle of a snow-hidden ice-skin And to get his feet wet in such a temperature meant trouble and danger At the very least it meant delay for he would be forced to stop and build a fire and under its protection to bare his feet while he dried his socks and moccasins He stood and studied the creek-bed and its banks and decided that the flow of water came from the right He reflected a while rubbing his nose and cheeks then skirted to the left stepping gingerly and testing the footing for each step Once clear of the danger he took a fresh chew of tobacco and swung along at his four-mile gait

In the course of the next two hours he came upon several similar traps Usually the snow above the hidden pools had a sunken candied appearance that advertised the danger Once again however he had a close call and once suspecting danger he compelled the dog to go on in front The dog did not want to go It hung back until the man shoved it forward and then it went quickly across the white unbroken surface Suddenly it broke through floundered to one side and got away to firmer

To Build a FireContinued

To Build a FireContinued

footing It had wet its forefeet and legs and almost immediately the water that clung to it turned to ice It made quick efforts to lick the ice off its legs then dropped down in the snow and began to bite out the ice that had formed between the toes l his was a matter of instinct To permit the ice to remain would mean sore feet It did not know this It merely obeyed the mysterious prompting that arose from the deep crypts of its being But the man knew having achieved a judgment on the subject and he removed the mitten from his right hand and helped tear out the ice-particles He did not expose his fingers more than a minute and was astonished at the swift numbness that smote them It certainly was cold He pulled on the mitten hastily and beat the hand savagely across his chest

At twelve oclock the day was at its brightest Yet the sun was too far south an its winter journey to clear the horizon The bulge of the earth intervened between it arid Henderson Creek where the man walked under a clear sky at noon and cast no shadow At half-past twelve to the minute he arrived at the forks of the creek He was pleased at the speed he had made If he kept it up he would certainly be with the boys by six He unbuttoned his jacket and shirt and drew forth his lunch The action consumed no more than a quarter of a minute yet in that brief moment the numbness laid hold of the exposed fingers He did not put the mitten on but instead struck the fingers a dozen sharp smashes against his leg Then he sat down on a snow-covered log to eat The sting that followed upon the striking of his fingers against his leg ceased so quickly that he was startled He had had no chance to take a bite of biscuit He struck the fingers repeatedly and returned them to the mitten baring the other hand for the purpose of eating He tried to take a mouthful but the ice-muzzle prevented He had forgotten to build a fire and thaw out He chuckled at his foolishness and as he chuckled he noted the numbness creeping into the exposed fingers Also he noted that the stinging which had first come to his

toes when he sat down was already passing away He wandered whether the toes were warm or numb He moved them inside the moccasins and decided that they were numb

He pulled the mitten on hurriedly and stood up He was a bit frightened He stamped up and down until the stinging returned into the feet It certainly was cold was his thought That man from Sulphur Creek had spoken the truth when telling how cold it sometimes got in the country And he had laughed at him at the time That showed one must not be too sure of things There was no mistake about it it was cold He strode up and down stamping his feet and threshing his arms until reassured by the returning warmth Then he got out matches and proceeded to make a fire From the undergrowth where high water of the previous spring had lodged a supply of seasoned twigs he got his firewood Working carefully from a small beginning he soon had a roaring fire over which he thawed the ice from his face and in the protection of which he ate his biscuits For the moment the cold space was outwitted The dog took satisfaction in the fire stretching out close enough for warmth and far enough away to escape being singed

When the man had finished be filled his pipe and took his comfortable time over a smoke Then he pulled on his mittens settled the ear-flaps of his cap firmly about his ears and took the creek trail up the left fork The dog was disappointed and yearned back toward the fire This man did not know cold Possibly all the generations of his ancestry had been ignorant of cold of real cold of cold one hundred and seven degrees below freezing point But the dog knew all its ancestry knew and it had inherited the knowledge And it knew that it was not good to walk abroad in such fearful cold It was the time to lie snug in a hole in the snow and wait for a curtain of cloud to be drawn across the face of outer space whence this cold came On the other hand there was no keen intimacy between the dog and the man

The one was the toil-slave of the other and the only caresses it had ever received were the caresses of the whiplash and of harsh and menacing throat-sounds that threatened the whiplash So the dog made no effort to communicate its apprehension to the man It was not concerned in the welfare of the man it was for its own sake that it yearned back toward the fire But the man whistled and spoke to it with the sound of whiplashes and the dog swung in at the mans heel and followed after

The man took a chew of tobacco and proceeded to start a new amber beard Also his moist breath quickly powdered with white his mustache eyebrows and lashes There did not seem to be so many springs on the left fork of the Henderson and for half an hour the man saw no signs of any And then it happened At a place where there were no signs where the soft unbroken snow seemed to advertise solidity beneath tee man broke through It was not deep He wet himself halfway to the knees before he floundered out to the firm crust

He was angry and cursed his luck aloud He had hoped to get into camp with the boys at six oclock and this would delay him an hour for he would have to build a fire and dry out his foot-gear This was imperative at that low temperature--he knew that much and he turned aside to the bank which he climbed On top tangled in the underbrush about the trunks of several small spruce trees was a high-water deposit of dry firewood--sticks and twigs principally but also larger portions of seasoned branches and fine dry last-years grasses He threw down several large pieces on top of the snow This served for a foundation and prevented the young flame from drowning itself in the snow it otherwise would melt The flame he got by touching a match to a small shred of birch bark that he took from his pocket This burned even more readily than paper Placing it on the foundation he fed the young flame with wisps of dry grass and with the tiniest dry twigs

He worked slowly and carefully keenly aware of his danger Gradually as the flame grew stronger he increased the size of the twigs with which he fed it He squatted in the snow pulling the twigs out from their entanglement in the brush and feeding directly to the flame He knew there must be no failure When it is seventy-five below zero a man must not fail in his first attempt to build a fire--that is if his feet are wet If his feet are dry and he fails he can run along the trail for half a mile and restore his circulation But the circulation of wet and freezing feet cannot be restored by running when it is seventy-five below No matter how fast he runs the wet feet will freeze the harder

All this the man knew The old-timer on Sulphur Creek had told him about it the previous fall and now he was appreciating the advice Already all sensation had gone out of his feet To build the fire he had been forced to remove his mittens and the fingers had quickly gone numb His pace of four miles an hour had kept his heart pumping blood to the surface of his body and to all the extremities But the instant he stopped the action of the pump eased down The cold of space smote the unprotected tip of the planet and he being on that unprotected tip received the full force of the blow The blood of his body recoiled before it The blood was alive like the dog and like the dog it wanted to hide away and cover itself up from the fearful cold So long as he walked four miles an hour he pumped that blood willy-nilly to the surface but now it ebbed away and sank down into the recesses of his body The extremities were the first to feel its absence His wet feet froze the faster and his exposed fingers numbed the faster though they had not yet begun to freeze Nose and cheeks were already freezing while the skin of all his body chilled as it lost its blood

But he was safe Toes and nose and cheeks would be only touched by the frost for the fire was beginning to burn with strength He was feeding it

To Build a FireContinued

with twigs the size of his finger In another minute he would be able to feed it with branches the size of his wrier and then he could remove his wet toot-gear and while it dried he could keep his naked feet warm by the fire rubbing them at first of course with snow The fire was a success He was safe He remembered the advice of the old timer on Sulphur Creek and smiled The old-timer had been very serious in laying down the law that no man must travel alone in the Klondike after fifty below Well here he was he had had the accident he was alone and he had saved himself Those old-timers were rather womanish some of them he thought All a man had to do was to keep his head and he was all right Any man who was a man could travel alone But it was surprising the rapidity with which his cheeks and nose were freezing And he had not thought his fingers could go lifeless in so short a time Lifeless they were for he could scarcely make them move together to grip a twig and they seemed remote from his body and from him When he touched a twig he had to look and see whether or not he had hold of it The wires were pretty well down between him and his finger-ends

All of which counted for little There was the fire snapping and crackling and promising life with every dancing flame He started to untie his moccasins They were coated with ice the thick German socks were like sheaths of iron halfway to the knees and the moccasin strings were like rods of steel all twisted and knotted as by some conflagration For a moment he tugged with his numb fingers then realizing the folly of it he drew his sheath-knife

But before he could cut the strings it happened It was his own fault or rather his mistake He should not have built the fire under the spruce tree He should have built it in the open But it had been easier to pull the twigs from the brush and drop them directly on the fire Now the tree under which

he had done this carried a weight of snow on its boughs No wind had blown for weeks and each bough was fully freighted Each time he had pulled a twig he had communicated a slight agitation to the tree--an imperceptible agitation so far as he was concerned but an agitation sufficient to bring about the disaster High up in the tree one bough capsized its load of snow This fell on the boughs beneath capsizing them This process continued spreading out and involving the whole tree It grew like an avalanche and it descended without warning upon the man and the fire and the fire was blotted out Where it had burned was a mantle of fresh and disordered snow

The man was shocked It was as though he had just heard his own sentence of death For a moment he sat and stared at the spot where the fire had been Then he grew very calm Perhaps the old-timer on Sulphur Creek was right If he had only had a trail-mate he would have been in no danger now The trail-mate could have built the fire Well it was up to him to build the fire over again and this second time there must be no failure Even if he succeeded he would most likely lose some toes His feet must be badly frozen by now and there would be some time before the second fire Was ready

Such were his thoughts but he did not sit and think them He was busy all the time they were passing through his mind He made a new foundation for a fire this time in the open where no treacherous tree could blot it out Next he gathered dry grasses and tiny twigs from the high-water flotsam He could not bring his fingers together to pull them out but he was able to gather them by the handful In this way he got many rotten twigs and bits of green moss that were undesirable but it was the best he could do He worked methodically even collecting an armful of the larger branches to be used later when the fire gathered strength And all the while the dog sat and watched him a certain yearning wistfulness in its eyes for it looked upon

To Build a FireContinued

him as the fire-provider and the fire was slow in coming

When all was ready the man reached in his pocket for a second piece of birch bark He knew the bark was there and though he could not feel it with his fingers he could hear its crisp rustling as he fumbled for it Try as he would he could not clutch hold of it And all the time in his consciousness was the knowledge that each instant his feet were freezing This thought tended to put him in a panic but he fought against it and kept calm He pulled on his mittens with his teeth and threshed his arms back and forth beating his hands with all his might against his sides He did this sitting down and he stood up to do it and all the while the dog sat in the snow its wolf-brush of a tail curled around warmly over its forefeet its sharp wolf-ears pricked forward intently as it watched the man And the man as he beat and threshed with his arms and hands felt a great surge of envy as he regarded the creature that was warm ant secure in its natural covering

After a time he was aware of the first far-away signals of sensation in his beaten fingers The faint tingling grew stronger till it evolved into a stinging ache that was excruciating but which the man hailed with satisfaction He stripped the mitten from his right hand and fetched forth the birch bark The exposed fingers were quickly going numb again Next he brought out his bunch of sulphur matches But the tremendous cold had already driven the life out of his fingers In his effort to separate one match from the others the whole bunch fell in the snow He tried to pick it out of the snow but failed The dead fingers could neither touch nor clutch He was very careful He drove the thought of his freezing feet and nose and cheeks out of his mind devoting his whole soul to the matches He watched using the sense of vision in place of that of touch and when he saw his fingers on each side the bunch he dosed them--that is he willed to close them for the wires were down and the fingers did not obey He pulled

the mitten on the right hand and beat it fiercely against his knee Then with both mittened hands he scooped the bunch of matches along with much snow into his lap Yet he was no better off

After some manipulation he managed to get the bunch between the heels of his mittened hands In this fashion he carried it to his mouth The ice crackled and snapped when by a violent effort he opened his mouth He drew the lower jaw in curled the upper lip out of the way and scraped the bunch with his upper teeth in order to separate a match He succeeded in getting one which he dropped on his lap He was no better off He could not pick it up Then he devised a way He picked it up in his teeth and scratched it on his leg Twenty times he scratched before he succeeded in lighting it As it flamed he held it with his teeth to the birch bark But the burning brimstone went up his nostrils and into his lungs causing him to cough spasmodically The match fell into the snow and went out

The old-timer an Sulphur Creek was right he thought in the moment of controlled despair that ensued after fifty below a man should travel with a partner He beat his hands but failed in exciting any sensation Suddenly he bared both hands removing the mittens with his teeth He caught the whole bunch between the heels of his hands His arm muscles not being frozen enabled him to press the hand-heels tightly against the matches Then he scratched the bunch along his leg It flared into flame seventy sulphur matches at once There was no wind to blow them out He kept his head to one side to escape the strangling fumes and held the blazing bunch to the birth bark As he so held it he became aware of sensation in his hand His flesh was burning He could smell it Deep down below the surface he could feel it The sensation developed into pain that grew acute And still he endured it holding the flame of the matches clumsily to the bark that would not light readily because his own burning hands were in the way absorbing most of the flame

To Build a FireContinued

At last when he could endure no more he jerked his hands apart The blazing matches fell sizzling into the snow but the birch bark was alight He began laying dry grasses and the tiniest twigs on the flame He could not pick and choose for he had to lift the fuel between the heels of his hands Small pieces of rotten wood and green moss clung to the twigs and he bit them off as well as he could with his teeth He cherished the flame carefully and awkwardly It meant life and it must not perish The withdrawal of blood from the surface of his body now made him begin to shiver and he grew more awkward A large piece of green moss fell squarely on the little fire He tried to poke it out with his fingers but his shivering frame made him poke too far and he disrupted the nucleus of the little fire the burning grasses and tiny twigs separating and scattering He tried to poke them together again but in spite of the tenseness of the effort his shivering got away with him and the twigs were hopelessly scattered Each twig gushed a puff of smoke and went out The fire-provider had failed As he looked apathetically about him his eyes chanced on the dog sitting across the ruins of the fire from him in the snow making restless hunching movements slightly lifting one forefoot and then the other shifting its weight back and forth on them with wistful eagerness

The sight of the dog put a wild idea into his head He remembered the tale of the man caught in a blizzard who killed a steer and crawled inside the carcass and so was saved He would kill the dog and bury his hands in the warm body until the numbness went out of them Then he could build another fire He spoke to the dog calling it to him but in his voice was a strange note of fear that frightened the animal who had never known the man to speak in such way before Something was the matter and its suspicious nature sensed danger--it knew not what danger but somewhere somehow in its brain arose an apprehension of the man It flattened its ears down at the sound of the mans voice and its restless

hunching movements and the liftings and shiftings of its forefeet became more pronounced but it would not come to the man He got on his hands and knees and crawled toward the dog This unusual posture again excited suspicion and the animal sidled mincingly away

The man sat up in the snow for a moment and struggled for calmness Then he pulled on his mittens by means of his teeth and got upon his feet He glanced down at first in order to assure himself that he was really standing up for the absence of sensation in his feet left him unrelated to the earth His erect position in itself started to drive the webs of suspicion from the dogs mind and when he spoke peremptorily with the sound of whiplashes in his voice the dog rendered its customary allegiance and came to him As it came within reaching distance the man lost his control His arms flashed out to the dog and he experienced genuine surprise when he discovered that his hands could not clutch that there was neither bend nor feeling in the fingers He had forgotten for the moment that they were frozen and that they were freezing more and more All this happened quickly and before the animal could get away he encircled its body with his arms He sat down in the snow and in this fashion held the dog while it snarled and whined and struggled

But it was all he could do hold its body encircled in his arms and sit there He realized that he could not kill the dog There was no way to do it With his helpless hands he could neither draw nor hold his sheath knife nor throttle the animal He released it and it plunged wildly away with tail between its legs and still snarling It halted forty feet away and surveyed him curiously with ears sharply pricked forward The man looked down at his hands in order to locate them and found them hanging on the ends of his arms It struck him as curious that one should have to use his eyes in order to find out where his hands were He began threshing his arms back and forth beating the mittened hands against

To Build a FireContinued

his sides He did this for five minutes violently and his heart pumped enough blood up to the surface to put a stop to his shivering But no sensation was aroused in the hands He had an impression that they hung like weights on the ends of his arms but when he tried to run the impression down he could not find it

A certain fear of death dull and oppressive came to him This fear quickly became poignant as he realized that it was no longer a mere matter of freezing his fingers and toes or of losing his hands and feet but that it was a matter of life and death with the chances against him This threw him into a panic and he turned and ran up the creek-bed along the old dim trail The dog joined in behind and kept up with him He ran blindly without intention in fear such as he had never known in his life Slowly as he plowed and floundered through the snow he began to see things again the banks of the creek the old timber-jams the leafless aspens and the sky The running made him feel better He did not shiver Maybe if he ran on his feet would thaw out and anyway if he ran far enough he would reach camp and the boys Without doubt he would lose some fingers and toes and some of his face but the boys would take care of him and save the rest of him when he got there And at the same time there was another thought in his mind that said he would never get to the camp and the boys that it was too many miles away that the freezing had too great a start on him and that he would soon be stiff and dead This thought he kept in the background and refused to consider Sometimes it pushed itself forward and demanded to be heard but he thrust it back and strove to think of other things

It struck him as curious that he could run at all on feet so frozen that he could not feel them when they struck the earth and took the weigh of his body He seemed to himself to skim along above the surface and to have no connection with the earth Somewhere he had once seen a winged Mercury

and he wondered if Mercury felt as he felt when skimming over the earth

His theory of running until he reached camp and the boys had one flaw in it he lacked the endurance Several times he stumbled and finally he tottered crumpled up and fell When he tried to rise he failed He must sit and rest he decided and next time he would merely walk and keep on going As he sat and regained his breath he noted that he was feeling quite warm and comfortable He was not shivering and it even seemed that a warm glow had come to his chest and trunk And yet when he touched his nose or cheeks there was no sensation Running would not thaw them out Nor would it thaw out his hands and feet Then the thought came to him that the frozen portions of his body must be extending He tried to keep this thought down to forget it to think of something else he was aware of the panicky feeling that it caused and he was afraid of the panic But the thought asserted itself and persisted until it produced a vision of his body totally frozen This was too much and he made another wild run along the trail Once he slowed down to a walk but the thought of the freezing extending itself made him run again

And all the time the dog ran with him at his heels When he fell down a second time it curled its tad over its forefeet and sat in front of him facing him curiously eager and intent The warmth and security of the animal angered him and he cursed it till it flattened down its ears appealingly This time the shivering came more quickly upon the man He was losing in his battle with the frost It was creeping into his body from all sides The thought of it drove him on but he ran no more than a hundred feet when he staggered and pitched headlong It was his last panic When he had recovered his breath and control he sat up and entertained in his mind the conception of meeting death with dignity However the conception did not come to him in such terms His idea of it was that he had been making a fool of

To Build a FireContinued

himself running around like a chicken with its head cut off--such was the simile that occurred to him Well he was bound to freeze anyway and he might as well take it decently With this new-found peace of mind came the first glimmerings of drowsiness A good idea he thought to sleep off to death It was like salting an anesthetic Freezing was not so bad as people thought There were lots worse ways to die

He pictured the boys finding his body next day Suddenly he found himself with them coming along the trail and looking for himself And still with them he came around a turn in the trail and found himself lying in the snow He did not belong with himself any more for even then he was out of himself standing with the boys and looking at himself in the snow It certainly was cold was his thought When he got back to the States he could tell the folks what real cold was He drifted on from this to a vision of the old-timer on Sulphur Creek He could see him quite clearly warm and comfortable and smoking a pipe

You were right old boss you were right the man mumbled to the old-timer of Sulphur Creek

Then the man drowsed off into what seemed to him the most comfortable and satisfying sleep he had ever known The dog sat facing him and waiting The brief day drew to a close in a long slow twilight There were no signs of a fire to be made and besides never in the dogs experience had it known a man to sit like that in the snow and make no fire As the twilight drew on its eager yearning for the fire mastered it and with a great lifting and shifting of forefeet it whined softly then flattened its ears down in anticipation of being chidden by the man But the man remained silent Later the dog whined loudly And still later it crept close to the man and caught the scent of death This made the animal bristle and back away A little longer it delayed howling under the stars that leaped and danced and shone brightly in the cold sky Then it turned and trotted up the trail in the direction of the camp it knew where were the other food-providers and fire-providers

To Build a FireContinued

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Page 25: FitnessDigest.us Vol. 4.3 Cover

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It is important from time to time to slow down to go away by yourself and simply be --Eileen Caddy

Letrsquos Race13 My son is eight and our family is very active Im just hitting my peak racing age of about 34 years old The family members all support each otherrsquos activities They are a great cheering section when my wife and I compete in races There is a popular two mile fun run in our town that we my wife and I run every year We also have for-fun races with the kids around the house or across the football field For years Ive let the eight year old win a few and others I win by just a little bit I think he is wising up to my tactics of good fatherhood One day he said ldquoDad you are letting me win but I think I can beat you fair and squarerdquo He added ldquoYoursquore not that fast Ill bet you 10 dollars I can beat you in a two mile racerdquo Wanting to teach him a lesson about spouting off and writing checks his body cant cash I took him up on it I said All right you pick a time and place We will race two miles for 10 dollars He replied You know that two mile race you and mom do every year I can race you then I agreed and he quickly added Ill need 20 years to warm-up That would make me 54 and him 28 Irsquom preparing for the loss and putting 10 dollars aside now

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Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

In my first creative experience it was through music and I was interested in developing my values of creativity I was inspired by a band named Motley Crue and the song that captured my interest was Home Sweet home Dear reader what inspires you Is it music or inspirational quote thought or ideas To express how this song motivated my interests it helped give me faith in my own creative abilities in the process I began to write lyrics I eventually began to work on different styles of writing and broaden my writing skills What types of music inspire your creative thoughts What types of other inspiration values inspire your creative thoughts

13 Getting motivated is one of the key aspects of a successful weight-loss program Without this motivation there would be no drive to get up early or to avoid eating unhealthy snacks ndash that you absolutely love Yes you can thank your motivation for that When you are looking for weight-loss motivation sometimes it is hard to find Where can you find that extra umph to make it to your goal

The benefits of finding a motivator are something that cannot be paralleled It has been said mind over matter This coincides with our principle that no matter how hard the task you can accomplish the goal given the right mindset It is important to go into a new weight-loss program with a positive mental attitude

FINDI

NG TH

EM X InspirationX

Motivation

When I was introduced to William Shakespeare I was intrigued by his creative values and I started to work on developing a different aspect of writing I then watched the movie Free Jack there was a quote by Albert Einstein Imagination is more important than knowledge I thought about the in depth values of both concepts and then I applied both concepts and defined different creative concept Do you believe that anything is possible if you believe I know that I do believe that if an individual believes deeply enough one can accomplish their goals I had to believe in my own abilities and in my dreams and ignore the negative values that were impressed by others

Anything less can potentially hinder growth towards your goal

Some of the things that you should be thinking about when looking for motivators are people with good morals and a positive attitude This is because if the people helping you do not have a positive attitude then it is also difficult for you Some great places to look for a motivator are online blogs in the gym or even in your own family I am sure that in all of these places you will see someone else trying to accomplish the same or even more difficult goals than your own

Another key to finding motivation is to let it find you You should not have to go find a reason to go do something You will do it because you wanted to not because you were forced to

X

InspirationMotivation

More simply put motivation will find you because you will see something that inspires you to make a change in yourself That change may be a weight-loss goal or something else Maybe even an academic goal The true key is to maintain that motivation until you have achieved your goal

Regards Vincent ErrichielloUSMS Swimmer

InspirationMotivation

With believing so deeply within my own abilities and the faith that I could accomplish what I set out to achieve I wrote a lyric titled Dreams Are Only Real and in believing in this concept further defining its true meaning the concept became Dreams Are Only Real Until You Dont believe

Jeremy J TaylorCNFI Publishing

himTHROWINGWritten by anonymous contributor

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13 Johnny is not the best batter in our little league Matter-of-fact he is quiet awful At practice one afternoon Johnny hit a pitch really well The coach had pitched him inside on accident far enough inside that it almost hit him Johnny got his hit by using his bat to defend himself from that arrant pitch The coach told him ldquogood hitrdquo and Johnny yelled back ldquoWell I didnrsquot want the ball to hit merdquo13 Johnny improved his batting after that He was hitting the ball almost every time he got up At one point I said to coach ldquoHow did you get Johnny to improve his batting so quicklyrdquo He replyed Im throwing the ball it AT HIM every time

Body image and fitness are hot topics for both men and women The Great Fitness Experiment is my hilarious poignant embarrassing and at times heart-breaking journey to find my way through the morass of contradictory claims and information in todayrsquos health- and fitness-obsessed world

Available in paperback or in eBookVisit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

wwwnorthiafitnesscom on LiveAdsEmail northiowafitnessgmailcom

Phone 641-201-1035Strongest weight loss supplements

on the market

The Fall of Billy Hitchingsby Kirkus MacGowan

Available at Amazon

LOCATED IN ST ANSGAR IOWA

Business Cards Envelopes

Letterheads Programs

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Posters Invites (graduation wedding showers etc)

Flyers Brochures

T-ShirtsShorts SweatshirtsSweats

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Business Forms Placemats

Postcards And Much More

Bridgette Beyer DesignerOwner

Bring your ideas in andVisual Aspect Designs can print

andor design for you

Black Lab LanyardsSpecializing in customized duck and goose call lanyards for waterfowl enthusiasts

For more information on this productVisit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

FitnessDigestus is now available at

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entryFitnessDigestus

Send u

s yo

ur T

-shi

rt

READE

R T

-shi

rts

13 I was standing on shore fishing in my favorite spot A guy Irsquove never seen at the pond gets in and starts swimming After about 25 minutes of back and forth he stops at a place about 30 yards off shore He gives me a quick look and dices down below the water

His next lap he stops in the same place looks at me again and points down at the water He finished his swim and left I picked up my gear and moved to the other side of the outlet just a few yards from where he had stopped twice Caught a lunker in the first cast

Swim Signs - Lunker

BankersPromotional and Advertising Specialties

Call to order 641ndash423ndash3111

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TOP TWEETS

Iowa Cubs (IowaCubs)Thanks to all our fans who showed up for the pre-game on-field catch with dad

Louise Pineda (forerunnerGPS)The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficultyWinston Churchill quotes

Softball Darlin (Softball_Darlin)My mom told me our team was gettin white uniforms for summer amp to try not to get them dirty Uh Have you seen me play Not gonna happen

I Swim I Suffer (ISwimISuffer)thatswimmerwho If the water is in your right ear for example then jump on your right leg and lean your head to the right side while jumping

I Swim and I Know It (iSwimWithIssues)During the summer you shower 467 times at the pool 17 times at hotels and 3 times at your house Truth

Everyday Health (WomensCancer)63000 Americans will be diagnosed w malignant melanoma (the deadliest skin cancer) this year Know your risk

US Paralympics (USParalympics)Want to be introduced to Paralympic sport Attend one of the Paralympic Experiences being held throughout the countryFi

tnes

sDig

est

US v

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2

SwimSwam (swimswamnews)Congrats to KenyaSwimmer on being selected to carry the Kenya flag swimswamcom

Better than sharing on a blog Twitter or Facebook and you can share a story even if you donrsquot maintain a social-web presencePublished for ALL FitnessDigestus readers

Sign with your real name pen-name or anonymoushttpLiveMediaFitnessDigestus

13 Funnest thing SPAM about some weight-loss supplements got posted on a friendrsquos Facebook My friend is an ultra-runner I notice there was also an ad for salami recipes on the same page The recipes were right next to the SPAM about diet-pills

13 Letrsquos see ndash it sounds like the beginning of a good joke Q What do you get when a friend tries to sell you ultra-runner endorsed salami-flavored-SPAM diet-pills on Facebook Answer Sick

Unsung Heroes1 Irsquove never swam open water and wanted to do a triathlon A friend that

races open water took extra time to swim with me at a lake I was much more comfortable after that

2 I was going on vacation and needed advice on a place to swim A friend living in the area took the time to help me find people to answer my questions

3 I was over eating and had complained to my friend about it She called me twice a day for three weeks just to remind me to eat healthy

4 I usually run to and from the gym It takes about 30 minutes to run both ways I didnrsquot have enough time to get there and back before a scheduled appointment I had A friend drove me to the gym saving me about 30 minutes I was able to run home and still had time to get to my appointment

SPAM DIET

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Visit the Suburban Mommy blog and learn more about AtresiaMicrotia a birth defect of the inner earFor links to SubMommy blog httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

SUBMOMMYBLOG

On Wednesday May 16 2012 at 7 PM simultaneous rides occurred around the

USA and the world

We all ride Now we can ride as one

One day One time One world world wide

Let the silence roar

322 locations world wide

The Ride of SilenceTonight we number many but ride as one

In honor of those not with us friends

mothers fathers sisters sons

With helmets on tight and heads down low

We ride in silence cautious and slow

The wheels start spinning in the lead pack

But tonight we ride and no one attacks

The dark sunglasses cover our tears

Remembering those we held so dear

Tonights ride is to make others aware

The road is there for all to share

To those not with us or by our side

May God be your partner on your final ride

- Mike Murgas

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 50 states

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 7 Continents

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 0 words spoken

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 1 million memories

Ride of Silence

ldquoCost-effective investments in bicycling boost our economy help individuals and government agencies save money and directly address key societal challenges such as obesity and road congestion In these tough economic times our federal government can only afford to invest in solutions that solve multiple problems Bicycling fits the billrdquo ndash PeopleForBikesorg

This photo collection was taken byRobert LaVallee of Mason City IA

To see his entire collection visithttpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

Non-subscriberSign-up for delivery of

the FREE edition at coopnetbiz

It provides an outstanding aerobic workout in less than half the time we would spend in still water It has allowed us as swim coaches to observe swimmers stroke characteristics up close and to see the effects of fatigue on stroke mechanics ~ Larry L Chazy NY

Swimming is an excellent exercise and now I can swim every day because its so convenient and private I can swim when I want and how long I want Im able to have it at a temperature that is comfortable to me The small size of an Endless Pool enabled me to install a pool where I could not install a regular size one

As an aging baby boomer nutrition professional I have yearned for consistent exercise that doesnt stress joints and will enable me to attain physical fitness cardiovascular health and weight control I can eat what I want and still firm up and lose weight ~ John C Columbus OH

Endless Pools make for long swims in small places The 8x15 Endless Pool is less than regulation size but offers the same benefits as a very large pool ~ Noah H Connecticut Post

The Endless Pool is a great strength builder I am amazed at the strength of the current I now swim against I did not buy it for that reason but because of my arthritis so the strength gain is a wonderful surprise

Endless PoolsTestimonials For more information visit httpLIveAdsFitnessDigestus

s w i m m i n g s h o r t s

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Baseball Walking Stick13 My sons friend grabbed his baseball bat and said to me this is my walking stick I politely ask him why he calls it that He replied because my dad says if I hit a home run with it I donrsquot have to run the bases ndash I can walk

My Bike My mountain bike was stolen a while back and my kids were really upset Ive been riding my road bike in its place Since then Ive been careful to lock my bike up when we go to the park

13 On this occasion I did not lock-up my sonrsquos bike up with mine He looked at me quizzically and said sternly lock my bike up too I tried to explain that his bike was not as expensive and therefor didnt need to be locked up Boy that was a mistake He made me feel a little dumb when he said Dad I dont care how expensive it is Its the only bike Irsquove got

North Iowa Roads

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A LEADER inSearch Engine Optimization

Technology

Increase your visitor page views and Facebook Likes

Are you moving to a new state Already hired your mover

E-mail blind box at box02FitnessDigestus will get

you the best rates on cable phone and internet

Digital Movers

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

parent sports tipBy FitnessDigestus staff writer JGA

PAR

EN

T

TIP

Keeping Kids Focused13 Organize their thoughts Help them prioritize and make decisions based on value Even kids can understand the value of simple non-monetized choices Questions like ldquoShould I finish playing my gameboy game or pause it when they call my swimming eventrdquo

If kids are taught to make good decisions and not just find quick answers everyone wins

AugustGolf Month5th Friendship Day15th Relaxation Day25th Kiss and Make Up Day31st Trail Mix DaySeptemberLittle League Month12th Chocolate Milk Shake Day13th Positive Thinking Day16th Womenrsquos Friendship Day21st Miniature Golf DayOctoberBreast Cancer Awareness MonthNational Diabetes Month1st World Vegetarian Day4th Golf Day25th World Pasta Day

National Calendar

Au

gu

stSe

pte

mb

er

Oc

tob

er

Encourage friendships writing skills sharing thoughts and

experiencesEight different cards

YAGOTTAWANNA

Variety of pricing From single orders to bulk orders of 24 notecards

Learn more online

Stay in touch with your swimming or triathlon buddies

It is better to be safe then to try to beat the heat There are many options to stay cool and run during a hot-summer day Staying inside and running on the treadmill is a good one Remember staying safe is a top priority

Most workouts can be modified to work indoors This issuersquos workout is to do your usual run or interval set just stay inside and run it on the treadmill Visualize the different landmarks to see during your outdoor run

Coach Millerrsquos Quarterly ChallengeStay safe in the heatBy Mark Miller mmillerFitnessDigestus

A few years back we had a hot-spell similar to this yearrsquos record heat

I remember training for a long run and having to stop at the local swimming hole to cool off I literally took off my

shoes and jumped in with my running clothes on I was so hot

FitnessDigestUSEntertainment amp Inspiration

Use coupon codeldquoRAMCSPRrdquo

at puresportshopcomfor 20 OFF

Nutritional Performance Sports Drinks with Protein

OPEN WATER SWIMMING BY THE NUMBERS

In kilometers The shortest open water race included in the Fina World Championships

10107 How many miles it

is to swim from Cuba to the USA

5

1000Number of swimming strokes in a mile for a typical swimmer

31800About the number of calories it takes to swim 100 miles

LOCATED IN ST ANSGAR IOWA

Business Cards Envelopes

Letterheads Programs

Vinyl Decals Signs

Posters Invites (graduation wedding showers etc)

Flyers Brochures

T-ShirtsShorts SweatshirtsSweats

Koozies Sashes

Business Forms Placemats

Postcards And Much More

Bridgette Beyer DesignerOwner

Bring your ideas in andVisual Aspect Designs can print

andor design for you

The minimum open water distance in kilometers that is considered a swimming-

marathon

On Facebook Visit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

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Open water safety means swimming in shallow water where there is a lifeguard or using an escort

Shop for Name BrandGear

24 Hoursa Day

WaynesSkiandCyclenet

For links to Waynersquos visit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

s w i m m i n g s h o r t s

Googles

13 Swimming fans can really appreciate a 200 IM when their goggles fill with water How about an Olympian Swimming a leg of the 400 Free Relay with his goggles across his opened mouth ndash and going 45rsquos A great team swimmer an Olympian wouldnrsquot let down his teammates by throwing them off or fixing them

500 Fly13 A world class butterflyer asked if he could swim butterfly in the 500 yard freestyle during a dual meet His goal was to break five minutes After considering the competition it seemed like a great way to make him really work a hard fly swim so we agreed Problem was he swam a 502 and the opposing coach complained to the officials because he embarrassed his swimmers Oh well you canrsquot win lsquoem all

Stories sent in by Robert Steele

No-No-No13 The other morning I was teaching front-streamlines to snotty nosed 8 year olds (some are literally snotty-nosed) One boy was taking a big gulp of air and holding his breath When he lifted his head he had to exhale and inhale before submerging again Swimmers will understand this does not work very well Kids need to learn to exhale underwater The first time he did it I told him to exhale underwater The second time I stopped him looked him in the eye and reminded him to exhale underwater The third and fourth times I started to get a little frustrated ldquoJohnny you need to exhale underwater so you can breath betterrdquo The fifth time as his head popped up for a breath I quickly asked ldquoJohnny Do you even know what exhale meansrdquo as he submerged his head below the water I could see him shake his head no-no-no

Favorite Potato Chips13We try to limit the junk food the kids eat at our house For lunch one day our son wanted some potato chips I gave him 3 large chips with his sandwich He started to cry and said he wanted one more chip ldquoI wanted four chipsrdquo he screamed I took the plate back When he wasnt looking I broke a chip in half and give it back to him with four chips

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

13 My cancer story is one of uniqueness Leave it to me to do something like cancer to its fullest It did not begin with a mammogram diagnosis or a lump My journey began about 4 years ago with some suspicious activity that turned into Pagetrsquos disease of the nipple which signaled the underlying cancer On April 1st I found out about my breast cancer through a biopsy that came back as positive for Pagetrsquos disease The onslaught of tests learning and decisions were dizzying I immediately went for an evaluation of the suspicious tissue and had to begin making decisions for my mastectomy I quickly learned there is a test called the BRAC Analysis which is a genetic test for breast and ovarian cancer Finally a piece of good news for me I did not have the gene

Decisions Now it was time to make decisions about my mastectomy and how I was going to handle reconstruction I discussed my options with my boyfriend Brian friends family members and even my principalboss I read books searched the Internet and contacted people I

Brandi ShipmanCancer Survivor and elite triathlete

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

know and knew from my past that had been directly affected and that I thought might have answers for me The outpouring of love encouragement and help during this process was overwhelming After meeting with four different doctors two surgeons and two plastic surgeons I decided to go with immediate reconstruction and was lucky enough to find two wonderful doctors They were willing to work together just because I wanted them to even though they had never done so before My surgery was scheduled for mid May

Mental Toughness13 My mental preparation at this point was very important I had to scrap any idea of competing in triathlons for the rest of the year and focus on a positive attitude of getting better I stopped thinking about what I wasnrsquot going to able to do and started thinking about what I could do that I was alive and kept my mind on the fact that so many others had made it before me

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links

Part 213 I was prepared by the doctors survivors and literature to be ldquodownrdquo for several weeks after my surgery I even took the rest of the school year off My surgery went well and I was out of the hospital the next day A few friends came to visit while I was in the hospital and my principal and vice principal brought the most wonderful picture of the faculty wearing pink for me I can only imagine what it looked like at Thornton Elementary on that day in May 2009 a sea of pink all for Brandi Shipman Shortly after their visit I received a text from my friend Margie Massey My friends from the gym wore pink for me that day as well The support brought tears to my eyes I was so excited to come home and be comfortable in my own home I just wish the stupid drain that was attached could have stayed at the hospital The pain from that was worse than the pain from the mastectomy

the most

powerful picture

13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Recovery ndash May13 Once I got home I slept and watched a lot of TV Friends visited and brought yummy food and my favorites I am not supposed to eat I ate them all My friend and co-worker set up a cancer care calendar that alerted anyone who logged on when I was having a doctorrsquos appointment or when I was in need of anything I felt like royalty as everyone took care of me I think Brian secretly enjoyed the fact that he wouldnrsquot have to cook for me each night My recovery was quicker than I thought as I was doing my best to get better and get the stinkinrsquo drain out of my skin I was out walking within a week and running within 3 weeks I couldnrsquot believe my recovery I know it was from all the prayers love and good care from Brian and the loved ones around me Life was looking better each day

ldquoLife was looking

better each dayrdquo

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Part three and part

four of I am Survivor

will be published in

the next edition of

FitnessDigestus

Get the convenience of

digital-delivery

Sign-up or subscribe at

httpFitnessDigestus

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During the past 150 years we have witnessed many remarkable advances against cancer a disease known to humanity for thousands of years The advances highlighted below represent a sampling of what has been accomplished to date

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

1882 William Halsted performs the first radical mastectomy to treat breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast the lymph nodes under the arm (axillary lymph nodes) and the chest muscles behind the breast (pectoralis major and pectoralis minor muscles) are removed Radical mastectomy will remain the standard operation for breast cancer until latter half of the 20th century when the use of modified radical mastectomy becomes widely accepted

1932 David H Patey develops the modified radical mastectomy for breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast axillary lymph nodes and pectoralis minor muscle behind the breast are removed The modified radical mastectomy is less disfiguring than the radical mastectomy and will eventually replace the radical mastectomy as a standard treatment option for breast cancer

1953 James Watson and Francis Crick discover the molecular structure of DNA (the double helix)

1963 The Health Insurance Plan (HIP) of Greater New York Study begins HIP is the first randomized controlled trial of periodic breast cancer screening with mammography

1882

1932

1953

1963

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1976 The results of a randomized clinical trial show that women with early breast cancer who receive post-operative (adjuvant) combination chemotherapy with the drugs cyclophosphamide methotrexate and 5-FU have improved disease-free survival

1981 A randomized clinical trial in the United Kingdom shows for the first time that the rates of survival local recurrence and tumor metastasis among women whose breast cancer is treated with modified radical mastectomy are not substantially different from those of women who are treated with radical mastectomy

1993 An NCI-convened international workshop on screening for breast cancer reports that screening with mammography reduces breast cancer mortality among women ages 50-69 This conclusion is based on a review of published and unpublished data from eight randomized controlled trials

2004 Data from the Womens Health Initiative (WHI) study show that women who take estrogen in combination with the hormone progestin have a greater risk of developing breast cancer than women who take estrogen alone The results also show that menopausal hormone therapy with estrogen alone has no benefit in disease prevention specifically in reducing the risks of colorectal cancer coronary heart disease and dementia

1976

1981

1993

2004

Although we still have a long way to go to reduce the toll of cancer in the United States and worldwide our research and public health efforts are beginning to pay dividends

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

Volunteering vs Participating13 My girl friend and I are involved in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation The local chapter raises awareness for the cause with a fun-run each year We have volunteered to help with the race five years in a row This year we were stationed at a water table where the runners pick-up cups of water to drink Toward the end of the race there are very few runners There was a little time to chat about things We were talking about what we would wish for if we could have three wishes I told her I would wish for an end to Juvenile Diabetes and to lose 10 pounds Being nice I said ldquoyou can have my last wishrdquo She said I wish you would skip volunteering and just run this race next year

Admission Price Our aquatic center was having a promotion one night and advertised an elementary school night The kids could swim for free When we got to the pool we saw a promotional sign for the event In small lettering it read All swimmers must be accompanied by an adult We thought no big deal one of us can just stay and watch When we got to the front desk we found the lifeguard was enforcing the adult-admission price of $8

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CNFI Publishing - Products Books Chapbooks Bookmarks Plaques and Poetry Collector Cards Merchandising Products Coffee Mugs Mouse Pads Tiles 3x6 Coasters T - Shirts and Wall Plaques More info athttpliveadsFitnessDigestus

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

Featured PhotosFitnessDigestus feature

Chicago open water swim course at nighttop left

Kids race at Bicycle Blues and BBQtop right

Some team members volunteer at the local soup kitchenmiddle right

Ken Mauer loads the balls for hitting practice during a Twins baseball camp for

children 7-13 bottom right

Get your local event photos published in the next issue of FitnessDigestus E-mail

your photo to photoFitnessDigestus

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As he turned to go on he spat speculatively There was a sharp explosive crackle that startled him He spat again And again in the air before it could fall to the snow the spittle crackled He knew that at fifty below spittle crackled on the snow but this spittle had crackled in the air Undoubtedly it was colder than fifty below--how much colder he did not know But the temperature did not matter He was bound for the old claim on the left fork of Henderson Creek where the boys were already They had come over across the divide from the Indian Creek country while he had come the roundabout way to take a look at the possibilities of getting out logs in the spring from the islands in the Yukon He would be in to camp by six oclock a bit after dark it was true but the boys would be there a fire would be going and a hot supper would be ready As for lunch he pressed his hand against the protruding bundle under his jacket It was also under his shirt wrapped up in a handkerchief and lying against the naked skin It was the only way to keep the biscuits from freezing He smiled agreeably to himself as he thought of those biscuits each cut open and sopped in bacon grease and each enclosing a generous slice of fried bacon

He plunged in among the big spruce trees The trail was faint A foot of snow had fallen since the last sled had passed over and he was glad he was without a sled traveling light In fact he carried nothing but the lunch wrapped in the handkerchief He was surprised however at the cold It certainly was cold he concluded as he rubbed his numb nose and cheek-bones with his mittened hand He was a warm-whiskered man but the hair on his face did not protect the high cheek-bones and the eager nose that thrust itself aggressively into the frosty air

At the mans heels trotted a dog a big native husky the proper wolf-dog gray-coated and without any visible or temperamental difference from its brother the wild wolf The animal was depressed by the tremendous cold It knew that it was no time for

traveling Its instinct told it a truer tale than was told to the man by the mans judgment In reality it was not merely colder than fifty below zero it was colder than sixty below than seventy below It was seventy-five below zero Since the freezing point is thirty-two above zero it meant that one hundred and seven degrees of frost obtained The dog did not know anything about thermometers Possibly in its brain there was no sharp consciousness of a condition of very cold such as was in the mans brain But the brute had its instinct It experienced a vague but menacing apprehension that subdued it then made it slink along at the mans heels and that made it question eagerly every unwonted movement of the man as if expecting him to go into camp or to seek shelter somewhere and build a fire The dog had learned fire and it wanted fire or else to burrow under the snow and cuddle its warmth away from the air

The frozen moisture of its breathing had settled on its fur in a fine powder of frost and especially were its jowls muzzle and eyelashes whitened by its cry-stalled breath The mans red beard and mustache were likewise frosted but more solidly the deposit taking the form of ice and increasing with every warm moist breath he exhaled Also the man was chewing tobacco and the muzzle of ice held his lips so rigidly that he was unable to clear his chin when he expelled the juice The result was that a crystal beard of the color and solidity of amber was increasing its length on his chin If he fell down it would shatter itself like glass into brittle fragments But he did not mind the appendage It was the penalty all tobacco-chewers paid in that country and he had been out before in two cold snaps They had not been so cold as this he knew but by the spirit thermometer at Sixty Mile he knew they had been registered at fifty below and at fifty-five

He held on through the level stretch of woods for several miles crossed a wide flat of rigger-heads and dropped down a bank to the frozen bed of a

To Build a FireContinued

small stream This was Henderson Creek and he knew he was ten miles from the forks He looked at his watch It was ten oclock He was making four miles an hour and he calculated that he would arrive at the forks at half-past twelve He decided to celebrate that event by eating his lunch there

The dog dropped in again at his heels with a tail drooping discouragement as the man swung along the creek-bed The furrow of the old sled-trail was plainly visible but a dozen inches of snow covered the marks of the last runners In a month no man had come up or down that silent creek The man held steadily on He was not much given to thinking and just then particularly he had nothing to think about save that he would eat lunch at-the forks and that at six oclock he would be in camp with the boys There was nobody to talk to and had there been speech would have been impossible because of the ice-muzzle on his mouth So he continued monotonously to chew tobacco and to increase the length of his amber beard

Once in a while the thought reiterated itself that it was very cold and that he had never experienced such cold As he walked along he rubbed his cheek-bones and nose with the back of his mittened hand He did this automatically now and again changing hands But rub as he would the instant he stopped his cheek-bones went numb and the following instant the end of his nose went numb He was sure to frost his cheeks he knew that and experienced a pang of regret that he had not devised a nose-strap of the sort Bud wore in cold snaps Such a strap passed across the cheeks as well and saved them But it didnt matter much after all What were frosted cheeks A bit painful that was all they were never serious

Empty as the mans mind was of thoughts he was keenly observant and he noticed the changes in the creek the curves and bends and timber jams and always he sharply noted where he placed his feet Once coming around a bend he shied abruptly

like a startled horse curved away from the place where he had been walking and retreated several paces back along the trail The creek he knew was frozen clear to the bottom--no creek could contain water in that arctic winter--but he knew also that there were springs that bubbled out from the hillsides and ran along under the snow and on top the ice of the creek He knew that the coldest snaps never froze these springs and he knew likewise their danger They were traps They hid pools of water under the snow that might be three inches deep or three feet Sometimes a skin of ice half an inch thick covered them and in turn was covered by the snow Sometimes there were alternate layers of water and ice-skin so that when one broke through he kept on breaking through for a while sometimes wetting himself to the waist

That was why he had shied in such panic He had felt the give under his feet and heard the crackle of a snow-hidden ice-skin And to get his feet wet in such a temperature meant trouble and danger At the very least it meant delay for he would be forced to stop and build a fire and under its protection to bare his feet while he dried his socks and moccasins He stood and studied the creek-bed and its banks and decided that the flow of water came from the right He reflected a while rubbing his nose and cheeks then skirted to the left stepping gingerly and testing the footing for each step Once clear of the danger he took a fresh chew of tobacco and swung along at his four-mile gait

In the course of the next two hours he came upon several similar traps Usually the snow above the hidden pools had a sunken candied appearance that advertised the danger Once again however he had a close call and once suspecting danger he compelled the dog to go on in front The dog did not want to go It hung back until the man shoved it forward and then it went quickly across the white unbroken surface Suddenly it broke through floundered to one side and got away to firmer

To Build a FireContinued

To Build a FireContinued

footing It had wet its forefeet and legs and almost immediately the water that clung to it turned to ice It made quick efforts to lick the ice off its legs then dropped down in the snow and began to bite out the ice that had formed between the toes l his was a matter of instinct To permit the ice to remain would mean sore feet It did not know this It merely obeyed the mysterious prompting that arose from the deep crypts of its being But the man knew having achieved a judgment on the subject and he removed the mitten from his right hand and helped tear out the ice-particles He did not expose his fingers more than a minute and was astonished at the swift numbness that smote them It certainly was cold He pulled on the mitten hastily and beat the hand savagely across his chest

At twelve oclock the day was at its brightest Yet the sun was too far south an its winter journey to clear the horizon The bulge of the earth intervened between it arid Henderson Creek where the man walked under a clear sky at noon and cast no shadow At half-past twelve to the minute he arrived at the forks of the creek He was pleased at the speed he had made If he kept it up he would certainly be with the boys by six He unbuttoned his jacket and shirt and drew forth his lunch The action consumed no more than a quarter of a minute yet in that brief moment the numbness laid hold of the exposed fingers He did not put the mitten on but instead struck the fingers a dozen sharp smashes against his leg Then he sat down on a snow-covered log to eat The sting that followed upon the striking of his fingers against his leg ceased so quickly that he was startled He had had no chance to take a bite of biscuit He struck the fingers repeatedly and returned them to the mitten baring the other hand for the purpose of eating He tried to take a mouthful but the ice-muzzle prevented He had forgotten to build a fire and thaw out He chuckled at his foolishness and as he chuckled he noted the numbness creeping into the exposed fingers Also he noted that the stinging which had first come to his

toes when he sat down was already passing away He wandered whether the toes were warm or numb He moved them inside the moccasins and decided that they were numb

He pulled the mitten on hurriedly and stood up He was a bit frightened He stamped up and down until the stinging returned into the feet It certainly was cold was his thought That man from Sulphur Creek had spoken the truth when telling how cold it sometimes got in the country And he had laughed at him at the time That showed one must not be too sure of things There was no mistake about it it was cold He strode up and down stamping his feet and threshing his arms until reassured by the returning warmth Then he got out matches and proceeded to make a fire From the undergrowth where high water of the previous spring had lodged a supply of seasoned twigs he got his firewood Working carefully from a small beginning he soon had a roaring fire over which he thawed the ice from his face and in the protection of which he ate his biscuits For the moment the cold space was outwitted The dog took satisfaction in the fire stretching out close enough for warmth and far enough away to escape being singed

When the man had finished be filled his pipe and took his comfortable time over a smoke Then he pulled on his mittens settled the ear-flaps of his cap firmly about his ears and took the creek trail up the left fork The dog was disappointed and yearned back toward the fire This man did not know cold Possibly all the generations of his ancestry had been ignorant of cold of real cold of cold one hundred and seven degrees below freezing point But the dog knew all its ancestry knew and it had inherited the knowledge And it knew that it was not good to walk abroad in such fearful cold It was the time to lie snug in a hole in the snow and wait for a curtain of cloud to be drawn across the face of outer space whence this cold came On the other hand there was no keen intimacy between the dog and the man

The one was the toil-slave of the other and the only caresses it had ever received were the caresses of the whiplash and of harsh and menacing throat-sounds that threatened the whiplash So the dog made no effort to communicate its apprehension to the man It was not concerned in the welfare of the man it was for its own sake that it yearned back toward the fire But the man whistled and spoke to it with the sound of whiplashes and the dog swung in at the mans heel and followed after

The man took a chew of tobacco and proceeded to start a new amber beard Also his moist breath quickly powdered with white his mustache eyebrows and lashes There did not seem to be so many springs on the left fork of the Henderson and for half an hour the man saw no signs of any And then it happened At a place where there were no signs where the soft unbroken snow seemed to advertise solidity beneath tee man broke through It was not deep He wet himself halfway to the knees before he floundered out to the firm crust

He was angry and cursed his luck aloud He had hoped to get into camp with the boys at six oclock and this would delay him an hour for he would have to build a fire and dry out his foot-gear This was imperative at that low temperature--he knew that much and he turned aside to the bank which he climbed On top tangled in the underbrush about the trunks of several small spruce trees was a high-water deposit of dry firewood--sticks and twigs principally but also larger portions of seasoned branches and fine dry last-years grasses He threw down several large pieces on top of the snow This served for a foundation and prevented the young flame from drowning itself in the snow it otherwise would melt The flame he got by touching a match to a small shred of birch bark that he took from his pocket This burned even more readily than paper Placing it on the foundation he fed the young flame with wisps of dry grass and with the tiniest dry twigs

He worked slowly and carefully keenly aware of his danger Gradually as the flame grew stronger he increased the size of the twigs with which he fed it He squatted in the snow pulling the twigs out from their entanglement in the brush and feeding directly to the flame He knew there must be no failure When it is seventy-five below zero a man must not fail in his first attempt to build a fire--that is if his feet are wet If his feet are dry and he fails he can run along the trail for half a mile and restore his circulation But the circulation of wet and freezing feet cannot be restored by running when it is seventy-five below No matter how fast he runs the wet feet will freeze the harder

All this the man knew The old-timer on Sulphur Creek had told him about it the previous fall and now he was appreciating the advice Already all sensation had gone out of his feet To build the fire he had been forced to remove his mittens and the fingers had quickly gone numb His pace of four miles an hour had kept his heart pumping blood to the surface of his body and to all the extremities But the instant he stopped the action of the pump eased down The cold of space smote the unprotected tip of the planet and he being on that unprotected tip received the full force of the blow The blood of his body recoiled before it The blood was alive like the dog and like the dog it wanted to hide away and cover itself up from the fearful cold So long as he walked four miles an hour he pumped that blood willy-nilly to the surface but now it ebbed away and sank down into the recesses of his body The extremities were the first to feel its absence His wet feet froze the faster and his exposed fingers numbed the faster though they had not yet begun to freeze Nose and cheeks were already freezing while the skin of all his body chilled as it lost its blood

But he was safe Toes and nose and cheeks would be only touched by the frost for the fire was beginning to burn with strength He was feeding it

To Build a FireContinued

with twigs the size of his finger In another minute he would be able to feed it with branches the size of his wrier and then he could remove his wet toot-gear and while it dried he could keep his naked feet warm by the fire rubbing them at first of course with snow The fire was a success He was safe He remembered the advice of the old timer on Sulphur Creek and smiled The old-timer had been very serious in laying down the law that no man must travel alone in the Klondike after fifty below Well here he was he had had the accident he was alone and he had saved himself Those old-timers were rather womanish some of them he thought All a man had to do was to keep his head and he was all right Any man who was a man could travel alone But it was surprising the rapidity with which his cheeks and nose were freezing And he had not thought his fingers could go lifeless in so short a time Lifeless they were for he could scarcely make them move together to grip a twig and they seemed remote from his body and from him When he touched a twig he had to look and see whether or not he had hold of it The wires were pretty well down between him and his finger-ends

All of which counted for little There was the fire snapping and crackling and promising life with every dancing flame He started to untie his moccasins They were coated with ice the thick German socks were like sheaths of iron halfway to the knees and the moccasin strings were like rods of steel all twisted and knotted as by some conflagration For a moment he tugged with his numb fingers then realizing the folly of it he drew his sheath-knife

But before he could cut the strings it happened It was his own fault or rather his mistake He should not have built the fire under the spruce tree He should have built it in the open But it had been easier to pull the twigs from the brush and drop them directly on the fire Now the tree under which

he had done this carried a weight of snow on its boughs No wind had blown for weeks and each bough was fully freighted Each time he had pulled a twig he had communicated a slight agitation to the tree--an imperceptible agitation so far as he was concerned but an agitation sufficient to bring about the disaster High up in the tree one bough capsized its load of snow This fell on the boughs beneath capsizing them This process continued spreading out and involving the whole tree It grew like an avalanche and it descended without warning upon the man and the fire and the fire was blotted out Where it had burned was a mantle of fresh and disordered snow

The man was shocked It was as though he had just heard his own sentence of death For a moment he sat and stared at the spot where the fire had been Then he grew very calm Perhaps the old-timer on Sulphur Creek was right If he had only had a trail-mate he would have been in no danger now The trail-mate could have built the fire Well it was up to him to build the fire over again and this second time there must be no failure Even if he succeeded he would most likely lose some toes His feet must be badly frozen by now and there would be some time before the second fire Was ready

Such were his thoughts but he did not sit and think them He was busy all the time they were passing through his mind He made a new foundation for a fire this time in the open where no treacherous tree could blot it out Next he gathered dry grasses and tiny twigs from the high-water flotsam He could not bring his fingers together to pull them out but he was able to gather them by the handful In this way he got many rotten twigs and bits of green moss that were undesirable but it was the best he could do He worked methodically even collecting an armful of the larger branches to be used later when the fire gathered strength And all the while the dog sat and watched him a certain yearning wistfulness in its eyes for it looked upon

To Build a FireContinued

him as the fire-provider and the fire was slow in coming

When all was ready the man reached in his pocket for a second piece of birch bark He knew the bark was there and though he could not feel it with his fingers he could hear its crisp rustling as he fumbled for it Try as he would he could not clutch hold of it And all the time in his consciousness was the knowledge that each instant his feet were freezing This thought tended to put him in a panic but he fought against it and kept calm He pulled on his mittens with his teeth and threshed his arms back and forth beating his hands with all his might against his sides He did this sitting down and he stood up to do it and all the while the dog sat in the snow its wolf-brush of a tail curled around warmly over its forefeet its sharp wolf-ears pricked forward intently as it watched the man And the man as he beat and threshed with his arms and hands felt a great surge of envy as he regarded the creature that was warm ant secure in its natural covering

After a time he was aware of the first far-away signals of sensation in his beaten fingers The faint tingling grew stronger till it evolved into a stinging ache that was excruciating but which the man hailed with satisfaction He stripped the mitten from his right hand and fetched forth the birch bark The exposed fingers were quickly going numb again Next he brought out his bunch of sulphur matches But the tremendous cold had already driven the life out of his fingers In his effort to separate one match from the others the whole bunch fell in the snow He tried to pick it out of the snow but failed The dead fingers could neither touch nor clutch He was very careful He drove the thought of his freezing feet and nose and cheeks out of his mind devoting his whole soul to the matches He watched using the sense of vision in place of that of touch and when he saw his fingers on each side the bunch he dosed them--that is he willed to close them for the wires were down and the fingers did not obey He pulled

the mitten on the right hand and beat it fiercely against his knee Then with both mittened hands he scooped the bunch of matches along with much snow into his lap Yet he was no better off

After some manipulation he managed to get the bunch between the heels of his mittened hands In this fashion he carried it to his mouth The ice crackled and snapped when by a violent effort he opened his mouth He drew the lower jaw in curled the upper lip out of the way and scraped the bunch with his upper teeth in order to separate a match He succeeded in getting one which he dropped on his lap He was no better off He could not pick it up Then he devised a way He picked it up in his teeth and scratched it on his leg Twenty times he scratched before he succeeded in lighting it As it flamed he held it with his teeth to the birch bark But the burning brimstone went up his nostrils and into his lungs causing him to cough spasmodically The match fell into the snow and went out

The old-timer an Sulphur Creek was right he thought in the moment of controlled despair that ensued after fifty below a man should travel with a partner He beat his hands but failed in exciting any sensation Suddenly he bared both hands removing the mittens with his teeth He caught the whole bunch between the heels of his hands His arm muscles not being frozen enabled him to press the hand-heels tightly against the matches Then he scratched the bunch along his leg It flared into flame seventy sulphur matches at once There was no wind to blow them out He kept his head to one side to escape the strangling fumes and held the blazing bunch to the birth bark As he so held it he became aware of sensation in his hand His flesh was burning He could smell it Deep down below the surface he could feel it The sensation developed into pain that grew acute And still he endured it holding the flame of the matches clumsily to the bark that would not light readily because his own burning hands were in the way absorbing most of the flame

To Build a FireContinued

At last when he could endure no more he jerked his hands apart The blazing matches fell sizzling into the snow but the birch bark was alight He began laying dry grasses and the tiniest twigs on the flame He could not pick and choose for he had to lift the fuel between the heels of his hands Small pieces of rotten wood and green moss clung to the twigs and he bit them off as well as he could with his teeth He cherished the flame carefully and awkwardly It meant life and it must not perish The withdrawal of blood from the surface of his body now made him begin to shiver and he grew more awkward A large piece of green moss fell squarely on the little fire He tried to poke it out with his fingers but his shivering frame made him poke too far and he disrupted the nucleus of the little fire the burning grasses and tiny twigs separating and scattering He tried to poke them together again but in spite of the tenseness of the effort his shivering got away with him and the twigs were hopelessly scattered Each twig gushed a puff of smoke and went out The fire-provider had failed As he looked apathetically about him his eyes chanced on the dog sitting across the ruins of the fire from him in the snow making restless hunching movements slightly lifting one forefoot and then the other shifting its weight back and forth on them with wistful eagerness

The sight of the dog put a wild idea into his head He remembered the tale of the man caught in a blizzard who killed a steer and crawled inside the carcass and so was saved He would kill the dog and bury his hands in the warm body until the numbness went out of them Then he could build another fire He spoke to the dog calling it to him but in his voice was a strange note of fear that frightened the animal who had never known the man to speak in such way before Something was the matter and its suspicious nature sensed danger--it knew not what danger but somewhere somehow in its brain arose an apprehension of the man It flattened its ears down at the sound of the mans voice and its restless

hunching movements and the liftings and shiftings of its forefeet became more pronounced but it would not come to the man He got on his hands and knees and crawled toward the dog This unusual posture again excited suspicion and the animal sidled mincingly away

The man sat up in the snow for a moment and struggled for calmness Then he pulled on his mittens by means of his teeth and got upon his feet He glanced down at first in order to assure himself that he was really standing up for the absence of sensation in his feet left him unrelated to the earth His erect position in itself started to drive the webs of suspicion from the dogs mind and when he spoke peremptorily with the sound of whiplashes in his voice the dog rendered its customary allegiance and came to him As it came within reaching distance the man lost his control His arms flashed out to the dog and he experienced genuine surprise when he discovered that his hands could not clutch that there was neither bend nor feeling in the fingers He had forgotten for the moment that they were frozen and that they were freezing more and more All this happened quickly and before the animal could get away he encircled its body with his arms He sat down in the snow and in this fashion held the dog while it snarled and whined and struggled

But it was all he could do hold its body encircled in his arms and sit there He realized that he could not kill the dog There was no way to do it With his helpless hands he could neither draw nor hold his sheath knife nor throttle the animal He released it and it plunged wildly away with tail between its legs and still snarling It halted forty feet away and surveyed him curiously with ears sharply pricked forward The man looked down at his hands in order to locate them and found them hanging on the ends of his arms It struck him as curious that one should have to use his eyes in order to find out where his hands were He began threshing his arms back and forth beating the mittened hands against

To Build a FireContinued

his sides He did this for five minutes violently and his heart pumped enough blood up to the surface to put a stop to his shivering But no sensation was aroused in the hands He had an impression that they hung like weights on the ends of his arms but when he tried to run the impression down he could not find it

A certain fear of death dull and oppressive came to him This fear quickly became poignant as he realized that it was no longer a mere matter of freezing his fingers and toes or of losing his hands and feet but that it was a matter of life and death with the chances against him This threw him into a panic and he turned and ran up the creek-bed along the old dim trail The dog joined in behind and kept up with him He ran blindly without intention in fear such as he had never known in his life Slowly as he plowed and floundered through the snow he began to see things again the banks of the creek the old timber-jams the leafless aspens and the sky The running made him feel better He did not shiver Maybe if he ran on his feet would thaw out and anyway if he ran far enough he would reach camp and the boys Without doubt he would lose some fingers and toes and some of his face but the boys would take care of him and save the rest of him when he got there And at the same time there was another thought in his mind that said he would never get to the camp and the boys that it was too many miles away that the freezing had too great a start on him and that he would soon be stiff and dead This thought he kept in the background and refused to consider Sometimes it pushed itself forward and demanded to be heard but he thrust it back and strove to think of other things

It struck him as curious that he could run at all on feet so frozen that he could not feel them when they struck the earth and took the weigh of his body He seemed to himself to skim along above the surface and to have no connection with the earth Somewhere he had once seen a winged Mercury

and he wondered if Mercury felt as he felt when skimming over the earth

His theory of running until he reached camp and the boys had one flaw in it he lacked the endurance Several times he stumbled and finally he tottered crumpled up and fell When he tried to rise he failed He must sit and rest he decided and next time he would merely walk and keep on going As he sat and regained his breath he noted that he was feeling quite warm and comfortable He was not shivering and it even seemed that a warm glow had come to his chest and trunk And yet when he touched his nose or cheeks there was no sensation Running would not thaw them out Nor would it thaw out his hands and feet Then the thought came to him that the frozen portions of his body must be extending He tried to keep this thought down to forget it to think of something else he was aware of the panicky feeling that it caused and he was afraid of the panic But the thought asserted itself and persisted until it produced a vision of his body totally frozen This was too much and he made another wild run along the trail Once he slowed down to a walk but the thought of the freezing extending itself made him run again

And all the time the dog ran with him at his heels When he fell down a second time it curled its tad over its forefeet and sat in front of him facing him curiously eager and intent The warmth and security of the animal angered him and he cursed it till it flattened down its ears appealingly This time the shivering came more quickly upon the man He was losing in his battle with the frost It was creeping into his body from all sides The thought of it drove him on but he ran no more than a hundred feet when he staggered and pitched headlong It was his last panic When he had recovered his breath and control he sat up and entertained in his mind the conception of meeting death with dignity However the conception did not come to him in such terms His idea of it was that he had been making a fool of

To Build a FireContinued

himself running around like a chicken with its head cut off--such was the simile that occurred to him Well he was bound to freeze anyway and he might as well take it decently With this new-found peace of mind came the first glimmerings of drowsiness A good idea he thought to sleep off to death It was like salting an anesthetic Freezing was not so bad as people thought There were lots worse ways to die

He pictured the boys finding his body next day Suddenly he found himself with them coming along the trail and looking for himself And still with them he came around a turn in the trail and found himself lying in the snow He did not belong with himself any more for even then he was out of himself standing with the boys and looking at himself in the snow It certainly was cold was his thought When he got back to the States he could tell the folks what real cold was He drifted on from this to a vision of the old-timer on Sulphur Creek He could see him quite clearly warm and comfortable and smoking a pipe

You were right old boss you were right the man mumbled to the old-timer of Sulphur Creek

Then the man drowsed off into what seemed to him the most comfortable and satisfying sleep he had ever known The dog sat facing him and waiting The brief day drew to a close in a long slow twilight There were no signs of a fire to be made and besides never in the dogs experience had it known a man to sit like that in the snow and make no fire As the twilight drew on its eager yearning for the fire mastered it and with a great lifting and shifting of forefeet it whined softly then flattened its ears down in anticipation of being chidden by the man But the man remained silent Later the dog whined loudly And still later it crept close to the man and caught the scent of death This made the animal bristle and back away A little longer it delayed howling under the stars that leaped and danced and shone brightly in the cold sky Then it turned and trotted up the trail in the direction of the camp it knew where were the other food-providers and fire-providers

To Build a FireContinued

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Page 26: FitnessDigest.us Vol. 4.3 Cover

Letrsquos Race13 My son is eight and our family is very active Im just hitting my peak racing age of about 34 years old The family members all support each otherrsquos activities They are a great cheering section when my wife and I compete in races There is a popular two mile fun run in our town that we my wife and I run every year We also have for-fun races with the kids around the house or across the football field For years Ive let the eight year old win a few and others I win by just a little bit I think he is wising up to my tactics of good fatherhood One day he said ldquoDad you are letting me win but I think I can beat you fair and squarerdquo He added ldquoYoursquore not that fast Ill bet you 10 dollars I can beat you in a two mile racerdquo Wanting to teach him a lesson about spouting off and writing checks his body cant cash I took him up on it I said All right you pick a time and place We will race two miles for 10 dollars He replied You know that two mile race you and mom do every year I can race you then I agreed and he quickly added Ill need 20 years to warm-up That would make me 54 and him 28 Irsquom preparing for the loss and putting 10 dollars aside now

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Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

In my first creative experience it was through music and I was interested in developing my values of creativity I was inspired by a band named Motley Crue and the song that captured my interest was Home Sweet home Dear reader what inspires you Is it music or inspirational quote thought or ideas To express how this song motivated my interests it helped give me faith in my own creative abilities in the process I began to write lyrics I eventually began to work on different styles of writing and broaden my writing skills What types of music inspire your creative thoughts What types of other inspiration values inspire your creative thoughts

13 Getting motivated is one of the key aspects of a successful weight-loss program Without this motivation there would be no drive to get up early or to avoid eating unhealthy snacks ndash that you absolutely love Yes you can thank your motivation for that When you are looking for weight-loss motivation sometimes it is hard to find Where can you find that extra umph to make it to your goal

The benefits of finding a motivator are something that cannot be paralleled It has been said mind over matter This coincides with our principle that no matter how hard the task you can accomplish the goal given the right mindset It is important to go into a new weight-loss program with a positive mental attitude

FINDI

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EM X InspirationX

Motivation

When I was introduced to William Shakespeare I was intrigued by his creative values and I started to work on developing a different aspect of writing I then watched the movie Free Jack there was a quote by Albert Einstein Imagination is more important than knowledge I thought about the in depth values of both concepts and then I applied both concepts and defined different creative concept Do you believe that anything is possible if you believe I know that I do believe that if an individual believes deeply enough one can accomplish their goals I had to believe in my own abilities and in my dreams and ignore the negative values that were impressed by others

Anything less can potentially hinder growth towards your goal

Some of the things that you should be thinking about when looking for motivators are people with good morals and a positive attitude This is because if the people helping you do not have a positive attitude then it is also difficult for you Some great places to look for a motivator are online blogs in the gym or even in your own family I am sure that in all of these places you will see someone else trying to accomplish the same or even more difficult goals than your own

Another key to finding motivation is to let it find you You should not have to go find a reason to go do something You will do it because you wanted to not because you were forced to

X

InspirationMotivation

More simply put motivation will find you because you will see something that inspires you to make a change in yourself That change may be a weight-loss goal or something else Maybe even an academic goal The true key is to maintain that motivation until you have achieved your goal

Regards Vincent ErrichielloUSMS Swimmer

InspirationMotivation

With believing so deeply within my own abilities and the faith that I could accomplish what I set out to achieve I wrote a lyric titled Dreams Are Only Real and in believing in this concept further defining its true meaning the concept became Dreams Are Only Real Until You Dont believe

Jeremy J TaylorCNFI Publishing

himTHROWINGWritten by anonymous contributor

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13 Johnny is not the best batter in our little league Matter-of-fact he is quiet awful At practice one afternoon Johnny hit a pitch really well The coach had pitched him inside on accident far enough inside that it almost hit him Johnny got his hit by using his bat to defend himself from that arrant pitch The coach told him ldquogood hitrdquo and Johnny yelled back ldquoWell I didnrsquot want the ball to hit merdquo13 Johnny improved his batting after that He was hitting the ball almost every time he got up At one point I said to coach ldquoHow did you get Johnny to improve his batting so quicklyrdquo He replyed Im throwing the ball it AT HIM every time

Body image and fitness are hot topics for both men and women The Great Fitness Experiment is my hilarious poignant embarrassing and at times heart-breaking journey to find my way through the morass of contradictory claims and information in todayrsquos health- and fitness-obsessed world

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The Fall of Billy Hitchingsby Kirkus MacGowan

Available at Amazon

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Posters Invites (graduation wedding showers etc)

Flyers Brochures

T-ShirtsShorts SweatshirtsSweats

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Postcards And Much More

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entryFitnessDigestus

Send u

s yo

ur T

-shi

rt

READE

R T

-shi

rts

13 I was standing on shore fishing in my favorite spot A guy Irsquove never seen at the pond gets in and starts swimming After about 25 minutes of back and forth he stops at a place about 30 yards off shore He gives me a quick look and dices down below the water

His next lap he stops in the same place looks at me again and points down at the water He finished his swim and left I picked up my gear and moved to the other side of the outlet just a few yards from where he had stopped twice Caught a lunker in the first cast

Swim Signs - Lunker

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Call to order 641ndash423ndash3111

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TOP TWEETS

Iowa Cubs (IowaCubs)Thanks to all our fans who showed up for the pre-game on-field catch with dad

Louise Pineda (forerunnerGPS)The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficultyWinston Churchill quotes

Softball Darlin (Softball_Darlin)My mom told me our team was gettin white uniforms for summer amp to try not to get them dirty Uh Have you seen me play Not gonna happen

I Swim I Suffer (ISwimISuffer)thatswimmerwho If the water is in your right ear for example then jump on your right leg and lean your head to the right side while jumping

I Swim and I Know It (iSwimWithIssues)During the summer you shower 467 times at the pool 17 times at hotels and 3 times at your house Truth

Everyday Health (WomensCancer)63000 Americans will be diagnosed w malignant melanoma (the deadliest skin cancer) this year Know your risk

US Paralympics (USParalympics)Want to be introduced to Paralympic sport Attend one of the Paralympic Experiences being held throughout the countryFi

tnes

sDig

est

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SwimSwam (swimswamnews)Congrats to KenyaSwimmer on being selected to carry the Kenya flag swimswamcom

Better than sharing on a blog Twitter or Facebook and you can share a story even if you donrsquot maintain a social-web presencePublished for ALL FitnessDigestus readers

Sign with your real name pen-name or anonymoushttpLiveMediaFitnessDigestus

13 Funnest thing SPAM about some weight-loss supplements got posted on a friendrsquos Facebook My friend is an ultra-runner I notice there was also an ad for salami recipes on the same page The recipes were right next to the SPAM about diet-pills

13 Letrsquos see ndash it sounds like the beginning of a good joke Q What do you get when a friend tries to sell you ultra-runner endorsed salami-flavored-SPAM diet-pills on Facebook Answer Sick

Unsung Heroes1 Irsquove never swam open water and wanted to do a triathlon A friend that

races open water took extra time to swim with me at a lake I was much more comfortable after that

2 I was going on vacation and needed advice on a place to swim A friend living in the area took the time to help me find people to answer my questions

3 I was over eating and had complained to my friend about it She called me twice a day for three weeks just to remind me to eat healthy

4 I usually run to and from the gym It takes about 30 minutes to run both ways I didnrsquot have enough time to get there and back before a scheduled appointment I had A friend drove me to the gym saving me about 30 minutes I was able to run home and still had time to get to my appointment

SPAM DIET

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Visit the Suburban Mommy blog and learn more about AtresiaMicrotia a birth defect of the inner earFor links to SubMommy blog httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

SUBMOMMYBLOG

On Wednesday May 16 2012 at 7 PM simultaneous rides occurred around the

USA and the world

We all ride Now we can ride as one

One day One time One world world wide

Let the silence roar

322 locations world wide

The Ride of SilenceTonight we number many but ride as one

In honor of those not with us friends

mothers fathers sisters sons

With helmets on tight and heads down low

We ride in silence cautious and slow

The wheels start spinning in the lead pack

But tonight we ride and no one attacks

The dark sunglasses cover our tears

Remembering those we held so dear

Tonights ride is to make others aware

The road is there for all to share

To those not with us or by our side

May God be your partner on your final ride

- Mike Murgas

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 50 states

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 7 Continents

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 0 words spoken

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 1 million memories

Ride of Silence

ldquoCost-effective investments in bicycling boost our economy help individuals and government agencies save money and directly address key societal challenges such as obesity and road congestion In these tough economic times our federal government can only afford to invest in solutions that solve multiple problems Bicycling fits the billrdquo ndash PeopleForBikesorg

This photo collection was taken byRobert LaVallee of Mason City IA

To see his entire collection visithttpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

Non-subscriberSign-up for delivery of

the FREE edition at coopnetbiz

It provides an outstanding aerobic workout in less than half the time we would spend in still water It has allowed us as swim coaches to observe swimmers stroke characteristics up close and to see the effects of fatigue on stroke mechanics ~ Larry L Chazy NY

Swimming is an excellent exercise and now I can swim every day because its so convenient and private I can swim when I want and how long I want Im able to have it at a temperature that is comfortable to me The small size of an Endless Pool enabled me to install a pool where I could not install a regular size one

As an aging baby boomer nutrition professional I have yearned for consistent exercise that doesnt stress joints and will enable me to attain physical fitness cardiovascular health and weight control I can eat what I want and still firm up and lose weight ~ John C Columbus OH

Endless Pools make for long swims in small places The 8x15 Endless Pool is less than regulation size but offers the same benefits as a very large pool ~ Noah H Connecticut Post

The Endless Pool is a great strength builder I am amazed at the strength of the current I now swim against I did not buy it for that reason but because of my arthritis so the strength gain is a wonderful surprise

Endless PoolsTestimonials For more information visit httpLIveAdsFitnessDigestus

s w i m m i n g s h o r t s

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Baseball Walking Stick13 My sons friend grabbed his baseball bat and said to me this is my walking stick I politely ask him why he calls it that He replied because my dad says if I hit a home run with it I donrsquot have to run the bases ndash I can walk

My Bike My mountain bike was stolen a while back and my kids were really upset Ive been riding my road bike in its place Since then Ive been careful to lock my bike up when we go to the park

13 On this occasion I did not lock-up my sonrsquos bike up with mine He looked at me quizzically and said sternly lock my bike up too I tried to explain that his bike was not as expensive and therefor didnt need to be locked up Boy that was a mistake He made me feel a little dumb when he said Dad I dont care how expensive it is Its the only bike Irsquove got

North Iowa Roads

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A LEADER inSearch Engine Optimization

Technology

Increase your visitor page views and Facebook Likes

Are you moving to a new state Already hired your mover

E-mail blind box at box02FitnessDigestus will get

you the best rates on cable phone and internet

Digital Movers

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

parent sports tipBy FitnessDigestus staff writer JGA

PAR

EN

T

TIP

Keeping Kids Focused13 Organize their thoughts Help them prioritize and make decisions based on value Even kids can understand the value of simple non-monetized choices Questions like ldquoShould I finish playing my gameboy game or pause it when they call my swimming eventrdquo

If kids are taught to make good decisions and not just find quick answers everyone wins

AugustGolf Month5th Friendship Day15th Relaxation Day25th Kiss and Make Up Day31st Trail Mix DaySeptemberLittle League Month12th Chocolate Milk Shake Day13th Positive Thinking Day16th Womenrsquos Friendship Day21st Miniature Golf DayOctoberBreast Cancer Awareness MonthNational Diabetes Month1st World Vegetarian Day4th Golf Day25th World Pasta Day

National Calendar

Au

gu

stSe

pte

mb

er

Oc

tob

er

Encourage friendships writing skills sharing thoughts and

experiencesEight different cards

YAGOTTAWANNA

Variety of pricing From single orders to bulk orders of 24 notecards

Learn more online

Stay in touch with your swimming or triathlon buddies

It is better to be safe then to try to beat the heat There are many options to stay cool and run during a hot-summer day Staying inside and running on the treadmill is a good one Remember staying safe is a top priority

Most workouts can be modified to work indoors This issuersquos workout is to do your usual run or interval set just stay inside and run it on the treadmill Visualize the different landmarks to see during your outdoor run

Coach Millerrsquos Quarterly ChallengeStay safe in the heatBy Mark Miller mmillerFitnessDigestus

A few years back we had a hot-spell similar to this yearrsquos record heat

I remember training for a long run and having to stop at the local swimming hole to cool off I literally took off my

shoes and jumped in with my running clothes on I was so hot

FitnessDigestUSEntertainment amp Inspiration

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OPEN WATER SWIMMING BY THE NUMBERS

In kilometers The shortest open water race included in the Fina World Championships

10107 How many miles it

is to swim from Cuba to the USA

5

1000Number of swimming strokes in a mile for a typical swimmer

31800About the number of calories it takes to swim 100 miles

LOCATED IN ST ANSGAR IOWA

Business Cards Envelopes

Letterheads Programs

Vinyl Decals Signs

Posters Invites (graduation wedding showers etc)

Flyers Brochures

T-ShirtsShorts SweatshirtsSweats

Koozies Sashes

Business Forms Placemats

Postcards And Much More

Bridgette Beyer DesignerOwner

Bring your ideas in andVisual Aspect Designs can print

andor design for you

The minimum open water distance in kilometers that is considered a swimming-

marathon

On Facebook Visit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

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Open water safety means swimming in shallow water where there is a lifeguard or using an escort

Shop for Name BrandGear

24 Hoursa Day

WaynesSkiandCyclenet

For links to Waynersquos visit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

s w i m m i n g s h o r t s

Googles

13 Swimming fans can really appreciate a 200 IM when their goggles fill with water How about an Olympian Swimming a leg of the 400 Free Relay with his goggles across his opened mouth ndash and going 45rsquos A great team swimmer an Olympian wouldnrsquot let down his teammates by throwing them off or fixing them

500 Fly13 A world class butterflyer asked if he could swim butterfly in the 500 yard freestyle during a dual meet His goal was to break five minutes After considering the competition it seemed like a great way to make him really work a hard fly swim so we agreed Problem was he swam a 502 and the opposing coach complained to the officials because he embarrassed his swimmers Oh well you canrsquot win lsquoem all

Stories sent in by Robert Steele

No-No-No13 The other morning I was teaching front-streamlines to snotty nosed 8 year olds (some are literally snotty-nosed) One boy was taking a big gulp of air and holding his breath When he lifted his head he had to exhale and inhale before submerging again Swimmers will understand this does not work very well Kids need to learn to exhale underwater The first time he did it I told him to exhale underwater The second time I stopped him looked him in the eye and reminded him to exhale underwater The third and fourth times I started to get a little frustrated ldquoJohnny you need to exhale underwater so you can breath betterrdquo The fifth time as his head popped up for a breath I quickly asked ldquoJohnny Do you even know what exhale meansrdquo as he submerged his head below the water I could see him shake his head no-no-no

Favorite Potato Chips13We try to limit the junk food the kids eat at our house For lunch one day our son wanted some potato chips I gave him 3 large chips with his sandwich He started to cry and said he wanted one more chip ldquoI wanted four chipsrdquo he screamed I took the plate back When he wasnt looking I broke a chip in half and give it back to him with four chips

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

13 My cancer story is one of uniqueness Leave it to me to do something like cancer to its fullest It did not begin with a mammogram diagnosis or a lump My journey began about 4 years ago with some suspicious activity that turned into Pagetrsquos disease of the nipple which signaled the underlying cancer On April 1st I found out about my breast cancer through a biopsy that came back as positive for Pagetrsquos disease The onslaught of tests learning and decisions were dizzying I immediately went for an evaluation of the suspicious tissue and had to begin making decisions for my mastectomy I quickly learned there is a test called the BRAC Analysis which is a genetic test for breast and ovarian cancer Finally a piece of good news for me I did not have the gene

Decisions Now it was time to make decisions about my mastectomy and how I was going to handle reconstruction I discussed my options with my boyfriend Brian friends family members and even my principalboss I read books searched the Internet and contacted people I

Brandi ShipmanCancer Survivor and elite triathlete

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

know and knew from my past that had been directly affected and that I thought might have answers for me The outpouring of love encouragement and help during this process was overwhelming After meeting with four different doctors two surgeons and two plastic surgeons I decided to go with immediate reconstruction and was lucky enough to find two wonderful doctors They were willing to work together just because I wanted them to even though they had never done so before My surgery was scheduled for mid May

Mental Toughness13 My mental preparation at this point was very important I had to scrap any idea of competing in triathlons for the rest of the year and focus on a positive attitude of getting better I stopped thinking about what I wasnrsquot going to able to do and started thinking about what I could do that I was alive and kept my mind on the fact that so many others had made it before me

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links

Part 213 I was prepared by the doctors survivors and literature to be ldquodownrdquo for several weeks after my surgery I even took the rest of the school year off My surgery went well and I was out of the hospital the next day A few friends came to visit while I was in the hospital and my principal and vice principal brought the most wonderful picture of the faculty wearing pink for me I can only imagine what it looked like at Thornton Elementary on that day in May 2009 a sea of pink all for Brandi Shipman Shortly after their visit I received a text from my friend Margie Massey My friends from the gym wore pink for me that day as well The support brought tears to my eyes I was so excited to come home and be comfortable in my own home I just wish the stupid drain that was attached could have stayed at the hospital The pain from that was worse than the pain from the mastectomy

the most

powerful picture

13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Recovery ndash May13 Once I got home I slept and watched a lot of TV Friends visited and brought yummy food and my favorites I am not supposed to eat I ate them all My friend and co-worker set up a cancer care calendar that alerted anyone who logged on when I was having a doctorrsquos appointment or when I was in need of anything I felt like royalty as everyone took care of me I think Brian secretly enjoyed the fact that he wouldnrsquot have to cook for me each night My recovery was quicker than I thought as I was doing my best to get better and get the stinkinrsquo drain out of my skin I was out walking within a week and running within 3 weeks I couldnrsquot believe my recovery I know it was from all the prayers love and good care from Brian and the loved ones around me Life was looking better each day

ldquoLife was looking

better each dayrdquo

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Part three and part

four of I am Survivor

will be published in

the next edition of

FitnessDigestus

Get the convenience of

digital-delivery

Sign-up or subscribe at

httpFitnessDigestus

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During the past 150 years we have witnessed many remarkable advances against cancer a disease known to humanity for thousands of years The advances highlighted below represent a sampling of what has been accomplished to date

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

1882 William Halsted performs the first radical mastectomy to treat breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast the lymph nodes under the arm (axillary lymph nodes) and the chest muscles behind the breast (pectoralis major and pectoralis minor muscles) are removed Radical mastectomy will remain the standard operation for breast cancer until latter half of the 20th century when the use of modified radical mastectomy becomes widely accepted

1932 David H Patey develops the modified radical mastectomy for breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast axillary lymph nodes and pectoralis minor muscle behind the breast are removed The modified radical mastectomy is less disfiguring than the radical mastectomy and will eventually replace the radical mastectomy as a standard treatment option for breast cancer

1953 James Watson and Francis Crick discover the molecular structure of DNA (the double helix)

1963 The Health Insurance Plan (HIP) of Greater New York Study begins HIP is the first randomized controlled trial of periodic breast cancer screening with mammography

1882

1932

1953

1963

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1976 The results of a randomized clinical trial show that women with early breast cancer who receive post-operative (adjuvant) combination chemotherapy with the drugs cyclophosphamide methotrexate and 5-FU have improved disease-free survival

1981 A randomized clinical trial in the United Kingdom shows for the first time that the rates of survival local recurrence and tumor metastasis among women whose breast cancer is treated with modified radical mastectomy are not substantially different from those of women who are treated with radical mastectomy

1993 An NCI-convened international workshop on screening for breast cancer reports that screening with mammography reduces breast cancer mortality among women ages 50-69 This conclusion is based on a review of published and unpublished data from eight randomized controlled trials

2004 Data from the Womens Health Initiative (WHI) study show that women who take estrogen in combination with the hormone progestin have a greater risk of developing breast cancer than women who take estrogen alone The results also show that menopausal hormone therapy with estrogen alone has no benefit in disease prevention specifically in reducing the risks of colorectal cancer coronary heart disease and dementia

1976

1981

1993

2004

Although we still have a long way to go to reduce the toll of cancer in the United States and worldwide our research and public health efforts are beginning to pay dividends

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

Volunteering vs Participating13 My girl friend and I are involved in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation The local chapter raises awareness for the cause with a fun-run each year We have volunteered to help with the race five years in a row This year we were stationed at a water table where the runners pick-up cups of water to drink Toward the end of the race there are very few runners There was a little time to chat about things We were talking about what we would wish for if we could have three wishes I told her I would wish for an end to Juvenile Diabetes and to lose 10 pounds Being nice I said ldquoyou can have my last wishrdquo She said I wish you would skip volunteering and just run this race next year

Admission Price Our aquatic center was having a promotion one night and advertised an elementary school night The kids could swim for free When we got to the pool we saw a promotional sign for the event In small lettering it read All swimmers must be accompanied by an adult We thought no big deal one of us can just stay and watch When we got to the front desk we found the lifeguard was enforcing the adult-admission price of $8

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CNFI Publishing - Products Books Chapbooks Bookmarks Plaques and Poetry Collector Cards Merchandising Products Coffee Mugs Mouse Pads Tiles 3x6 Coasters T - Shirts and Wall Plaques More info athttpliveadsFitnessDigestus

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

Featured PhotosFitnessDigestus feature

Chicago open water swim course at nighttop left

Kids race at Bicycle Blues and BBQtop right

Some team members volunteer at the local soup kitchenmiddle right

Ken Mauer loads the balls for hitting practice during a Twins baseball camp for

children 7-13 bottom right

Get your local event photos published in the next issue of FitnessDigestus E-mail

your photo to photoFitnessDigestus

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As he turned to go on he spat speculatively There was a sharp explosive crackle that startled him He spat again And again in the air before it could fall to the snow the spittle crackled He knew that at fifty below spittle crackled on the snow but this spittle had crackled in the air Undoubtedly it was colder than fifty below--how much colder he did not know But the temperature did not matter He was bound for the old claim on the left fork of Henderson Creek where the boys were already They had come over across the divide from the Indian Creek country while he had come the roundabout way to take a look at the possibilities of getting out logs in the spring from the islands in the Yukon He would be in to camp by six oclock a bit after dark it was true but the boys would be there a fire would be going and a hot supper would be ready As for lunch he pressed his hand against the protruding bundle under his jacket It was also under his shirt wrapped up in a handkerchief and lying against the naked skin It was the only way to keep the biscuits from freezing He smiled agreeably to himself as he thought of those biscuits each cut open and sopped in bacon grease and each enclosing a generous slice of fried bacon

He plunged in among the big spruce trees The trail was faint A foot of snow had fallen since the last sled had passed over and he was glad he was without a sled traveling light In fact he carried nothing but the lunch wrapped in the handkerchief He was surprised however at the cold It certainly was cold he concluded as he rubbed his numb nose and cheek-bones with his mittened hand He was a warm-whiskered man but the hair on his face did not protect the high cheek-bones and the eager nose that thrust itself aggressively into the frosty air

At the mans heels trotted a dog a big native husky the proper wolf-dog gray-coated and without any visible or temperamental difference from its brother the wild wolf The animal was depressed by the tremendous cold It knew that it was no time for

traveling Its instinct told it a truer tale than was told to the man by the mans judgment In reality it was not merely colder than fifty below zero it was colder than sixty below than seventy below It was seventy-five below zero Since the freezing point is thirty-two above zero it meant that one hundred and seven degrees of frost obtained The dog did not know anything about thermometers Possibly in its brain there was no sharp consciousness of a condition of very cold such as was in the mans brain But the brute had its instinct It experienced a vague but menacing apprehension that subdued it then made it slink along at the mans heels and that made it question eagerly every unwonted movement of the man as if expecting him to go into camp or to seek shelter somewhere and build a fire The dog had learned fire and it wanted fire or else to burrow under the snow and cuddle its warmth away from the air

The frozen moisture of its breathing had settled on its fur in a fine powder of frost and especially were its jowls muzzle and eyelashes whitened by its cry-stalled breath The mans red beard and mustache were likewise frosted but more solidly the deposit taking the form of ice and increasing with every warm moist breath he exhaled Also the man was chewing tobacco and the muzzle of ice held his lips so rigidly that he was unable to clear his chin when he expelled the juice The result was that a crystal beard of the color and solidity of amber was increasing its length on his chin If he fell down it would shatter itself like glass into brittle fragments But he did not mind the appendage It was the penalty all tobacco-chewers paid in that country and he had been out before in two cold snaps They had not been so cold as this he knew but by the spirit thermometer at Sixty Mile he knew they had been registered at fifty below and at fifty-five

He held on through the level stretch of woods for several miles crossed a wide flat of rigger-heads and dropped down a bank to the frozen bed of a

To Build a FireContinued

small stream This was Henderson Creek and he knew he was ten miles from the forks He looked at his watch It was ten oclock He was making four miles an hour and he calculated that he would arrive at the forks at half-past twelve He decided to celebrate that event by eating his lunch there

The dog dropped in again at his heels with a tail drooping discouragement as the man swung along the creek-bed The furrow of the old sled-trail was plainly visible but a dozen inches of snow covered the marks of the last runners In a month no man had come up or down that silent creek The man held steadily on He was not much given to thinking and just then particularly he had nothing to think about save that he would eat lunch at-the forks and that at six oclock he would be in camp with the boys There was nobody to talk to and had there been speech would have been impossible because of the ice-muzzle on his mouth So he continued monotonously to chew tobacco and to increase the length of his amber beard

Once in a while the thought reiterated itself that it was very cold and that he had never experienced such cold As he walked along he rubbed his cheek-bones and nose with the back of his mittened hand He did this automatically now and again changing hands But rub as he would the instant he stopped his cheek-bones went numb and the following instant the end of his nose went numb He was sure to frost his cheeks he knew that and experienced a pang of regret that he had not devised a nose-strap of the sort Bud wore in cold snaps Such a strap passed across the cheeks as well and saved them But it didnt matter much after all What were frosted cheeks A bit painful that was all they were never serious

Empty as the mans mind was of thoughts he was keenly observant and he noticed the changes in the creek the curves and bends and timber jams and always he sharply noted where he placed his feet Once coming around a bend he shied abruptly

like a startled horse curved away from the place where he had been walking and retreated several paces back along the trail The creek he knew was frozen clear to the bottom--no creek could contain water in that arctic winter--but he knew also that there were springs that bubbled out from the hillsides and ran along under the snow and on top the ice of the creek He knew that the coldest snaps never froze these springs and he knew likewise their danger They were traps They hid pools of water under the snow that might be three inches deep or three feet Sometimes a skin of ice half an inch thick covered them and in turn was covered by the snow Sometimes there were alternate layers of water and ice-skin so that when one broke through he kept on breaking through for a while sometimes wetting himself to the waist

That was why he had shied in such panic He had felt the give under his feet and heard the crackle of a snow-hidden ice-skin And to get his feet wet in such a temperature meant trouble and danger At the very least it meant delay for he would be forced to stop and build a fire and under its protection to bare his feet while he dried his socks and moccasins He stood and studied the creek-bed and its banks and decided that the flow of water came from the right He reflected a while rubbing his nose and cheeks then skirted to the left stepping gingerly and testing the footing for each step Once clear of the danger he took a fresh chew of tobacco and swung along at his four-mile gait

In the course of the next two hours he came upon several similar traps Usually the snow above the hidden pools had a sunken candied appearance that advertised the danger Once again however he had a close call and once suspecting danger he compelled the dog to go on in front The dog did not want to go It hung back until the man shoved it forward and then it went quickly across the white unbroken surface Suddenly it broke through floundered to one side and got away to firmer

To Build a FireContinued

To Build a FireContinued

footing It had wet its forefeet and legs and almost immediately the water that clung to it turned to ice It made quick efforts to lick the ice off its legs then dropped down in the snow and began to bite out the ice that had formed between the toes l his was a matter of instinct To permit the ice to remain would mean sore feet It did not know this It merely obeyed the mysterious prompting that arose from the deep crypts of its being But the man knew having achieved a judgment on the subject and he removed the mitten from his right hand and helped tear out the ice-particles He did not expose his fingers more than a minute and was astonished at the swift numbness that smote them It certainly was cold He pulled on the mitten hastily and beat the hand savagely across his chest

At twelve oclock the day was at its brightest Yet the sun was too far south an its winter journey to clear the horizon The bulge of the earth intervened between it arid Henderson Creek where the man walked under a clear sky at noon and cast no shadow At half-past twelve to the minute he arrived at the forks of the creek He was pleased at the speed he had made If he kept it up he would certainly be with the boys by six He unbuttoned his jacket and shirt and drew forth his lunch The action consumed no more than a quarter of a minute yet in that brief moment the numbness laid hold of the exposed fingers He did not put the mitten on but instead struck the fingers a dozen sharp smashes against his leg Then he sat down on a snow-covered log to eat The sting that followed upon the striking of his fingers against his leg ceased so quickly that he was startled He had had no chance to take a bite of biscuit He struck the fingers repeatedly and returned them to the mitten baring the other hand for the purpose of eating He tried to take a mouthful but the ice-muzzle prevented He had forgotten to build a fire and thaw out He chuckled at his foolishness and as he chuckled he noted the numbness creeping into the exposed fingers Also he noted that the stinging which had first come to his

toes when he sat down was already passing away He wandered whether the toes were warm or numb He moved them inside the moccasins and decided that they were numb

He pulled the mitten on hurriedly and stood up He was a bit frightened He stamped up and down until the stinging returned into the feet It certainly was cold was his thought That man from Sulphur Creek had spoken the truth when telling how cold it sometimes got in the country And he had laughed at him at the time That showed one must not be too sure of things There was no mistake about it it was cold He strode up and down stamping his feet and threshing his arms until reassured by the returning warmth Then he got out matches and proceeded to make a fire From the undergrowth where high water of the previous spring had lodged a supply of seasoned twigs he got his firewood Working carefully from a small beginning he soon had a roaring fire over which he thawed the ice from his face and in the protection of which he ate his biscuits For the moment the cold space was outwitted The dog took satisfaction in the fire stretching out close enough for warmth and far enough away to escape being singed

When the man had finished be filled his pipe and took his comfortable time over a smoke Then he pulled on his mittens settled the ear-flaps of his cap firmly about his ears and took the creek trail up the left fork The dog was disappointed and yearned back toward the fire This man did not know cold Possibly all the generations of his ancestry had been ignorant of cold of real cold of cold one hundred and seven degrees below freezing point But the dog knew all its ancestry knew and it had inherited the knowledge And it knew that it was not good to walk abroad in such fearful cold It was the time to lie snug in a hole in the snow and wait for a curtain of cloud to be drawn across the face of outer space whence this cold came On the other hand there was no keen intimacy between the dog and the man

The one was the toil-slave of the other and the only caresses it had ever received were the caresses of the whiplash and of harsh and menacing throat-sounds that threatened the whiplash So the dog made no effort to communicate its apprehension to the man It was not concerned in the welfare of the man it was for its own sake that it yearned back toward the fire But the man whistled and spoke to it with the sound of whiplashes and the dog swung in at the mans heel and followed after

The man took a chew of tobacco and proceeded to start a new amber beard Also his moist breath quickly powdered with white his mustache eyebrows and lashes There did not seem to be so many springs on the left fork of the Henderson and for half an hour the man saw no signs of any And then it happened At a place where there were no signs where the soft unbroken snow seemed to advertise solidity beneath tee man broke through It was not deep He wet himself halfway to the knees before he floundered out to the firm crust

He was angry and cursed his luck aloud He had hoped to get into camp with the boys at six oclock and this would delay him an hour for he would have to build a fire and dry out his foot-gear This was imperative at that low temperature--he knew that much and he turned aside to the bank which he climbed On top tangled in the underbrush about the trunks of several small spruce trees was a high-water deposit of dry firewood--sticks and twigs principally but also larger portions of seasoned branches and fine dry last-years grasses He threw down several large pieces on top of the snow This served for a foundation and prevented the young flame from drowning itself in the snow it otherwise would melt The flame he got by touching a match to a small shred of birch bark that he took from his pocket This burned even more readily than paper Placing it on the foundation he fed the young flame with wisps of dry grass and with the tiniest dry twigs

He worked slowly and carefully keenly aware of his danger Gradually as the flame grew stronger he increased the size of the twigs with which he fed it He squatted in the snow pulling the twigs out from their entanglement in the brush and feeding directly to the flame He knew there must be no failure When it is seventy-five below zero a man must not fail in his first attempt to build a fire--that is if his feet are wet If his feet are dry and he fails he can run along the trail for half a mile and restore his circulation But the circulation of wet and freezing feet cannot be restored by running when it is seventy-five below No matter how fast he runs the wet feet will freeze the harder

All this the man knew The old-timer on Sulphur Creek had told him about it the previous fall and now he was appreciating the advice Already all sensation had gone out of his feet To build the fire he had been forced to remove his mittens and the fingers had quickly gone numb His pace of four miles an hour had kept his heart pumping blood to the surface of his body and to all the extremities But the instant he stopped the action of the pump eased down The cold of space smote the unprotected tip of the planet and he being on that unprotected tip received the full force of the blow The blood of his body recoiled before it The blood was alive like the dog and like the dog it wanted to hide away and cover itself up from the fearful cold So long as he walked four miles an hour he pumped that blood willy-nilly to the surface but now it ebbed away and sank down into the recesses of his body The extremities were the first to feel its absence His wet feet froze the faster and his exposed fingers numbed the faster though they had not yet begun to freeze Nose and cheeks were already freezing while the skin of all his body chilled as it lost its blood

But he was safe Toes and nose and cheeks would be only touched by the frost for the fire was beginning to burn with strength He was feeding it

To Build a FireContinued

with twigs the size of his finger In another minute he would be able to feed it with branches the size of his wrier and then he could remove his wet toot-gear and while it dried he could keep his naked feet warm by the fire rubbing them at first of course with snow The fire was a success He was safe He remembered the advice of the old timer on Sulphur Creek and smiled The old-timer had been very serious in laying down the law that no man must travel alone in the Klondike after fifty below Well here he was he had had the accident he was alone and he had saved himself Those old-timers were rather womanish some of them he thought All a man had to do was to keep his head and he was all right Any man who was a man could travel alone But it was surprising the rapidity with which his cheeks and nose were freezing And he had not thought his fingers could go lifeless in so short a time Lifeless they were for he could scarcely make them move together to grip a twig and they seemed remote from his body and from him When he touched a twig he had to look and see whether or not he had hold of it The wires were pretty well down between him and his finger-ends

All of which counted for little There was the fire snapping and crackling and promising life with every dancing flame He started to untie his moccasins They were coated with ice the thick German socks were like sheaths of iron halfway to the knees and the moccasin strings were like rods of steel all twisted and knotted as by some conflagration For a moment he tugged with his numb fingers then realizing the folly of it he drew his sheath-knife

But before he could cut the strings it happened It was his own fault or rather his mistake He should not have built the fire under the spruce tree He should have built it in the open But it had been easier to pull the twigs from the brush and drop them directly on the fire Now the tree under which

he had done this carried a weight of snow on its boughs No wind had blown for weeks and each bough was fully freighted Each time he had pulled a twig he had communicated a slight agitation to the tree--an imperceptible agitation so far as he was concerned but an agitation sufficient to bring about the disaster High up in the tree one bough capsized its load of snow This fell on the boughs beneath capsizing them This process continued spreading out and involving the whole tree It grew like an avalanche and it descended without warning upon the man and the fire and the fire was blotted out Where it had burned was a mantle of fresh and disordered snow

The man was shocked It was as though he had just heard his own sentence of death For a moment he sat and stared at the spot where the fire had been Then he grew very calm Perhaps the old-timer on Sulphur Creek was right If he had only had a trail-mate he would have been in no danger now The trail-mate could have built the fire Well it was up to him to build the fire over again and this second time there must be no failure Even if he succeeded he would most likely lose some toes His feet must be badly frozen by now and there would be some time before the second fire Was ready

Such were his thoughts but he did not sit and think them He was busy all the time they were passing through his mind He made a new foundation for a fire this time in the open where no treacherous tree could blot it out Next he gathered dry grasses and tiny twigs from the high-water flotsam He could not bring his fingers together to pull them out but he was able to gather them by the handful In this way he got many rotten twigs and bits of green moss that were undesirable but it was the best he could do He worked methodically even collecting an armful of the larger branches to be used later when the fire gathered strength And all the while the dog sat and watched him a certain yearning wistfulness in its eyes for it looked upon

To Build a FireContinued

him as the fire-provider and the fire was slow in coming

When all was ready the man reached in his pocket for a second piece of birch bark He knew the bark was there and though he could not feel it with his fingers he could hear its crisp rustling as he fumbled for it Try as he would he could not clutch hold of it And all the time in his consciousness was the knowledge that each instant his feet were freezing This thought tended to put him in a panic but he fought against it and kept calm He pulled on his mittens with his teeth and threshed his arms back and forth beating his hands with all his might against his sides He did this sitting down and he stood up to do it and all the while the dog sat in the snow its wolf-brush of a tail curled around warmly over its forefeet its sharp wolf-ears pricked forward intently as it watched the man And the man as he beat and threshed with his arms and hands felt a great surge of envy as he regarded the creature that was warm ant secure in its natural covering

After a time he was aware of the first far-away signals of sensation in his beaten fingers The faint tingling grew stronger till it evolved into a stinging ache that was excruciating but which the man hailed with satisfaction He stripped the mitten from his right hand and fetched forth the birch bark The exposed fingers were quickly going numb again Next he brought out his bunch of sulphur matches But the tremendous cold had already driven the life out of his fingers In his effort to separate one match from the others the whole bunch fell in the snow He tried to pick it out of the snow but failed The dead fingers could neither touch nor clutch He was very careful He drove the thought of his freezing feet and nose and cheeks out of his mind devoting his whole soul to the matches He watched using the sense of vision in place of that of touch and when he saw his fingers on each side the bunch he dosed them--that is he willed to close them for the wires were down and the fingers did not obey He pulled

the mitten on the right hand and beat it fiercely against his knee Then with both mittened hands he scooped the bunch of matches along with much snow into his lap Yet he was no better off

After some manipulation he managed to get the bunch between the heels of his mittened hands In this fashion he carried it to his mouth The ice crackled and snapped when by a violent effort he opened his mouth He drew the lower jaw in curled the upper lip out of the way and scraped the bunch with his upper teeth in order to separate a match He succeeded in getting one which he dropped on his lap He was no better off He could not pick it up Then he devised a way He picked it up in his teeth and scratched it on his leg Twenty times he scratched before he succeeded in lighting it As it flamed he held it with his teeth to the birch bark But the burning brimstone went up his nostrils and into his lungs causing him to cough spasmodically The match fell into the snow and went out

The old-timer an Sulphur Creek was right he thought in the moment of controlled despair that ensued after fifty below a man should travel with a partner He beat his hands but failed in exciting any sensation Suddenly he bared both hands removing the mittens with his teeth He caught the whole bunch between the heels of his hands His arm muscles not being frozen enabled him to press the hand-heels tightly against the matches Then he scratched the bunch along his leg It flared into flame seventy sulphur matches at once There was no wind to blow them out He kept his head to one side to escape the strangling fumes and held the blazing bunch to the birth bark As he so held it he became aware of sensation in his hand His flesh was burning He could smell it Deep down below the surface he could feel it The sensation developed into pain that grew acute And still he endured it holding the flame of the matches clumsily to the bark that would not light readily because his own burning hands were in the way absorbing most of the flame

To Build a FireContinued

At last when he could endure no more he jerked his hands apart The blazing matches fell sizzling into the snow but the birch bark was alight He began laying dry grasses and the tiniest twigs on the flame He could not pick and choose for he had to lift the fuel between the heels of his hands Small pieces of rotten wood and green moss clung to the twigs and he bit them off as well as he could with his teeth He cherished the flame carefully and awkwardly It meant life and it must not perish The withdrawal of blood from the surface of his body now made him begin to shiver and he grew more awkward A large piece of green moss fell squarely on the little fire He tried to poke it out with his fingers but his shivering frame made him poke too far and he disrupted the nucleus of the little fire the burning grasses and tiny twigs separating and scattering He tried to poke them together again but in spite of the tenseness of the effort his shivering got away with him and the twigs were hopelessly scattered Each twig gushed a puff of smoke and went out The fire-provider had failed As he looked apathetically about him his eyes chanced on the dog sitting across the ruins of the fire from him in the snow making restless hunching movements slightly lifting one forefoot and then the other shifting its weight back and forth on them with wistful eagerness

The sight of the dog put a wild idea into his head He remembered the tale of the man caught in a blizzard who killed a steer and crawled inside the carcass and so was saved He would kill the dog and bury his hands in the warm body until the numbness went out of them Then he could build another fire He spoke to the dog calling it to him but in his voice was a strange note of fear that frightened the animal who had never known the man to speak in such way before Something was the matter and its suspicious nature sensed danger--it knew not what danger but somewhere somehow in its brain arose an apprehension of the man It flattened its ears down at the sound of the mans voice and its restless

hunching movements and the liftings and shiftings of its forefeet became more pronounced but it would not come to the man He got on his hands and knees and crawled toward the dog This unusual posture again excited suspicion and the animal sidled mincingly away

The man sat up in the snow for a moment and struggled for calmness Then he pulled on his mittens by means of his teeth and got upon his feet He glanced down at first in order to assure himself that he was really standing up for the absence of sensation in his feet left him unrelated to the earth His erect position in itself started to drive the webs of suspicion from the dogs mind and when he spoke peremptorily with the sound of whiplashes in his voice the dog rendered its customary allegiance and came to him As it came within reaching distance the man lost his control His arms flashed out to the dog and he experienced genuine surprise when he discovered that his hands could not clutch that there was neither bend nor feeling in the fingers He had forgotten for the moment that they were frozen and that they were freezing more and more All this happened quickly and before the animal could get away he encircled its body with his arms He sat down in the snow and in this fashion held the dog while it snarled and whined and struggled

But it was all he could do hold its body encircled in his arms and sit there He realized that he could not kill the dog There was no way to do it With his helpless hands he could neither draw nor hold his sheath knife nor throttle the animal He released it and it plunged wildly away with tail between its legs and still snarling It halted forty feet away and surveyed him curiously with ears sharply pricked forward The man looked down at his hands in order to locate them and found them hanging on the ends of his arms It struck him as curious that one should have to use his eyes in order to find out where his hands were He began threshing his arms back and forth beating the mittened hands against

To Build a FireContinued

his sides He did this for five minutes violently and his heart pumped enough blood up to the surface to put a stop to his shivering But no sensation was aroused in the hands He had an impression that they hung like weights on the ends of his arms but when he tried to run the impression down he could not find it

A certain fear of death dull and oppressive came to him This fear quickly became poignant as he realized that it was no longer a mere matter of freezing his fingers and toes or of losing his hands and feet but that it was a matter of life and death with the chances against him This threw him into a panic and he turned and ran up the creek-bed along the old dim trail The dog joined in behind and kept up with him He ran blindly without intention in fear such as he had never known in his life Slowly as he plowed and floundered through the snow he began to see things again the banks of the creek the old timber-jams the leafless aspens and the sky The running made him feel better He did not shiver Maybe if he ran on his feet would thaw out and anyway if he ran far enough he would reach camp and the boys Without doubt he would lose some fingers and toes and some of his face but the boys would take care of him and save the rest of him when he got there And at the same time there was another thought in his mind that said he would never get to the camp and the boys that it was too many miles away that the freezing had too great a start on him and that he would soon be stiff and dead This thought he kept in the background and refused to consider Sometimes it pushed itself forward and demanded to be heard but he thrust it back and strove to think of other things

It struck him as curious that he could run at all on feet so frozen that he could not feel them when they struck the earth and took the weigh of his body He seemed to himself to skim along above the surface and to have no connection with the earth Somewhere he had once seen a winged Mercury

and he wondered if Mercury felt as he felt when skimming over the earth

His theory of running until he reached camp and the boys had one flaw in it he lacked the endurance Several times he stumbled and finally he tottered crumpled up and fell When he tried to rise he failed He must sit and rest he decided and next time he would merely walk and keep on going As he sat and regained his breath he noted that he was feeling quite warm and comfortable He was not shivering and it even seemed that a warm glow had come to his chest and trunk And yet when he touched his nose or cheeks there was no sensation Running would not thaw them out Nor would it thaw out his hands and feet Then the thought came to him that the frozen portions of his body must be extending He tried to keep this thought down to forget it to think of something else he was aware of the panicky feeling that it caused and he was afraid of the panic But the thought asserted itself and persisted until it produced a vision of his body totally frozen This was too much and he made another wild run along the trail Once he slowed down to a walk but the thought of the freezing extending itself made him run again

And all the time the dog ran with him at his heels When he fell down a second time it curled its tad over its forefeet and sat in front of him facing him curiously eager and intent The warmth and security of the animal angered him and he cursed it till it flattened down its ears appealingly This time the shivering came more quickly upon the man He was losing in his battle with the frost It was creeping into his body from all sides The thought of it drove him on but he ran no more than a hundred feet when he staggered and pitched headlong It was his last panic When he had recovered his breath and control he sat up and entertained in his mind the conception of meeting death with dignity However the conception did not come to him in such terms His idea of it was that he had been making a fool of

To Build a FireContinued

himself running around like a chicken with its head cut off--such was the simile that occurred to him Well he was bound to freeze anyway and he might as well take it decently With this new-found peace of mind came the first glimmerings of drowsiness A good idea he thought to sleep off to death It was like salting an anesthetic Freezing was not so bad as people thought There were lots worse ways to die

He pictured the boys finding his body next day Suddenly he found himself with them coming along the trail and looking for himself And still with them he came around a turn in the trail and found himself lying in the snow He did not belong with himself any more for even then he was out of himself standing with the boys and looking at himself in the snow It certainly was cold was his thought When he got back to the States he could tell the folks what real cold was He drifted on from this to a vision of the old-timer on Sulphur Creek He could see him quite clearly warm and comfortable and smoking a pipe

You were right old boss you were right the man mumbled to the old-timer of Sulphur Creek

Then the man drowsed off into what seemed to him the most comfortable and satisfying sleep he had ever known The dog sat facing him and waiting The brief day drew to a close in a long slow twilight There were no signs of a fire to be made and besides never in the dogs experience had it known a man to sit like that in the snow and make no fire As the twilight drew on its eager yearning for the fire mastered it and with a great lifting and shifting of forefeet it whined softly then flattened its ears down in anticipation of being chidden by the man But the man remained silent Later the dog whined loudly And still later it crept close to the man and caught the scent of death This made the animal bristle and back away A little longer it delayed howling under the stars that leaped and danced and shone brightly in the cold sky Then it turned and trotted up the trail in the direction of the camp it knew where were the other food-providers and fire-providers

To Build a FireContinued

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Page 27: FitnessDigest.us Vol. 4.3 Cover

In my first creative experience it was through music and I was interested in developing my values of creativity I was inspired by a band named Motley Crue and the song that captured my interest was Home Sweet home Dear reader what inspires you Is it music or inspirational quote thought or ideas To express how this song motivated my interests it helped give me faith in my own creative abilities in the process I began to write lyrics I eventually began to work on different styles of writing and broaden my writing skills What types of music inspire your creative thoughts What types of other inspiration values inspire your creative thoughts

13 Getting motivated is one of the key aspects of a successful weight-loss program Without this motivation there would be no drive to get up early or to avoid eating unhealthy snacks ndash that you absolutely love Yes you can thank your motivation for that When you are looking for weight-loss motivation sometimes it is hard to find Where can you find that extra umph to make it to your goal

The benefits of finding a motivator are something that cannot be paralleled It has been said mind over matter This coincides with our principle that no matter how hard the task you can accomplish the goal given the right mindset It is important to go into a new weight-loss program with a positive mental attitude

FINDI

NG TH

EM X InspirationX

Motivation

When I was introduced to William Shakespeare I was intrigued by his creative values and I started to work on developing a different aspect of writing I then watched the movie Free Jack there was a quote by Albert Einstein Imagination is more important than knowledge I thought about the in depth values of both concepts and then I applied both concepts and defined different creative concept Do you believe that anything is possible if you believe I know that I do believe that if an individual believes deeply enough one can accomplish their goals I had to believe in my own abilities and in my dreams and ignore the negative values that were impressed by others

Anything less can potentially hinder growth towards your goal

Some of the things that you should be thinking about when looking for motivators are people with good morals and a positive attitude This is because if the people helping you do not have a positive attitude then it is also difficult for you Some great places to look for a motivator are online blogs in the gym or even in your own family I am sure that in all of these places you will see someone else trying to accomplish the same or even more difficult goals than your own

Another key to finding motivation is to let it find you You should not have to go find a reason to go do something You will do it because you wanted to not because you were forced to

X

InspirationMotivation

More simply put motivation will find you because you will see something that inspires you to make a change in yourself That change may be a weight-loss goal or something else Maybe even an academic goal The true key is to maintain that motivation until you have achieved your goal

Regards Vincent ErrichielloUSMS Swimmer

InspirationMotivation

With believing so deeply within my own abilities and the faith that I could accomplish what I set out to achieve I wrote a lyric titled Dreams Are Only Real and in believing in this concept further defining its true meaning the concept became Dreams Are Only Real Until You Dont believe

Jeremy J TaylorCNFI Publishing

himTHROWINGWritten by anonymous contributor

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13 Johnny is not the best batter in our little league Matter-of-fact he is quiet awful At practice one afternoon Johnny hit a pitch really well The coach had pitched him inside on accident far enough inside that it almost hit him Johnny got his hit by using his bat to defend himself from that arrant pitch The coach told him ldquogood hitrdquo and Johnny yelled back ldquoWell I didnrsquot want the ball to hit merdquo13 Johnny improved his batting after that He was hitting the ball almost every time he got up At one point I said to coach ldquoHow did you get Johnny to improve his batting so quicklyrdquo He replyed Im throwing the ball it AT HIM every time

Body image and fitness are hot topics for both men and women The Great Fitness Experiment is my hilarious poignant embarrassing and at times heart-breaking journey to find my way through the morass of contradictory claims and information in todayrsquos health- and fitness-obsessed world

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-shi

rts

13 I was standing on shore fishing in my favorite spot A guy Irsquove never seen at the pond gets in and starts swimming After about 25 minutes of back and forth he stops at a place about 30 yards off shore He gives me a quick look and dices down below the water

His next lap he stops in the same place looks at me again and points down at the water He finished his swim and left I picked up my gear and moved to the other side of the outlet just a few yards from where he had stopped twice Caught a lunker in the first cast

Swim Signs - Lunker

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Call to order 641ndash423ndash3111

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TOP TWEETS

Iowa Cubs (IowaCubs)Thanks to all our fans who showed up for the pre-game on-field catch with dad

Louise Pineda (forerunnerGPS)The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficultyWinston Churchill quotes

Softball Darlin (Softball_Darlin)My mom told me our team was gettin white uniforms for summer amp to try not to get them dirty Uh Have you seen me play Not gonna happen

I Swim I Suffer (ISwimISuffer)thatswimmerwho If the water is in your right ear for example then jump on your right leg and lean your head to the right side while jumping

I Swim and I Know It (iSwimWithIssues)During the summer you shower 467 times at the pool 17 times at hotels and 3 times at your house Truth

Everyday Health (WomensCancer)63000 Americans will be diagnosed w malignant melanoma (the deadliest skin cancer) this year Know your risk

US Paralympics (USParalympics)Want to be introduced to Paralympic sport Attend one of the Paralympic Experiences being held throughout the countryFi

tnes

sDig

est

US v

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2

SwimSwam (swimswamnews)Congrats to KenyaSwimmer on being selected to carry the Kenya flag swimswamcom

Better than sharing on a blog Twitter or Facebook and you can share a story even if you donrsquot maintain a social-web presencePublished for ALL FitnessDigestus readers

Sign with your real name pen-name or anonymoushttpLiveMediaFitnessDigestus

13 Funnest thing SPAM about some weight-loss supplements got posted on a friendrsquos Facebook My friend is an ultra-runner I notice there was also an ad for salami recipes on the same page The recipes were right next to the SPAM about diet-pills

13 Letrsquos see ndash it sounds like the beginning of a good joke Q What do you get when a friend tries to sell you ultra-runner endorsed salami-flavored-SPAM diet-pills on Facebook Answer Sick

Unsung Heroes1 Irsquove never swam open water and wanted to do a triathlon A friend that

races open water took extra time to swim with me at a lake I was much more comfortable after that

2 I was going on vacation and needed advice on a place to swim A friend living in the area took the time to help me find people to answer my questions

3 I was over eating and had complained to my friend about it She called me twice a day for three weeks just to remind me to eat healthy

4 I usually run to and from the gym It takes about 30 minutes to run both ways I didnrsquot have enough time to get there and back before a scheduled appointment I had A friend drove me to the gym saving me about 30 minutes I was able to run home and still had time to get to my appointment

SPAM DIET

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Visit the Suburban Mommy blog and learn more about AtresiaMicrotia a birth defect of the inner earFor links to SubMommy blog httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

SUBMOMMYBLOG

On Wednesday May 16 2012 at 7 PM simultaneous rides occurred around the

USA and the world

We all ride Now we can ride as one

One day One time One world world wide

Let the silence roar

322 locations world wide

The Ride of SilenceTonight we number many but ride as one

In honor of those not with us friends

mothers fathers sisters sons

With helmets on tight and heads down low

We ride in silence cautious and slow

The wheels start spinning in the lead pack

But tonight we ride and no one attacks

The dark sunglasses cover our tears

Remembering those we held so dear

Tonights ride is to make others aware

The road is there for all to share

To those not with us or by our side

May God be your partner on your final ride

- Mike Murgas

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 50 states

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 7 Continents

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 0 words spoken

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 1 million memories

Ride of Silence

ldquoCost-effective investments in bicycling boost our economy help individuals and government agencies save money and directly address key societal challenges such as obesity and road congestion In these tough economic times our federal government can only afford to invest in solutions that solve multiple problems Bicycling fits the billrdquo ndash PeopleForBikesorg

This photo collection was taken byRobert LaVallee of Mason City IA

To see his entire collection visithttpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

Non-subscriberSign-up for delivery of

the FREE edition at coopnetbiz

It provides an outstanding aerobic workout in less than half the time we would spend in still water It has allowed us as swim coaches to observe swimmers stroke characteristics up close and to see the effects of fatigue on stroke mechanics ~ Larry L Chazy NY

Swimming is an excellent exercise and now I can swim every day because its so convenient and private I can swim when I want and how long I want Im able to have it at a temperature that is comfortable to me The small size of an Endless Pool enabled me to install a pool where I could not install a regular size one

As an aging baby boomer nutrition professional I have yearned for consistent exercise that doesnt stress joints and will enable me to attain physical fitness cardiovascular health and weight control I can eat what I want and still firm up and lose weight ~ John C Columbus OH

Endless Pools make for long swims in small places The 8x15 Endless Pool is less than regulation size but offers the same benefits as a very large pool ~ Noah H Connecticut Post

The Endless Pool is a great strength builder I am amazed at the strength of the current I now swim against I did not buy it for that reason but because of my arthritis so the strength gain is a wonderful surprise

Endless PoolsTestimonials For more information visit httpLIveAdsFitnessDigestus

s w i m m i n g s h o r t s

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Baseball Walking Stick13 My sons friend grabbed his baseball bat and said to me this is my walking stick I politely ask him why he calls it that He replied because my dad says if I hit a home run with it I donrsquot have to run the bases ndash I can walk

My Bike My mountain bike was stolen a while back and my kids were really upset Ive been riding my road bike in its place Since then Ive been careful to lock my bike up when we go to the park

13 On this occasion I did not lock-up my sonrsquos bike up with mine He looked at me quizzically and said sternly lock my bike up too I tried to explain that his bike was not as expensive and therefor didnt need to be locked up Boy that was a mistake He made me feel a little dumb when he said Dad I dont care how expensive it is Its the only bike Irsquove got

North Iowa Roads

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A LEADER inSearch Engine Optimization

Technology

Increase your visitor page views and Facebook Likes

Are you moving to a new state Already hired your mover

E-mail blind box at box02FitnessDigestus will get

you the best rates on cable phone and internet

Digital Movers

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

parent sports tipBy FitnessDigestus staff writer JGA

PAR

EN

T

TIP

Keeping Kids Focused13 Organize their thoughts Help them prioritize and make decisions based on value Even kids can understand the value of simple non-monetized choices Questions like ldquoShould I finish playing my gameboy game or pause it when they call my swimming eventrdquo

If kids are taught to make good decisions and not just find quick answers everyone wins

AugustGolf Month5th Friendship Day15th Relaxation Day25th Kiss and Make Up Day31st Trail Mix DaySeptemberLittle League Month12th Chocolate Milk Shake Day13th Positive Thinking Day16th Womenrsquos Friendship Day21st Miniature Golf DayOctoberBreast Cancer Awareness MonthNational Diabetes Month1st World Vegetarian Day4th Golf Day25th World Pasta Day

National Calendar

Au

gu

stSe

pte

mb

er

Oc

tob

er

Encourage friendships writing skills sharing thoughts and

experiencesEight different cards

YAGOTTAWANNA

Variety of pricing From single orders to bulk orders of 24 notecards

Learn more online

Stay in touch with your swimming or triathlon buddies

It is better to be safe then to try to beat the heat There are many options to stay cool and run during a hot-summer day Staying inside and running on the treadmill is a good one Remember staying safe is a top priority

Most workouts can be modified to work indoors This issuersquos workout is to do your usual run or interval set just stay inside and run it on the treadmill Visualize the different landmarks to see during your outdoor run

Coach Millerrsquos Quarterly ChallengeStay safe in the heatBy Mark Miller mmillerFitnessDigestus

A few years back we had a hot-spell similar to this yearrsquos record heat

I remember training for a long run and having to stop at the local swimming hole to cool off I literally took off my

shoes and jumped in with my running clothes on I was so hot

FitnessDigestUSEntertainment amp Inspiration

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OPEN WATER SWIMMING BY THE NUMBERS

In kilometers The shortest open water race included in the Fina World Championships

10107 How many miles it

is to swim from Cuba to the USA

5

1000Number of swimming strokes in a mile for a typical swimmer

31800About the number of calories it takes to swim 100 miles

LOCATED IN ST ANSGAR IOWA

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Letterheads Programs

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Posters Invites (graduation wedding showers etc)

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T-ShirtsShorts SweatshirtsSweats

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Postcards And Much More

Bridgette Beyer DesignerOwner

Bring your ideas in andVisual Aspect Designs can print

andor design for you

The minimum open water distance in kilometers that is considered a swimming-

marathon

On Facebook Visit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

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Open water safety means swimming in shallow water where there is a lifeguard or using an escort

Shop for Name BrandGear

24 Hoursa Day

WaynesSkiandCyclenet

For links to Waynersquos visit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

s w i m m i n g s h o r t s

Googles

13 Swimming fans can really appreciate a 200 IM when their goggles fill with water How about an Olympian Swimming a leg of the 400 Free Relay with his goggles across his opened mouth ndash and going 45rsquos A great team swimmer an Olympian wouldnrsquot let down his teammates by throwing them off or fixing them

500 Fly13 A world class butterflyer asked if he could swim butterfly in the 500 yard freestyle during a dual meet His goal was to break five minutes After considering the competition it seemed like a great way to make him really work a hard fly swim so we agreed Problem was he swam a 502 and the opposing coach complained to the officials because he embarrassed his swimmers Oh well you canrsquot win lsquoem all

Stories sent in by Robert Steele

No-No-No13 The other morning I was teaching front-streamlines to snotty nosed 8 year olds (some are literally snotty-nosed) One boy was taking a big gulp of air and holding his breath When he lifted his head he had to exhale and inhale before submerging again Swimmers will understand this does not work very well Kids need to learn to exhale underwater The first time he did it I told him to exhale underwater The second time I stopped him looked him in the eye and reminded him to exhale underwater The third and fourth times I started to get a little frustrated ldquoJohnny you need to exhale underwater so you can breath betterrdquo The fifth time as his head popped up for a breath I quickly asked ldquoJohnny Do you even know what exhale meansrdquo as he submerged his head below the water I could see him shake his head no-no-no

Favorite Potato Chips13We try to limit the junk food the kids eat at our house For lunch one day our son wanted some potato chips I gave him 3 large chips with his sandwich He started to cry and said he wanted one more chip ldquoI wanted four chipsrdquo he screamed I took the plate back When he wasnt looking I broke a chip in half and give it back to him with four chips

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

13 My cancer story is one of uniqueness Leave it to me to do something like cancer to its fullest It did not begin with a mammogram diagnosis or a lump My journey began about 4 years ago with some suspicious activity that turned into Pagetrsquos disease of the nipple which signaled the underlying cancer On April 1st I found out about my breast cancer through a biopsy that came back as positive for Pagetrsquos disease The onslaught of tests learning and decisions were dizzying I immediately went for an evaluation of the suspicious tissue and had to begin making decisions for my mastectomy I quickly learned there is a test called the BRAC Analysis which is a genetic test for breast and ovarian cancer Finally a piece of good news for me I did not have the gene

Decisions Now it was time to make decisions about my mastectomy and how I was going to handle reconstruction I discussed my options with my boyfriend Brian friends family members and even my principalboss I read books searched the Internet and contacted people I

Brandi ShipmanCancer Survivor and elite triathlete

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

know and knew from my past that had been directly affected and that I thought might have answers for me The outpouring of love encouragement and help during this process was overwhelming After meeting with four different doctors two surgeons and two plastic surgeons I decided to go with immediate reconstruction and was lucky enough to find two wonderful doctors They were willing to work together just because I wanted them to even though they had never done so before My surgery was scheduled for mid May

Mental Toughness13 My mental preparation at this point was very important I had to scrap any idea of competing in triathlons for the rest of the year and focus on a positive attitude of getting better I stopped thinking about what I wasnrsquot going to able to do and started thinking about what I could do that I was alive and kept my mind on the fact that so many others had made it before me

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links

Part 213 I was prepared by the doctors survivors and literature to be ldquodownrdquo for several weeks after my surgery I even took the rest of the school year off My surgery went well and I was out of the hospital the next day A few friends came to visit while I was in the hospital and my principal and vice principal brought the most wonderful picture of the faculty wearing pink for me I can only imagine what it looked like at Thornton Elementary on that day in May 2009 a sea of pink all for Brandi Shipman Shortly after their visit I received a text from my friend Margie Massey My friends from the gym wore pink for me that day as well The support brought tears to my eyes I was so excited to come home and be comfortable in my own home I just wish the stupid drain that was attached could have stayed at the hospital The pain from that was worse than the pain from the mastectomy

the most

powerful picture

13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Recovery ndash May13 Once I got home I slept and watched a lot of TV Friends visited and brought yummy food and my favorites I am not supposed to eat I ate them all My friend and co-worker set up a cancer care calendar that alerted anyone who logged on when I was having a doctorrsquos appointment or when I was in need of anything I felt like royalty as everyone took care of me I think Brian secretly enjoyed the fact that he wouldnrsquot have to cook for me each night My recovery was quicker than I thought as I was doing my best to get better and get the stinkinrsquo drain out of my skin I was out walking within a week and running within 3 weeks I couldnrsquot believe my recovery I know it was from all the prayers love and good care from Brian and the loved ones around me Life was looking better each day

ldquoLife was looking

better each dayrdquo

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Part three and part

four of I am Survivor

will be published in

the next edition of

FitnessDigestus

Get the convenience of

digital-delivery

Sign-up or subscribe at

httpFitnessDigestus

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During the past 150 years we have witnessed many remarkable advances against cancer a disease known to humanity for thousands of years The advances highlighted below represent a sampling of what has been accomplished to date

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

1882 William Halsted performs the first radical mastectomy to treat breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast the lymph nodes under the arm (axillary lymph nodes) and the chest muscles behind the breast (pectoralis major and pectoralis minor muscles) are removed Radical mastectomy will remain the standard operation for breast cancer until latter half of the 20th century when the use of modified radical mastectomy becomes widely accepted

1932 David H Patey develops the modified radical mastectomy for breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast axillary lymph nodes and pectoralis minor muscle behind the breast are removed The modified radical mastectomy is less disfiguring than the radical mastectomy and will eventually replace the radical mastectomy as a standard treatment option for breast cancer

1953 James Watson and Francis Crick discover the molecular structure of DNA (the double helix)

1963 The Health Insurance Plan (HIP) of Greater New York Study begins HIP is the first randomized controlled trial of periodic breast cancer screening with mammography

1882

1932

1953

1963

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1976 The results of a randomized clinical trial show that women with early breast cancer who receive post-operative (adjuvant) combination chemotherapy with the drugs cyclophosphamide methotrexate and 5-FU have improved disease-free survival

1981 A randomized clinical trial in the United Kingdom shows for the first time that the rates of survival local recurrence and tumor metastasis among women whose breast cancer is treated with modified radical mastectomy are not substantially different from those of women who are treated with radical mastectomy

1993 An NCI-convened international workshop on screening for breast cancer reports that screening with mammography reduces breast cancer mortality among women ages 50-69 This conclusion is based on a review of published and unpublished data from eight randomized controlled trials

2004 Data from the Womens Health Initiative (WHI) study show that women who take estrogen in combination with the hormone progestin have a greater risk of developing breast cancer than women who take estrogen alone The results also show that menopausal hormone therapy with estrogen alone has no benefit in disease prevention specifically in reducing the risks of colorectal cancer coronary heart disease and dementia

1976

1981

1993

2004

Although we still have a long way to go to reduce the toll of cancer in the United States and worldwide our research and public health efforts are beginning to pay dividends

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

Volunteering vs Participating13 My girl friend and I are involved in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation The local chapter raises awareness for the cause with a fun-run each year We have volunteered to help with the race five years in a row This year we were stationed at a water table where the runners pick-up cups of water to drink Toward the end of the race there are very few runners There was a little time to chat about things We were talking about what we would wish for if we could have three wishes I told her I would wish for an end to Juvenile Diabetes and to lose 10 pounds Being nice I said ldquoyou can have my last wishrdquo She said I wish you would skip volunteering and just run this race next year

Admission Price Our aquatic center was having a promotion one night and advertised an elementary school night The kids could swim for free When we got to the pool we saw a promotional sign for the event In small lettering it read All swimmers must be accompanied by an adult We thought no big deal one of us can just stay and watch When we got to the front desk we found the lifeguard was enforcing the adult-admission price of $8

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CNFI Publishing - Products Books Chapbooks Bookmarks Plaques and Poetry Collector Cards Merchandising Products Coffee Mugs Mouse Pads Tiles 3x6 Coasters T - Shirts and Wall Plaques More info athttpliveadsFitnessDigestus

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

Featured PhotosFitnessDigestus feature

Chicago open water swim course at nighttop left

Kids race at Bicycle Blues and BBQtop right

Some team members volunteer at the local soup kitchenmiddle right

Ken Mauer loads the balls for hitting practice during a Twins baseball camp for

children 7-13 bottom right

Get your local event photos published in the next issue of FitnessDigestus E-mail

your photo to photoFitnessDigestus

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As he turned to go on he spat speculatively There was a sharp explosive crackle that startled him He spat again And again in the air before it could fall to the snow the spittle crackled He knew that at fifty below spittle crackled on the snow but this spittle had crackled in the air Undoubtedly it was colder than fifty below--how much colder he did not know But the temperature did not matter He was bound for the old claim on the left fork of Henderson Creek where the boys were already They had come over across the divide from the Indian Creek country while he had come the roundabout way to take a look at the possibilities of getting out logs in the spring from the islands in the Yukon He would be in to camp by six oclock a bit after dark it was true but the boys would be there a fire would be going and a hot supper would be ready As for lunch he pressed his hand against the protruding bundle under his jacket It was also under his shirt wrapped up in a handkerchief and lying against the naked skin It was the only way to keep the biscuits from freezing He smiled agreeably to himself as he thought of those biscuits each cut open and sopped in bacon grease and each enclosing a generous slice of fried bacon

He plunged in among the big spruce trees The trail was faint A foot of snow had fallen since the last sled had passed over and he was glad he was without a sled traveling light In fact he carried nothing but the lunch wrapped in the handkerchief He was surprised however at the cold It certainly was cold he concluded as he rubbed his numb nose and cheek-bones with his mittened hand He was a warm-whiskered man but the hair on his face did not protect the high cheek-bones and the eager nose that thrust itself aggressively into the frosty air

At the mans heels trotted a dog a big native husky the proper wolf-dog gray-coated and without any visible or temperamental difference from its brother the wild wolf The animal was depressed by the tremendous cold It knew that it was no time for

traveling Its instinct told it a truer tale than was told to the man by the mans judgment In reality it was not merely colder than fifty below zero it was colder than sixty below than seventy below It was seventy-five below zero Since the freezing point is thirty-two above zero it meant that one hundred and seven degrees of frost obtained The dog did not know anything about thermometers Possibly in its brain there was no sharp consciousness of a condition of very cold such as was in the mans brain But the brute had its instinct It experienced a vague but menacing apprehension that subdued it then made it slink along at the mans heels and that made it question eagerly every unwonted movement of the man as if expecting him to go into camp or to seek shelter somewhere and build a fire The dog had learned fire and it wanted fire or else to burrow under the snow and cuddle its warmth away from the air

The frozen moisture of its breathing had settled on its fur in a fine powder of frost and especially were its jowls muzzle and eyelashes whitened by its cry-stalled breath The mans red beard and mustache were likewise frosted but more solidly the deposit taking the form of ice and increasing with every warm moist breath he exhaled Also the man was chewing tobacco and the muzzle of ice held his lips so rigidly that he was unable to clear his chin when he expelled the juice The result was that a crystal beard of the color and solidity of amber was increasing its length on his chin If he fell down it would shatter itself like glass into brittle fragments But he did not mind the appendage It was the penalty all tobacco-chewers paid in that country and he had been out before in two cold snaps They had not been so cold as this he knew but by the spirit thermometer at Sixty Mile he knew they had been registered at fifty below and at fifty-five

He held on through the level stretch of woods for several miles crossed a wide flat of rigger-heads and dropped down a bank to the frozen bed of a

To Build a FireContinued

small stream This was Henderson Creek and he knew he was ten miles from the forks He looked at his watch It was ten oclock He was making four miles an hour and he calculated that he would arrive at the forks at half-past twelve He decided to celebrate that event by eating his lunch there

The dog dropped in again at his heels with a tail drooping discouragement as the man swung along the creek-bed The furrow of the old sled-trail was plainly visible but a dozen inches of snow covered the marks of the last runners In a month no man had come up or down that silent creek The man held steadily on He was not much given to thinking and just then particularly he had nothing to think about save that he would eat lunch at-the forks and that at six oclock he would be in camp with the boys There was nobody to talk to and had there been speech would have been impossible because of the ice-muzzle on his mouth So he continued monotonously to chew tobacco and to increase the length of his amber beard

Once in a while the thought reiterated itself that it was very cold and that he had never experienced such cold As he walked along he rubbed his cheek-bones and nose with the back of his mittened hand He did this automatically now and again changing hands But rub as he would the instant he stopped his cheek-bones went numb and the following instant the end of his nose went numb He was sure to frost his cheeks he knew that and experienced a pang of regret that he had not devised a nose-strap of the sort Bud wore in cold snaps Such a strap passed across the cheeks as well and saved them But it didnt matter much after all What were frosted cheeks A bit painful that was all they were never serious

Empty as the mans mind was of thoughts he was keenly observant and he noticed the changes in the creek the curves and bends and timber jams and always he sharply noted where he placed his feet Once coming around a bend he shied abruptly

like a startled horse curved away from the place where he had been walking and retreated several paces back along the trail The creek he knew was frozen clear to the bottom--no creek could contain water in that arctic winter--but he knew also that there were springs that bubbled out from the hillsides and ran along under the snow and on top the ice of the creek He knew that the coldest snaps never froze these springs and he knew likewise their danger They were traps They hid pools of water under the snow that might be three inches deep or three feet Sometimes a skin of ice half an inch thick covered them and in turn was covered by the snow Sometimes there were alternate layers of water and ice-skin so that when one broke through he kept on breaking through for a while sometimes wetting himself to the waist

That was why he had shied in such panic He had felt the give under his feet and heard the crackle of a snow-hidden ice-skin And to get his feet wet in such a temperature meant trouble and danger At the very least it meant delay for he would be forced to stop and build a fire and under its protection to bare his feet while he dried his socks and moccasins He stood and studied the creek-bed and its banks and decided that the flow of water came from the right He reflected a while rubbing his nose and cheeks then skirted to the left stepping gingerly and testing the footing for each step Once clear of the danger he took a fresh chew of tobacco and swung along at his four-mile gait

In the course of the next two hours he came upon several similar traps Usually the snow above the hidden pools had a sunken candied appearance that advertised the danger Once again however he had a close call and once suspecting danger he compelled the dog to go on in front The dog did not want to go It hung back until the man shoved it forward and then it went quickly across the white unbroken surface Suddenly it broke through floundered to one side and got away to firmer

To Build a FireContinued

To Build a FireContinued

footing It had wet its forefeet and legs and almost immediately the water that clung to it turned to ice It made quick efforts to lick the ice off its legs then dropped down in the snow and began to bite out the ice that had formed between the toes l his was a matter of instinct To permit the ice to remain would mean sore feet It did not know this It merely obeyed the mysterious prompting that arose from the deep crypts of its being But the man knew having achieved a judgment on the subject and he removed the mitten from his right hand and helped tear out the ice-particles He did not expose his fingers more than a minute and was astonished at the swift numbness that smote them It certainly was cold He pulled on the mitten hastily and beat the hand savagely across his chest

At twelve oclock the day was at its brightest Yet the sun was too far south an its winter journey to clear the horizon The bulge of the earth intervened between it arid Henderson Creek where the man walked under a clear sky at noon and cast no shadow At half-past twelve to the minute he arrived at the forks of the creek He was pleased at the speed he had made If he kept it up he would certainly be with the boys by six He unbuttoned his jacket and shirt and drew forth his lunch The action consumed no more than a quarter of a minute yet in that brief moment the numbness laid hold of the exposed fingers He did not put the mitten on but instead struck the fingers a dozen sharp smashes against his leg Then he sat down on a snow-covered log to eat The sting that followed upon the striking of his fingers against his leg ceased so quickly that he was startled He had had no chance to take a bite of biscuit He struck the fingers repeatedly and returned them to the mitten baring the other hand for the purpose of eating He tried to take a mouthful but the ice-muzzle prevented He had forgotten to build a fire and thaw out He chuckled at his foolishness and as he chuckled he noted the numbness creeping into the exposed fingers Also he noted that the stinging which had first come to his

toes when he sat down was already passing away He wandered whether the toes were warm or numb He moved them inside the moccasins and decided that they were numb

He pulled the mitten on hurriedly and stood up He was a bit frightened He stamped up and down until the stinging returned into the feet It certainly was cold was his thought That man from Sulphur Creek had spoken the truth when telling how cold it sometimes got in the country And he had laughed at him at the time That showed one must not be too sure of things There was no mistake about it it was cold He strode up and down stamping his feet and threshing his arms until reassured by the returning warmth Then he got out matches and proceeded to make a fire From the undergrowth where high water of the previous spring had lodged a supply of seasoned twigs he got his firewood Working carefully from a small beginning he soon had a roaring fire over which he thawed the ice from his face and in the protection of which he ate his biscuits For the moment the cold space was outwitted The dog took satisfaction in the fire stretching out close enough for warmth and far enough away to escape being singed

When the man had finished be filled his pipe and took his comfortable time over a smoke Then he pulled on his mittens settled the ear-flaps of his cap firmly about his ears and took the creek trail up the left fork The dog was disappointed and yearned back toward the fire This man did not know cold Possibly all the generations of his ancestry had been ignorant of cold of real cold of cold one hundred and seven degrees below freezing point But the dog knew all its ancestry knew and it had inherited the knowledge And it knew that it was not good to walk abroad in such fearful cold It was the time to lie snug in a hole in the snow and wait for a curtain of cloud to be drawn across the face of outer space whence this cold came On the other hand there was no keen intimacy between the dog and the man

The one was the toil-slave of the other and the only caresses it had ever received were the caresses of the whiplash and of harsh and menacing throat-sounds that threatened the whiplash So the dog made no effort to communicate its apprehension to the man It was not concerned in the welfare of the man it was for its own sake that it yearned back toward the fire But the man whistled and spoke to it with the sound of whiplashes and the dog swung in at the mans heel and followed after

The man took a chew of tobacco and proceeded to start a new amber beard Also his moist breath quickly powdered with white his mustache eyebrows and lashes There did not seem to be so many springs on the left fork of the Henderson and for half an hour the man saw no signs of any And then it happened At a place where there were no signs where the soft unbroken snow seemed to advertise solidity beneath tee man broke through It was not deep He wet himself halfway to the knees before he floundered out to the firm crust

He was angry and cursed his luck aloud He had hoped to get into camp with the boys at six oclock and this would delay him an hour for he would have to build a fire and dry out his foot-gear This was imperative at that low temperature--he knew that much and he turned aside to the bank which he climbed On top tangled in the underbrush about the trunks of several small spruce trees was a high-water deposit of dry firewood--sticks and twigs principally but also larger portions of seasoned branches and fine dry last-years grasses He threw down several large pieces on top of the snow This served for a foundation and prevented the young flame from drowning itself in the snow it otherwise would melt The flame he got by touching a match to a small shred of birch bark that he took from his pocket This burned even more readily than paper Placing it on the foundation he fed the young flame with wisps of dry grass and with the tiniest dry twigs

He worked slowly and carefully keenly aware of his danger Gradually as the flame grew stronger he increased the size of the twigs with which he fed it He squatted in the snow pulling the twigs out from their entanglement in the brush and feeding directly to the flame He knew there must be no failure When it is seventy-five below zero a man must not fail in his first attempt to build a fire--that is if his feet are wet If his feet are dry and he fails he can run along the trail for half a mile and restore his circulation But the circulation of wet and freezing feet cannot be restored by running when it is seventy-five below No matter how fast he runs the wet feet will freeze the harder

All this the man knew The old-timer on Sulphur Creek had told him about it the previous fall and now he was appreciating the advice Already all sensation had gone out of his feet To build the fire he had been forced to remove his mittens and the fingers had quickly gone numb His pace of four miles an hour had kept his heart pumping blood to the surface of his body and to all the extremities But the instant he stopped the action of the pump eased down The cold of space smote the unprotected tip of the planet and he being on that unprotected tip received the full force of the blow The blood of his body recoiled before it The blood was alive like the dog and like the dog it wanted to hide away and cover itself up from the fearful cold So long as he walked four miles an hour he pumped that blood willy-nilly to the surface but now it ebbed away and sank down into the recesses of his body The extremities were the first to feel its absence His wet feet froze the faster and his exposed fingers numbed the faster though they had not yet begun to freeze Nose and cheeks were already freezing while the skin of all his body chilled as it lost its blood

But he was safe Toes and nose and cheeks would be only touched by the frost for the fire was beginning to burn with strength He was feeding it

To Build a FireContinued

with twigs the size of his finger In another minute he would be able to feed it with branches the size of his wrier and then he could remove his wet toot-gear and while it dried he could keep his naked feet warm by the fire rubbing them at first of course with snow The fire was a success He was safe He remembered the advice of the old timer on Sulphur Creek and smiled The old-timer had been very serious in laying down the law that no man must travel alone in the Klondike after fifty below Well here he was he had had the accident he was alone and he had saved himself Those old-timers were rather womanish some of them he thought All a man had to do was to keep his head and he was all right Any man who was a man could travel alone But it was surprising the rapidity with which his cheeks and nose were freezing And he had not thought his fingers could go lifeless in so short a time Lifeless they were for he could scarcely make them move together to grip a twig and they seemed remote from his body and from him When he touched a twig he had to look and see whether or not he had hold of it The wires were pretty well down between him and his finger-ends

All of which counted for little There was the fire snapping and crackling and promising life with every dancing flame He started to untie his moccasins They were coated with ice the thick German socks were like sheaths of iron halfway to the knees and the moccasin strings were like rods of steel all twisted and knotted as by some conflagration For a moment he tugged with his numb fingers then realizing the folly of it he drew his sheath-knife

But before he could cut the strings it happened It was his own fault or rather his mistake He should not have built the fire under the spruce tree He should have built it in the open But it had been easier to pull the twigs from the brush and drop them directly on the fire Now the tree under which

he had done this carried a weight of snow on its boughs No wind had blown for weeks and each bough was fully freighted Each time he had pulled a twig he had communicated a slight agitation to the tree--an imperceptible agitation so far as he was concerned but an agitation sufficient to bring about the disaster High up in the tree one bough capsized its load of snow This fell on the boughs beneath capsizing them This process continued spreading out and involving the whole tree It grew like an avalanche and it descended without warning upon the man and the fire and the fire was blotted out Where it had burned was a mantle of fresh and disordered snow

The man was shocked It was as though he had just heard his own sentence of death For a moment he sat and stared at the spot where the fire had been Then he grew very calm Perhaps the old-timer on Sulphur Creek was right If he had only had a trail-mate he would have been in no danger now The trail-mate could have built the fire Well it was up to him to build the fire over again and this second time there must be no failure Even if he succeeded he would most likely lose some toes His feet must be badly frozen by now and there would be some time before the second fire Was ready

Such were his thoughts but he did not sit and think them He was busy all the time they were passing through his mind He made a new foundation for a fire this time in the open where no treacherous tree could blot it out Next he gathered dry grasses and tiny twigs from the high-water flotsam He could not bring his fingers together to pull them out but he was able to gather them by the handful In this way he got many rotten twigs and bits of green moss that were undesirable but it was the best he could do He worked methodically even collecting an armful of the larger branches to be used later when the fire gathered strength And all the while the dog sat and watched him a certain yearning wistfulness in its eyes for it looked upon

To Build a FireContinued

him as the fire-provider and the fire was slow in coming

When all was ready the man reached in his pocket for a second piece of birch bark He knew the bark was there and though he could not feel it with his fingers he could hear its crisp rustling as he fumbled for it Try as he would he could not clutch hold of it And all the time in his consciousness was the knowledge that each instant his feet were freezing This thought tended to put him in a panic but he fought against it and kept calm He pulled on his mittens with his teeth and threshed his arms back and forth beating his hands with all his might against his sides He did this sitting down and he stood up to do it and all the while the dog sat in the snow its wolf-brush of a tail curled around warmly over its forefeet its sharp wolf-ears pricked forward intently as it watched the man And the man as he beat and threshed with his arms and hands felt a great surge of envy as he regarded the creature that was warm ant secure in its natural covering

After a time he was aware of the first far-away signals of sensation in his beaten fingers The faint tingling grew stronger till it evolved into a stinging ache that was excruciating but which the man hailed with satisfaction He stripped the mitten from his right hand and fetched forth the birch bark The exposed fingers were quickly going numb again Next he brought out his bunch of sulphur matches But the tremendous cold had already driven the life out of his fingers In his effort to separate one match from the others the whole bunch fell in the snow He tried to pick it out of the snow but failed The dead fingers could neither touch nor clutch He was very careful He drove the thought of his freezing feet and nose and cheeks out of his mind devoting his whole soul to the matches He watched using the sense of vision in place of that of touch and when he saw his fingers on each side the bunch he dosed them--that is he willed to close them for the wires were down and the fingers did not obey He pulled

the mitten on the right hand and beat it fiercely against his knee Then with both mittened hands he scooped the bunch of matches along with much snow into his lap Yet he was no better off

After some manipulation he managed to get the bunch between the heels of his mittened hands In this fashion he carried it to his mouth The ice crackled and snapped when by a violent effort he opened his mouth He drew the lower jaw in curled the upper lip out of the way and scraped the bunch with his upper teeth in order to separate a match He succeeded in getting one which he dropped on his lap He was no better off He could not pick it up Then he devised a way He picked it up in his teeth and scratched it on his leg Twenty times he scratched before he succeeded in lighting it As it flamed he held it with his teeth to the birch bark But the burning brimstone went up his nostrils and into his lungs causing him to cough spasmodically The match fell into the snow and went out

The old-timer an Sulphur Creek was right he thought in the moment of controlled despair that ensued after fifty below a man should travel with a partner He beat his hands but failed in exciting any sensation Suddenly he bared both hands removing the mittens with his teeth He caught the whole bunch between the heels of his hands His arm muscles not being frozen enabled him to press the hand-heels tightly against the matches Then he scratched the bunch along his leg It flared into flame seventy sulphur matches at once There was no wind to blow them out He kept his head to one side to escape the strangling fumes and held the blazing bunch to the birth bark As he so held it he became aware of sensation in his hand His flesh was burning He could smell it Deep down below the surface he could feel it The sensation developed into pain that grew acute And still he endured it holding the flame of the matches clumsily to the bark that would not light readily because his own burning hands were in the way absorbing most of the flame

To Build a FireContinued

At last when he could endure no more he jerked his hands apart The blazing matches fell sizzling into the snow but the birch bark was alight He began laying dry grasses and the tiniest twigs on the flame He could not pick and choose for he had to lift the fuel between the heels of his hands Small pieces of rotten wood and green moss clung to the twigs and he bit them off as well as he could with his teeth He cherished the flame carefully and awkwardly It meant life and it must not perish The withdrawal of blood from the surface of his body now made him begin to shiver and he grew more awkward A large piece of green moss fell squarely on the little fire He tried to poke it out with his fingers but his shivering frame made him poke too far and he disrupted the nucleus of the little fire the burning grasses and tiny twigs separating and scattering He tried to poke them together again but in spite of the tenseness of the effort his shivering got away with him and the twigs were hopelessly scattered Each twig gushed a puff of smoke and went out The fire-provider had failed As he looked apathetically about him his eyes chanced on the dog sitting across the ruins of the fire from him in the snow making restless hunching movements slightly lifting one forefoot and then the other shifting its weight back and forth on them with wistful eagerness

The sight of the dog put a wild idea into his head He remembered the tale of the man caught in a blizzard who killed a steer and crawled inside the carcass and so was saved He would kill the dog and bury his hands in the warm body until the numbness went out of them Then he could build another fire He spoke to the dog calling it to him but in his voice was a strange note of fear that frightened the animal who had never known the man to speak in such way before Something was the matter and its suspicious nature sensed danger--it knew not what danger but somewhere somehow in its brain arose an apprehension of the man It flattened its ears down at the sound of the mans voice and its restless

hunching movements and the liftings and shiftings of its forefeet became more pronounced but it would not come to the man He got on his hands and knees and crawled toward the dog This unusual posture again excited suspicion and the animal sidled mincingly away

The man sat up in the snow for a moment and struggled for calmness Then he pulled on his mittens by means of his teeth and got upon his feet He glanced down at first in order to assure himself that he was really standing up for the absence of sensation in his feet left him unrelated to the earth His erect position in itself started to drive the webs of suspicion from the dogs mind and when he spoke peremptorily with the sound of whiplashes in his voice the dog rendered its customary allegiance and came to him As it came within reaching distance the man lost his control His arms flashed out to the dog and he experienced genuine surprise when he discovered that his hands could not clutch that there was neither bend nor feeling in the fingers He had forgotten for the moment that they were frozen and that they were freezing more and more All this happened quickly and before the animal could get away he encircled its body with his arms He sat down in the snow and in this fashion held the dog while it snarled and whined and struggled

But it was all he could do hold its body encircled in his arms and sit there He realized that he could not kill the dog There was no way to do it With his helpless hands he could neither draw nor hold his sheath knife nor throttle the animal He released it and it plunged wildly away with tail between its legs and still snarling It halted forty feet away and surveyed him curiously with ears sharply pricked forward The man looked down at his hands in order to locate them and found them hanging on the ends of his arms It struck him as curious that one should have to use his eyes in order to find out where his hands were He began threshing his arms back and forth beating the mittened hands against

To Build a FireContinued

his sides He did this for five minutes violently and his heart pumped enough blood up to the surface to put a stop to his shivering But no sensation was aroused in the hands He had an impression that they hung like weights on the ends of his arms but when he tried to run the impression down he could not find it

A certain fear of death dull and oppressive came to him This fear quickly became poignant as he realized that it was no longer a mere matter of freezing his fingers and toes or of losing his hands and feet but that it was a matter of life and death with the chances against him This threw him into a panic and he turned and ran up the creek-bed along the old dim trail The dog joined in behind and kept up with him He ran blindly without intention in fear such as he had never known in his life Slowly as he plowed and floundered through the snow he began to see things again the banks of the creek the old timber-jams the leafless aspens and the sky The running made him feel better He did not shiver Maybe if he ran on his feet would thaw out and anyway if he ran far enough he would reach camp and the boys Without doubt he would lose some fingers and toes and some of his face but the boys would take care of him and save the rest of him when he got there And at the same time there was another thought in his mind that said he would never get to the camp and the boys that it was too many miles away that the freezing had too great a start on him and that he would soon be stiff and dead This thought he kept in the background and refused to consider Sometimes it pushed itself forward and demanded to be heard but he thrust it back and strove to think of other things

It struck him as curious that he could run at all on feet so frozen that he could not feel them when they struck the earth and took the weigh of his body He seemed to himself to skim along above the surface and to have no connection with the earth Somewhere he had once seen a winged Mercury

and he wondered if Mercury felt as he felt when skimming over the earth

His theory of running until he reached camp and the boys had one flaw in it he lacked the endurance Several times he stumbled and finally he tottered crumpled up and fell When he tried to rise he failed He must sit and rest he decided and next time he would merely walk and keep on going As he sat and regained his breath he noted that he was feeling quite warm and comfortable He was not shivering and it even seemed that a warm glow had come to his chest and trunk And yet when he touched his nose or cheeks there was no sensation Running would not thaw them out Nor would it thaw out his hands and feet Then the thought came to him that the frozen portions of his body must be extending He tried to keep this thought down to forget it to think of something else he was aware of the panicky feeling that it caused and he was afraid of the panic But the thought asserted itself and persisted until it produced a vision of his body totally frozen This was too much and he made another wild run along the trail Once he slowed down to a walk but the thought of the freezing extending itself made him run again

And all the time the dog ran with him at his heels When he fell down a second time it curled its tad over its forefeet and sat in front of him facing him curiously eager and intent The warmth and security of the animal angered him and he cursed it till it flattened down its ears appealingly This time the shivering came more quickly upon the man He was losing in his battle with the frost It was creeping into his body from all sides The thought of it drove him on but he ran no more than a hundred feet when he staggered and pitched headlong It was his last panic When he had recovered his breath and control he sat up and entertained in his mind the conception of meeting death with dignity However the conception did not come to him in such terms His idea of it was that he had been making a fool of

To Build a FireContinued

himself running around like a chicken with its head cut off--such was the simile that occurred to him Well he was bound to freeze anyway and he might as well take it decently With this new-found peace of mind came the first glimmerings of drowsiness A good idea he thought to sleep off to death It was like salting an anesthetic Freezing was not so bad as people thought There were lots worse ways to die

He pictured the boys finding his body next day Suddenly he found himself with them coming along the trail and looking for himself And still with them he came around a turn in the trail and found himself lying in the snow He did not belong with himself any more for even then he was out of himself standing with the boys and looking at himself in the snow It certainly was cold was his thought When he got back to the States he could tell the folks what real cold was He drifted on from this to a vision of the old-timer on Sulphur Creek He could see him quite clearly warm and comfortable and smoking a pipe

You were right old boss you were right the man mumbled to the old-timer of Sulphur Creek

Then the man drowsed off into what seemed to him the most comfortable and satisfying sleep he had ever known The dog sat facing him and waiting The brief day drew to a close in a long slow twilight There were no signs of a fire to be made and besides never in the dogs experience had it known a man to sit like that in the snow and make no fire As the twilight drew on its eager yearning for the fire mastered it and with a great lifting and shifting of forefeet it whined softly then flattened its ears down in anticipation of being chidden by the man But the man remained silent Later the dog whined loudly And still later it crept close to the man and caught the scent of death This made the animal bristle and back away A little longer it delayed howling under the stars that leaped and danced and shone brightly in the cold sky Then it turned and trotted up the trail in the direction of the camp it knew where were the other food-providers and fire-providers

To Build a FireContinued

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Stories are published for ALL FitnessDigestus readers Archived professionally and digitally in thousands of libraries

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Page 28: FitnessDigest.us Vol. 4.3 Cover

When I was introduced to William Shakespeare I was intrigued by his creative values and I started to work on developing a different aspect of writing I then watched the movie Free Jack there was a quote by Albert Einstein Imagination is more important than knowledge I thought about the in depth values of both concepts and then I applied both concepts and defined different creative concept Do you believe that anything is possible if you believe I know that I do believe that if an individual believes deeply enough one can accomplish their goals I had to believe in my own abilities and in my dreams and ignore the negative values that were impressed by others

Anything less can potentially hinder growth towards your goal

Some of the things that you should be thinking about when looking for motivators are people with good morals and a positive attitude This is because if the people helping you do not have a positive attitude then it is also difficult for you Some great places to look for a motivator are online blogs in the gym or even in your own family I am sure that in all of these places you will see someone else trying to accomplish the same or even more difficult goals than your own

Another key to finding motivation is to let it find you You should not have to go find a reason to go do something You will do it because you wanted to not because you were forced to

X

InspirationMotivation

More simply put motivation will find you because you will see something that inspires you to make a change in yourself That change may be a weight-loss goal or something else Maybe even an academic goal The true key is to maintain that motivation until you have achieved your goal

Regards Vincent ErrichielloUSMS Swimmer

InspirationMotivation

With believing so deeply within my own abilities and the faith that I could accomplish what I set out to achieve I wrote a lyric titled Dreams Are Only Real and in believing in this concept further defining its true meaning the concept became Dreams Are Only Real Until You Dont believe

Jeremy J TaylorCNFI Publishing

himTHROWINGWritten by anonymous contributor

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13 Johnny is not the best batter in our little league Matter-of-fact he is quiet awful At practice one afternoon Johnny hit a pitch really well The coach had pitched him inside on accident far enough inside that it almost hit him Johnny got his hit by using his bat to defend himself from that arrant pitch The coach told him ldquogood hitrdquo and Johnny yelled back ldquoWell I didnrsquot want the ball to hit merdquo13 Johnny improved his batting after that He was hitting the ball almost every time he got up At one point I said to coach ldquoHow did you get Johnny to improve his batting so quicklyrdquo He replyed Im throwing the ball it AT HIM every time

Body image and fitness are hot topics for both men and women The Great Fitness Experiment is my hilarious poignant embarrassing and at times heart-breaking journey to find my way through the morass of contradictory claims and information in todayrsquos health- and fitness-obsessed world

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Send u

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13 I was standing on shore fishing in my favorite spot A guy Irsquove never seen at the pond gets in and starts swimming After about 25 minutes of back and forth he stops at a place about 30 yards off shore He gives me a quick look and dices down below the water

His next lap he stops in the same place looks at me again and points down at the water He finished his swim and left I picked up my gear and moved to the other side of the outlet just a few yards from where he had stopped twice Caught a lunker in the first cast

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TOP TWEETS

Iowa Cubs (IowaCubs)Thanks to all our fans who showed up for the pre-game on-field catch with dad

Louise Pineda (forerunnerGPS)The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficultyWinston Churchill quotes

Softball Darlin (Softball_Darlin)My mom told me our team was gettin white uniforms for summer amp to try not to get them dirty Uh Have you seen me play Not gonna happen

I Swim I Suffer (ISwimISuffer)thatswimmerwho If the water is in your right ear for example then jump on your right leg and lean your head to the right side while jumping

I Swim and I Know It (iSwimWithIssues)During the summer you shower 467 times at the pool 17 times at hotels and 3 times at your house Truth

Everyday Health (WomensCancer)63000 Americans will be diagnosed w malignant melanoma (the deadliest skin cancer) this year Know your risk

US Paralympics (USParalympics)Want to be introduced to Paralympic sport Attend one of the Paralympic Experiences being held throughout the countryFi

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US v

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SwimSwam (swimswamnews)Congrats to KenyaSwimmer on being selected to carry the Kenya flag swimswamcom

Better than sharing on a blog Twitter or Facebook and you can share a story even if you donrsquot maintain a social-web presencePublished for ALL FitnessDigestus readers

Sign with your real name pen-name or anonymoushttpLiveMediaFitnessDigestus

13 Funnest thing SPAM about some weight-loss supplements got posted on a friendrsquos Facebook My friend is an ultra-runner I notice there was also an ad for salami recipes on the same page The recipes were right next to the SPAM about diet-pills

13 Letrsquos see ndash it sounds like the beginning of a good joke Q What do you get when a friend tries to sell you ultra-runner endorsed salami-flavored-SPAM diet-pills on Facebook Answer Sick

Unsung Heroes1 Irsquove never swam open water and wanted to do a triathlon A friend that

races open water took extra time to swim with me at a lake I was much more comfortable after that

2 I was going on vacation and needed advice on a place to swim A friend living in the area took the time to help me find people to answer my questions

3 I was over eating and had complained to my friend about it She called me twice a day for three weeks just to remind me to eat healthy

4 I usually run to and from the gym It takes about 30 minutes to run both ways I didnrsquot have enough time to get there and back before a scheduled appointment I had A friend drove me to the gym saving me about 30 minutes I was able to run home and still had time to get to my appointment

SPAM DIET

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Visit the Suburban Mommy blog and learn more about AtresiaMicrotia a birth defect of the inner earFor links to SubMommy blog httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

SUBMOMMYBLOG

On Wednesday May 16 2012 at 7 PM simultaneous rides occurred around the

USA and the world

We all ride Now we can ride as one

One day One time One world world wide

Let the silence roar

322 locations world wide

The Ride of SilenceTonight we number many but ride as one

In honor of those not with us friends

mothers fathers sisters sons

With helmets on tight and heads down low

We ride in silence cautious and slow

The wheels start spinning in the lead pack

But tonight we ride and no one attacks

The dark sunglasses cover our tears

Remembering those we held so dear

Tonights ride is to make others aware

The road is there for all to share

To those not with us or by our side

May God be your partner on your final ride

- Mike Murgas

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 50 states

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 7 Continents

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 0 words spoken

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 1 million memories

Ride of Silence

ldquoCost-effective investments in bicycling boost our economy help individuals and government agencies save money and directly address key societal challenges such as obesity and road congestion In these tough economic times our federal government can only afford to invest in solutions that solve multiple problems Bicycling fits the billrdquo ndash PeopleForBikesorg

This photo collection was taken byRobert LaVallee of Mason City IA

To see his entire collection visithttpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

Non-subscriberSign-up for delivery of

the FREE edition at coopnetbiz

It provides an outstanding aerobic workout in less than half the time we would spend in still water It has allowed us as swim coaches to observe swimmers stroke characteristics up close and to see the effects of fatigue on stroke mechanics ~ Larry L Chazy NY

Swimming is an excellent exercise and now I can swim every day because its so convenient and private I can swim when I want and how long I want Im able to have it at a temperature that is comfortable to me The small size of an Endless Pool enabled me to install a pool where I could not install a regular size one

As an aging baby boomer nutrition professional I have yearned for consistent exercise that doesnt stress joints and will enable me to attain physical fitness cardiovascular health and weight control I can eat what I want and still firm up and lose weight ~ John C Columbus OH

Endless Pools make for long swims in small places The 8x15 Endless Pool is less than regulation size but offers the same benefits as a very large pool ~ Noah H Connecticut Post

The Endless Pool is a great strength builder I am amazed at the strength of the current I now swim against I did not buy it for that reason but because of my arthritis so the strength gain is a wonderful surprise

Endless PoolsTestimonials For more information visit httpLIveAdsFitnessDigestus

s w i m m i n g s h o r t s

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Baseball Walking Stick13 My sons friend grabbed his baseball bat and said to me this is my walking stick I politely ask him why he calls it that He replied because my dad says if I hit a home run with it I donrsquot have to run the bases ndash I can walk

My Bike My mountain bike was stolen a while back and my kids were really upset Ive been riding my road bike in its place Since then Ive been careful to lock my bike up when we go to the park

13 On this occasion I did not lock-up my sonrsquos bike up with mine He looked at me quizzically and said sternly lock my bike up too I tried to explain that his bike was not as expensive and therefor didnt need to be locked up Boy that was a mistake He made me feel a little dumb when he said Dad I dont care how expensive it is Its the only bike Irsquove got

North Iowa Roads

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A LEADER inSearch Engine Optimization

Technology

Increase your visitor page views and Facebook Likes

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Digital Movers

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

parent sports tipBy FitnessDigestus staff writer JGA

PAR

EN

T

TIP

Keeping Kids Focused13 Organize their thoughts Help them prioritize and make decisions based on value Even kids can understand the value of simple non-monetized choices Questions like ldquoShould I finish playing my gameboy game or pause it when they call my swimming eventrdquo

If kids are taught to make good decisions and not just find quick answers everyone wins

AugustGolf Month5th Friendship Day15th Relaxation Day25th Kiss and Make Up Day31st Trail Mix DaySeptemberLittle League Month12th Chocolate Milk Shake Day13th Positive Thinking Day16th Womenrsquos Friendship Day21st Miniature Golf DayOctoberBreast Cancer Awareness MonthNational Diabetes Month1st World Vegetarian Day4th Golf Day25th World Pasta Day

National Calendar

Au

gu

stSe

pte

mb

er

Oc

tob

er

Encourage friendships writing skills sharing thoughts and

experiencesEight different cards

YAGOTTAWANNA

Variety of pricing From single orders to bulk orders of 24 notecards

Learn more online

Stay in touch with your swimming or triathlon buddies

It is better to be safe then to try to beat the heat There are many options to stay cool and run during a hot-summer day Staying inside and running on the treadmill is a good one Remember staying safe is a top priority

Most workouts can be modified to work indoors This issuersquos workout is to do your usual run or interval set just stay inside and run it on the treadmill Visualize the different landmarks to see during your outdoor run

Coach Millerrsquos Quarterly ChallengeStay safe in the heatBy Mark Miller mmillerFitnessDigestus

A few years back we had a hot-spell similar to this yearrsquos record heat

I remember training for a long run and having to stop at the local swimming hole to cool off I literally took off my

shoes and jumped in with my running clothes on I was so hot

FitnessDigestUSEntertainment amp Inspiration

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Nutritional Performance Sports Drinks with Protein

OPEN WATER SWIMMING BY THE NUMBERS

In kilometers The shortest open water race included in the Fina World Championships

10107 How many miles it

is to swim from Cuba to the USA

5

1000Number of swimming strokes in a mile for a typical swimmer

31800About the number of calories it takes to swim 100 miles

LOCATED IN ST ANSGAR IOWA

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Letterheads Programs

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Posters Invites (graduation wedding showers etc)

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Postcards And Much More

Bridgette Beyer DesignerOwner

Bring your ideas in andVisual Aspect Designs can print

andor design for you

The minimum open water distance in kilometers that is considered a swimming-

marathon

On Facebook Visit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

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Open water safety means swimming in shallow water where there is a lifeguard or using an escort

Shop for Name BrandGear

24 Hoursa Day

WaynesSkiandCyclenet

For links to Waynersquos visit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

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Googles

13 Swimming fans can really appreciate a 200 IM when their goggles fill with water How about an Olympian Swimming a leg of the 400 Free Relay with his goggles across his opened mouth ndash and going 45rsquos A great team swimmer an Olympian wouldnrsquot let down his teammates by throwing them off or fixing them

500 Fly13 A world class butterflyer asked if he could swim butterfly in the 500 yard freestyle during a dual meet His goal was to break five minutes After considering the competition it seemed like a great way to make him really work a hard fly swim so we agreed Problem was he swam a 502 and the opposing coach complained to the officials because he embarrassed his swimmers Oh well you canrsquot win lsquoem all

Stories sent in by Robert Steele

No-No-No13 The other morning I was teaching front-streamlines to snotty nosed 8 year olds (some are literally snotty-nosed) One boy was taking a big gulp of air and holding his breath When he lifted his head he had to exhale and inhale before submerging again Swimmers will understand this does not work very well Kids need to learn to exhale underwater The first time he did it I told him to exhale underwater The second time I stopped him looked him in the eye and reminded him to exhale underwater The third and fourth times I started to get a little frustrated ldquoJohnny you need to exhale underwater so you can breath betterrdquo The fifth time as his head popped up for a breath I quickly asked ldquoJohnny Do you even know what exhale meansrdquo as he submerged his head below the water I could see him shake his head no-no-no

Favorite Potato Chips13We try to limit the junk food the kids eat at our house For lunch one day our son wanted some potato chips I gave him 3 large chips with his sandwich He started to cry and said he wanted one more chip ldquoI wanted four chipsrdquo he screamed I took the plate back When he wasnt looking I broke a chip in half and give it back to him with four chips

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

13 My cancer story is one of uniqueness Leave it to me to do something like cancer to its fullest It did not begin with a mammogram diagnosis or a lump My journey began about 4 years ago with some suspicious activity that turned into Pagetrsquos disease of the nipple which signaled the underlying cancer On April 1st I found out about my breast cancer through a biopsy that came back as positive for Pagetrsquos disease The onslaught of tests learning and decisions were dizzying I immediately went for an evaluation of the suspicious tissue and had to begin making decisions for my mastectomy I quickly learned there is a test called the BRAC Analysis which is a genetic test for breast and ovarian cancer Finally a piece of good news for me I did not have the gene

Decisions Now it was time to make decisions about my mastectomy and how I was going to handle reconstruction I discussed my options with my boyfriend Brian friends family members and even my principalboss I read books searched the Internet and contacted people I

Brandi ShipmanCancer Survivor and elite triathlete

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

know and knew from my past that had been directly affected and that I thought might have answers for me The outpouring of love encouragement and help during this process was overwhelming After meeting with four different doctors two surgeons and two plastic surgeons I decided to go with immediate reconstruction and was lucky enough to find two wonderful doctors They were willing to work together just because I wanted them to even though they had never done so before My surgery was scheduled for mid May

Mental Toughness13 My mental preparation at this point was very important I had to scrap any idea of competing in triathlons for the rest of the year and focus on a positive attitude of getting better I stopped thinking about what I wasnrsquot going to able to do and started thinking about what I could do that I was alive and kept my mind on the fact that so many others had made it before me

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links

Part 213 I was prepared by the doctors survivors and literature to be ldquodownrdquo for several weeks after my surgery I even took the rest of the school year off My surgery went well and I was out of the hospital the next day A few friends came to visit while I was in the hospital and my principal and vice principal brought the most wonderful picture of the faculty wearing pink for me I can only imagine what it looked like at Thornton Elementary on that day in May 2009 a sea of pink all for Brandi Shipman Shortly after their visit I received a text from my friend Margie Massey My friends from the gym wore pink for me that day as well The support brought tears to my eyes I was so excited to come home and be comfortable in my own home I just wish the stupid drain that was attached could have stayed at the hospital The pain from that was worse than the pain from the mastectomy

the most

powerful picture

13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Recovery ndash May13 Once I got home I slept and watched a lot of TV Friends visited and brought yummy food and my favorites I am not supposed to eat I ate them all My friend and co-worker set up a cancer care calendar that alerted anyone who logged on when I was having a doctorrsquos appointment or when I was in need of anything I felt like royalty as everyone took care of me I think Brian secretly enjoyed the fact that he wouldnrsquot have to cook for me each night My recovery was quicker than I thought as I was doing my best to get better and get the stinkinrsquo drain out of my skin I was out walking within a week and running within 3 weeks I couldnrsquot believe my recovery I know it was from all the prayers love and good care from Brian and the loved ones around me Life was looking better each day

ldquoLife was looking

better each dayrdquo

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Part three and part

four of I am Survivor

will be published in

the next edition of

FitnessDigestus

Get the convenience of

digital-delivery

Sign-up or subscribe at

httpFitnessDigestus

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During the past 150 years we have witnessed many remarkable advances against cancer a disease known to humanity for thousands of years The advances highlighted below represent a sampling of what has been accomplished to date

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

1882 William Halsted performs the first radical mastectomy to treat breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast the lymph nodes under the arm (axillary lymph nodes) and the chest muscles behind the breast (pectoralis major and pectoralis minor muscles) are removed Radical mastectomy will remain the standard operation for breast cancer until latter half of the 20th century when the use of modified radical mastectomy becomes widely accepted

1932 David H Patey develops the modified radical mastectomy for breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast axillary lymph nodes and pectoralis minor muscle behind the breast are removed The modified radical mastectomy is less disfiguring than the radical mastectomy and will eventually replace the radical mastectomy as a standard treatment option for breast cancer

1953 James Watson and Francis Crick discover the molecular structure of DNA (the double helix)

1963 The Health Insurance Plan (HIP) of Greater New York Study begins HIP is the first randomized controlled trial of periodic breast cancer screening with mammography

1882

1932

1953

1963

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1976 The results of a randomized clinical trial show that women with early breast cancer who receive post-operative (adjuvant) combination chemotherapy with the drugs cyclophosphamide methotrexate and 5-FU have improved disease-free survival

1981 A randomized clinical trial in the United Kingdom shows for the first time that the rates of survival local recurrence and tumor metastasis among women whose breast cancer is treated with modified radical mastectomy are not substantially different from those of women who are treated with radical mastectomy

1993 An NCI-convened international workshop on screening for breast cancer reports that screening with mammography reduces breast cancer mortality among women ages 50-69 This conclusion is based on a review of published and unpublished data from eight randomized controlled trials

2004 Data from the Womens Health Initiative (WHI) study show that women who take estrogen in combination with the hormone progestin have a greater risk of developing breast cancer than women who take estrogen alone The results also show that menopausal hormone therapy with estrogen alone has no benefit in disease prevention specifically in reducing the risks of colorectal cancer coronary heart disease and dementia

1976

1981

1993

2004

Although we still have a long way to go to reduce the toll of cancer in the United States and worldwide our research and public health efforts are beginning to pay dividends

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

Volunteering vs Participating13 My girl friend and I are involved in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation The local chapter raises awareness for the cause with a fun-run each year We have volunteered to help with the race five years in a row This year we were stationed at a water table where the runners pick-up cups of water to drink Toward the end of the race there are very few runners There was a little time to chat about things We were talking about what we would wish for if we could have three wishes I told her I would wish for an end to Juvenile Diabetes and to lose 10 pounds Being nice I said ldquoyou can have my last wishrdquo She said I wish you would skip volunteering and just run this race next year

Admission Price Our aquatic center was having a promotion one night and advertised an elementary school night The kids could swim for free When we got to the pool we saw a promotional sign for the event In small lettering it read All swimmers must be accompanied by an adult We thought no big deal one of us can just stay and watch When we got to the front desk we found the lifeguard was enforcing the adult-admission price of $8

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CNFI Publishing - Products Books Chapbooks Bookmarks Plaques and Poetry Collector Cards Merchandising Products Coffee Mugs Mouse Pads Tiles 3x6 Coasters T - Shirts and Wall Plaques More info athttpliveadsFitnessDigestus

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

Featured PhotosFitnessDigestus feature

Chicago open water swim course at nighttop left

Kids race at Bicycle Blues and BBQtop right

Some team members volunteer at the local soup kitchenmiddle right

Ken Mauer loads the balls for hitting practice during a Twins baseball camp for

children 7-13 bottom right

Get your local event photos published in the next issue of FitnessDigestus E-mail

your photo to photoFitnessDigestus

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As he turned to go on he spat speculatively There was a sharp explosive crackle that startled him He spat again And again in the air before it could fall to the snow the spittle crackled He knew that at fifty below spittle crackled on the snow but this spittle had crackled in the air Undoubtedly it was colder than fifty below--how much colder he did not know But the temperature did not matter He was bound for the old claim on the left fork of Henderson Creek where the boys were already They had come over across the divide from the Indian Creek country while he had come the roundabout way to take a look at the possibilities of getting out logs in the spring from the islands in the Yukon He would be in to camp by six oclock a bit after dark it was true but the boys would be there a fire would be going and a hot supper would be ready As for lunch he pressed his hand against the protruding bundle under his jacket It was also under his shirt wrapped up in a handkerchief and lying against the naked skin It was the only way to keep the biscuits from freezing He smiled agreeably to himself as he thought of those biscuits each cut open and sopped in bacon grease and each enclosing a generous slice of fried bacon

He plunged in among the big spruce trees The trail was faint A foot of snow had fallen since the last sled had passed over and he was glad he was without a sled traveling light In fact he carried nothing but the lunch wrapped in the handkerchief He was surprised however at the cold It certainly was cold he concluded as he rubbed his numb nose and cheek-bones with his mittened hand He was a warm-whiskered man but the hair on his face did not protect the high cheek-bones and the eager nose that thrust itself aggressively into the frosty air

At the mans heels trotted a dog a big native husky the proper wolf-dog gray-coated and without any visible or temperamental difference from its brother the wild wolf The animal was depressed by the tremendous cold It knew that it was no time for

traveling Its instinct told it a truer tale than was told to the man by the mans judgment In reality it was not merely colder than fifty below zero it was colder than sixty below than seventy below It was seventy-five below zero Since the freezing point is thirty-two above zero it meant that one hundred and seven degrees of frost obtained The dog did not know anything about thermometers Possibly in its brain there was no sharp consciousness of a condition of very cold such as was in the mans brain But the brute had its instinct It experienced a vague but menacing apprehension that subdued it then made it slink along at the mans heels and that made it question eagerly every unwonted movement of the man as if expecting him to go into camp or to seek shelter somewhere and build a fire The dog had learned fire and it wanted fire or else to burrow under the snow and cuddle its warmth away from the air

The frozen moisture of its breathing had settled on its fur in a fine powder of frost and especially were its jowls muzzle and eyelashes whitened by its cry-stalled breath The mans red beard and mustache were likewise frosted but more solidly the deposit taking the form of ice and increasing with every warm moist breath he exhaled Also the man was chewing tobacco and the muzzle of ice held his lips so rigidly that he was unable to clear his chin when he expelled the juice The result was that a crystal beard of the color and solidity of amber was increasing its length on his chin If he fell down it would shatter itself like glass into brittle fragments But he did not mind the appendage It was the penalty all tobacco-chewers paid in that country and he had been out before in two cold snaps They had not been so cold as this he knew but by the spirit thermometer at Sixty Mile he knew they had been registered at fifty below and at fifty-five

He held on through the level stretch of woods for several miles crossed a wide flat of rigger-heads and dropped down a bank to the frozen bed of a

To Build a FireContinued

small stream This was Henderson Creek and he knew he was ten miles from the forks He looked at his watch It was ten oclock He was making four miles an hour and he calculated that he would arrive at the forks at half-past twelve He decided to celebrate that event by eating his lunch there

The dog dropped in again at his heels with a tail drooping discouragement as the man swung along the creek-bed The furrow of the old sled-trail was plainly visible but a dozen inches of snow covered the marks of the last runners In a month no man had come up or down that silent creek The man held steadily on He was not much given to thinking and just then particularly he had nothing to think about save that he would eat lunch at-the forks and that at six oclock he would be in camp with the boys There was nobody to talk to and had there been speech would have been impossible because of the ice-muzzle on his mouth So he continued monotonously to chew tobacco and to increase the length of his amber beard

Once in a while the thought reiterated itself that it was very cold and that he had never experienced such cold As he walked along he rubbed his cheek-bones and nose with the back of his mittened hand He did this automatically now and again changing hands But rub as he would the instant he stopped his cheek-bones went numb and the following instant the end of his nose went numb He was sure to frost his cheeks he knew that and experienced a pang of regret that he had not devised a nose-strap of the sort Bud wore in cold snaps Such a strap passed across the cheeks as well and saved them But it didnt matter much after all What were frosted cheeks A bit painful that was all they were never serious

Empty as the mans mind was of thoughts he was keenly observant and he noticed the changes in the creek the curves and bends and timber jams and always he sharply noted where he placed his feet Once coming around a bend he shied abruptly

like a startled horse curved away from the place where he had been walking and retreated several paces back along the trail The creek he knew was frozen clear to the bottom--no creek could contain water in that arctic winter--but he knew also that there were springs that bubbled out from the hillsides and ran along under the snow and on top the ice of the creek He knew that the coldest snaps never froze these springs and he knew likewise their danger They were traps They hid pools of water under the snow that might be three inches deep or three feet Sometimes a skin of ice half an inch thick covered them and in turn was covered by the snow Sometimes there were alternate layers of water and ice-skin so that when one broke through he kept on breaking through for a while sometimes wetting himself to the waist

That was why he had shied in such panic He had felt the give under his feet and heard the crackle of a snow-hidden ice-skin And to get his feet wet in such a temperature meant trouble and danger At the very least it meant delay for he would be forced to stop and build a fire and under its protection to bare his feet while he dried his socks and moccasins He stood and studied the creek-bed and its banks and decided that the flow of water came from the right He reflected a while rubbing his nose and cheeks then skirted to the left stepping gingerly and testing the footing for each step Once clear of the danger he took a fresh chew of tobacco and swung along at his four-mile gait

In the course of the next two hours he came upon several similar traps Usually the snow above the hidden pools had a sunken candied appearance that advertised the danger Once again however he had a close call and once suspecting danger he compelled the dog to go on in front The dog did not want to go It hung back until the man shoved it forward and then it went quickly across the white unbroken surface Suddenly it broke through floundered to one side and got away to firmer

To Build a FireContinued

To Build a FireContinued

footing It had wet its forefeet and legs and almost immediately the water that clung to it turned to ice It made quick efforts to lick the ice off its legs then dropped down in the snow and began to bite out the ice that had formed between the toes l his was a matter of instinct To permit the ice to remain would mean sore feet It did not know this It merely obeyed the mysterious prompting that arose from the deep crypts of its being But the man knew having achieved a judgment on the subject and he removed the mitten from his right hand and helped tear out the ice-particles He did not expose his fingers more than a minute and was astonished at the swift numbness that smote them It certainly was cold He pulled on the mitten hastily and beat the hand savagely across his chest

At twelve oclock the day was at its brightest Yet the sun was too far south an its winter journey to clear the horizon The bulge of the earth intervened between it arid Henderson Creek where the man walked under a clear sky at noon and cast no shadow At half-past twelve to the minute he arrived at the forks of the creek He was pleased at the speed he had made If he kept it up he would certainly be with the boys by six He unbuttoned his jacket and shirt and drew forth his lunch The action consumed no more than a quarter of a minute yet in that brief moment the numbness laid hold of the exposed fingers He did not put the mitten on but instead struck the fingers a dozen sharp smashes against his leg Then he sat down on a snow-covered log to eat The sting that followed upon the striking of his fingers against his leg ceased so quickly that he was startled He had had no chance to take a bite of biscuit He struck the fingers repeatedly and returned them to the mitten baring the other hand for the purpose of eating He tried to take a mouthful but the ice-muzzle prevented He had forgotten to build a fire and thaw out He chuckled at his foolishness and as he chuckled he noted the numbness creeping into the exposed fingers Also he noted that the stinging which had first come to his

toes when he sat down was already passing away He wandered whether the toes were warm or numb He moved them inside the moccasins and decided that they were numb

He pulled the mitten on hurriedly and stood up He was a bit frightened He stamped up and down until the stinging returned into the feet It certainly was cold was his thought That man from Sulphur Creek had spoken the truth when telling how cold it sometimes got in the country And he had laughed at him at the time That showed one must not be too sure of things There was no mistake about it it was cold He strode up and down stamping his feet and threshing his arms until reassured by the returning warmth Then he got out matches and proceeded to make a fire From the undergrowth where high water of the previous spring had lodged a supply of seasoned twigs he got his firewood Working carefully from a small beginning he soon had a roaring fire over which he thawed the ice from his face and in the protection of which he ate his biscuits For the moment the cold space was outwitted The dog took satisfaction in the fire stretching out close enough for warmth and far enough away to escape being singed

When the man had finished be filled his pipe and took his comfortable time over a smoke Then he pulled on his mittens settled the ear-flaps of his cap firmly about his ears and took the creek trail up the left fork The dog was disappointed and yearned back toward the fire This man did not know cold Possibly all the generations of his ancestry had been ignorant of cold of real cold of cold one hundred and seven degrees below freezing point But the dog knew all its ancestry knew and it had inherited the knowledge And it knew that it was not good to walk abroad in such fearful cold It was the time to lie snug in a hole in the snow and wait for a curtain of cloud to be drawn across the face of outer space whence this cold came On the other hand there was no keen intimacy between the dog and the man

The one was the toil-slave of the other and the only caresses it had ever received were the caresses of the whiplash and of harsh and menacing throat-sounds that threatened the whiplash So the dog made no effort to communicate its apprehension to the man It was not concerned in the welfare of the man it was for its own sake that it yearned back toward the fire But the man whistled and spoke to it with the sound of whiplashes and the dog swung in at the mans heel and followed after

The man took a chew of tobacco and proceeded to start a new amber beard Also his moist breath quickly powdered with white his mustache eyebrows and lashes There did not seem to be so many springs on the left fork of the Henderson and for half an hour the man saw no signs of any And then it happened At a place where there were no signs where the soft unbroken snow seemed to advertise solidity beneath tee man broke through It was not deep He wet himself halfway to the knees before he floundered out to the firm crust

He was angry and cursed his luck aloud He had hoped to get into camp with the boys at six oclock and this would delay him an hour for he would have to build a fire and dry out his foot-gear This was imperative at that low temperature--he knew that much and he turned aside to the bank which he climbed On top tangled in the underbrush about the trunks of several small spruce trees was a high-water deposit of dry firewood--sticks and twigs principally but also larger portions of seasoned branches and fine dry last-years grasses He threw down several large pieces on top of the snow This served for a foundation and prevented the young flame from drowning itself in the snow it otherwise would melt The flame he got by touching a match to a small shred of birch bark that he took from his pocket This burned even more readily than paper Placing it on the foundation he fed the young flame with wisps of dry grass and with the tiniest dry twigs

He worked slowly and carefully keenly aware of his danger Gradually as the flame grew stronger he increased the size of the twigs with which he fed it He squatted in the snow pulling the twigs out from their entanglement in the brush and feeding directly to the flame He knew there must be no failure When it is seventy-five below zero a man must not fail in his first attempt to build a fire--that is if his feet are wet If his feet are dry and he fails he can run along the trail for half a mile and restore his circulation But the circulation of wet and freezing feet cannot be restored by running when it is seventy-five below No matter how fast he runs the wet feet will freeze the harder

All this the man knew The old-timer on Sulphur Creek had told him about it the previous fall and now he was appreciating the advice Already all sensation had gone out of his feet To build the fire he had been forced to remove his mittens and the fingers had quickly gone numb His pace of four miles an hour had kept his heart pumping blood to the surface of his body and to all the extremities But the instant he stopped the action of the pump eased down The cold of space smote the unprotected tip of the planet and he being on that unprotected tip received the full force of the blow The blood of his body recoiled before it The blood was alive like the dog and like the dog it wanted to hide away and cover itself up from the fearful cold So long as he walked four miles an hour he pumped that blood willy-nilly to the surface but now it ebbed away and sank down into the recesses of his body The extremities were the first to feel its absence His wet feet froze the faster and his exposed fingers numbed the faster though they had not yet begun to freeze Nose and cheeks were already freezing while the skin of all his body chilled as it lost its blood

But he was safe Toes and nose and cheeks would be only touched by the frost for the fire was beginning to burn with strength He was feeding it

To Build a FireContinued

with twigs the size of his finger In another minute he would be able to feed it with branches the size of his wrier and then he could remove his wet toot-gear and while it dried he could keep his naked feet warm by the fire rubbing them at first of course with snow The fire was a success He was safe He remembered the advice of the old timer on Sulphur Creek and smiled The old-timer had been very serious in laying down the law that no man must travel alone in the Klondike after fifty below Well here he was he had had the accident he was alone and he had saved himself Those old-timers were rather womanish some of them he thought All a man had to do was to keep his head and he was all right Any man who was a man could travel alone But it was surprising the rapidity with which his cheeks and nose were freezing And he had not thought his fingers could go lifeless in so short a time Lifeless they were for he could scarcely make them move together to grip a twig and they seemed remote from his body and from him When he touched a twig he had to look and see whether or not he had hold of it The wires were pretty well down between him and his finger-ends

All of which counted for little There was the fire snapping and crackling and promising life with every dancing flame He started to untie his moccasins They were coated with ice the thick German socks were like sheaths of iron halfway to the knees and the moccasin strings were like rods of steel all twisted and knotted as by some conflagration For a moment he tugged with his numb fingers then realizing the folly of it he drew his sheath-knife

But before he could cut the strings it happened It was his own fault or rather his mistake He should not have built the fire under the spruce tree He should have built it in the open But it had been easier to pull the twigs from the brush and drop them directly on the fire Now the tree under which

he had done this carried a weight of snow on its boughs No wind had blown for weeks and each bough was fully freighted Each time he had pulled a twig he had communicated a slight agitation to the tree--an imperceptible agitation so far as he was concerned but an agitation sufficient to bring about the disaster High up in the tree one bough capsized its load of snow This fell on the boughs beneath capsizing them This process continued spreading out and involving the whole tree It grew like an avalanche and it descended without warning upon the man and the fire and the fire was blotted out Where it had burned was a mantle of fresh and disordered snow

The man was shocked It was as though he had just heard his own sentence of death For a moment he sat and stared at the spot where the fire had been Then he grew very calm Perhaps the old-timer on Sulphur Creek was right If he had only had a trail-mate he would have been in no danger now The trail-mate could have built the fire Well it was up to him to build the fire over again and this second time there must be no failure Even if he succeeded he would most likely lose some toes His feet must be badly frozen by now and there would be some time before the second fire Was ready

Such were his thoughts but he did not sit and think them He was busy all the time they were passing through his mind He made a new foundation for a fire this time in the open where no treacherous tree could blot it out Next he gathered dry grasses and tiny twigs from the high-water flotsam He could not bring his fingers together to pull them out but he was able to gather them by the handful In this way he got many rotten twigs and bits of green moss that were undesirable but it was the best he could do He worked methodically even collecting an armful of the larger branches to be used later when the fire gathered strength And all the while the dog sat and watched him a certain yearning wistfulness in its eyes for it looked upon

To Build a FireContinued

him as the fire-provider and the fire was slow in coming

When all was ready the man reached in his pocket for a second piece of birch bark He knew the bark was there and though he could not feel it with his fingers he could hear its crisp rustling as he fumbled for it Try as he would he could not clutch hold of it And all the time in his consciousness was the knowledge that each instant his feet were freezing This thought tended to put him in a panic but he fought against it and kept calm He pulled on his mittens with his teeth and threshed his arms back and forth beating his hands with all his might against his sides He did this sitting down and he stood up to do it and all the while the dog sat in the snow its wolf-brush of a tail curled around warmly over its forefeet its sharp wolf-ears pricked forward intently as it watched the man And the man as he beat and threshed with his arms and hands felt a great surge of envy as he regarded the creature that was warm ant secure in its natural covering

After a time he was aware of the first far-away signals of sensation in his beaten fingers The faint tingling grew stronger till it evolved into a stinging ache that was excruciating but which the man hailed with satisfaction He stripped the mitten from his right hand and fetched forth the birch bark The exposed fingers were quickly going numb again Next he brought out his bunch of sulphur matches But the tremendous cold had already driven the life out of his fingers In his effort to separate one match from the others the whole bunch fell in the snow He tried to pick it out of the snow but failed The dead fingers could neither touch nor clutch He was very careful He drove the thought of his freezing feet and nose and cheeks out of his mind devoting his whole soul to the matches He watched using the sense of vision in place of that of touch and when he saw his fingers on each side the bunch he dosed them--that is he willed to close them for the wires were down and the fingers did not obey He pulled

the mitten on the right hand and beat it fiercely against his knee Then with both mittened hands he scooped the bunch of matches along with much snow into his lap Yet he was no better off

After some manipulation he managed to get the bunch between the heels of his mittened hands In this fashion he carried it to his mouth The ice crackled and snapped when by a violent effort he opened his mouth He drew the lower jaw in curled the upper lip out of the way and scraped the bunch with his upper teeth in order to separate a match He succeeded in getting one which he dropped on his lap He was no better off He could not pick it up Then he devised a way He picked it up in his teeth and scratched it on his leg Twenty times he scratched before he succeeded in lighting it As it flamed he held it with his teeth to the birch bark But the burning brimstone went up his nostrils and into his lungs causing him to cough spasmodically The match fell into the snow and went out

The old-timer an Sulphur Creek was right he thought in the moment of controlled despair that ensued after fifty below a man should travel with a partner He beat his hands but failed in exciting any sensation Suddenly he bared both hands removing the mittens with his teeth He caught the whole bunch between the heels of his hands His arm muscles not being frozen enabled him to press the hand-heels tightly against the matches Then he scratched the bunch along his leg It flared into flame seventy sulphur matches at once There was no wind to blow them out He kept his head to one side to escape the strangling fumes and held the blazing bunch to the birth bark As he so held it he became aware of sensation in his hand His flesh was burning He could smell it Deep down below the surface he could feel it The sensation developed into pain that grew acute And still he endured it holding the flame of the matches clumsily to the bark that would not light readily because his own burning hands were in the way absorbing most of the flame

To Build a FireContinued

At last when he could endure no more he jerked his hands apart The blazing matches fell sizzling into the snow but the birch bark was alight He began laying dry grasses and the tiniest twigs on the flame He could not pick and choose for he had to lift the fuel between the heels of his hands Small pieces of rotten wood and green moss clung to the twigs and he bit them off as well as he could with his teeth He cherished the flame carefully and awkwardly It meant life and it must not perish The withdrawal of blood from the surface of his body now made him begin to shiver and he grew more awkward A large piece of green moss fell squarely on the little fire He tried to poke it out with his fingers but his shivering frame made him poke too far and he disrupted the nucleus of the little fire the burning grasses and tiny twigs separating and scattering He tried to poke them together again but in spite of the tenseness of the effort his shivering got away with him and the twigs were hopelessly scattered Each twig gushed a puff of smoke and went out The fire-provider had failed As he looked apathetically about him his eyes chanced on the dog sitting across the ruins of the fire from him in the snow making restless hunching movements slightly lifting one forefoot and then the other shifting its weight back and forth on them with wistful eagerness

The sight of the dog put a wild idea into his head He remembered the tale of the man caught in a blizzard who killed a steer and crawled inside the carcass and so was saved He would kill the dog and bury his hands in the warm body until the numbness went out of them Then he could build another fire He spoke to the dog calling it to him but in his voice was a strange note of fear that frightened the animal who had never known the man to speak in such way before Something was the matter and its suspicious nature sensed danger--it knew not what danger but somewhere somehow in its brain arose an apprehension of the man It flattened its ears down at the sound of the mans voice and its restless

hunching movements and the liftings and shiftings of its forefeet became more pronounced but it would not come to the man He got on his hands and knees and crawled toward the dog This unusual posture again excited suspicion and the animal sidled mincingly away

The man sat up in the snow for a moment and struggled for calmness Then he pulled on his mittens by means of his teeth and got upon his feet He glanced down at first in order to assure himself that he was really standing up for the absence of sensation in his feet left him unrelated to the earth His erect position in itself started to drive the webs of suspicion from the dogs mind and when he spoke peremptorily with the sound of whiplashes in his voice the dog rendered its customary allegiance and came to him As it came within reaching distance the man lost his control His arms flashed out to the dog and he experienced genuine surprise when he discovered that his hands could not clutch that there was neither bend nor feeling in the fingers He had forgotten for the moment that they were frozen and that they were freezing more and more All this happened quickly and before the animal could get away he encircled its body with his arms He sat down in the snow and in this fashion held the dog while it snarled and whined and struggled

But it was all he could do hold its body encircled in his arms and sit there He realized that he could not kill the dog There was no way to do it With his helpless hands he could neither draw nor hold his sheath knife nor throttle the animal He released it and it plunged wildly away with tail between its legs and still snarling It halted forty feet away and surveyed him curiously with ears sharply pricked forward The man looked down at his hands in order to locate them and found them hanging on the ends of his arms It struck him as curious that one should have to use his eyes in order to find out where his hands were He began threshing his arms back and forth beating the mittened hands against

To Build a FireContinued

his sides He did this for five minutes violently and his heart pumped enough blood up to the surface to put a stop to his shivering But no sensation was aroused in the hands He had an impression that they hung like weights on the ends of his arms but when he tried to run the impression down he could not find it

A certain fear of death dull and oppressive came to him This fear quickly became poignant as he realized that it was no longer a mere matter of freezing his fingers and toes or of losing his hands and feet but that it was a matter of life and death with the chances against him This threw him into a panic and he turned and ran up the creek-bed along the old dim trail The dog joined in behind and kept up with him He ran blindly without intention in fear such as he had never known in his life Slowly as he plowed and floundered through the snow he began to see things again the banks of the creek the old timber-jams the leafless aspens and the sky The running made him feel better He did not shiver Maybe if he ran on his feet would thaw out and anyway if he ran far enough he would reach camp and the boys Without doubt he would lose some fingers and toes and some of his face but the boys would take care of him and save the rest of him when he got there And at the same time there was another thought in his mind that said he would never get to the camp and the boys that it was too many miles away that the freezing had too great a start on him and that he would soon be stiff and dead This thought he kept in the background and refused to consider Sometimes it pushed itself forward and demanded to be heard but he thrust it back and strove to think of other things

It struck him as curious that he could run at all on feet so frozen that he could not feel them when they struck the earth and took the weigh of his body He seemed to himself to skim along above the surface and to have no connection with the earth Somewhere he had once seen a winged Mercury

and he wondered if Mercury felt as he felt when skimming over the earth

His theory of running until he reached camp and the boys had one flaw in it he lacked the endurance Several times he stumbled and finally he tottered crumpled up and fell When he tried to rise he failed He must sit and rest he decided and next time he would merely walk and keep on going As he sat and regained his breath he noted that he was feeling quite warm and comfortable He was not shivering and it even seemed that a warm glow had come to his chest and trunk And yet when he touched his nose or cheeks there was no sensation Running would not thaw them out Nor would it thaw out his hands and feet Then the thought came to him that the frozen portions of his body must be extending He tried to keep this thought down to forget it to think of something else he was aware of the panicky feeling that it caused and he was afraid of the panic But the thought asserted itself and persisted until it produced a vision of his body totally frozen This was too much and he made another wild run along the trail Once he slowed down to a walk but the thought of the freezing extending itself made him run again

And all the time the dog ran with him at his heels When he fell down a second time it curled its tad over its forefeet and sat in front of him facing him curiously eager and intent The warmth and security of the animal angered him and he cursed it till it flattened down its ears appealingly This time the shivering came more quickly upon the man He was losing in his battle with the frost It was creeping into his body from all sides The thought of it drove him on but he ran no more than a hundred feet when he staggered and pitched headlong It was his last panic When he had recovered his breath and control he sat up and entertained in his mind the conception of meeting death with dignity However the conception did not come to him in such terms His idea of it was that he had been making a fool of

To Build a FireContinued

himself running around like a chicken with its head cut off--such was the simile that occurred to him Well he was bound to freeze anyway and he might as well take it decently With this new-found peace of mind came the first glimmerings of drowsiness A good idea he thought to sleep off to death It was like salting an anesthetic Freezing was not so bad as people thought There were lots worse ways to die

He pictured the boys finding his body next day Suddenly he found himself with them coming along the trail and looking for himself And still with them he came around a turn in the trail and found himself lying in the snow He did not belong with himself any more for even then he was out of himself standing with the boys and looking at himself in the snow It certainly was cold was his thought When he got back to the States he could tell the folks what real cold was He drifted on from this to a vision of the old-timer on Sulphur Creek He could see him quite clearly warm and comfortable and smoking a pipe

You were right old boss you were right the man mumbled to the old-timer of Sulphur Creek

Then the man drowsed off into what seemed to him the most comfortable and satisfying sleep he had ever known The dog sat facing him and waiting The brief day drew to a close in a long slow twilight There were no signs of a fire to be made and besides never in the dogs experience had it known a man to sit like that in the snow and make no fire As the twilight drew on its eager yearning for the fire mastered it and with a great lifting and shifting of forefeet it whined softly then flattened its ears down in anticipation of being chidden by the man But the man remained silent Later the dog whined loudly And still later it crept close to the man and caught the scent of death This made the animal bristle and back away A little longer it delayed howling under the stars that leaped and danced and shone brightly in the cold sky Then it turned and trotted up the trail in the direction of the camp it knew where were the other food-providers and fire-providers

To Build a FireContinued

Blogs can be a lot of work to maintainTwitter only gives you 140 characters

Facebook is just your friends

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Stories are published for ALL FitnessDigestus readers Archived professionally and digitally in thousands of libraries

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Page 29: FitnessDigest.us Vol. 4.3 Cover

More simply put motivation will find you because you will see something that inspires you to make a change in yourself That change may be a weight-loss goal or something else Maybe even an academic goal The true key is to maintain that motivation until you have achieved your goal

Regards Vincent ErrichielloUSMS Swimmer

InspirationMotivation

With believing so deeply within my own abilities and the faith that I could accomplish what I set out to achieve I wrote a lyric titled Dreams Are Only Real and in believing in this concept further defining its true meaning the concept became Dreams Are Only Real Until You Dont believe

Jeremy J TaylorCNFI Publishing

himTHROWINGWritten by anonymous contributor

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13 Johnny is not the best batter in our little league Matter-of-fact he is quiet awful At practice one afternoon Johnny hit a pitch really well The coach had pitched him inside on accident far enough inside that it almost hit him Johnny got his hit by using his bat to defend himself from that arrant pitch The coach told him ldquogood hitrdquo and Johnny yelled back ldquoWell I didnrsquot want the ball to hit merdquo13 Johnny improved his batting after that He was hitting the ball almost every time he got up At one point I said to coach ldquoHow did you get Johnny to improve his batting so quicklyrdquo He replyed Im throwing the ball it AT HIM every time

Body image and fitness are hot topics for both men and women The Great Fitness Experiment is my hilarious poignant embarrassing and at times heart-breaking journey to find my way through the morass of contradictory claims and information in todayrsquos health- and fitness-obsessed world

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Send u

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READE

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rts

13 I was standing on shore fishing in my favorite spot A guy Irsquove never seen at the pond gets in and starts swimming After about 25 minutes of back and forth he stops at a place about 30 yards off shore He gives me a quick look and dices down below the water

His next lap he stops in the same place looks at me again and points down at the water He finished his swim and left I picked up my gear and moved to the other side of the outlet just a few yards from where he had stopped twice Caught a lunker in the first cast

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TOP TWEETS

Iowa Cubs (IowaCubs)Thanks to all our fans who showed up for the pre-game on-field catch with dad

Louise Pineda (forerunnerGPS)The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficultyWinston Churchill quotes

Softball Darlin (Softball_Darlin)My mom told me our team was gettin white uniforms for summer amp to try not to get them dirty Uh Have you seen me play Not gonna happen

I Swim I Suffer (ISwimISuffer)thatswimmerwho If the water is in your right ear for example then jump on your right leg and lean your head to the right side while jumping

I Swim and I Know It (iSwimWithIssues)During the summer you shower 467 times at the pool 17 times at hotels and 3 times at your house Truth

Everyday Health (WomensCancer)63000 Americans will be diagnosed w malignant melanoma (the deadliest skin cancer) this year Know your risk

US Paralympics (USParalympics)Want to be introduced to Paralympic sport Attend one of the Paralympic Experiences being held throughout the countryFi

tnes

sDig

est

US v

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SwimSwam (swimswamnews)Congrats to KenyaSwimmer on being selected to carry the Kenya flag swimswamcom

Better than sharing on a blog Twitter or Facebook and you can share a story even if you donrsquot maintain a social-web presencePublished for ALL FitnessDigestus readers

Sign with your real name pen-name or anonymoushttpLiveMediaFitnessDigestus

13 Funnest thing SPAM about some weight-loss supplements got posted on a friendrsquos Facebook My friend is an ultra-runner I notice there was also an ad for salami recipes on the same page The recipes were right next to the SPAM about diet-pills

13 Letrsquos see ndash it sounds like the beginning of a good joke Q What do you get when a friend tries to sell you ultra-runner endorsed salami-flavored-SPAM diet-pills on Facebook Answer Sick

Unsung Heroes1 Irsquove never swam open water and wanted to do a triathlon A friend that

races open water took extra time to swim with me at a lake I was much more comfortable after that

2 I was going on vacation and needed advice on a place to swim A friend living in the area took the time to help me find people to answer my questions

3 I was over eating and had complained to my friend about it She called me twice a day for three weeks just to remind me to eat healthy

4 I usually run to and from the gym It takes about 30 minutes to run both ways I didnrsquot have enough time to get there and back before a scheduled appointment I had A friend drove me to the gym saving me about 30 minutes I was able to run home and still had time to get to my appointment

SPAM DIET

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Visit the Suburban Mommy blog and learn more about AtresiaMicrotia a birth defect of the inner earFor links to SubMommy blog httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

SUBMOMMYBLOG

On Wednesday May 16 2012 at 7 PM simultaneous rides occurred around the

USA and the world

We all ride Now we can ride as one

One day One time One world world wide

Let the silence roar

322 locations world wide

The Ride of SilenceTonight we number many but ride as one

In honor of those not with us friends

mothers fathers sisters sons

With helmets on tight and heads down low

We ride in silence cautious and slow

The wheels start spinning in the lead pack

But tonight we ride and no one attacks

The dark sunglasses cover our tears

Remembering those we held so dear

Tonights ride is to make others aware

The road is there for all to share

To those not with us or by our side

May God be your partner on your final ride

- Mike Murgas

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 50 states

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 7 Continents

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 0 words spoken

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 1 million memories

Ride of Silence

ldquoCost-effective investments in bicycling boost our economy help individuals and government agencies save money and directly address key societal challenges such as obesity and road congestion In these tough economic times our federal government can only afford to invest in solutions that solve multiple problems Bicycling fits the billrdquo ndash PeopleForBikesorg

This photo collection was taken byRobert LaVallee of Mason City IA

To see his entire collection visithttpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

Non-subscriberSign-up for delivery of

the FREE edition at coopnetbiz

It provides an outstanding aerobic workout in less than half the time we would spend in still water It has allowed us as swim coaches to observe swimmers stroke characteristics up close and to see the effects of fatigue on stroke mechanics ~ Larry L Chazy NY

Swimming is an excellent exercise and now I can swim every day because its so convenient and private I can swim when I want and how long I want Im able to have it at a temperature that is comfortable to me The small size of an Endless Pool enabled me to install a pool where I could not install a regular size one

As an aging baby boomer nutrition professional I have yearned for consistent exercise that doesnt stress joints and will enable me to attain physical fitness cardiovascular health and weight control I can eat what I want and still firm up and lose weight ~ John C Columbus OH

Endless Pools make for long swims in small places The 8x15 Endless Pool is less than regulation size but offers the same benefits as a very large pool ~ Noah H Connecticut Post

The Endless Pool is a great strength builder I am amazed at the strength of the current I now swim against I did not buy it for that reason but because of my arthritis so the strength gain is a wonderful surprise

Endless PoolsTestimonials For more information visit httpLIveAdsFitnessDigestus

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Baseball Walking Stick13 My sons friend grabbed his baseball bat and said to me this is my walking stick I politely ask him why he calls it that He replied because my dad says if I hit a home run with it I donrsquot have to run the bases ndash I can walk

My Bike My mountain bike was stolen a while back and my kids were really upset Ive been riding my road bike in its place Since then Ive been careful to lock my bike up when we go to the park

13 On this occasion I did not lock-up my sonrsquos bike up with mine He looked at me quizzically and said sternly lock my bike up too I tried to explain that his bike was not as expensive and therefor didnt need to be locked up Boy that was a mistake He made me feel a little dumb when he said Dad I dont care how expensive it is Its the only bike Irsquove got

North Iowa Roads

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A LEADER inSearch Engine Optimization

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Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

parent sports tipBy FitnessDigestus staff writer JGA

PAR

EN

T

TIP

Keeping Kids Focused13 Organize their thoughts Help them prioritize and make decisions based on value Even kids can understand the value of simple non-monetized choices Questions like ldquoShould I finish playing my gameboy game or pause it when they call my swimming eventrdquo

If kids are taught to make good decisions and not just find quick answers everyone wins

AugustGolf Month5th Friendship Day15th Relaxation Day25th Kiss and Make Up Day31st Trail Mix DaySeptemberLittle League Month12th Chocolate Milk Shake Day13th Positive Thinking Day16th Womenrsquos Friendship Day21st Miniature Golf DayOctoberBreast Cancer Awareness MonthNational Diabetes Month1st World Vegetarian Day4th Golf Day25th World Pasta Day

National Calendar

Au

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stSe

pte

mb

er

Oc

tob

er

Encourage friendships writing skills sharing thoughts and

experiencesEight different cards

YAGOTTAWANNA

Variety of pricing From single orders to bulk orders of 24 notecards

Learn more online

Stay in touch with your swimming or triathlon buddies

It is better to be safe then to try to beat the heat There are many options to stay cool and run during a hot-summer day Staying inside and running on the treadmill is a good one Remember staying safe is a top priority

Most workouts can be modified to work indoors This issuersquos workout is to do your usual run or interval set just stay inside and run it on the treadmill Visualize the different landmarks to see during your outdoor run

Coach Millerrsquos Quarterly ChallengeStay safe in the heatBy Mark Miller mmillerFitnessDigestus

A few years back we had a hot-spell similar to this yearrsquos record heat

I remember training for a long run and having to stop at the local swimming hole to cool off I literally took off my

shoes and jumped in with my running clothes on I was so hot

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OPEN WATER SWIMMING BY THE NUMBERS

In kilometers The shortest open water race included in the Fina World Championships

10107 How many miles it

is to swim from Cuba to the USA

5

1000Number of swimming strokes in a mile for a typical swimmer

31800About the number of calories it takes to swim 100 miles

LOCATED IN ST ANSGAR IOWA

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Postcards And Much More

Bridgette Beyer DesignerOwner

Bring your ideas in andVisual Aspect Designs can print

andor design for you

The minimum open water distance in kilometers that is considered a swimming-

marathon

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Open water safety means swimming in shallow water where there is a lifeguard or using an escort

Shop for Name BrandGear

24 Hoursa Day

WaynesSkiandCyclenet

For links to Waynersquos visit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

s w i m m i n g s h o r t s

Googles

13 Swimming fans can really appreciate a 200 IM when their goggles fill with water How about an Olympian Swimming a leg of the 400 Free Relay with his goggles across his opened mouth ndash and going 45rsquos A great team swimmer an Olympian wouldnrsquot let down his teammates by throwing them off or fixing them

500 Fly13 A world class butterflyer asked if he could swim butterfly in the 500 yard freestyle during a dual meet His goal was to break five minutes After considering the competition it seemed like a great way to make him really work a hard fly swim so we agreed Problem was he swam a 502 and the opposing coach complained to the officials because he embarrassed his swimmers Oh well you canrsquot win lsquoem all

Stories sent in by Robert Steele

No-No-No13 The other morning I was teaching front-streamlines to snotty nosed 8 year olds (some are literally snotty-nosed) One boy was taking a big gulp of air and holding his breath When he lifted his head he had to exhale and inhale before submerging again Swimmers will understand this does not work very well Kids need to learn to exhale underwater The first time he did it I told him to exhale underwater The second time I stopped him looked him in the eye and reminded him to exhale underwater The third and fourth times I started to get a little frustrated ldquoJohnny you need to exhale underwater so you can breath betterrdquo The fifth time as his head popped up for a breath I quickly asked ldquoJohnny Do you even know what exhale meansrdquo as he submerged his head below the water I could see him shake his head no-no-no

Favorite Potato Chips13We try to limit the junk food the kids eat at our house For lunch one day our son wanted some potato chips I gave him 3 large chips with his sandwich He started to cry and said he wanted one more chip ldquoI wanted four chipsrdquo he screamed I took the plate back When he wasnt looking I broke a chip in half and give it back to him with four chips

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

13 My cancer story is one of uniqueness Leave it to me to do something like cancer to its fullest It did not begin with a mammogram diagnosis or a lump My journey began about 4 years ago with some suspicious activity that turned into Pagetrsquos disease of the nipple which signaled the underlying cancer On April 1st I found out about my breast cancer through a biopsy that came back as positive for Pagetrsquos disease The onslaught of tests learning and decisions were dizzying I immediately went for an evaluation of the suspicious tissue and had to begin making decisions for my mastectomy I quickly learned there is a test called the BRAC Analysis which is a genetic test for breast and ovarian cancer Finally a piece of good news for me I did not have the gene

Decisions Now it was time to make decisions about my mastectomy and how I was going to handle reconstruction I discussed my options with my boyfriend Brian friends family members and even my principalboss I read books searched the Internet and contacted people I

Brandi ShipmanCancer Survivor and elite triathlete

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

know and knew from my past that had been directly affected and that I thought might have answers for me The outpouring of love encouragement and help during this process was overwhelming After meeting with four different doctors two surgeons and two plastic surgeons I decided to go with immediate reconstruction and was lucky enough to find two wonderful doctors They were willing to work together just because I wanted them to even though they had never done so before My surgery was scheduled for mid May

Mental Toughness13 My mental preparation at this point was very important I had to scrap any idea of competing in triathlons for the rest of the year and focus on a positive attitude of getting better I stopped thinking about what I wasnrsquot going to able to do and started thinking about what I could do that I was alive and kept my mind on the fact that so many others had made it before me

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links

Part 213 I was prepared by the doctors survivors and literature to be ldquodownrdquo for several weeks after my surgery I even took the rest of the school year off My surgery went well and I was out of the hospital the next day A few friends came to visit while I was in the hospital and my principal and vice principal brought the most wonderful picture of the faculty wearing pink for me I can only imagine what it looked like at Thornton Elementary on that day in May 2009 a sea of pink all for Brandi Shipman Shortly after their visit I received a text from my friend Margie Massey My friends from the gym wore pink for me that day as well The support brought tears to my eyes I was so excited to come home and be comfortable in my own home I just wish the stupid drain that was attached could have stayed at the hospital The pain from that was worse than the pain from the mastectomy

the most

powerful picture

13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Recovery ndash May13 Once I got home I slept and watched a lot of TV Friends visited and brought yummy food and my favorites I am not supposed to eat I ate them all My friend and co-worker set up a cancer care calendar that alerted anyone who logged on when I was having a doctorrsquos appointment or when I was in need of anything I felt like royalty as everyone took care of me I think Brian secretly enjoyed the fact that he wouldnrsquot have to cook for me each night My recovery was quicker than I thought as I was doing my best to get better and get the stinkinrsquo drain out of my skin I was out walking within a week and running within 3 weeks I couldnrsquot believe my recovery I know it was from all the prayers love and good care from Brian and the loved ones around me Life was looking better each day

ldquoLife was looking

better each dayrdquo

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Part three and part

four of I am Survivor

will be published in

the next edition of

FitnessDigestus

Get the convenience of

digital-delivery

Sign-up or subscribe at

httpFitnessDigestus

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During the past 150 years we have witnessed many remarkable advances against cancer a disease known to humanity for thousands of years The advances highlighted below represent a sampling of what has been accomplished to date

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

1882 William Halsted performs the first radical mastectomy to treat breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast the lymph nodes under the arm (axillary lymph nodes) and the chest muscles behind the breast (pectoralis major and pectoralis minor muscles) are removed Radical mastectomy will remain the standard operation for breast cancer until latter half of the 20th century when the use of modified radical mastectomy becomes widely accepted

1932 David H Patey develops the modified radical mastectomy for breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast axillary lymph nodes and pectoralis minor muscle behind the breast are removed The modified radical mastectomy is less disfiguring than the radical mastectomy and will eventually replace the radical mastectomy as a standard treatment option for breast cancer

1953 James Watson and Francis Crick discover the molecular structure of DNA (the double helix)

1963 The Health Insurance Plan (HIP) of Greater New York Study begins HIP is the first randomized controlled trial of periodic breast cancer screening with mammography

1882

1932

1953

1963

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1976 The results of a randomized clinical trial show that women with early breast cancer who receive post-operative (adjuvant) combination chemotherapy with the drugs cyclophosphamide methotrexate and 5-FU have improved disease-free survival

1981 A randomized clinical trial in the United Kingdom shows for the first time that the rates of survival local recurrence and tumor metastasis among women whose breast cancer is treated with modified radical mastectomy are not substantially different from those of women who are treated with radical mastectomy

1993 An NCI-convened international workshop on screening for breast cancer reports that screening with mammography reduces breast cancer mortality among women ages 50-69 This conclusion is based on a review of published and unpublished data from eight randomized controlled trials

2004 Data from the Womens Health Initiative (WHI) study show that women who take estrogen in combination with the hormone progestin have a greater risk of developing breast cancer than women who take estrogen alone The results also show that menopausal hormone therapy with estrogen alone has no benefit in disease prevention specifically in reducing the risks of colorectal cancer coronary heart disease and dementia

1976

1981

1993

2004

Although we still have a long way to go to reduce the toll of cancer in the United States and worldwide our research and public health efforts are beginning to pay dividends

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

Volunteering vs Participating13 My girl friend and I are involved in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation The local chapter raises awareness for the cause with a fun-run each year We have volunteered to help with the race five years in a row This year we were stationed at a water table where the runners pick-up cups of water to drink Toward the end of the race there are very few runners There was a little time to chat about things We were talking about what we would wish for if we could have three wishes I told her I would wish for an end to Juvenile Diabetes and to lose 10 pounds Being nice I said ldquoyou can have my last wishrdquo She said I wish you would skip volunteering and just run this race next year

Admission Price Our aquatic center was having a promotion one night and advertised an elementary school night The kids could swim for free When we got to the pool we saw a promotional sign for the event In small lettering it read All swimmers must be accompanied by an adult We thought no big deal one of us can just stay and watch When we got to the front desk we found the lifeguard was enforcing the adult-admission price of $8

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CNFI Publishing - Products Books Chapbooks Bookmarks Plaques and Poetry Collector Cards Merchandising Products Coffee Mugs Mouse Pads Tiles 3x6 Coasters T - Shirts and Wall Plaques More info athttpliveadsFitnessDigestus

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

Featured PhotosFitnessDigestus feature

Chicago open water swim course at nighttop left

Kids race at Bicycle Blues and BBQtop right

Some team members volunteer at the local soup kitchenmiddle right

Ken Mauer loads the balls for hitting practice during a Twins baseball camp for

children 7-13 bottom right

Get your local event photos published in the next issue of FitnessDigestus E-mail

your photo to photoFitnessDigestus

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As he turned to go on he spat speculatively There was a sharp explosive crackle that startled him He spat again And again in the air before it could fall to the snow the spittle crackled He knew that at fifty below spittle crackled on the snow but this spittle had crackled in the air Undoubtedly it was colder than fifty below--how much colder he did not know But the temperature did not matter He was bound for the old claim on the left fork of Henderson Creek where the boys were already They had come over across the divide from the Indian Creek country while he had come the roundabout way to take a look at the possibilities of getting out logs in the spring from the islands in the Yukon He would be in to camp by six oclock a bit after dark it was true but the boys would be there a fire would be going and a hot supper would be ready As for lunch he pressed his hand against the protruding bundle under his jacket It was also under his shirt wrapped up in a handkerchief and lying against the naked skin It was the only way to keep the biscuits from freezing He smiled agreeably to himself as he thought of those biscuits each cut open and sopped in bacon grease and each enclosing a generous slice of fried bacon

He plunged in among the big spruce trees The trail was faint A foot of snow had fallen since the last sled had passed over and he was glad he was without a sled traveling light In fact he carried nothing but the lunch wrapped in the handkerchief He was surprised however at the cold It certainly was cold he concluded as he rubbed his numb nose and cheek-bones with his mittened hand He was a warm-whiskered man but the hair on his face did not protect the high cheek-bones and the eager nose that thrust itself aggressively into the frosty air

At the mans heels trotted a dog a big native husky the proper wolf-dog gray-coated and without any visible or temperamental difference from its brother the wild wolf The animal was depressed by the tremendous cold It knew that it was no time for

traveling Its instinct told it a truer tale than was told to the man by the mans judgment In reality it was not merely colder than fifty below zero it was colder than sixty below than seventy below It was seventy-five below zero Since the freezing point is thirty-two above zero it meant that one hundred and seven degrees of frost obtained The dog did not know anything about thermometers Possibly in its brain there was no sharp consciousness of a condition of very cold such as was in the mans brain But the brute had its instinct It experienced a vague but menacing apprehension that subdued it then made it slink along at the mans heels and that made it question eagerly every unwonted movement of the man as if expecting him to go into camp or to seek shelter somewhere and build a fire The dog had learned fire and it wanted fire or else to burrow under the snow and cuddle its warmth away from the air

The frozen moisture of its breathing had settled on its fur in a fine powder of frost and especially were its jowls muzzle and eyelashes whitened by its cry-stalled breath The mans red beard and mustache were likewise frosted but more solidly the deposit taking the form of ice and increasing with every warm moist breath he exhaled Also the man was chewing tobacco and the muzzle of ice held his lips so rigidly that he was unable to clear his chin when he expelled the juice The result was that a crystal beard of the color and solidity of amber was increasing its length on his chin If he fell down it would shatter itself like glass into brittle fragments But he did not mind the appendage It was the penalty all tobacco-chewers paid in that country and he had been out before in two cold snaps They had not been so cold as this he knew but by the spirit thermometer at Sixty Mile he knew they had been registered at fifty below and at fifty-five

He held on through the level stretch of woods for several miles crossed a wide flat of rigger-heads and dropped down a bank to the frozen bed of a

To Build a FireContinued

small stream This was Henderson Creek and he knew he was ten miles from the forks He looked at his watch It was ten oclock He was making four miles an hour and he calculated that he would arrive at the forks at half-past twelve He decided to celebrate that event by eating his lunch there

The dog dropped in again at his heels with a tail drooping discouragement as the man swung along the creek-bed The furrow of the old sled-trail was plainly visible but a dozen inches of snow covered the marks of the last runners In a month no man had come up or down that silent creek The man held steadily on He was not much given to thinking and just then particularly he had nothing to think about save that he would eat lunch at-the forks and that at six oclock he would be in camp with the boys There was nobody to talk to and had there been speech would have been impossible because of the ice-muzzle on his mouth So he continued monotonously to chew tobacco and to increase the length of his amber beard

Once in a while the thought reiterated itself that it was very cold and that he had never experienced such cold As he walked along he rubbed his cheek-bones and nose with the back of his mittened hand He did this automatically now and again changing hands But rub as he would the instant he stopped his cheek-bones went numb and the following instant the end of his nose went numb He was sure to frost his cheeks he knew that and experienced a pang of regret that he had not devised a nose-strap of the sort Bud wore in cold snaps Such a strap passed across the cheeks as well and saved them But it didnt matter much after all What were frosted cheeks A bit painful that was all they were never serious

Empty as the mans mind was of thoughts he was keenly observant and he noticed the changes in the creek the curves and bends and timber jams and always he sharply noted where he placed his feet Once coming around a bend he shied abruptly

like a startled horse curved away from the place where he had been walking and retreated several paces back along the trail The creek he knew was frozen clear to the bottom--no creek could contain water in that arctic winter--but he knew also that there were springs that bubbled out from the hillsides and ran along under the snow and on top the ice of the creek He knew that the coldest snaps never froze these springs and he knew likewise their danger They were traps They hid pools of water under the snow that might be three inches deep or three feet Sometimes a skin of ice half an inch thick covered them and in turn was covered by the snow Sometimes there were alternate layers of water and ice-skin so that when one broke through he kept on breaking through for a while sometimes wetting himself to the waist

That was why he had shied in such panic He had felt the give under his feet and heard the crackle of a snow-hidden ice-skin And to get his feet wet in such a temperature meant trouble and danger At the very least it meant delay for he would be forced to stop and build a fire and under its protection to bare his feet while he dried his socks and moccasins He stood and studied the creek-bed and its banks and decided that the flow of water came from the right He reflected a while rubbing his nose and cheeks then skirted to the left stepping gingerly and testing the footing for each step Once clear of the danger he took a fresh chew of tobacco and swung along at his four-mile gait

In the course of the next two hours he came upon several similar traps Usually the snow above the hidden pools had a sunken candied appearance that advertised the danger Once again however he had a close call and once suspecting danger he compelled the dog to go on in front The dog did not want to go It hung back until the man shoved it forward and then it went quickly across the white unbroken surface Suddenly it broke through floundered to one side and got away to firmer

To Build a FireContinued

To Build a FireContinued

footing It had wet its forefeet and legs and almost immediately the water that clung to it turned to ice It made quick efforts to lick the ice off its legs then dropped down in the snow and began to bite out the ice that had formed between the toes l his was a matter of instinct To permit the ice to remain would mean sore feet It did not know this It merely obeyed the mysterious prompting that arose from the deep crypts of its being But the man knew having achieved a judgment on the subject and he removed the mitten from his right hand and helped tear out the ice-particles He did not expose his fingers more than a minute and was astonished at the swift numbness that smote them It certainly was cold He pulled on the mitten hastily and beat the hand savagely across his chest

At twelve oclock the day was at its brightest Yet the sun was too far south an its winter journey to clear the horizon The bulge of the earth intervened between it arid Henderson Creek where the man walked under a clear sky at noon and cast no shadow At half-past twelve to the minute he arrived at the forks of the creek He was pleased at the speed he had made If he kept it up he would certainly be with the boys by six He unbuttoned his jacket and shirt and drew forth his lunch The action consumed no more than a quarter of a minute yet in that brief moment the numbness laid hold of the exposed fingers He did not put the mitten on but instead struck the fingers a dozen sharp smashes against his leg Then he sat down on a snow-covered log to eat The sting that followed upon the striking of his fingers against his leg ceased so quickly that he was startled He had had no chance to take a bite of biscuit He struck the fingers repeatedly and returned them to the mitten baring the other hand for the purpose of eating He tried to take a mouthful but the ice-muzzle prevented He had forgotten to build a fire and thaw out He chuckled at his foolishness and as he chuckled he noted the numbness creeping into the exposed fingers Also he noted that the stinging which had first come to his

toes when he sat down was already passing away He wandered whether the toes were warm or numb He moved them inside the moccasins and decided that they were numb

He pulled the mitten on hurriedly and stood up He was a bit frightened He stamped up and down until the stinging returned into the feet It certainly was cold was his thought That man from Sulphur Creek had spoken the truth when telling how cold it sometimes got in the country And he had laughed at him at the time That showed one must not be too sure of things There was no mistake about it it was cold He strode up and down stamping his feet and threshing his arms until reassured by the returning warmth Then he got out matches and proceeded to make a fire From the undergrowth where high water of the previous spring had lodged a supply of seasoned twigs he got his firewood Working carefully from a small beginning he soon had a roaring fire over which he thawed the ice from his face and in the protection of which he ate his biscuits For the moment the cold space was outwitted The dog took satisfaction in the fire stretching out close enough for warmth and far enough away to escape being singed

When the man had finished be filled his pipe and took his comfortable time over a smoke Then he pulled on his mittens settled the ear-flaps of his cap firmly about his ears and took the creek trail up the left fork The dog was disappointed and yearned back toward the fire This man did not know cold Possibly all the generations of his ancestry had been ignorant of cold of real cold of cold one hundred and seven degrees below freezing point But the dog knew all its ancestry knew and it had inherited the knowledge And it knew that it was not good to walk abroad in such fearful cold It was the time to lie snug in a hole in the snow and wait for a curtain of cloud to be drawn across the face of outer space whence this cold came On the other hand there was no keen intimacy between the dog and the man

The one was the toil-slave of the other and the only caresses it had ever received were the caresses of the whiplash and of harsh and menacing throat-sounds that threatened the whiplash So the dog made no effort to communicate its apprehension to the man It was not concerned in the welfare of the man it was for its own sake that it yearned back toward the fire But the man whistled and spoke to it with the sound of whiplashes and the dog swung in at the mans heel and followed after

The man took a chew of tobacco and proceeded to start a new amber beard Also his moist breath quickly powdered with white his mustache eyebrows and lashes There did not seem to be so many springs on the left fork of the Henderson and for half an hour the man saw no signs of any And then it happened At a place where there were no signs where the soft unbroken snow seemed to advertise solidity beneath tee man broke through It was not deep He wet himself halfway to the knees before he floundered out to the firm crust

He was angry and cursed his luck aloud He had hoped to get into camp with the boys at six oclock and this would delay him an hour for he would have to build a fire and dry out his foot-gear This was imperative at that low temperature--he knew that much and he turned aside to the bank which he climbed On top tangled in the underbrush about the trunks of several small spruce trees was a high-water deposit of dry firewood--sticks and twigs principally but also larger portions of seasoned branches and fine dry last-years grasses He threw down several large pieces on top of the snow This served for a foundation and prevented the young flame from drowning itself in the snow it otherwise would melt The flame he got by touching a match to a small shred of birch bark that he took from his pocket This burned even more readily than paper Placing it on the foundation he fed the young flame with wisps of dry grass and with the tiniest dry twigs

He worked slowly and carefully keenly aware of his danger Gradually as the flame grew stronger he increased the size of the twigs with which he fed it He squatted in the snow pulling the twigs out from their entanglement in the brush and feeding directly to the flame He knew there must be no failure When it is seventy-five below zero a man must not fail in his first attempt to build a fire--that is if his feet are wet If his feet are dry and he fails he can run along the trail for half a mile and restore his circulation But the circulation of wet and freezing feet cannot be restored by running when it is seventy-five below No matter how fast he runs the wet feet will freeze the harder

All this the man knew The old-timer on Sulphur Creek had told him about it the previous fall and now he was appreciating the advice Already all sensation had gone out of his feet To build the fire he had been forced to remove his mittens and the fingers had quickly gone numb His pace of four miles an hour had kept his heart pumping blood to the surface of his body and to all the extremities But the instant he stopped the action of the pump eased down The cold of space smote the unprotected tip of the planet and he being on that unprotected tip received the full force of the blow The blood of his body recoiled before it The blood was alive like the dog and like the dog it wanted to hide away and cover itself up from the fearful cold So long as he walked four miles an hour he pumped that blood willy-nilly to the surface but now it ebbed away and sank down into the recesses of his body The extremities were the first to feel its absence His wet feet froze the faster and his exposed fingers numbed the faster though they had not yet begun to freeze Nose and cheeks were already freezing while the skin of all his body chilled as it lost its blood

But he was safe Toes and nose and cheeks would be only touched by the frost for the fire was beginning to burn with strength He was feeding it

To Build a FireContinued

with twigs the size of his finger In another minute he would be able to feed it with branches the size of his wrier and then he could remove his wet toot-gear and while it dried he could keep his naked feet warm by the fire rubbing them at first of course with snow The fire was a success He was safe He remembered the advice of the old timer on Sulphur Creek and smiled The old-timer had been very serious in laying down the law that no man must travel alone in the Klondike after fifty below Well here he was he had had the accident he was alone and he had saved himself Those old-timers were rather womanish some of them he thought All a man had to do was to keep his head and he was all right Any man who was a man could travel alone But it was surprising the rapidity with which his cheeks and nose were freezing And he had not thought his fingers could go lifeless in so short a time Lifeless they were for he could scarcely make them move together to grip a twig and they seemed remote from his body and from him When he touched a twig he had to look and see whether or not he had hold of it The wires were pretty well down between him and his finger-ends

All of which counted for little There was the fire snapping and crackling and promising life with every dancing flame He started to untie his moccasins They were coated with ice the thick German socks were like sheaths of iron halfway to the knees and the moccasin strings were like rods of steel all twisted and knotted as by some conflagration For a moment he tugged with his numb fingers then realizing the folly of it he drew his sheath-knife

But before he could cut the strings it happened It was his own fault or rather his mistake He should not have built the fire under the spruce tree He should have built it in the open But it had been easier to pull the twigs from the brush and drop them directly on the fire Now the tree under which

he had done this carried a weight of snow on its boughs No wind had blown for weeks and each bough was fully freighted Each time he had pulled a twig he had communicated a slight agitation to the tree--an imperceptible agitation so far as he was concerned but an agitation sufficient to bring about the disaster High up in the tree one bough capsized its load of snow This fell on the boughs beneath capsizing them This process continued spreading out and involving the whole tree It grew like an avalanche and it descended without warning upon the man and the fire and the fire was blotted out Where it had burned was a mantle of fresh and disordered snow

The man was shocked It was as though he had just heard his own sentence of death For a moment he sat and stared at the spot where the fire had been Then he grew very calm Perhaps the old-timer on Sulphur Creek was right If he had only had a trail-mate he would have been in no danger now The trail-mate could have built the fire Well it was up to him to build the fire over again and this second time there must be no failure Even if he succeeded he would most likely lose some toes His feet must be badly frozen by now and there would be some time before the second fire Was ready

Such were his thoughts but he did not sit and think them He was busy all the time they were passing through his mind He made a new foundation for a fire this time in the open where no treacherous tree could blot it out Next he gathered dry grasses and tiny twigs from the high-water flotsam He could not bring his fingers together to pull them out but he was able to gather them by the handful In this way he got many rotten twigs and bits of green moss that were undesirable but it was the best he could do He worked methodically even collecting an armful of the larger branches to be used later when the fire gathered strength And all the while the dog sat and watched him a certain yearning wistfulness in its eyes for it looked upon

To Build a FireContinued

him as the fire-provider and the fire was slow in coming

When all was ready the man reached in his pocket for a second piece of birch bark He knew the bark was there and though he could not feel it with his fingers he could hear its crisp rustling as he fumbled for it Try as he would he could not clutch hold of it And all the time in his consciousness was the knowledge that each instant his feet were freezing This thought tended to put him in a panic but he fought against it and kept calm He pulled on his mittens with his teeth and threshed his arms back and forth beating his hands with all his might against his sides He did this sitting down and he stood up to do it and all the while the dog sat in the snow its wolf-brush of a tail curled around warmly over its forefeet its sharp wolf-ears pricked forward intently as it watched the man And the man as he beat and threshed with his arms and hands felt a great surge of envy as he regarded the creature that was warm ant secure in its natural covering

After a time he was aware of the first far-away signals of sensation in his beaten fingers The faint tingling grew stronger till it evolved into a stinging ache that was excruciating but which the man hailed with satisfaction He stripped the mitten from his right hand and fetched forth the birch bark The exposed fingers were quickly going numb again Next he brought out his bunch of sulphur matches But the tremendous cold had already driven the life out of his fingers In his effort to separate one match from the others the whole bunch fell in the snow He tried to pick it out of the snow but failed The dead fingers could neither touch nor clutch He was very careful He drove the thought of his freezing feet and nose and cheeks out of his mind devoting his whole soul to the matches He watched using the sense of vision in place of that of touch and when he saw his fingers on each side the bunch he dosed them--that is he willed to close them for the wires were down and the fingers did not obey He pulled

the mitten on the right hand and beat it fiercely against his knee Then with both mittened hands he scooped the bunch of matches along with much snow into his lap Yet he was no better off

After some manipulation he managed to get the bunch between the heels of his mittened hands In this fashion he carried it to his mouth The ice crackled and snapped when by a violent effort he opened his mouth He drew the lower jaw in curled the upper lip out of the way and scraped the bunch with his upper teeth in order to separate a match He succeeded in getting one which he dropped on his lap He was no better off He could not pick it up Then he devised a way He picked it up in his teeth and scratched it on his leg Twenty times he scratched before he succeeded in lighting it As it flamed he held it with his teeth to the birch bark But the burning brimstone went up his nostrils and into his lungs causing him to cough spasmodically The match fell into the snow and went out

The old-timer an Sulphur Creek was right he thought in the moment of controlled despair that ensued after fifty below a man should travel with a partner He beat his hands but failed in exciting any sensation Suddenly he bared both hands removing the mittens with his teeth He caught the whole bunch between the heels of his hands His arm muscles not being frozen enabled him to press the hand-heels tightly against the matches Then he scratched the bunch along his leg It flared into flame seventy sulphur matches at once There was no wind to blow them out He kept his head to one side to escape the strangling fumes and held the blazing bunch to the birth bark As he so held it he became aware of sensation in his hand His flesh was burning He could smell it Deep down below the surface he could feel it The sensation developed into pain that grew acute And still he endured it holding the flame of the matches clumsily to the bark that would not light readily because his own burning hands were in the way absorbing most of the flame

To Build a FireContinued

At last when he could endure no more he jerked his hands apart The blazing matches fell sizzling into the snow but the birch bark was alight He began laying dry grasses and the tiniest twigs on the flame He could not pick and choose for he had to lift the fuel between the heels of his hands Small pieces of rotten wood and green moss clung to the twigs and he bit them off as well as he could with his teeth He cherished the flame carefully and awkwardly It meant life and it must not perish The withdrawal of blood from the surface of his body now made him begin to shiver and he grew more awkward A large piece of green moss fell squarely on the little fire He tried to poke it out with his fingers but his shivering frame made him poke too far and he disrupted the nucleus of the little fire the burning grasses and tiny twigs separating and scattering He tried to poke them together again but in spite of the tenseness of the effort his shivering got away with him and the twigs were hopelessly scattered Each twig gushed a puff of smoke and went out The fire-provider had failed As he looked apathetically about him his eyes chanced on the dog sitting across the ruins of the fire from him in the snow making restless hunching movements slightly lifting one forefoot and then the other shifting its weight back and forth on them with wistful eagerness

The sight of the dog put a wild idea into his head He remembered the tale of the man caught in a blizzard who killed a steer and crawled inside the carcass and so was saved He would kill the dog and bury his hands in the warm body until the numbness went out of them Then he could build another fire He spoke to the dog calling it to him but in his voice was a strange note of fear that frightened the animal who had never known the man to speak in such way before Something was the matter and its suspicious nature sensed danger--it knew not what danger but somewhere somehow in its brain arose an apprehension of the man It flattened its ears down at the sound of the mans voice and its restless

hunching movements and the liftings and shiftings of its forefeet became more pronounced but it would not come to the man He got on his hands and knees and crawled toward the dog This unusual posture again excited suspicion and the animal sidled mincingly away

The man sat up in the snow for a moment and struggled for calmness Then he pulled on his mittens by means of his teeth and got upon his feet He glanced down at first in order to assure himself that he was really standing up for the absence of sensation in his feet left him unrelated to the earth His erect position in itself started to drive the webs of suspicion from the dogs mind and when he spoke peremptorily with the sound of whiplashes in his voice the dog rendered its customary allegiance and came to him As it came within reaching distance the man lost his control His arms flashed out to the dog and he experienced genuine surprise when he discovered that his hands could not clutch that there was neither bend nor feeling in the fingers He had forgotten for the moment that they were frozen and that they were freezing more and more All this happened quickly and before the animal could get away he encircled its body with his arms He sat down in the snow and in this fashion held the dog while it snarled and whined and struggled

But it was all he could do hold its body encircled in his arms and sit there He realized that he could not kill the dog There was no way to do it With his helpless hands he could neither draw nor hold his sheath knife nor throttle the animal He released it and it plunged wildly away with tail between its legs and still snarling It halted forty feet away and surveyed him curiously with ears sharply pricked forward The man looked down at his hands in order to locate them and found them hanging on the ends of his arms It struck him as curious that one should have to use his eyes in order to find out where his hands were He began threshing his arms back and forth beating the mittened hands against

To Build a FireContinued

his sides He did this for five minutes violently and his heart pumped enough blood up to the surface to put a stop to his shivering But no sensation was aroused in the hands He had an impression that they hung like weights on the ends of his arms but when he tried to run the impression down he could not find it

A certain fear of death dull and oppressive came to him This fear quickly became poignant as he realized that it was no longer a mere matter of freezing his fingers and toes or of losing his hands and feet but that it was a matter of life and death with the chances against him This threw him into a panic and he turned and ran up the creek-bed along the old dim trail The dog joined in behind and kept up with him He ran blindly without intention in fear such as he had never known in his life Slowly as he plowed and floundered through the snow he began to see things again the banks of the creek the old timber-jams the leafless aspens and the sky The running made him feel better He did not shiver Maybe if he ran on his feet would thaw out and anyway if he ran far enough he would reach camp and the boys Without doubt he would lose some fingers and toes and some of his face but the boys would take care of him and save the rest of him when he got there And at the same time there was another thought in his mind that said he would never get to the camp and the boys that it was too many miles away that the freezing had too great a start on him and that he would soon be stiff and dead This thought he kept in the background and refused to consider Sometimes it pushed itself forward and demanded to be heard but he thrust it back and strove to think of other things

It struck him as curious that he could run at all on feet so frozen that he could not feel them when they struck the earth and took the weigh of his body He seemed to himself to skim along above the surface and to have no connection with the earth Somewhere he had once seen a winged Mercury

and he wondered if Mercury felt as he felt when skimming over the earth

His theory of running until he reached camp and the boys had one flaw in it he lacked the endurance Several times he stumbled and finally he tottered crumpled up and fell When he tried to rise he failed He must sit and rest he decided and next time he would merely walk and keep on going As he sat and regained his breath he noted that he was feeling quite warm and comfortable He was not shivering and it even seemed that a warm glow had come to his chest and trunk And yet when he touched his nose or cheeks there was no sensation Running would not thaw them out Nor would it thaw out his hands and feet Then the thought came to him that the frozen portions of his body must be extending He tried to keep this thought down to forget it to think of something else he was aware of the panicky feeling that it caused and he was afraid of the panic But the thought asserted itself and persisted until it produced a vision of his body totally frozen This was too much and he made another wild run along the trail Once he slowed down to a walk but the thought of the freezing extending itself made him run again

And all the time the dog ran with him at his heels When he fell down a second time it curled its tad over its forefeet and sat in front of him facing him curiously eager and intent The warmth and security of the animal angered him and he cursed it till it flattened down its ears appealingly This time the shivering came more quickly upon the man He was losing in his battle with the frost It was creeping into his body from all sides The thought of it drove him on but he ran no more than a hundred feet when he staggered and pitched headlong It was his last panic When he had recovered his breath and control he sat up and entertained in his mind the conception of meeting death with dignity However the conception did not come to him in such terms His idea of it was that he had been making a fool of

To Build a FireContinued

himself running around like a chicken with its head cut off--such was the simile that occurred to him Well he was bound to freeze anyway and he might as well take it decently With this new-found peace of mind came the first glimmerings of drowsiness A good idea he thought to sleep off to death It was like salting an anesthetic Freezing was not so bad as people thought There were lots worse ways to die

He pictured the boys finding his body next day Suddenly he found himself with them coming along the trail and looking for himself And still with them he came around a turn in the trail and found himself lying in the snow He did not belong with himself any more for even then he was out of himself standing with the boys and looking at himself in the snow It certainly was cold was his thought When he got back to the States he could tell the folks what real cold was He drifted on from this to a vision of the old-timer on Sulphur Creek He could see him quite clearly warm and comfortable and smoking a pipe

You were right old boss you were right the man mumbled to the old-timer of Sulphur Creek

Then the man drowsed off into what seemed to him the most comfortable and satisfying sleep he had ever known The dog sat facing him and waiting The brief day drew to a close in a long slow twilight There were no signs of a fire to be made and besides never in the dogs experience had it known a man to sit like that in the snow and make no fire As the twilight drew on its eager yearning for the fire mastered it and with a great lifting and shifting of forefeet it whined softly then flattened its ears down in anticipation of being chidden by the man But the man remained silent Later the dog whined loudly And still later it crept close to the man and caught the scent of death This made the animal bristle and back away A little longer it delayed howling under the stars that leaped and danced and shone brightly in the cold sky Then it turned and trotted up the trail in the direction of the camp it knew where were the other food-providers and fire-providers

To Build a FireContinued

Blogs can be a lot of work to maintainTwitter only gives you 140 characters

Facebook is just your friends

Now you can share a story no matter your social-web status

Stories are published for ALL FitnessDigestus readers Archived professionally and digitally in thousands of libraries

Sign with your real name pen-name or anonymousItrsquos easy and professional Go to httpLiveMediaFitnessDigestus

FitnessDigestUStrade Stories of the humankind

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bull Free for FitnessDigestus customers or subscribersbull Your offer is delivered to the potential buyersbull No false or fake adsbull Selling to FitnessDigestus subscribers is safer with our blind box e-mail addresses

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PLACE AN AD Customers who have bought an issue of FitnessDigestus in the last 12 months can place an ad for free Just e-mail your ad of up to 140 characters to classifiedadFitnessDigestus or text it to (641) 583-2407 Your ad will appear in the next issue

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Page 30: FitnessDigest.us Vol. 4.3 Cover

himTHROWINGWritten by anonymous contributor

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2

13 Johnny is not the best batter in our little league Matter-of-fact he is quiet awful At practice one afternoon Johnny hit a pitch really well The coach had pitched him inside on accident far enough inside that it almost hit him Johnny got his hit by using his bat to defend himself from that arrant pitch The coach told him ldquogood hitrdquo and Johnny yelled back ldquoWell I didnrsquot want the ball to hit merdquo13 Johnny improved his batting after that He was hitting the ball almost every time he got up At one point I said to coach ldquoHow did you get Johnny to improve his batting so quicklyrdquo He replyed Im throwing the ball it AT HIM every time

Body image and fitness are hot topics for both men and women The Great Fitness Experiment is my hilarious poignant embarrassing and at times heart-breaking journey to find my way through the morass of contradictory claims and information in todayrsquos health- and fitness-obsessed world

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entryFitnessDigestus

Send u

s yo

ur T

-shi

rt

READE

R T

-shi

rts

13 I was standing on shore fishing in my favorite spot A guy Irsquove never seen at the pond gets in and starts swimming After about 25 minutes of back and forth he stops at a place about 30 yards off shore He gives me a quick look and dices down below the water

His next lap he stops in the same place looks at me again and points down at the water He finished his swim and left I picked up my gear and moved to the other side of the outlet just a few yards from where he had stopped twice Caught a lunker in the first cast

Swim Signs - Lunker

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TOP TWEETS

Iowa Cubs (IowaCubs)Thanks to all our fans who showed up for the pre-game on-field catch with dad

Louise Pineda (forerunnerGPS)The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficultyWinston Churchill quotes

Softball Darlin (Softball_Darlin)My mom told me our team was gettin white uniforms for summer amp to try not to get them dirty Uh Have you seen me play Not gonna happen

I Swim I Suffer (ISwimISuffer)thatswimmerwho If the water is in your right ear for example then jump on your right leg and lean your head to the right side while jumping

I Swim and I Know It (iSwimWithIssues)During the summer you shower 467 times at the pool 17 times at hotels and 3 times at your house Truth

Everyday Health (WomensCancer)63000 Americans will be diagnosed w malignant melanoma (the deadliest skin cancer) this year Know your risk

US Paralympics (USParalympics)Want to be introduced to Paralympic sport Attend one of the Paralympic Experiences being held throughout the countryFi

tnes

sDig

est

US v

olum

e 4

issu

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sum

mer

201

2

SwimSwam (swimswamnews)Congrats to KenyaSwimmer on being selected to carry the Kenya flag swimswamcom

Better than sharing on a blog Twitter or Facebook and you can share a story even if you donrsquot maintain a social-web presencePublished for ALL FitnessDigestus readers

Sign with your real name pen-name or anonymoushttpLiveMediaFitnessDigestus

13 Funnest thing SPAM about some weight-loss supplements got posted on a friendrsquos Facebook My friend is an ultra-runner I notice there was also an ad for salami recipes on the same page The recipes were right next to the SPAM about diet-pills

13 Letrsquos see ndash it sounds like the beginning of a good joke Q What do you get when a friend tries to sell you ultra-runner endorsed salami-flavored-SPAM diet-pills on Facebook Answer Sick

Unsung Heroes1 Irsquove never swam open water and wanted to do a triathlon A friend that

races open water took extra time to swim with me at a lake I was much more comfortable after that

2 I was going on vacation and needed advice on a place to swim A friend living in the area took the time to help me find people to answer my questions

3 I was over eating and had complained to my friend about it She called me twice a day for three weeks just to remind me to eat healthy

4 I usually run to and from the gym It takes about 30 minutes to run both ways I didnrsquot have enough time to get there and back before a scheduled appointment I had A friend drove me to the gym saving me about 30 minutes I was able to run home and still had time to get to my appointment

SPAM DIET

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Visit the Suburban Mommy blog and learn more about AtresiaMicrotia a birth defect of the inner earFor links to SubMommy blog httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

SUBMOMMYBLOG

On Wednesday May 16 2012 at 7 PM simultaneous rides occurred around the

USA and the world

We all ride Now we can ride as one

One day One time One world world wide

Let the silence roar

322 locations world wide

The Ride of SilenceTonight we number many but ride as one

In honor of those not with us friends

mothers fathers sisters sons

With helmets on tight and heads down low

We ride in silence cautious and slow

The wheels start spinning in the lead pack

But tonight we ride and no one attacks

The dark sunglasses cover our tears

Remembering those we held so dear

Tonights ride is to make others aware

The road is there for all to share

To those not with us or by our side

May God be your partner on your final ride

- Mike Murgas

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 50 states

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 7 Continents

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 0 words spoken

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 1 million memories

Ride of Silence

ldquoCost-effective investments in bicycling boost our economy help individuals and government agencies save money and directly address key societal challenges such as obesity and road congestion In these tough economic times our federal government can only afford to invest in solutions that solve multiple problems Bicycling fits the billrdquo ndash PeopleForBikesorg

This photo collection was taken byRobert LaVallee of Mason City IA

To see his entire collection visithttpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

Non-subscriberSign-up for delivery of

the FREE edition at coopnetbiz

It provides an outstanding aerobic workout in less than half the time we would spend in still water It has allowed us as swim coaches to observe swimmers stroke characteristics up close and to see the effects of fatigue on stroke mechanics ~ Larry L Chazy NY

Swimming is an excellent exercise and now I can swim every day because its so convenient and private I can swim when I want and how long I want Im able to have it at a temperature that is comfortable to me The small size of an Endless Pool enabled me to install a pool where I could not install a regular size one

As an aging baby boomer nutrition professional I have yearned for consistent exercise that doesnt stress joints and will enable me to attain physical fitness cardiovascular health and weight control I can eat what I want and still firm up and lose weight ~ John C Columbus OH

Endless Pools make for long swims in small places The 8x15 Endless Pool is less than regulation size but offers the same benefits as a very large pool ~ Noah H Connecticut Post

The Endless Pool is a great strength builder I am amazed at the strength of the current I now swim against I did not buy it for that reason but because of my arthritis so the strength gain is a wonderful surprise

Endless PoolsTestimonials For more information visit httpLIveAdsFitnessDigestus

s w i m m i n g s h o r t s

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Baseball Walking Stick13 My sons friend grabbed his baseball bat and said to me this is my walking stick I politely ask him why he calls it that He replied because my dad says if I hit a home run with it I donrsquot have to run the bases ndash I can walk

My Bike My mountain bike was stolen a while back and my kids were really upset Ive been riding my road bike in its place Since then Ive been careful to lock my bike up when we go to the park

13 On this occasion I did not lock-up my sonrsquos bike up with mine He looked at me quizzically and said sternly lock my bike up too I tried to explain that his bike was not as expensive and therefor didnt need to be locked up Boy that was a mistake He made me feel a little dumb when he said Dad I dont care how expensive it is Its the only bike Irsquove got

North Iowa Roads

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A LEADER inSearch Engine Optimization

Technology

Increase your visitor page views and Facebook Likes

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Digital Movers

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

parent sports tipBy FitnessDigestus staff writer JGA

PAR

EN

T

TIP

Keeping Kids Focused13 Organize their thoughts Help them prioritize and make decisions based on value Even kids can understand the value of simple non-monetized choices Questions like ldquoShould I finish playing my gameboy game or pause it when they call my swimming eventrdquo

If kids are taught to make good decisions and not just find quick answers everyone wins

AugustGolf Month5th Friendship Day15th Relaxation Day25th Kiss and Make Up Day31st Trail Mix DaySeptemberLittle League Month12th Chocolate Milk Shake Day13th Positive Thinking Day16th Womenrsquos Friendship Day21st Miniature Golf DayOctoberBreast Cancer Awareness MonthNational Diabetes Month1st World Vegetarian Day4th Golf Day25th World Pasta Day

National Calendar

Au

gu

stSe

pte

mb

er

Oc

tob

er

Encourage friendships writing skills sharing thoughts and

experiencesEight different cards

YAGOTTAWANNA

Variety of pricing From single orders to bulk orders of 24 notecards

Learn more online

Stay in touch with your swimming or triathlon buddies

It is better to be safe then to try to beat the heat There are many options to stay cool and run during a hot-summer day Staying inside and running on the treadmill is a good one Remember staying safe is a top priority

Most workouts can be modified to work indoors This issuersquos workout is to do your usual run or interval set just stay inside and run it on the treadmill Visualize the different landmarks to see during your outdoor run

Coach Millerrsquos Quarterly ChallengeStay safe in the heatBy Mark Miller mmillerFitnessDigestus

A few years back we had a hot-spell similar to this yearrsquos record heat

I remember training for a long run and having to stop at the local swimming hole to cool off I literally took off my

shoes and jumped in with my running clothes on I was so hot

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OPEN WATER SWIMMING BY THE NUMBERS

In kilometers The shortest open water race included in the Fina World Championships

10107 How many miles it

is to swim from Cuba to the USA

5

1000Number of swimming strokes in a mile for a typical swimmer

31800About the number of calories it takes to swim 100 miles

LOCATED IN ST ANSGAR IOWA

Business Cards Envelopes

Letterheads Programs

Vinyl Decals Signs

Posters Invites (graduation wedding showers etc)

Flyers Brochures

T-ShirtsShorts SweatshirtsSweats

Koozies Sashes

Business Forms Placemats

Postcards And Much More

Bridgette Beyer DesignerOwner

Bring your ideas in andVisual Aspect Designs can print

andor design for you

The minimum open water distance in kilometers that is considered a swimming-

marathon

On Facebook Visit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

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Open water safety means swimming in shallow water where there is a lifeguard or using an escort

Shop for Name BrandGear

24 Hoursa Day

WaynesSkiandCyclenet

For links to Waynersquos visit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

s w i m m i n g s h o r t s

Googles

13 Swimming fans can really appreciate a 200 IM when their goggles fill with water How about an Olympian Swimming a leg of the 400 Free Relay with his goggles across his opened mouth ndash and going 45rsquos A great team swimmer an Olympian wouldnrsquot let down his teammates by throwing them off or fixing them

500 Fly13 A world class butterflyer asked if he could swim butterfly in the 500 yard freestyle during a dual meet His goal was to break five minutes After considering the competition it seemed like a great way to make him really work a hard fly swim so we agreed Problem was he swam a 502 and the opposing coach complained to the officials because he embarrassed his swimmers Oh well you canrsquot win lsquoem all

Stories sent in by Robert Steele

No-No-No13 The other morning I was teaching front-streamlines to snotty nosed 8 year olds (some are literally snotty-nosed) One boy was taking a big gulp of air and holding his breath When he lifted his head he had to exhale and inhale before submerging again Swimmers will understand this does not work very well Kids need to learn to exhale underwater The first time he did it I told him to exhale underwater The second time I stopped him looked him in the eye and reminded him to exhale underwater The third and fourth times I started to get a little frustrated ldquoJohnny you need to exhale underwater so you can breath betterrdquo The fifth time as his head popped up for a breath I quickly asked ldquoJohnny Do you even know what exhale meansrdquo as he submerged his head below the water I could see him shake his head no-no-no

Favorite Potato Chips13We try to limit the junk food the kids eat at our house For lunch one day our son wanted some potato chips I gave him 3 large chips with his sandwich He started to cry and said he wanted one more chip ldquoI wanted four chipsrdquo he screamed I took the plate back When he wasnt looking I broke a chip in half and give it back to him with four chips

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

13 My cancer story is one of uniqueness Leave it to me to do something like cancer to its fullest It did not begin with a mammogram diagnosis or a lump My journey began about 4 years ago with some suspicious activity that turned into Pagetrsquos disease of the nipple which signaled the underlying cancer On April 1st I found out about my breast cancer through a biopsy that came back as positive for Pagetrsquos disease The onslaught of tests learning and decisions were dizzying I immediately went for an evaluation of the suspicious tissue and had to begin making decisions for my mastectomy I quickly learned there is a test called the BRAC Analysis which is a genetic test for breast and ovarian cancer Finally a piece of good news for me I did not have the gene

Decisions Now it was time to make decisions about my mastectomy and how I was going to handle reconstruction I discussed my options with my boyfriend Brian friends family members and even my principalboss I read books searched the Internet and contacted people I

Brandi ShipmanCancer Survivor and elite triathlete

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

know and knew from my past that had been directly affected and that I thought might have answers for me The outpouring of love encouragement and help during this process was overwhelming After meeting with four different doctors two surgeons and two plastic surgeons I decided to go with immediate reconstruction and was lucky enough to find two wonderful doctors They were willing to work together just because I wanted them to even though they had never done so before My surgery was scheduled for mid May

Mental Toughness13 My mental preparation at this point was very important I had to scrap any idea of competing in triathlons for the rest of the year and focus on a positive attitude of getting better I stopped thinking about what I wasnrsquot going to able to do and started thinking about what I could do that I was alive and kept my mind on the fact that so many others had made it before me

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links

Part 213 I was prepared by the doctors survivors and literature to be ldquodownrdquo for several weeks after my surgery I even took the rest of the school year off My surgery went well and I was out of the hospital the next day A few friends came to visit while I was in the hospital and my principal and vice principal brought the most wonderful picture of the faculty wearing pink for me I can only imagine what it looked like at Thornton Elementary on that day in May 2009 a sea of pink all for Brandi Shipman Shortly after their visit I received a text from my friend Margie Massey My friends from the gym wore pink for me that day as well The support brought tears to my eyes I was so excited to come home and be comfortable in my own home I just wish the stupid drain that was attached could have stayed at the hospital The pain from that was worse than the pain from the mastectomy

the most

powerful picture

13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Recovery ndash May13 Once I got home I slept and watched a lot of TV Friends visited and brought yummy food and my favorites I am not supposed to eat I ate them all My friend and co-worker set up a cancer care calendar that alerted anyone who logged on when I was having a doctorrsquos appointment or when I was in need of anything I felt like royalty as everyone took care of me I think Brian secretly enjoyed the fact that he wouldnrsquot have to cook for me each night My recovery was quicker than I thought as I was doing my best to get better and get the stinkinrsquo drain out of my skin I was out walking within a week and running within 3 weeks I couldnrsquot believe my recovery I know it was from all the prayers love and good care from Brian and the loved ones around me Life was looking better each day

ldquoLife was looking

better each dayrdquo

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Part three and part

four of I am Survivor

will be published in

the next edition of

FitnessDigestus

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During the past 150 years we have witnessed many remarkable advances against cancer a disease known to humanity for thousands of years The advances highlighted below represent a sampling of what has been accomplished to date

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

1882 William Halsted performs the first radical mastectomy to treat breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast the lymph nodes under the arm (axillary lymph nodes) and the chest muscles behind the breast (pectoralis major and pectoralis minor muscles) are removed Radical mastectomy will remain the standard operation for breast cancer until latter half of the 20th century when the use of modified radical mastectomy becomes widely accepted

1932 David H Patey develops the modified radical mastectomy for breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast axillary lymph nodes and pectoralis minor muscle behind the breast are removed The modified radical mastectomy is less disfiguring than the radical mastectomy and will eventually replace the radical mastectomy as a standard treatment option for breast cancer

1953 James Watson and Francis Crick discover the molecular structure of DNA (the double helix)

1963 The Health Insurance Plan (HIP) of Greater New York Study begins HIP is the first randomized controlled trial of periodic breast cancer screening with mammography

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1976 The results of a randomized clinical trial show that women with early breast cancer who receive post-operative (adjuvant) combination chemotherapy with the drugs cyclophosphamide methotrexate and 5-FU have improved disease-free survival

1981 A randomized clinical trial in the United Kingdom shows for the first time that the rates of survival local recurrence and tumor metastasis among women whose breast cancer is treated with modified radical mastectomy are not substantially different from those of women who are treated with radical mastectomy

1993 An NCI-convened international workshop on screening for breast cancer reports that screening with mammography reduces breast cancer mortality among women ages 50-69 This conclusion is based on a review of published and unpublished data from eight randomized controlled trials

2004 Data from the Womens Health Initiative (WHI) study show that women who take estrogen in combination with the hormone progestin have a greater risk of developing breast cancer than women who take estrogen alone The results also show that menopausal hormone therapy with estrogen alone has no benefit in disease prevention specifically in reducing the risks of colorectal cancer coronary heart disease and dementia

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Although we still have a long way to go to reduce the toll of cancer in the United States and worldwide our research and public health efforts are beginning to pay dividends

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

Volunteering vs Participating13 My girl friend and I are involved in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation The local chapter raises awareness for the cause with a fun-run each year We have volunteered to help with the race five years in a row This year we were stationed at a water table where the runners pick-up cups of water to drink Toward the end of the race there are very few runners There was a little time to chat about things We were talking about what we would wish for if we could have three wishes I told her I would wish for an end to Juvenile Diabetes and to lose 10 pounds Being nice I said ldquoyou can have my last wishrdquo She said I wish you would skip volunteering and just run this race next year

Admission Price Our aquatic center was having a promotion one night and advertised an elementary school night The kids could swim for free When we got to the pool we saw a promotional sign for the event In small lettering it read All swimmers must be accompanied by an adult We thought no big deal one of us can just stay and watch When we got to the front desk we found the lifeguard was enforcing the adult-admission price of $8

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CNFI Publishing - Products Books Chapbooks Bookmarks Plaques and Poetry Collector Cards Merchandising Products Coffee Mugs Mouse Pads Tiles 3x6 Coasters T - Shirts and Wall Plaques More info athttpliveadsFitnessDigestus

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

Featured PhotosFitnessDigestus feature

Chicago open water swim course at nighttop left

Kids race at Bicycle Blues and BBQtop right

Some team members volunteer at the local soup kitchenmiddle right

Ken Mauer loads the balls for hitting practice during a Twins baseball camp for

children 7-13 bottom right

Get your local event photos published in the next issue of FitnessDigestus E-mail

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As he turned to go on he spat speculatively There was a sharp explosive crackle that startled him He spat again And again in the air before it could fall to the snow the spittle crackled He knew that at fifty below spittle crackled on the snow but this spittle had crackled in the air Undoubtedly it was colder than fifty below--how much colder he did not know But the temperature did not matter He was bound for the old claim on the left fork of Henderson Creek where the boys were already They had come over across the divide from the Indian Creek country while he had come the roundabout way to take a look at the possibilities of getting out logs in the spring from the islands in the Yukon He would be in to camp by six oclock a bit after dark it was true but the boys would be there a fire would be going and a hot supper would be ready As for lunch he pressed his hand against the protruding bundle under his jacket It was also under his shirt wrapped up in a handkerchief and lying against the naked skin It was the only way to keep the biscuits from freezing He smiled agreeably to himself as he thought of those biscuits each cut open and sopped in bacon grease and each enclosing a generous slice of fried bacon

He plunged in among the big spruce trees The trail was faint A foot of snow had fallen since the last sled had passed over and he was glad he was without a sled traveling light In fact he carried nothing but the lunch wrapped in the handkerchief He was surprised however at the cold It certainly was cold he concluded as he rubbed his numb nose and cheek-bones with his mittened hand He was a warm-whiskered man but the hair on his face did not protect the high cheek-bones and the eager nose that thrust itself aggressively into the frosty air

At the mans heels trotted a dog a big native husky the proper wolf-dog gray-coated and without any visible or temperamental difference from its brother the wild wolf The animal was depressed by the tremendous cold It knew that it was no time for

traveling Its instinct told it a truer tale than was told to the man by the mans judgment In reality it was not merely colder than fifty below zero it was colder than sixty below than seventy below It was seventy-five below zero Since the freezing point is thirty-two above zero it meant that one hundred and seven degrees of frost obtained The dog did not know anything about thermometers Possibly in its brain there was no sharp consciousness of a condition of very cold such as was in the mans brain But the brute had its instinct It experienced a vague but menacing apprehension that subdued it then made it slink along at the mans heels and that made it question eagerly every unwonted movement of the man as if expecting him to go into camp or to seek shelter somewhere and build a fire The dog had learned fire and it wanted fire or else to burrow under the snow and cuddle its warmth away from the air

The frozen moisture of its breathing had settled on its fur in a fine powder of frost and especially were its jowls muzzle and eyelashes whitened by its cry-stalled breath The mans red beard and mustache were likewise frosted but more solidly the deposit taking the form of ice and increasing with every warm moist breath he exhaled Also the man was chewing tobacco and the muzzle of ice held his lips so rigidly that he was unable to clear his chin when he expelled the juice The result was that a crystal beard of the color and solidity of amber was increasing its length on his chin If he fell down it would shatter itself like glass into brittle fragments But he did not mind the appendage It was the penalty all tobacco-chewers paid in that country and he had been out before in two cold snaps They had not been so cold as this he knew but by the spirit thermometer at Sixty Mile he knew they had been registered at fifty below and at fifty-five

He held on through the level stretch of woods for several miles crossed a wide flat of rigger-heads and dropped down a bank to the frozen bed of a

To Build a FireContinued

small stream This was Henderson Creek and he knew he was ten miles from the forks He looked at his watch It was ten oclock He was making four miles an hour and he calculated that he would arrive at the forks at half-past twelve He decided to celebrate that event by eating his lunch there

The dog dropped in again at his heels with a tail drooping discouragement as the man swung along the creek-bed The furrow of the old sled-trail was plainly visible but a dozen inches of snow covered the marks of the last runners In a month no man had come up or down that silent creek The man held steadily on He was not much given to thinking and just then particularly he had nothing to think about save that he would eat lunch at-the forks and that at six oclock he would be in camp with the boys There was nobody to talk to and had there been speech would have been impossible because of the ice-muzzle on his mouth So he continued monotonously to chew tobacco and to increase the length of his amber beard

Once in a while the thought reiterated itself that it was very cold and that he had never experienced such cold As he walked along he rubbed his cheek-bones and nose with the back of his mittened hand He did this automatically now and again changing hands But rub as he would the instant he stopped his cheek-bones went numb and the following instant the end of his nose went numb He was sure to frost his cheeks he knew that and experienced a pang of regret that he had not devised a nose-strap of the sort Bud wore in cold snaps Such a strap passed across the cheeks as well and saved them But it didnt matter much after all What were frosted cheeks A bit painful that was all they were never serious

Empty as the mans mind was of thoughts he was keenly observant and he noticed the changes in the creek the curves and bends and timber jams and always he sharply noted where he placed his feet Once coming around a bend he shied abruptly

like a startled horse curved away from the place where he had been walking and retreated several paces back along the trail The creek he knew was frozen clear to the bottom--no creek could contain water in that arctic winter--but he knew also that there were springs that bubbled out from the hillsides and ran along under the snow and on top the ice of the creek He knew that the coldest snaps never froze these springs and he knew likewise their danger They were traps They hid pools of water under the snow that might be three inches deep or three feet Sometimes a skin of ice half an inch thick covered them and in turn was covered by the snow Sometimes there were alternate layers of water and ice-skin so that when one broke through he kept on breaking through for a while sometimes wetting himself to the waist

That was why he had shied in such panic He had felt the give under his feet and heard the crackle of a snow-hidden ice-skin And to get his feet wet in such a temperature meant trouble and danger At the very least it meant delay for he would be forced to stop and build a fire and under its protection to bare his feet while he dried his socks and moccasins He stood and studied the creek-bed and its banks and decided that the flow of water came from the right He reflected a while rubbing his nose and cheeks then skirted to the left stepping gingerly and testing the footing for each step Once clear of the danger he took a fresh chew of tobacco and swung along at his four-mile gait

In the course of the next two hours he came upon several similar traps Usually the snow above the hidden pools had a sunken candied appearance that advertised the danger Once again however he had a close call and once suspecting danger he compelled the dog to go on in front The dog did not want to go It hung back until the man shoved it forward and then it went quickly across the white unbroken surface Suddenly it broke through floundered to one side and got away to firmer

To Build a FireContinued

To Build a FireContinued

footing It had wet its forefeet and legs and almost immediately the water that clung to it turned to ice It made quick efforts to lick the ice off its legs then dropped down in the snow and began to bite out the ice that had formed between the toes l his was a matter of instinct To permit the ice to remain would mean sore feet It did not know this It merely obeyed the mysterious prompting that arose from the deep crypts of its being But the man knew having achieved a judgment on the subject and he removed the mitten from his right hand and helped tear out the ice-particles He did not expose his fingers more than a minute and was astonished at the swift numbness that smote them It certainly was cold He pulled on the mitten hastily and beat the hand savagely across his chest

At twelve oclock the day was at its brightest Yet the sun was too far south an its winter journey to clear the horizon The bulge of the earth intervened between it arid Henderson Creek where the man walked under a clear sky at noon and cast no shadow At half-past twelve to the minute he arrived at the forks of the creek He was pleased at the speed he had made If he kept it up he would certainly be with the boys by six He unbuttoned his jacket and shirt and drew forth his lunch The action consumed no more than a quarter of a minute yet in that brief moment the numbness laid hold of the exposed fingers He did not put the mitten on but instead struck the fingers a dozen sharp smashes against his leg Then he sat down on a snow-covered log to eat The sting that followed upon the striking of his fingers against his leg ceased so quickly that he was startled He had had no chance to take a bite of biscuit He struck the fingers repeatedly and returned them to the mitten baring the other hand for the purpose of eating He tried to take a mouthful but the ice-muzzle prevented He had forgotten to build a fire and thaw out He chuckled at his foolishness and as he chuckled he noted the numbness creeping into the exposed fingers Also he noted that the stinging which had first come to his

toes when he sat down was already passing away He wandered whether the toes were warm or numb He moved them inside the moccasins and decided that they were numb

He pulled the mitten on hurriedly and stood up He was a bit frightened He stamped up and down until the stinging returned into the feet It certainly was cold was his thought That man from Sulphur Creek had spoken the truth when telling how cold it sometimes got in the country And he had laughed at him at the time That showed one must not be too sure of things There was no mistake about it it was cold He strode up and down stamping his feet and threshing his arms until reassured by the returning warmth Then he got out matches and proceeded to make a fire From the undergrowth where high water of the previous spring had lodged a supply of seasoned twigs he got his firewood Working carefully from a small beginning he soon had a roaring fire over which he thawed the ice from his face and in the protection of which he ate his biscuits For the moment the cold space was outwitted The dog took satisfaction in the fire stretching out close enough for warmth and far enough away to escape being singed

When the man had finished be filled his pipe and took his comfortable time over a smoke Then he pulled on his mittens settled the ear-flaps of his cap firmly about his ears and took the creek trail up the left fork The dog was disappointed and yearned back toward the fire This man did not know cold Possibly all the generations of his ancestry had been ignorant of cold of real cold of cold one hundred and seven degrees below freezing point But the dog knew all its ancestry knew and it had inherited the knowledge And it knew that it was not good to walk abroad in such fearful cold It was the time to lie snug in a hole in the snow and wait for a curtain of cloud to be drawn across the face of outer space whence this cold came On the other hand there was no keen intimacy between the dog and the man

The one was the toil-slave of the other and the only caresses it had ever received were the caresses of the whiplash and of harsh and menacing throat-sounds that threatened the whiplash So the dog made no effort to communicate its apprehension to the man It was not concerned in the welfare of the man it was for its own sake that it yearned back toward the fire But the man whistled and spoke to it with the sound of whiplashes and the dog swung in at the mans heel and followed after

The man took a chew of tobacco and proceeded to start a new amber beard Also his moist breath quickly powdered with white his mustache eyebrows and lashes There did not seem to be so many springs on the left fork of the Henderson and for half an hour the man saw no signs of any And then it happened At a place where there were no signs where the soft unbroken snow seemed to advertise solidity beneath tee man broke through It was not deep He wet himself halfway to the knees before he floundered out to the firm crust

He was angry and cursed his luck aloud He had hoped to get into camp with the boys at six oclock and this would delay him an hour for he would have to build a fire and dry out his foot-gear This was imperative at that low temperature--he knew that much and he turned aside to the bank which he climbed On top tangled in the underbrush about the trunks of several small spruce trees was a high-water deposit of dry firewood--sticks and twigs principally but also larger portions of seasoned branches and fine dry last-years grasses He threw down several large pieces on top of the snow This served for a foundation and prevented the young flame from drowning itself in the snow it otherwise would melt The flame he got by touching a match to a small shred of birch bark that he took from his pocket This burned even more readily than paper Placing it on the foundation he fed the young flame with wisps of dry grass and with the tiniest dry twigs

He worked slowly and carefully keenly aware of his danger Gradually as the flame grew stronger he increased the size of the twigs with which he fed it He squatted in the snow pulling the twigs out from their entanglement in the brush and feeding directly to the flame He knew there must be no failure When it is seventy-five below zero a man must not fail in his first attempt to build a fire--that is if his feet are wet If his feet are dry and he fails he can run along the trail for half a mile and restore his circulation But the circulation of wet and freezing feet cannot be restored by running when it is seventy-five below No matter how fast he runs the wet feet will freeze the harder

All this the man knew The old-timer on Sulphur Creek had told him about it the previous fall and now he was appreciating the advice Already all sensation had gone out of his feet To build the fire he had been forced to remove his mittens and the fingers had quickly gone numb His pace of four miles an hour had kept his heart pumping blood to the surface of his body and to all the extremities But the instant he stopped the action of the pump eased down The cold of space smote the unprotected tip of the planet and he being on that unprotected tip received the full force of the blow The blood of his body recoiled before it The blood was alive like the dog and like the dog it wanted to hide away and cover itself up from the fearful cold So long as he walked four miles an hour he pumped that blood willy-nilly to the surface but now it ebbed away and sank down into the recesses of his body The extremities were the first to feel its absence His wet feet froze the faster and his exposed fingers numbed the faster though they had not yet begun to freeze Nose and cheeks were already freezing while the skin of all his body chilled as it lost its blood

But he was safe Toes and nose and cheeks would be only touched by the frost for the fire was beginning to burn with strength He was feeding it

To Build a FireContinued

with twigs the size of his finger In another minute he would be able to feed it with branches the size of his wrier and then he could remove his wet toot-gear and while it dried he could keep his naked feet warm by the fire rubbing them at first of course with snow The fire was a success He was safe He remembered the advice of the old timer on Sulphur Creek and smiled The old-timer had been very serious in laying down the law that no man must travel alone in the Klondike after fifty below Well here he was he had had the accident he was alone and he had saved himself Those old-timers were rather womanish some of them he thought All a man had to do was to keep his head and he was all right Any man who was a man could travel alone But it was surprising the rapidity with which his cheeks and nose were freezing And he had not thought his fingers could go lifeless in so short a time Lifeless they were for he could scarcely make them move together to grip a twig and they seemed remote from his body and from him When he touched a twig he had to look and see whether or not he had hold of it The wires were pretty well down between him and his finger-ends

All of which counted for little There was the fire snapping and crackling and promising life with every dancing flame He started to untie his moccasins They were coated with ice the thick German socks were like sheaths of iron halfway to the knees and the moccasin strings were like rods of steel all twisted and knotted as by some conflagration For a moment he tugged with his numb fingers then realizing the folly of it he drew his sheath-knife

But before he could cut the strings it happened It was his own fault or rather his mistake He should not have built the fire under the spruce tree He should have built it in the open But it had been easier to pull the twigs from the brush and drop them directly on the fire Now the tree under which

he had done this carried a weight of snow on its boughs No wind had blown for weeks and each bough was fully freighted Each time he had pulled a twig he had communicated a slight agitation to the tree--an imperceptible agitation so far as he was concerned but an agitation sufficient to bring about the disaster High up in the tree one bough capsized its load of snow This fell on the boughs beneath capsizing them This process continued spreading out and involving the whole tree It grew like an avalanche and it descended without warning upon the man and the fire and the fire was blotted out Where it had burned was a mantle of fresh and disordered snow

The man was shocked It was as though he had just heard his own sentence of death For a moment he sat and stared at the spot where the fire had been Then he grew very calm Perhaps the old-timer on Sulphur Creek was right If he had only had a trail-mate he would have been in no danger now The trail-mate could have built the fire Well it was up to him to build the fire over again and this second time there must be no failure Even if he succeeded he would most likely lose some toes His feet must be badly frozen by now and there would be some time before the second fire Was ready

Such were his thoughts but he did not sit and think them He was busy all the time they were passing through his mind He made a new foundation for a fire this time in the open where no treacherous tree could blot it out Next he gathered dry grasses and tiny twigs from the high-water flotsam He could not bring his fingers together to pull them out but he was able to gather them by the handful In this way he got many rotten twigs and bits of green moss that were undesirable but it was the best he could do He worked methodically even collecting an armful of the larger branches to be used later when the fire gathered strength And all the while the dog sat and watched him a certain yearning wistfulness in its eyes for it looked upon

To Build a FireContinued

him as the fire-provider and the fire was slow in coming

When all was ready the man reached in his pocket for a second piece of birch bark He knew the bark was there and though he could not feel it with his fingers he could hear its crisp rustling as he fumbled for it Try as he would he could not clutch hold of it And all the time in his consciousness was the knowledge that each instant his feet were freezing This thought tended to put him in a panic but he fought against it and kept calm He pulled on his mittens with his teeth and threshed his arms back and forth beating his hands with all his might against his sides He did this sitting down and he stood up to do it and all the while the dog sat in the snow its wolf-brush of a tail curled around warmly over its forefeet its sharp wolf-ears pricked forward intently as it watched the man And the man as he beat and threshed with his arms and hands felt a great surge of envy as he regarded the creature that was warm ant secure in its natural covering

After a time he was aware of the first far-away signals of sensation in his beaten fingers The faint tingling grew stronger till it evolved into a stinging ache that was excruciating but which the man hailed with satisfaction He stripped the mitten from his right hand and fetched forth the birch bark The exposed fingers were quickly going numb again Next he brought out his bunch of sulphur matches But the tremendous cold had already driven the life out of his fingers In his effort to separate one match from the others the whole bunch fell in the snow He tried to pick it out of the snow but failed The dead fingers could neither touch nor clutch He was very careful He drove the thought of his freezing feet and nose and cheeks out of his mind devoting his whole soul to the matches He watched using the sense of vision in place of that of touch and when he saw his fingers on each side the bunch he dosed them--that is he willed to close them for the wires were down and the fingers did not obey He pulled

the mitten on the right hand and beat it fiercely against his knee Then with both mittened hands he scooped the bunch of matches along with much snow into his lap Yet he was no better off

After some manipulation he managed to get the bunch between the heels of his mittened hands In this fashion he carried it to his mouth The ice crackled and snapped when by a violent effort he opened his mouth He drew the lower jaw in curled the upper lip out of the way and scraped the bunch with his upper teeth in order to separate a match He succeeded in getting one which he dropped on his lap He was no better off He could not pick it up Then he devised a way He picked it up in his teeth and scratched it on his leg Twenty times he scratched before he succeeded in lighting it As it flamed he held it with his teeth to the birch bark But the burning brimstone went up his nostrils and into his lungs causing him to cough spasmodically The match fell into the snow and went out

The old-timer an Sulphur Creek was right he thought in the moment of controlled despair that ensued after fifty below a man should travel with a partner He beat his hands but failed in exciting any sensation Suddenly he bared both hands removing the mittens with his teeth He caught the whole bunch between the heels of his hands His arm muscles not being frozen enabled him to press the hand-heels tightly against the matches Then he scratched the bunch along his leg It flared into flame seventy sulphur matches at once There was no wind to blow them out He kept his head to one side to escape the strangling fumes and held the blazing bunch to the birth bark As he so held it he became aware of sensation in his hand His flesh was burning He could smell it Deep down below the surface he could feel it The sensation developed into pain that grew acute And still he endured it holding the flame of the matches clumsily to the bark that would not light readily because his own burning hands were in the way absorbing most of the flame

To Build a FireContinued

At last when he could endure no more he jerked his hands apart The blazing matches fell sizzling into the snow but the birch bark was alight He began laying dry grasses and the tiniest twigs on the flame He could not pick and choose for he had to lift the fuel between the heels of his hands Small pieces of rotten wood and green moss clung to the twigs and he bit them off as well as he could with his teeth He cherished the flame carefully and awkwardly It meant life and it must not perish The withdrawal of blood from the surface of his body now made him begin to shiver and he grew more awkward A large piece of green moss fell squarely on the little fire He tried to poke it out with his fingers but his shivering frame made him poke too far and he disrupted the nucleus of the little fire the burning grasses and tiny twigs separating and scattering He tried to poke them together again but in spite of the tenseness of the effort his shivering got away with him and the twigs were hopelessly scattered Each twig gushed a puff of smoke and went out The fire-provider had failed As he looked apathetically about him his eyes chanced on the dog sitting across the ruins of the fire from him in the snow making restless hunching movements slightly lifting one forefoot and then the other shifting its weight back and forth on them with wistful eagerness

The sight of the dog put a wild idea into his head He remembered the tale of the man caught in a blizzard who killed a steer and crawled inside the carcass and so was saved He would kill the dog and bury his hands in the warm body until the numbness went out of them Then he could build another fire He spoke to the dog calling it to him but in his voice was a strange note of fear that frightened the animal who had never known the man to speak in such way before Something was the matter and its suspicious nature sensed danger--it knew not what danger but somewhere somehow in its brain arose an apprehension of the man It flattened its ears down at the sound of the mans voice and its restless

hunching movements and the liftings and shiftings of its forefeet became more pronounced but it would not come to the man He got on his hands and knees and crawled toward the dog This unusual posture again excited suspicion and the animal sidled mincingly away

The man sat up in the snow for a moment and struggled for calmness Then he pulled on his mittens by means of his teeth and got upon his feet He glanced down at first in order to assure himself that he was really standing up for the absence of sensation in his feet left him unrelated to the earth His erect position in itself started to drive the webs of suspicion from the dogs mind and when he spoke peremptorily with the sound of whiplashes in his voice the dog rendered its customary allegiance and came to him As it came within reaching distance the man lost his control His arms flashed out to the dog and he experienced genuine surprise when he discovered that his hands could not clutch that there was neither bend nor feeling in the fingers He had forgotten for the moment that they were frozen and that they were freezing more and more All this happened quickly and before the animal could get away he encircled its body with his arms He sat down in the snow and in this fashion held the dog while it snarled and whined and struggled

But it was all he could do hold its body encircled in his arms and sit there He realized that he could not kill the dog There was no way to do it With his helpless hands he could neither draw nor hold his sheath knife nor throttle the animal He released it and it plunged wildly away with tail between its legs and still snarling It halted forty feet away and surveyed him curiously with ears sharply pricked forward The man looked down at his hands in order to locate them and found them hanging on the ends of his arms It struck him as curious that one should have to use his eyes in order to find out where his hands were He began threshing his arms back and forth beating the mittened hands against

To Build a FireContinued

his sides He did this for five minutes violently and his heart pumped enough blood up to the surface to put a stop to his shivering But no sensation was aroused in the hands He had an impression that they hung like weights on the ends of his arms but when he tried to run the impression down he could not find it

A certain fear of death dull and oppressive came to him This fear quickly became poignant as he realized that it was no longer a mere matter of freezing his fingers and toes or of losing his hands and feet but that it was a matter of life and death with the chances against him This threw him into a panic and he turned and ran up the creek-bed along the old dim trail The dog joined in behind and kept up with him He ran blindly without intention in fear such as he had never known in his life Slowly as he plowed and floundered through the snow he began to see things again the banks of the creek the old timber-jams the leafless aspens and the sky The running made him feel better He did not shiver Maybe if he ran on his feet would thaw out and anyway if he ran far enough he would reach camp and the boys Without doubt he would lose some fingers and toes and some of his face but the boys would take care of him and save the rest of him when he got there And at the same time there was another thought in his mind that said he would never get to the camp and the boys that it was too many miles away that the freezing had too great a start on him and that he would soon be stiff and dead This thought he kept in the background and refused to consider Sometimes it pushed itself forward and demanded to be heard but he thrust it back and strove to think of other things

It struck him as curious that he could run at all on feet so frozen that he could not feel them when they struck the earth and took the weigh of his body He seemed to himself to skim along above the surface and to have no connection with the earth Somewhere he had once seen a winged Mercury

and he wondered if Mercury felt as he felt when skimming over the earth

His theory of running until he reached camp and the boys had one flaw in it he lacked the endurance Several times he stumbled and finally he tottered crumpled up and fell When he tried to rise he failed He must sit and rest he decided and next time he would merely walk and keep on going As he sat and regained his breath he noted that he was feeling quite warm and comfortable He was not shivering and it even seemed that a warm glow had come to his chest and trunk And yet when he touched his nose or cheeks there was no sensation Running would not thaw them out Nor would it thaw out his hands and feet Then the thought came to him that the frozen portions of his body must be extending He tried to keep this thought down to forget it to think of something else he was aware of the panicky feeling that it caused and he was afraid of the panic But the thought asserted itself and persisted until it produced a vision of his body totally frozen This was too much and he made another wild run along the trail Once he slowed down to a walk but the thought of the freezing extending itself made him run again

And all the time the dog ran with him at his heels When he fell down a second time it curled its tad over its forefeet and sat in front of him facing him curiously eager and intent The warmth and security of the animal angered him and he cursed it till it flattened down its ears appealingly This time the shivering came more quickly upon the man He was losing in his battle with the frost It was creeping into his body from all sides The thought of it drove him on but he ran no more than a hundred feet when he staggered and pitched headlong It was his last panic When he had recovered his breath and control he sat up and entertained in his mind the conception of meeting death with dignity However the conception did not come to him in such terms His idea of it was that he had been making a fool of

To Build a FireContinued

himself running around like a chicken with its head cut off--such was the simile that occurred to him Well he was bound to freeze anyway and he might as well take it decently With this new-found peace of mind came the first glimmerings of drowsiness A good idea he thought to sleep off to death It was like salting an anesthetic Freezing was not so bad as people thought There were lots worse ways to die

He pictured the boys finding his body next day Suddenly he found himself with them coming along the trail and looking for himself And still with them he came around a turn in the trail and found himself lying in the snow He did not belong with himself any more for even then he was out of himself standing with the boys and looking at himself in the snow It certainly was cold was his thought When he got back to the States he could tell the folks what real cold was He drifted on from this to a vision of the old-timer on Sulphur Creek He could see him quite clearly warm and comfortable and smoking a pipe

You were right old boss you were right the man mumbled to the old-timer of Sulphur Creek

Then the man drowsed off into what seemed to him the most comfortable and satisfying sleep he had ever known The dog sat facing him and waiting The brief day drew to a close in a long slow twilight There were no signs of a fire to be made and besides never in the dogs experience had it known a man to sit like that in the snow and make no fire As the twilight drew on its eager yearning for the fire mastered it and with a great lifting and shifting of forefeet it whined softly then flattened its ears down in anticipation of being chidden by the man But the man remained silent Later the dog whined loudly And still later it crept close to the man and caught the scent of death This made the animal bristle and back away A little longer it delayed howling under the stars that leaped and danced and shone brightly in the cold sky Then it turned and trotted up the trail in the direction of the camp it knew where were the other food-providers and fire-providers

To Build a FireContinued

Blogs can be a lot of work to maintainTwitter only gives you 140 characters

Facebook is just your friends

Now you can share a story no matter your social-web status

Stories are published for ALL FitnessDigestus readers Archived professionally and digitally in thousands of libraries

Sign with your real name pen-name or anonymousItrsquos easy and professional Go to httpLiveMediaFitnessDigestus

FitnessDigestUStrade Stories of the humankind

Make Htory

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bull Free for FitnessDigestus customers or subscribersbull Your offer is delivered to the potential buyersbull No false or fake adsbull Selling to FitnessDigestus subscribers is safer with our blind box e-mail addresses

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Page 31: FitnessDigest.us Vol. 4.3 Cover

Body image and fitness are hot topics for both men and women The Great Fitness Experiment is my hilarious poignant embarrassing and at times heart-breaking journey to find my way through the morass of contradictory claims and information in todayrsquos health- and fitness-obsessed world

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entryFitnessDigestus

Send u

s yo

ur T

-shi

rt

READE

R T

-shi

rts

13 I was standing on shore fishing in my favorite spot A guy Irsquove never seen at the pond gets in and starts swimming After about 25 minutes of back and forth he stops at a place about 30 yards off shore He gives me a quick look and dices down below the water

His next lap he stops in the same place looks at me again and points down at the water He finished his swim and left I picked up my gear and moved to the other side of the outlet just a few yards from where he had stopped twice Caught a lunker in the first cast

Swim Signs - Lunker

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TOP TWEETS

Iowa Cubs (IowaCubs)Thanks to all our fans who showed up for the pre-game on-field catch with dad

Louise Pineda (forerunnerGPS)The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficultyWinston Churchill quotes

Softball Darlin (Softball_Darlin)My mom told me our team was gettin white uniforms for summer amp to try not to get them dirty Uh Have you seen me play Not gonna happen

I Swim I Suffer (ISwimISuffer)thatswimmerwho If the water is in your right ear for example then jump on your right leg and lean your head to the right side while jumping

I Swim and I Know It (iSwimWithIssues)During the summer you shower 467 times at the pool 17 times at hotels and 3 times at your house Truth

Everyday Health (WomensCancer)63000 Americans will be diagnosed w malignant melanoma (the deadliest skin cancer) this year Know your risk

US Paralympics (USParalympics)Want to be introduced to Paralympic sport Attend one of the Paralympic Experiences being held throughout the countryFi

tnes

sDig

est

US v

olum

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sum

mer

201

2

SwimSwam (swimswamnews)Congrats to KenyaSwimmer on being selected to carry the Kenya flag swimswamcom

Better than sharing on a blog Twitter or Facebook and you can share a story even if you donrsquot maintain a social-web presencePublished for ALL FitnessDigestus readers

Sign with your real name pen-name or anonymoushttpLiveMediaFitnessDigestus

13 Funnest thing SPAM about some weight-loss supplements got posted on a friendrsquos Facebook My friend is an ultra-runner I notice there was also an ad for salami recipes on the same page The recipes were right next to the SPAM about diet-pills

13 Letrsquos see ndash it sounds like the beginning of a good joke Q What do you get when a friend tries to sell you ultra-runner endorsed salami-flavored-SPAM diet-pills on Facebook Answer Sick

Unsung Heroes1 Irsquove never swam open water and wanted to do a triathlon A friend that

races open water took extra time to swim with me at a lake I was much more comfortable after that

2 I was going on vacation and needed advice on a place to swim A friend living in the area took the time to help me find people to answer my questions

3 I was over eating and had complained to my friend about it She called me twice a day for three weeks just to remind me to eat healthy

4 I usually run to and from the gym It takes about 30 minutes to run both ways I didnrsquot have enough time to get there and back before a scheduled appointment I had A friend drove me to the gym saving me about 30 minutes I was able to run home and still had time to get to my appointment

SPAM DIET

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Visit the Suburban Mommy blog and learn more about AtresiaMicrotia a birth defect of the inner earFor links to SubMommy blog httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

SUBMOMMYBLOG

On Wednesday May 16 2012 at 7 PM simultaneous rides occurred around the

USA and the world

We all ride Now we can ride as one

One day One time One world world wide

Let the silence roar

322 locations world wide

The Ride of SilenceTonight we number many but ride as one

In honor of those not with us friends

mothers fathers sisters sons

With helmets on tight and heads down low

We ride in silence cautious and slow

The wheels start spinning in the lead pack

But tonight we ride and no one attacks

The dark sunglasses cover our tears

Remembering those we held so dear

Tonights ride is to make others aware

The road is there for all to share

To those not with us or by our side

May God be your partner on your final ride

- Mike Murgas

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 50 states

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 7 Continents

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 0 words spoken

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 1 million memories

Ride of Silence

ldquoCost-effective investments in bicycling boost our economy help individuals and government agencies save money and directly address key societal challenges such as obesity and road congestion In these tough economic times our federal government can only afford to invest in solutions that solve multiple problems Bicycling fits the billrdquo ndash PeopleForBikesorg

This photo collection was taken byRobert LaVallee of Mason City IA

To see his entire collection visithttpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

Non-subscriberSign-up for delivery of

the FREE edition at coopnetbiz

It provides an outstanding aerobic workout in less than half the time we would spend in still water It has allowed us as swim coaches to observe swimmers stroke characteristics up close and to see the effects of fatigue on stroke mechanics ~ Larry L Chazy NY

Swimming is an excellent exercise and now I can swim every day because its so convenient and private I can swim when I want and how long I want Im able to have it at a temperature that is comfortable to me The small size of an Endless Pool enabled me to install a pool where I could not install a regular size one

As an aging baby boomer nutrition professional I have yearned for consistent exercise that doesnt stress joints and will enable me to attain physical fitness cardiovascular health and weight control I can eat what I want and still firm up and lose weight ~ John C Columbus OH

Endless Pools make for long swims in small places The 8x15 Endless Pool is less than regulation size but offers the same benefits as a very large pool ~ Noah H Connecticut Post

The Endless Pool is a great strength builder I am amazed at the strength of the current I now swim against I did not buy it for that reason but because of my arthritis so the strength gain is a wonderful surprise

Endless PoolsTestimonials For more information visit httpLIveAdsFitnessDigestus

s w i m m i n g s h o r t s

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Baseball Walking Stick13 My sons friend grabbed his baseball bat and said to me this is my walking stick I politely ask him why he calls it that He replied because my dad says if I hit a home run with it I donrsquot have to run the bases ndash I can walk

My Bike My mountain bike was stolen a while back and my kids were really upset Ive been riding my road bike in its place Since then Ive been careful to lock my bike up when we go to the park

13 On this occasion I did not lock-up my sonrsquos bike up with mine He looked at me quizzically and said sternly lock my bike up too I tried to explain that his bike was not as expensive and therefor didnt need to be locked up Boy that was a mistake He made me feel a little dumb when he said Dad I dont care how expensive it is Its the only bike Irsquove got

North Iowa Roads

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A LEADER inSearch Engine Optimization

Technology

Increase your visitor page views and Facebook Likes

Are you moving to a new state Already hired your mover

E-mail blind box at box02FitnessDigestus will get

you the best rates on cable phone and internet

Digital Movers

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

parent sports tipBy FitnessDigestus staff writer JGA

PAR

EN

T

TIP

Keeping Kids Focused13 Organize their thoughts Help them prioritize and make decisions based on value Even kids can understand the value of simple non-monetized choices Questions like ldquoShould I finish playing my gameboy game or pause it when they call my swimming eventrdquo

If kids are taught to make good decisions and not just find quick answers everyone wins

AugustGolf Month5th Friendship Day15th Relaxation Day25th Kiss and Make Up Day31st Trail Mix DaySeptemberLittle League Month12th Chocolate Milk Shake Day13th Positive Thinking Day16th Womenrsquos Friendship Day21st Miniature Golf DayOctoberBreast Cancer Awareness MonthNational Diabetes Month1st World Vegetarian Day4th Golf Day25th World Pasta Day

National Calendar

Au

gu

stSe

pte

mb

er

Oc

tob

er

Encourage friendships writing skills sharing thoughts and

experiencesEight different cards

YAGOTTAWANNA

Variety of pricing From single orders to bulk orders of 24 notecards

Learn more online

Stay in touch with your swimming or triathlon buddies

It is better to be safe then to try to beat the heat There are many options to stay cool and run during a hot-summer day Staying inside and running on the treadmill is a good one Remember staying safe is a top priority

Most workouts can be modified to work indoors This issuersquos workout is to do your usual run or interval set just stay inside and run it on the treadmill Visualize the different landmarks to see during your outdoor run

Coach Millerrsquos Quarterly ChallengeStay safe in the heatBy Mark Miller mmillerFitnessDigestus

A few years back we had a hot-spell similar to this yearrsquos record heat

I remember training for a long run and having to stop at the local swimming hole to cool off I literally took off my

shoes and jumped in with my running clothes on I was so hot

FitnessDigestUSEntertainment amp Inspiration

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OPEN WATER SWIMMING BY THE NUMBERS

In kilometers The shortest open water race included in the Fina World Championships

10107 How many miles it

is to swim from Cuba to the USA

5

1000Number of swimming strokes in a mile for a typical swimmer

31800About the number of calories it takes to swim 100 miles

LOCATED IN ST ANSGAR IOWA

Business Cards Envelopes

Letterheads Programs

Vinyl Decals Signs

Posters Invites (graduation wedding showers etc)

Flyers Brochures

T-ShirtsShorts SweatshirtsSweats

Koozies Sashes

Business Forms Placemats

Postcards And Much More

Bridgette Beyer DesignerOwner

Bring your ideas in andVisual Aspect Designs can print

andor design for you

The minimum open water distance in kilometers that is considered a swimming-

marathon

On Facebook Visit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

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Open water safety means swimming in shallow water where there is a lifeguard or using an escort

Shop for Name BrandGear

24 Hoursa Day

WaynesSkiandCyclenet

For links to Waynersquos visit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

s w i m m i n g s h o r t s

Googles

13 Swimming fans can really appreciate a 200 IM when their goggles fill with water How about an Olympian Swimming a leg of the 400 Free Relay with his goggles across his opened mouth ndash and going 45rsquos A great team swimmer an Olympian wouldnrsquot let down his teammates by throwing them off or fixing them

500 Fly13 A world class butterflyer asked if he could swim butterfly in the 500 yard freestyle during a dual meet His goal was to break five minutes After considering the competition it seemed like a great way to make him really work a hard fly swim so we agreed Problem was he swam a 502 and the opposing coach complained to the officials because he embarrassed his swimmers Oh well you canrsquot win lsquoem all

Stories sent in by Robert Steele

No-No-No13 The other morning I was teaching front-streamlines to snotty nosed 8 year olds (some are literally snotty-nosed) One boy was taking a big gulp of air and holding his breath When he lifted his head he had to exhale and inhale before submerging again Swimmers will understand this does not work very well Kids need to learn to exhale underwater The first time he did it I told him to exhale underwater The second time I stopped him looked him in the eye and reminded him to exhale underwater The third and fourth times I started to get a little frustrated ldquoJohnny you need to exhale underwater so you can breath betterrdquo The fifth time as his head popped up for a breath I quickly asked ldquoJohnny Do you even know what exhale meansrdquo as he submerged his head below the water I could see him shake his head no-no-no

Favorite Potato Chips13We try to limit the junk food the kids eat at our house For lunch one day our son wanted some potato chips I gave him 3 large chips with his sandwich He started to cry and said he wanted one more chip ldquoI wanted four chipsrdquo he screamed I took the plate back When he wasnt looking I broke a chip in half and give it back to him with four chips

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

13 My cancer story is one of uniqueness Leave it to me to do something like cancer to its fullest It did not begin with a mammogram diagnosis or a lump My journey began about 4 years ago with some suspicious activity that turned into Pagetrsquos disease of the nipple which signaled the underlying cancer On April 1st I found out about my breast cancer through a biopsy that came back as positive for Pagetrsquos disease The onslaught of tests learning and decisions were dizzying I immediately went for an evaluation of the suspicious tissue and had to begin making decisions for my mastectomy I quickly learned there is a test called the BRAC Analysis which is a genetic test for breast and ovarian cancer Finally a piece of good news for me I did not have the gene

Decisions Now it was time to make decisions about my mastectomy and how I was going to handle reconstruction I discussed my options with my boyfriend Brian friends family members and even my principalboss I read books searched the Internet and contacted people I

Brandi ShipmanCancer Survivor and elite triathlete

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

know and knew from my past that had been directly affected and that I thought might have answers for me The outpouring of love encouragement and help during this process was overwhelming After meeting with four different doctors two surgeons and two plastic surgeons I decided to go with immediate reconstruction and was lucky enough to find two wonderful doctors They were willing to work together just because I wanted them to even though they had never done so before My surgery was scheduled for mid May

Mental Toughness13 My mental preparation at this point was very important I had to scrap any idea of competing in triathlons for the rest of the year and focus on a positive attitude of getting better I stopped thinking about what I wasnrsquot going to able to do and started thinking about what I could do that I was alive and kept my mind on the fact that so many others had made it before me

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links

Part 213 I was prepared by the doctors survivors and literature to be ldquodownrdquo for several weeks after my surgery I even took the rest of the school year off My surgery went well and I was out of the hospital the next day A few friends came to visit while I was in the hospital and my principal and vice principal brought the most wonderful picture of the faculty wearing pink for me I can only imagine what it looked like at Thornton Elementary on that day in May 2009 a sea of pink all for Brandi Shipman Shortly after their visit I received a text from my friend Margie Massey My friends from the gym wore pink for me that day as well The support brought tears to my eyes I was so excited to come home and be comfortable in my own home I just wish the stupid drain that was attached could have stayed at the hospital The pain from that was worse than the pain from the mastectomy

the most

powerful picture

13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Recovery ndash May13 Once I got home I slept and watched a lot of TV Friends visited and brought yummy food and my favorites I am not supposed to eat I ate them all My friend and co-worker set up a cancer care calendar that alerted anyone who logged on when I was having a doctorrsquos appointment or when I was in need of anything I felt like royalty as everyone took care of me I think Brian secretly enjoyed the fact that he wouldnrsquot have to cook for me each night My recovery was quicker than I thought as I was doing my best to get better and get the stinkinrsquo drain out of my skin I was out walking within a week and running within 3 weeks I couldnrsquot believe my recovery I know it was from all the prayers love and good care from Brian and the loved ones around me Life was looking better each day

ldquoLife was looking

better each dayrdquo

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Part three and part

four of I am Survivor

will be published in

the next edition of

FitnessDigestus

Get the convenience of

digital-delivery

Sign-up or subscribe at

httpFitnessDigestus

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During the past 150 years we have witnessed many remarkable advances against cancer a disease known to humanity for thousands of years The advances highlighted below represent a sampling of what has been accomplished to date

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

1882 William Halsted performs the first radical mastectomy to treat breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast the lymph nodes under the arm (axillary lymph nodes) and the chest muscles behind the breast (pectoralis major and pectoralis minor muscles) are removed Radical mastectomy will remain the standard operation for breast cancer until latter half of the 20th century when the use of modified radical mastectomy becomes widely accepted

1932 David H Patey develops the modified radical mastectomy for breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast axillary lymph nodes and pectoralis minor muscle behind the breast are removed The modified radical mastectomy is less disfiguring than the radical mastectomy and will eventually replace the radical mastectomy as a standard treatment option for breast cancer

1953 James Watson and Francis Crick discover the molecular structure of DNA (the double helix)

1963 The Health Insurance Plan (HIP) of Greater New York Study begins HIP is the first randomized controlled trial of periodic breast cancer screening with mammography

1882

1932

1953

1963

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1976 The results of a randomized clinical trial show that women with early breast cancer who receive post-operative (adjuvant) combination chemotherapy with the drugs cyclophosphamide methotrexate and 5-FU have improved disease-free survival

1981 A randomized clinical trial in the United Kingdom shows for the first time that the rates of survival local recurrence and tumor metastasis among women whose breast cancer is treated with modified radical mastectomy are not substantially different from those of women who are treated with radical mastectomy

1993 An NCI-convened international workshop on screening for breast cancer reports that screening with mammography reduces breast cancer mortality among women ages 50-69 This conclusion is based on a review of published and unpublished data from eight randomized controlled trials

2004 Data from the Womens Health Initiative (WHI) study show that women who take estrogen in combination with the hormone progestin have a greater risk of developing breast cancer than women who take estrogen alone The results also show that menopausal hormone therapy with estrogen alone has no benefit in disease prevention specifically in reducing the risks of colorectal cancer coronary heart disease and dementia

1976

1981

1993

2004

Although we still have a long way to go to reduce the toll of cancer in the United States and worldwide our research and public health efforts are beginning to pay dividends

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

Volunteering vs Participating13 My girl friend and I are involved in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation The local chapter raises awareness for the cause with a fun-run each year We have volunteered to help with the race five years in a row This year we were stationed at a water table where the runners pick-up cups of water to drink Toward the end of the race there are very few runners There was a little time to chat about things We were talking about what we would wish for if we could have three wishes I told her I would wish for an end to Juvenile Diabetes and to lose 10 pounds Being nice I said ldquoyou can have my last wishrdquo She said I wish you would skip volunteering and just run this race next year

Admission Price Our aquatic center was having a promotion one night and advertised an elementary school night The kids could swim for free When we got to the pool we saw a promotional sign for the event In small lettering it read All swimmers must be accompanied by an adult We thought no big deal one of us can just stay and watch When we got to the front desk we found the lifeguard was enforcing the adult-admission price of $8

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CNFI Publishing - Products Books Chapbooks Bookmarks Plaques and Poetry Collector Cards Merchandising Products Coffee Mugs Mouse Pads Tiles 3x6 Coasters T - Shirts and Wall Plaques More info athttpliveadsFitnessDigestus

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

Featured PhotosFitnessDigestus feature

Chicago open water swim course at nighttop left

Kids race at Bicycle Blues and BBQtop right

Some team members volunteer at the local soup kitchenmiddle right

Ken Mauer loads the balls for hitting practice during a Twins baseball camp for

children 7-13 bottom right

Get your local event photos published in the next issue of FitnessDigestus E-mail

your photo to photoFitnessDigestus

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As he turned to go on he spat speculatively There was a sharp explosive crackle that startled him He spat again And again in the air before it could fall to the snow the spittle crackled He knew that at fifty below spittle crackled on the snow but this spittle had crackled in the air Undoubtedly it was colder than fifty below--how much colder he did not know But the temperature did not matter He was bound for the old claim on the left fork of Henderson Creek where the boys were already They had come over across the divide from the Indian Creek country while he had come the roundabout way to take a look at the possibilities of getting out logs in the spring from the islands in the Yukon He would be in to camp by six oclock a bit after dark it was true but the boys would be there a fire would be going and a hot supper would be ready As for lunch he pressed his hand against the protruding bundle under his jacket It was also under his shirt wrapped up in a handkerchief and lying against the naked skin It was the only way to keep the biscuits from freezing He smiled agreeably to himself as he thought of those biscuits each cut open and sopped in bacon grease and each enclosing a generous slice of fried bacon

He plunged in among the big spruce trees The trail was faint A foot of snow had fallen since the last sled had passed over and he was glad he was without a sled traveling light In fact he carried nothing but the lunch wrapped in the handkerchief He was surprised however at the cold It certainly was cold he concluded as he rubbed his numb nose and cheek-bones with his mittened hand He was a warm-whiskered man but the hair on his face did not protect the high cheek-bones and the eager nose that thrust itself aggressively into the frosty air

At the mans heels trotted a dog a big native husky the proper wolf-dog gray-coated and without any visible or temperamental difference from its brother the wild wolf The animal was depressed by the tremendous cold It knew that it was no time for

traveling Its instinct told it a truer tale than was told to the man by the mans judgment In reality it was not merely colder than fifty below zero it was colder than sixty below than seventy below It was seventy-five below zero Since the freezing point is thirty-two above zero it meant that one hundred and seven degrees of frost obtained The dog did not know anything about thermometers Possibly in its brain there was no sharp consciousness of a condition of very cold such as was in the mans brain But the brute had its instinct It experienced a vague but menacing apprehension that subdued it then made it slink along at the mans heels and that made it question eagerly every unwonted movement of the man as if expecting him to go into camp or to seek shelter somewhere and build a fire The dog had learned fire and it wanted fire or else to burrow under the snow and cuddle its warmth away from the air

The frozen moisture of its breathing had settled on its fur in a fine powder of frost and especially were its jowls muzzle and eyelashes whitened by its cry-stalled breath The mans red beard and mustache were likewise frosted but more solidly the deposit taking the form of ice and increasing with every warm moist breath he exhaled Also the man was chewing tobacco and the muzzle of ice held his lips so rigidly that he was unable to clear his chin when he expelled the juice The result was that a crystal beard of the color and solidity of amber was increasing its length on his chin If he fell down it would shatter itself like glass into brittle fragments But he did not mind the appendage It was the penalty all tobacco-chewers paid in that country and he had been out before in two cold snaps They had not been so cold as this he knew but by the spirit thermometer at Sixty Mile he knew they had been registered at fifty below and at fifty-five

He held on through the level stretch of woods for several miles crossed a wide flat of rigger-heads and dropped down a bank to the frozen bed of a

To Build a FireContinued

small stream This was Henderson Creek and he knew he was ten miles from the forks He looked at his watch It was ten oclock He was making four miles an hour and he calculated that he would arrive at the forks at half-past twelve He decided to celebrate that event by eating his lunch there

The dog dropped in again at his heels with a tail drooping discouragement as the man swung along the creek-bed The furrow of the old sled-trail was plainly visible but a dozen inches of snow covered the marks of the last runners In a month no man had come up or down that silent creek The man held steadily on He was not much given to thinking and just then particularly he had nothing to think about save that he would eat lunch at-the forks and that at six oclock he would be in camp with the boys There was nobody to talk to and had there been speech would have been impossible because of the ice-muzzle on his mouth So he continued monotonously to chew tobacco and to increase the length of his amber beard

Once in a while the thought reiterated itself that it was very cold and that he had never experienced such cold As he walked along he rubbed his cheek-bones and nose with the back of his mittened hand He did this automatically now and again changing hands But rub as he would the instant he stopped his cheek-bones went numb and the following instant the end of his nose went numb He was sure to frost his cheeks he knew that and experienced a pang of regret that he had not devised a nose-strap of the sort Bud wore in cold snaps Such a strap passed across the cheeks as well and saved them But it didnt matter much after all What were frosted cheeks A bit painful that was all they were never serious

Empty as the mans mind was of thoughts he was keenly observant and he noticed the changes in the creek the curves and bends and timber jams and always he sharply noted where he placed his feet Once coming around a bend he shied abruptly

like a startled horse curved away from the place where he had been walking and retreated several paces back along the trail The creek he knew was frozen clear to the bottom--no creek could contain water in that arctic winter--but he knew also that there were springs that bubbled out from the hillsides and ran along under the snow and on top the ice of the creek He knew that the coldest snaps never froze these springs and he knew likewise their danger They were traps They hid pools of water under the snow that might be three inches deep or three feet Sometimes a skin of ice half an inch thick covered them and in turn was covered by the snow Sometimes there were alternate layers of water and ice-skin so that when one broke through he kept on breaking through for a while sometimes wetting himself to the waist

That was why he had shied in such panic He had felt the give under his feet and heard the crackle of a snow-hidden ice-skin And to get his feet wet in such a temperature meant trouble and danger At the very least it meant delay for he would be forced to stop and build a fire and under its protection to bare his feet while he dried his socks and moccasins He stood and studied the creek-bed and its banks and decided that the flow of water came from the right He reflected a while rubbing his nose and cheeks then skirted to the left stepping gingerly and testing the footing for each step Once clear of the danger he took a fresh chew of tobacco and swung along at his four-mile gait

In the course of the next two hours he came upon several similar traps Usually the snow above the hidden pools had a sunken candied appearance that advertised the danger Once again however he had a close call and once suspecting danger he compelled the dog to go on in front The dog did not want to go It hung back until the man shoved it forward and then it went quickly across the white unbroken surface Suddenly it broke through floundered to one side and got away to firmer

To Build a FireContinued

To Build a FireContinued

footing It had wet its forefeet and legs and almost immediately the water that clung to it turned to ice It made quick efforts to lick the ice off its legs then dropped down in the snow and began to bite out the ice that had formed between the toes l his was a matter of instinct To permit the ice to remain would mean sore feet It did not know this It merely obeyed the mysterious prompting that arose from the deep crypts of its being But the man knew having achieved a judgment on the subject and he removed the mitten from his right hand and helped tear out the ice-particles He did not expose his fingers more than a minute and was astonished at the swift numbness that smote them It certainly was cold He pulled on the mitten hastily and beat the hand savagely across his chest

At twelve oclock the day was at its brightest Yet the sun was too far south an its winter journey to clear the horizon The bulge of the earth intervened between it arid Henderson Creek where the man walked under a clear sky at noon and cast no shadow At half-past twelve to the minute he arrived at the forks of the creek He was pleased at the speed he had made If he kept it up he would certainly be with the boys by six He unbuttoned his jacket and shirt and drew forth his lunch The action consumed no more than a quarter of a minute yet in that brief moment the numbness laid hold of the exposed fingers He did not put the mitten on but instead struck the fingers a dozen sharp smashes against his leg Then he sat down on a snow-covered log to eat The sting that followed upon the striking of his fingers against his leg ceased so quickly that he was startled He had had no chance to take a bite of biscuit He struck the fingers repeatedly and returned them to the mitten baring the other hand for the purpose of eating He tried to take a mouthful but the ice-muzzle prevented He had forgotten to build a fire and thaw out He chuckled at his foolishness and as he chuckled he noted the numbness creeping into the exposed fingers Also he noted that the stinging which had first come to his

toes when he sat down was already passing away He wandered whether the toes were warm or numb He moved them inside the moccasins and decided that they were numb

He pulled the mitten on hurriedly and stood up He was a bit frightened He stamped up and down until the stinging returned into the feet It certainly was cold was his thought That man from Sulphur Creek had spoken the truth when telling how cold it sometimes got in the country And he had laughed at him at the time That showed one must not be too sure of things There was no mistake about it it was cold He strode up and down stamping his feet and threshing his arms until reassured by the returning warmth Then he got out matches and proceeded to make a fire From the undergrowth where high water of the previous spring had lodged a supply of seasoned twigs he got his firewood Working carefully from a small beginning he soon had a roaring fire over which he thawed the ice from his face and in the protection of which he ate his biscuits For the moment the cold space was outwitted The dog took satisfaction in the fire stretching out close enough for warmth and far enough away to escape being singed

When the man had finished be filled his pipe and took his comfortable time over a smoke Then he pulled on his mittens settled the ear-flaps of his cap firmly about his ears and took the creek trail up the left fork The dog was disappointed and yearned back toward the fire This man did not know cold Possibly all the generations of his ancestry had been ignorant of cold of real cold of cold one hundred and seven degrees below freezing point But the dog knew all its ancestry knew and it had inherited the knowledge And it knew that it was not good to walk abroad in such fearful cold It was the time to lie snug in a hole in the snow and wait for a curtain of cloud to be drawn across the face of outer space whence this cold came On the other hand there was no keen intimacy between the dog and the man

The one was the toil-slave of the other and the only caresses it had ever received were the caresses of the whiplash and of harsh and menacing throat-sounds that threatened the whiplash So the dog made no effort to communicate its apprehension to the man It was not concerned in the welfare of the man it was for its own sake that it yearned back toward the fire But the man whistled and spoke to it with the sound of whiplashes and the dog swung in at the mans heel and followed after

The man took a chew of tobacco and proceeded to start a new amber beard Also his moist breath quickly powdered with white his mustache eyebrows and lashes There did not seem to be so many springs on the left fork of the Henderson and for half an hour the man saw no signs of any And then it happened At a place where there were no signs where the soft unbroken snow seemed to advertise solidity beneath tee man broke through It was not deep He wet himself halfway to the knees before he floundered out to the firm crust

He was angry and cursed his luck aloud He had hoped to get into camp with the boys at six oclock and this would delay him an hour for he would have to build a fire and dry out his foot-gear This was imperative at that low temperature--he knew that much and he turned aside to the bank which he climbed On top tangled in the underbrush about the trunks of several small spruce trees was a high-water deposit of dry firewood--sticks and twigs principally but also larger portions of seasoned branches and fine dry last-years grasses He threw down several large pieces on top of the snow This served for a foundation and prevented the young flame from drowning itself in the snow it otherwise would melt The flame he got by touching a match to a small shred of birch bark that he took from his pocket This burned even more readily than paper Placing it on the foundation he fed the young flame with wisps of dry grass and with the tiniest dry twigs

He worked slowly and carefully keenly aware of his danger Gradually as the flame grew stronger he increased the size of the twigs with which he fed it He squatted in the snow pulling the twigs out from their entanglement in the brush and feeding directly to the flame He knew there must be no failure When it is seventy-five below zero a man must not fail in his first attempt to build a fire--that is if his feet are wet If his feet are dry and he fails he can run along the trail for half a mile and restore his circulation But the circulation of wet and freezing feet cannot be restored by running when it is seventy-five below No matter how fast he runs the wet feet will freeze the harder

All this the man knew The old-timer on Sulphur Creek had told him about it the previous fall and now he was appreciating the advice Already all sensation had gone out of his feet To build the fire he had been forced to remove his mittens and the fingers had quickly gone numb His pace of four miles an hour had kept his heart pumping blood to the surface of his body and to all the extremities But the instant he stopped the action of the pump eased down The cold of space smote the unprotected tip of the planet and he being on that unprotected tip received the full force of the blow The blood of his body recoiled before it The blood was alive like the dog and like the dog it wanted to hide away and cover itself up from the fearful cold So long as he walked four miles an hour he pumped that blood willy-nilly to the surface but now it ebbed away and sank down into the recesses of his body The extremities were the first to feel its absence His wet feet froze the faster and his exposed fingers numbed the faster though they had not yet begun to freeze Nose and cheeks were already freezing while the skin of all his body chilled as it lost its blood

But he was safe Toes and nose and cheeks would be only touched by the frost for the fire was beginning to burn with strength He was feeding it

To Build a FireContinued

with twigs the size of his finger In another minute he would be able to feed it with branches the size of his wrier and then he could remove his wet toot-gear and while it dried he could keep his naked feet warm by the fire rubbing them at first of course with snow The fire was a success He was safe He remembered the advice of the old timer on Sulphur Creek and smiled The old-timer had been very serious in laying down the law that no man must travel alone in the Klondike after fifty below Well here he was he had had the accident he was alone and he had saved himself Those old-timers were rather womanish some of them he thought All a man had to do was to keep his head and he was all right Any man who was a man could travel alone But it was surprising the rapidity with which his cheeks and nose were freezing And he had not thought his fingers could go lifeless in so short a time Lifeless they were for he could scarcely make them move together to grip a twig and they seemed remote from his body and from him When he touched a twig he had to look and see whether or not he had hold of it The wires were pretty well down between him and his finger-ends

All of which counted for little There was the fire snapping and crackling and promising life with every dancing flame He started to untie his moccasins They were coated with ice the thick German socks were like sheaths of iron halfway to the knees and the moccasin strings were like rods of steel all twisted and knotted as by some conflagration For a moment he tugged with his numb fingers then realizing the folly of it he drew his sheath-knife

But before he could cut the strings it happened It was his own fault or rather his mistake He should not have built the fire under the spruce tree He should have built it in the open But it had been easier to pull the twigs from the brush and drop them directly on the fire Now the tree under which

he had done this carried a weight of snow on its boughs No wind had blown for weeks and each bough was fully freighted Each time he had pulled a twig he had communicated a slight agitation to the tree--an imperceptible agitation so far as he was concerned but an agitation sufficient to bring about the disaster High up in the tree one bough capsized its load of snow This fell on the boughs beneath capsizing them This process continued spreading out and involving the whole tree It grew like an avalanche and it descended without warning upon the man and the fire and the fire was blotted out Where it had burned was a mantle of fresh and disordered snow

The man was shocked It was as though he had just heard his own sentence of death For a moment he sat and stared at the spot where the fire had been Then he grew very calm Perhaps the old-timer on Sulphur Creek was right If he had only had a trail-mate he would have been in no danger now The trail-mate could have built the fire Well it was up to him to build the fire over again and this second time there must be no failure Even if he succeeded he would most likely lose some toes His feet must be badly frozen by now and there would be some time before the second fire Was ready

Such were his thoughts but he did not sit and think them He was busy all the time they were passing through his mind He made a new foundation for a fire this time in the open where no treacherous tree could blot it out Next he gathered dry grasses and tiny twigs from the high-water flotsam He could not bring his fingers together to pull them out but he was able to gather them by the handful In this way he got many rotten twigs and bits of green moss that were undesirable but it was the best he could do He worked methodically even collecting an armful of the larger branches to be used later when the fire gathered strength And all the while the dog sat and watched him a certain yearning wistfulness in its eyes for it looked upon

To Build a FireContinued

him as the fire-provider and the fire was slow in coming

When all was ready the man reached in his pocket for a second piece of birch bark He knew the bark was there and though he could not feel it with his fingers he could hear its crisp rustling as he fumbled for it Try as he would he could not clutch hold of it And all the time in his consciousness was the knowledge that each instant his feet were freezing This thought tended to put him in a panic but he fought against it and kept calm He pulled on his mittens with his teeth and threshed his arms back and forth beating his hands with all his might against his sides He did this sitting down and he stood up to do it and all the while the dog sat in the snow its wolf-brush of a tail curled around warmly over its forefeet its sharp wolf-ears pricked forward intently as it watched the man And the man as he beat and threshed with his arms and hands felt a great surge of envy as he regarded the creature that was warm ant secure in its natural covering

After a time he was aware of the first far-away signals of sensation in his beaten fingers The faint tingling grew stronger till it evolved into a stinging ache that was excruciating but which the man hailed with satisfaction He stripped the mitten from his right hand and fetched forth the birch bark The exposed fingers were quickly going numb again Next he brought out his bunch of sulphur matches But the tremendous cold had already driven the life out of his fingers In his effort to separate one match from the others the whole bunch fell in the snow He tried to pick it out of the snow but failed The dead fingers could neither touch nor clutch He was very careful He drove the thought of his freezing feet and nose and cheeks out of his mind devoting his whole soul to the matches He watched using the sense of vision in place of that of touch and when he saw his fingers on each side the bunch he dosed them--that is he willed to close them for the wires were down and the fingers did not obey He pulled

the mitten on the right hand and beat it fiercely against his knee Then with both mittened hands he scooped the bunch of matches along with much snow into his lap Yet he was no better off

After some manipulation he managed to get the bunch between the heels of his mittened hands In this fashion he carried it to his mouth The ice crackled and snapped when by a violent effort he opened his mouth He drew the lower jaw in curled the upper lip out of the way and scraped the bunch with his upper teeth in order to separate a match He succeeded in getting one which he dropped on his lap He was no better off He could not pick it up Then he devised a way He picked it up in his teeth and scratched it on his leg Twenty times he scratched before he succeeded in lighting it As it flamed he held it with his teeth to the birch bark But the burning brimstone went up his nostrils and into his lungs causing him to cough spasmodically The match fell into the snow and went out

The old-timer an Sulphur Creek was right he thought in the moment of controlled despair that ensued after fifty below a man should travel with a partner He beat his hands but failed in exciting any sensation Suddenly he bared both hands removing the mittens with his teeth He caught the whole bunch between the heels of his hands His arm muscles not being frozen enabled him to press the hand-heels tightly against the matches Then he scratched the bunch along his leg It flared into flame seventy sulphur matches at once There was no wind to blow them out He kept his head to one side to escape the strangling fumes and held the blazing bunch to the birth bark As he so held it he became aware of sensation in his hand His flesh was burning He could smell it Deep down below the surface he could feel it The sensation developed into pain that grew acute And still he endured it holding the flame of the matches clumsily to the bark that would not light readily because his own burning hands were in the way absorbing most of the flame

To Build a FireContinued

At last when he could endure no more he jerked his hands apart The blazing matches fell sizzling into the snow but the birch bark was alight He began laying dry grasses and the tiniest twigs on the flame He could not pick and choose for he had to lift the fuel between the heels of his hands Small pieces of rotten wood and green moss clung to the twigs and he bit them off as well as he could with his teeth He cherished the flame carefully and awkwardly It meant life and it must not perish The withdrawal of blood from the surface of his body now made him begin to shiver and he grew more awkward A large piece of green moss fell squarely on the little fire He tried to poke it out with his fingers but his shivering frame made him poke too far and he disrupted the nucleus of the little fire the burning grasses and tiny twigs separating and scattering He tried to poke them together again but in spite of the tenseness of the effort his shivering got away with him and the twigs were hopelessly scattered Each twig gushed a puff of smoke and went out The fire-provider had failed As he looked apathetically about him his eyes chanced on the dog sitting across the ruins of the fire from him in the snow making restless hunching movements slightly lifting one forefoot and then the other shifting its weight back and forth on them with wistful eagerness

The sight of the dog put a wild idea into his head He remembered the tale of the man caught in a blizzard who killed a steer and crawled inside the carcass and so was saved He would kill the dog and bury his hands in the warm body until the numbness went out of them Then he could build another fire He spoke to the dog calling it to him but in his voice was a strange note of fear that frightened the animal who had never known the man to speak in such way before Something was the matter and its suspicious nature sensed danger--it knew not what danger but somewhere somehow in its brain arose an apprehension of the man It flattened its ears down at the sound of the mans voice and its restless

hunching movements and the liftings and shiftings of its forefeet became more pronounced but it would not come to the man He got on his hands and knees and crawled toward the dog This unusual posture again excited suspicion and the animal sidled mincingly away

The man sat up in the snow for a moment and struggled for calmness Then he pulled on his mittens by means of his teeth and got upon his feet He glanced down at first in order to assure himself that he was really standing up for the absence of sensation in his feet left him unrelated to the earth His erect position in itself started to drive the webs of suspicion from the dogs mind and when he spoke peremptorily with the sound of whiplashes in his voice the dog rendered its customary allegiance and came to him As it came within reaching distance the man lost his control His arms flashed out to the dog and he experienced genuine surprise when he discovered that his hands could not clutch that there was neither bend nor feeling in the fingers He had forgotten for the moment that they were frozen and that they were freezing more and more All this happened quickly and before the animal could get away he encircled its body with his arms He sat down in the snow and in this fashion held the dog while it snarled and whined and struggled

But it was all he could do hold its body encircled in his arms and sit there He realized that he could not kill the dog There was no way to do it With his helpless hands he could neither draw nor hold his sheath knife nor throttle the animal He released it and it plunged wildly away with tail between its legs and still snarling It halted forty feet away and surveyed him curiously with ears sharply pricked forward The man looked down at his hands in order to locate them and found them hanging on the ends of his arms It struck him as curious that one should have to use his eyes in order to find out where his hands were He began threshing his arms back and forth beating the mittened hands against

To Build a FireContinued

his sides He did this for five minutes violently and his heart pumped enough blood up to the surface to put a stop to his shivering But no sensation was aroused in the hands He had an impression that they hung like weights on the ends of his arms but when he tried to run the impression down he could not find it

A certain fear of death dull and oppressive came to him This fear quickly became poignant as he realized that it was no longer a mere matter of freezing his fingers and toes or of losing his hands and feet but that it was a matter of life and death with the chances against him This threw him into a panic and he turned and ran up the creek-bed along the old dim trail The dog joined in behind and kept up with him He ran blindly without intention in fear such as he had never known in his life Slowly as he plowed and floundered through the snow he began to see things again the banks of the creek the old timber-jams the leafless aspens and the sky The running made him feel better He did not shiver Maybe if he ran on his feet would thaw out and anyway if he ran far enough he would reach camp and the boys Without doubt he would lose some fingers and toes and some of his face but the boys would take care of him and save the rest of him when he got there And at the same time there was another thought in his mind that said he would never get to the camp and the boys that it was too many miles away that the freezing had too great a start on him and that he would soon be stiff and dead This thought he kept in the background and refused to consider Sometimes it pushed itself forward and demanded to be heard but he thrust it back and strove to think of other things

It struck him as curious that he could run at all on feet so frozen that he could not feel them when they struck the earth and took the weigh of his body He seemed to himself to skim along above the surface and to have no connection with the earth Somewhere he had once seen a winged Mercury

and he wondered if Mercury felt as he felt when skimming over the earth

His theory of running until he reached camp and the boys had one flaw in it he lacked the endurance Several times he stumbled and finally he tottered crumpled up and fell When he tried to rise he failed He must sit and rest he decided and next time he would merely walk and keep on going As he sat and regained his breath he noted that he was feeling quite warm and comfortable He was not shivering and it even seemed that a warm glow had come to his chest and trunk And yet when he touched his nose or cheeks there was no sensation Running would not thaw them out Nor would it thaw out his hands and feet Then the thought came to him that the frozen portions of his body must be extending He tried to keep this thought down to forget it to think of something else he was aware of the panicky feeling that it caused and he was afraid of the panic But the thought asserted itself and persisted until it produced a vision of his body totally frozen This was too much and he made another wild run along the trail Once he slowed down to a walk but the thought of the freezing extending itself made him run again

And all the time the dog ran with him at his heels When he fell down a second time it curled its tad over its forefeet and sat in front of him facing him curiously eager and intent The warmth and security of the animal angered him and he cursed it till it flattened down its ears appealingly This time the shivering came more quickly upon the man He was losing in his battle with the frost It was creeping into his body from all sides The thought of it drove him on but he ran no more than a hundred feet when he staggered and pitched headlong It was his last panic When he had recovered his breath and control he sat up and entertained in his mind the conception of meeting death with dignity However the conception did not come to him in such terms His idea of it was that he had been making a fool of

To Build a FireContinued

himself running around like a chicken with its head cut off--such was the simile that occurred to him Well he was bound to freeze anyway and he might as well take it decently With this new-found peace of mind came the first glimmerings of drowsiness A good idea he thought to sleep off to death It was like salting an anesthetic Freezing was not so bad as people thought There were lots worse ways to die

He pictured the boys finding his body next day Suddenly he found himself with them coming along the trail and looking for himself And still with them he came around a turn in the trail and found himself lying in the snow He did not belong with himself any more for even then he was out of himself standing with the boys and looking at himself in the snow It certainly was cold was his thought When he got back to the States he could tell the folks what real cold was He drifted on from this to a vision of the old-timer on Sulphur Creek He could see him quite clearly warm and comfortable and smoking a pipe

You were right old boss you were right the man mumbled to the old-timer of Sulphur Creek

Then the man drowsed off into what seemed to him the most comfortable and satisfying sleep he had ever known The dog sat facing him and waiting The brief day drew to a close in a long slow twilight There were no signs of a fire to be made and besides never in the dogs experience had it known a man to sit like that in the snow and make no fire As the twilight drew on its eager yearning for the fire mastered it and with a great lifting and shifting of forefeet it whined softly then flattened its ears down in anticipation of being chidden by the man But the man remained silent Later the dog whined loudly And still later it crept close to the man and caught the scent of death This made the animal bristle and back away A little longer it delayed howling under the stars that leaped and danced and shone brightly in the cold sky Then it turned and trotted up the trail in the direction of the camp it knew where were the other food-providers and fire-providers

To Build a FireContinued

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Page 32: FitnessDigest.us Vol. 4.3 Cover

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13 I was standing on shore fishing in my favorite spot A guy Irsquove never seen at the pond gets in and starts swimming After about 25 minutes of back and forth he stops at a place about 30 yards off shore He gives me a quick look and dices down below the water

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SwimSwam (swimswamnews)Congrats to KenyaSwimmer on being selected to carry the Kenya flag swimswamcom

Better than sharing on a blog Twitter or Facebook and you can share a story even if you donrsquot maintain a social-web presencePublished for ALL FitnessDigestus readers

Sign with your real name pen-name or anonymoushttpLiveMediaFitnessDigestus

13 Funnest thing SPAM about some weight-loss supplements got posted on a friendrsquos Facebook My friend is an ultra-runner I notice there was also an ad for salami recipes on the same page The recipes were right next to the SPAM about diet-pills

13 Letrsquos see ndash it sounds like the beginning of a good joke Q What do you get when a friend tries to sell you ultra-runner endorsed salami-flavored-SPAM diet-pills on Facebook Answer Sick

Unsung Heroes1 Irsquove never swam open water and wanted to do a triathlon A friend that

races open water took extra time to swim with me at a lake I was much more comfortable after that

2 I was going on vacation and needed advice on a place to swim A friend living in the area took the time to help me find people to answer my questions

3 I was over eating and had complained to my friend about it She called me twice a day for three weeks just to remind me to eat healthy

4 I usually run to and from the gym It takes about 30 minutes to run both ways I didnrsquot have enough time to get there and back before a scheduled appointment I had A friend drove me to the gym saving me about 30 minutes I was able to run home and still had time to get to my appointment

SPAM DIET

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Visit the Suburban Mommy blog and learn more about AtresiaMicrotia a birth defect of the inner earFor links to SubMommy blog httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

SUBMOMMYBLOG

On Wednesday May 16 2012 at 7 PM simultaneous rides occurred around the

USA and the world

We all ride Now we can ride as one

One day One time One world world wide

Let the silence roar

322 locations world wide

The Ride of SilenceTonight we number many but ride as one

In honor of those not with us friends

mothers fathers sisters sons

With helmets on tight and heads down low

We ride in silence cautious and slow

The wheels start spinning in the lead pack

But tonight we ride and no one attacks

The dark sunglasses cover our tears

Remembering those we held so dear

Tonights ride is to make others aware

The road is there for all to share

To those not with us or by our side

May God be your partner on your final ride

- Mike Murgas

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 50 states

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 7 Continents

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 0 words spoken

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 1 million memories

Ride of Silence

ldquoCost-effective investments in bicycling boost our economy help individuals and government agencies save money and directly address key societal challenges such as obesity and road congestion In these tough economic times our federal government can only afford to invest in solutions that solve multiple problems Bicycling fits the billrdquo ndash PeopleForBikesorg

This photo collection was taken byRobert LaVallee of Mason City IA

To see his entire collection visithttpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

Non-subscriberSign-up for delivery of

the FREE edition at coopnetbiz

It provides an outstanding aerobic workout in less than half the time we would spend in still water It has allowed us as swim coaches to observe swimmers stroke characteristics up close and to see the effects of fatigue on stroke mechanics ~ Larry L Chazy NY

Swimming is an excellent exercise and now I can swim every day because its so convenient and private I can swim when I want and how long I want Im able to have it at a temperature that is comfortable to me The small size of an Endless Pool enabled me to install a pool where I could not install a regular size one

As an aging baby boomer nutrition professional I have yearned for consistent exercise that doesnt stress joints and will enable me to attain physical fitness cardiovascular health and weight control I can eat what I want and still firm up and lose weight ~ John C Columbus OH

Endless Pools make for long swims in small places The 8x15 Endless Pool is less than regulation size but offers the same benefits as a very large pool ~ Noah H Connecticut Post

The Endless Pool is a great strength builder I am amazed at the strength of the current I now swim against I did not buy it for that reason but because of my arthritis so the strength gain is a wonderful surprise

Endless PoolsTestimonials For more information visit httpLIveAdsFitnessDigestus

s w i m m i n g s h o r t s

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Baseball Walking Stick13 My sons friend grabbed his baseball bat and said to me this is my walking stick I politely ask him why he calls it that He replied because my dad says if I hit a home run with it I donrsquot have to run the bases ndash I can walk

My Bike My mountain bike was stolen a while back and my kids were really upset Ive been riding my road bike in its place Since then Ive been careful to lock my bike up when we go to the park

13 On this occasion I did not lock-up my sonrsquos bike up with mine He looked at me quizzically and said sternly lock my bike up too I tried to explain that his bike was not as expensive and therefor didnt need to be locked up Boy that was a mistake He made me feel a little dumb when he said Dad I dont care how expensive it is Its the only bike Irsquove got

North Iowa Roads

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A LEADER inSearch Engine Optimization

Technology

Increase your visitor page views and Facebook Likes

Are you moving to a new state Already hired your mover

E-mail blind box at box02FitnessDigestus will get

you the best rates on cable phone and internet

Digital Movers

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

parent sports tipBy FitnessDigestus staff writer JGA

PAR

EN

T

TIP

Keeping Kids Focused13 Organize their thoughts Help them prioritize and make decisions based on value Even kids can understand the value of simple non-monetized choices Questions like ldquoShould I finish playing my gameboy game or pause it when they call my swimming eventrdquo

If kids are taught to make good decisions and not just find quick answers everyone wins

AugustGolf Month5th Friendship Day15th Relaxation Day25th Kiss and Make Up Day31st Trail Mix DaySeptemberLittle League Month12th Chocolate Milk Shake Day13th Positive Thinking Day16th Womenrsquos Friendship Day21st Miniature Golf DayOctoberBreast Cancer Awareness MonthNational Diabetes Month1st World Vegetarian Day4th Golf Day25th World Pasta Day

National Calendar

Au

gu

stSe

pte

mb

er

Oc

tob

er

Encourage friendships writing skills sharing thoughts and

experiencesEight different cards

YAGOTTAWANNA

Variety of pricing From single orders to bulk orders of 24 notecards

Learn more online

Stay in touch with your swimming or triathlon buddies

It is better to be safe then to try to beat the heat There are many options to stay cool and run during a hot-summer day Staying inside and running on the treadmill is a good one Remember staying safe is a top priority

Most workouts can be modified to work indoors This issuersquos workout is to do your usual run or interval set just stay inside and run it on the treadmill Visualize the different landmarks to see during your outdoor run

Coach Millerrsquos Quarterly ChallengeStay safe in the heatBy Mark Miller mmillerFitnessDigestus

A few years back we had a hot-spell similar to this yearrsquos record heat

I remember training for a long run and having to stop at the local swimming hole to cool off I literally took off my

shoes and jumped in with my running clothes on I was so hot

FitnessDigestUSEntertainment amp Inspiration

Use coupon codeldquoRAMCSPRrdquo

at puresportshopcomfor 20 OFF

Nutritional Performance Sports Drinks with Protein

OPEN WATER SWIMMING BY THE NUMBERS

In kilometers The shortest open water race included in the Fina World Championships

10107 How many miles it

is to swim from Cuba to the USA

5

1000Number of swimming strokes in a mile for a typical swimmer

31800About the number of calories it takes to swim 100 miles

LOCATED IN ST ANSGAR IOWA

Business Cards Envelopes

Letterheads Programs

Vinyl Decals Signs

Posters Invites (graduation wedding showers etc)

Flyers Brochures

T-ShirtsShorts SweatshirtsSweats

Koozies Sashes

Business Forms Placemats

Postcards And Much More

Bridgette Beyer DesignerOwner

Bring your ideas in andVisual Aspect Designs can print

andor design for you

The minimum open water distance in kilometers that is considered a swimming-

marathon

On Facebook Visit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

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Open water safety means swimming in shallow water where there is a lifeguard or using an escort

Shop for Name BrandGear

24 Hoursa Day

WaynesSkiandCyclenet

For links to Waynersquos visit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

s w i m m i n g s h o r t s

Googles

13 Swimming fans can really appreciate a 200 IM when their goggles fill with water How about an Olympian Swimming a leg of the 400 Free Relay with his goggles across his opened mouth ndash and going 45rsquos A great team swimmer an Olympian wouldnrsquot let down his teammates by throwing them off or fixing them

500 Fly13 A world class butterflyer asked if he could swim butterfly in the 500 yard freestyle during a dual meet His goal was to break five minutes After considering the competition it seemed like a great way to make him really work a hard fly swim so we agreed Problem was he swam a 502 and the opposing coach complained to the officials because he embarrassed his swimmers Oh well you canrsquot win lsquoem all

Stories sent in by Robert Steele

No-No-No13 The other morning I was teaching front-streamlines to snotty nosed 8 year olds (some are literally snotty-nosed) One boy was taking a big gulp of air and holding his breath When he lifted his head he had to exhale and inhale before submerging again Swimmers will understand this does not work very well Kids need to learn to exhale underwater The first time he did it I told him to exhale underwater The second time I stopped him looked him in the eye and reminded him to exhale underwater The third and fourth times I started to get a little frustrated ldquoJohnny you need to exhale underwater so you can breath betterrdquo The fifth time as his head popped up for a breath I quickly asked ldquoJohnny Do you even know what exhale meansrdquo as he submerged his head below the water I could see him shake his head no-no-no

Favorite Potato Chips13We try to limit the junk food the kids eat at our house For lunch one day our son wanted some potato chips I gave him 3 large chips with his sandwich He started to cry and said he wanted one more chip ldquoI wanted four chipsrdquo he screamed I took the plate back When he wasnt looking I broke a chip in half and give it back to him with four chips

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

13 My cancer story is one of uniqueness Leave it to me to do something like cancer to its fullest It did not begin with a mammogram diagnosis or a lump My journey began about 4 years ago with some suspicious activity that turned into Pagetrsquos disease of the nipple which signaled the underlying cancer On April 1st I found out about my breast cancer through a biopsy that came back as positive for Pagetrsquos disease The onslaught of tests learning and decisions were dizzying I immediately went for an evaluation of the suspicious tissue and had to begin making decisions for my mastectomy I quickly learned there is a test called the BRAC Analysis which is a genetic test for breast and ovarian cancer Finally a piece of good news for me I did not have the gene

Decisions Now it was time to make decisions about my mastectomy and how I was going to handle reconstruction I discussed my options with my boyfriend Brian friends family members and even my principalboss I read books searched the Internet and contacted people I

Brandi ShipmanCancer Survivor and elite triathlete

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

know and knew from my past that had been directly affected and that I thought might have answers for me The outpouring of love encouragement and help during this process was overwhelming After meeting with four different doctors two surgeons and two plastic surgeons I decided to go with immediate reconstruction and was lucky enough to find two wonderful doctors They were willing to work together just because I wanted them to even though they had never done so before My surgery was scheduled for mid May

Mental Toughness13 My mental preparation at this point was very important I had to scrap any idea of competing in triathlons for the rest of the year and focus on a positive attitude of getting better I stopped thinking about what I wasnrsquot going to able to do and started thinking about what I could do that I was alive and kept my mind on the fact that so many others had made it before me

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links

Part 213 I was prepared by the doctors survivors and literature to be ldquodownrdquo for several weeks after my surgery I even took the rest of the school year off My surgery went well and I was out of the hospital the next day A few friends came to visit while I was in the hospital and my principal and vice principal brought the most wonderful picture of the faculty wearing pink for me I can only imagine what it looked like at Thornton Elementary on that day in May 2009 a sea of pink all for Brandi Shipman Shortly after their visit I received a text from my friend Margie Massey My friends from the gym wore pink for me that day as well The support brought tears to my eyes I was so excited to come home and be comfortable in my own home I just wish the stupid drain that was attached could have stayed at the hospital The pain from that was worse than the pain from the mastectomy

the most

powerful picture

13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Recovery ndash May13 Once I got home I slept and watched a lot of TV Friends visited and brought yummy food and my favorites I am not supposed to eat I ate them all My friend and co-worker set up a cancer care calendar that alerted anyone who logged on when I was having a doctorrsquos appointment or when I was in need of anything I felt like royalty as everyone took care of me I think Brian secretly enjoyed the fact that he wouldnrsquot have to cook for me each night My recovery was quicker than I thought as I was doing my best to get better and get the stinkinrsquo drain out of my skin I was out walking within a week and running within 3 weeks I couldnrsquot believe my recovery I know it was from all the prayers love and good care from Brian and the loved ones around me Life was looking better each day

ldquoLife was looking

better each dayrdquo

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Part three and part

four of I am Survivor

will be published in

the next edition of

FitnessDigestus

Get the convenience of

digital-delivery

Sign-up or subscribe at

httpFitnessDigestus

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During the past 150 years we have witnessed many remarkable advances against cancer a disease known to humanity for thousands of years The advances highlighted below represent a sampling of what has been accomplished to date

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

1882 William Halsted performs the first radical mastectomy to treat breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast the lymph nodes under the arm (axillary lymph nodes) and the chest muscles behind the breast (pectoralis major and pectoralis minor muscles) are removed Radical mastectomy will remain the standard operation for breast cancer until latter half of the 20th century when the use of modified radical mastectomy becomes widely accepted

1932 David H Patey develops the modified radical mastectomy for breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast axillary lymph nodes and pectoralis minor muscle behind the breast are removed The modified radical mastectomy is less disfiguring than the radical mastectomy and will eventually replace the radical mastectomy as a standard treatment option for breast cancer

1953 James Watson and Francis Crick discover the molecular structure of DNA (the double helix)

1963 The Health Insurance Plan (HIP) of Greater New York Study begins HIP is the first randomized controlled trial of periodic breast cancer screening with mammography

1882

1932

1953

1963

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1976 The results of a randomized clinical trial show that women with early breast cancer who receive post-operative (adjuvant) combination chemotherapy with the drugs cyclophosphamide methotrexate and 5-FU have improved disease-free survival

1981 A randomized clinical trial in the United Kingdom shows for the first time that the rates of survival local recurrence and tumor metastasis among women whose breast cancer is treated with modified radical mastectomy are not substantially different from those of women who are treated with radical mastectomy

1993 An NCI-convened international workshop on screening for breast cancer reports that screening with mammography reduces breast cancer mortality among women ages 50-69 This conclusion is based on a review of published and unpublished data from eight randomized controlled trials

2004 Data from the Womens Health Initiative (WHI) study show that women who take estrogen in combination with the hormone progestin have a greater risk of developing breast cancer than women who take estrogen alone The results also show that menopausal hormone therapy with estrogen alone has no benefit in disease prevention specifically in reducing the risks of colorectal cancer coronary heart disease and dementia

1976

1981

1993

2004

Although we still have a long way to go to reduce the toll of cancer in the United States and worldwide our research and public health efforts are beginning to pay dividends

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

Volunteering vs Participating13 My girl friend and I are involved in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation The local chapter raises awareness for the cause with a fun-run each year We have volunteered to help with the race five years in a row This year we were stationed at a water table where the runners pick-up cups of water to drink Toward the end of the race there are very few runners There was a little time to chat about things We were talking about what we would wish for if we could have three wishes I told her I would wish for an end to Juvenile Diabetes and to lose 10 pounds Being nice I said ldquoyou can have my last wishrdquo She said I wish you would skip volunteering and just run this race next year

Admission Price Our aquatic center was having a promotion one night and advertised an elementary school night The kids could swim for free When we got to the pool we saw a promotional sign for the event In small lettering it read All swimmers must be accompanied by an adult We thought no big deal one of us can just stay and watch When we got to the front desk we found the lifeguard was enforcing the adult-admission price of $8

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CNFI Publishing - Products Books Chapbooks Bookmarks Plaques and Poetry Collector Cards Merchandising Products Coffee Mugs Mouse Pads Tiles 3x6 Coasters T - Shirts and Wall Plaques More info athttpliveadsFitnessDigestus

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

Featured PhotosFitnessDigestus feature

Chicago open water swim course at nighttop left

Kids race at Bicycle Blues and BBQtop right

Some team members volunteer at the local soup kitchenmiddle right

Ken Mauer loads the balls for hitting practice during a Twins baseball camp for

children 7-13 bottom right

Get your local event photos published in the next issue of FitnessDigestus E-mail

your photo to photoFitnessDigestus

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As he turned to go on he spat speculatively There was a sharp explosive crackle that startled him He spat again And again in the air before it could fall to the snow the spittle crackled He knew that at fifty below spittle crackled on the snow but this spittle had crackled in the air Undoubtedly it was colder than fifty below--how much colder he did not know But the temperature did not matter He was bound for the old claim on the left fork of Henderson Creek where the boys were already They had come over across the divide from the Indian Creek country while he had come the roundabout way to take a look at the possibilities of getting out logs in the spring from the islands in the Yukon He would be in to camp by six oclock a bit after dark it was true but the boys would be there a fire would be going and a hot supper would be ready As for lunch he pressed his hand against the protruding bundle under his jacket It was also under his shirt wrapped up in a handkerchief and lying against the naked skin It was the only way to keep the biscuits from freezing He smiled agreeably to himself as he thought of those biscuits each cut open and sopped in bacon grease and each enclosing a generous slice of fried bacon

He plunged in among the big spruce trees The trail was faint A foot of snow had fallen since the last sled had passed over and he was glad he was without a sled traveling light In fact he carried nothing but the lunch wrapped in the handkerchief He was surprised however at the cold It certainly was cold he concluded as he rubbed his numb nose and cheek-bones with his mittened hand He was a warm-whiskered man but the hair on his face did not protect the high cheek-bones and the eager nose that thrust itself aggressively into the frosty air

At the mans heels trotted a dog a big native husky the proper wolf-dog gray-coated and without any visible or temperamental difference from its brother the wild wolf The animal was depressed by the tremendous cold It knew that it was no time for

traveling Its instinct told it a truer tale than was told to the man by the mans judgment In reality it was not merely colder than fifty below zero it was colder than sixty below than seventy below It was seventy-five below zero Since the freezing point is thirty-two above zero it meant that one hundred and seven degrees of frost obtained The dog did not know anything about thermometers Possibly in its brain there was no sharp consciousness of a condition of very cold such as was in the mans brain But the brute had its instinct It experienced a vague but menacing apprehension that subdued it then made it slink along at the mans heels and that made it question eagerly every unwonted movement of the man as if expecting him to go into camp or to seek shelter somewhere and build a fire The dog had learned fire and it wanted fire or else to burrow under the snow and cuddle its warmth away from the air

The frozen moisture of its breathing had settled on its fur in a fine powder of frost and especially were its jowls muzzle and eyelashes whitened by its cry-stalled breath The mans red beard and mustache were likewise frosted but more solidly the deposit taking the form of ice and increasing with every warm moist breath he exhaled Also the man was chewing tobacco and the muzzle of ice held his lips so rigidly that he was unable to clear his chin when he expelled the juice The result was that a crystal beard of the color and solidity of amber was increasing its length on his chin If he fell down it would shatter itself like glass into brittle fragments But he did not mind the appendage It was the penalty all tobacco-chewers paid in that country and he had been out before in two cold snaps They had not been so cold as this he knew but by the spirit thermometer at Sixty Mile he knew they had been registered at fifty below and at fifty-five

He held on through the level stretch of woods for several miles crossed a wide flat of rigger-heads and dropped down a bank to the frozen bed of a

To Build a FireContinued

small stream This was Henderson Creek and he knew he was ten miles from the forks He looked at his watch It was ten oclock He was making four miles an hour and he calculated that he would arrive at the forks at half-past twelve He decided to celebrate that event by eating his lunch there

The dog dropped in again at his heels with a tail drooping discouragement as the man swung along the creek-bed The furrow of the old sled-trail was plainly visible but a dozen inches of snow covered the marks of the last runners In a month no man had come up or down that silent creek The man held steadily on He was not much given to thinking and just then particularly he had nothing to think about save that he would eat lunch at-the forks and that at six oclock he would be in camp with the boys There was nobody to talk to and had there been speech would have been impossible because of the ice-muzzle on his mouth So he continued monotonously to chew tobacco and to increase the length of his amber beard

Once in a while the thought reiterated itself that it was very cold and that he had never experienced such cold As he walked along he rubbed his cheek-bones and nose with the back of his mittened hand He did this automatically now and again changing hands But rub as he would the instant he stopped his cheek-bones went numb and the following instant the end of his nose went numb He was sure to frost his cheeks he knew that and experienced a pang of regret that he had not devised a nose-strap of the sort Bud wore in cold snaps Such a strap passed across the cheeks as well and saved them But it didnt matter much after all What were frosted cheeks A bit painful that was all they were never serious

Empty as the mans mind was of thoughts he was keenly observant and he noticed the changes in the creek the curves and bends and timber jams and always he sharply noted where he placed his feet Once coming around a bend he shied abruptly

like a startled horse curved away from the place where he had been walking and retreated several paces back along the trail The creek he knew was frozen clear to the bottom--no creek could contain water in that arctic winter--but he knew also that there were springs that bubbled out from the hillsides and ran along under the snow and on top the ice of the creek He knew that the coldest snaps never froze these springs and he knew likewise their danger They were traps They hid pools of water under the snow that might be three inches deep or three feet Sometimes a skin of ice half an inch thick covered them and in turn was covered by the snow Sometimes there were alternate layers of water and ice-skin so that when one broke through he kept on breaking through for a while sometimes wetting himself to the waist

That was why he had shied in such panic He had felt the give under his feet and heard the crackle of a snow-hidden ice-skin And to get his feet wet in such a temperature meant trouble and danger At the very least it meant delay for he would be forced to stop and build a fire and under its protection to bare his feet while he dried his socks and moccasins He stood and studied the creek-bed and its banks and decided that the flow of water came from the right He reflected a while rubbing his nose and cheeks then skirted to the left stepping gingerly and testing the footing for each step Once clear of the danger he took a fresh chew of tobacco and swung along at his four-mile gait

In the course of the next two hours he came upon several similar traps Usually the snow above the hidden pools had a sunken candied appearance that advertised the danger Once again however he had a close call and once suspecting danger he compelled the dog to go on in front The dog did not want to go It hung back until the man shoved it forward and then it went quickly across the white unbroken surface Suddenly it broke through floundered to one side and got away to firmer

To Build a FireContinued

To Build a FireContinued

footing It had wet its forefeet and legs and almost immediately the water that clung to it turned to ice It made quick efforts to lick the ice off its legs then dropped down in the snow and began to bite out the ice that had formed between the toes l his was a matter of instinct To permit the ice to remain would mean sore feet It did not know this It merely obeyed the mysterious prompting that arose from the deep crypts of its being But the man knew having achieved a judgment on the subject and he removed the mitten from his right hand and helped tear out the ice-particles He did not expose his fingers more than a minute and was astonished at the swift numbness that smote them It certainly was cold He pulled on the mitten hastily and beat the hand savagely across his chest

At twelve oclock the day was at its brightest Yet the sun was too far south an its winter journey to clear the horizon The bulge of the earth intervened between it arid Henderson Creek where the man walked under a clear sky at noon and cast no shadow At half-past twelve to the minute he arrived at the forks of the creek He was pleased at the speed he had made If he kept it up he would certainly be with the boys by six He unbuttoned his jacket and shirt and drew forth his lunch The action consumed no more than a quarter of a minute yet in that brief moment the numbness laid hold of the exposed fingers He did not put the mitten on but instead struck the fingers a dozen sharp smashes against his leg Then he sat down on a snow-covered log to eat The sting that followed upon the striking of his fingers against his leg ceased so quickly that he was startled He had had no chance to take a bite of biscuit He struck the fingers repeatedly and returned them to the mitten baring the other hand for the purpose of eating He tried to take a mouthful but the ice-muzzle prevented He had forgotten to build a fire and thaw out He chuckled at his foolishness and as he chuckled he noted the numbness creeping into the exposed fingers Also he noted that the stinging which had first come to his

toes when he sat down was already passing away He wandered whether the toes were warm or numb He moved them inside the moccasins and decided that they were numb

He pulled the mitten on hurriedly and stood up He was a bit frightened He stamped up and down until the stinging returned into the feet It certainly was cold was his thought That man from Sulphur Creek had spoken the truth when telling how cold it sometimes got in the country And he had laughed at him at the time That showed one must not be too sure of things There was no mistake about it it was cold He strode up and down stamping his feet and threshing his arms until reassured by the returning warmth Then he got out matches and proceeded to make a fire From the undergrowth where high water of the previous spring had lodged a supply of seasoned twigs he got his firewood Working carefully from a small beginning he soon had a roaring fire over which he thawed the ice from his face and in the protection of which he ate his biscuits For the moment the cold space was outwitted The dog took satisfaction in the fire stretching out close enough for warmth and far enough away to escape being singed

When the man had finished be filled his pipe and took his comfortable time over a smoke Then he pulled on his mittens settled the ear-flaps of his cap firmly about his ears and took the creek trail up the left fork The dog was disappointed and yearned back toward the fire This man did not know cold Possibly all the generations of his ancestry had been ignorant of cold of real cold of cold one hundred and seven degrees below freezing point But the dog knew all its ancestry knew and it had inherited the knowledge And it knew that it was not good to walk abroad in such fearful cold It was the time to lie snug in a hole in the snow and wait for a curtain of cloud to be drawn across the face of outer space whence this cold came On the other hand there was no keen intimacy between the dog and the man

The one was the toil-slave of the other and the only caresses it had ever received were the caresses of the whiplash and of harsh and menacing throat-sounds that threatened the whiplash So the dog made no effort to communicate its apprehension to the man It was not concerned in the welfare of the man it was for its own sake that it yearned back toward the fire But the man whistled and spoke to it with the sound of whiplashes and the dog swung in at the mans heel and followed after

The man took a chew of tobacco and proceeded to start a new amber beard Also his moist breath quickly powdered with white his mustache eyebrows and lashes There did not seem to be so many springs on the left fork of the Henderson and for half an hour the man saw no signs of any And then it happened At a place where there were no signs where the soft unbroken snow seemed to advertise solidity beneath tee man broke through It was not deep He wet himself halfway to the knees before he floundered out to the firm crust

He was angry and cursed his luck aloud He had hoped to get into camp with the boys at six oclock and this would delay him an hour for he would have to build a fire and dry out his foot-gear This was imperative at that low temperature--he knew that much and he turned aside to the bank which he climbed On top tangled in the underbrush about the trunks of several small spruce trees was a high-water deposit of dry firewood--sticks and twigs principally but also larger portions of seasoned branches and fine dry last-years grasses He threw down several large pieces on top of the snow This served for a foundation and prevented the young flame from drowning itself in the snow it otherwise would melt The flame he got by touching a match to a small shred of birch bark that he took from his pocket This burned even more readily than paper Placing it on the foundation he fed the young flame with wisps of dry grass and with the tiniest dry twigs

He worked slowly and carefully keenly aware of his danger Gradually as the flame grew stronger he increased the size of the twigs with which he fed it He squatted in the snow pulling the twigs out from their entanglement in the brush and feeding directly to the flame He knew there must be no failure When it is seventy-five below zero a man must not fail in his first attempt to build a fire--that is if his feet are wet If his feet are dry and he fails he can run along the trail for half a mile and restore his circulation But the circulation of wet and freezing feet cannot be restored by running when it is seventy-five below No matter how fast he runs the wet feet will freeze the harder

All this the man knew The old-timer on Sulphur Creek had told him about it the previous fall and now he was appreciating the advice Already all sensation had gone out of his feet To build the fire he had been forced to remove his mittens and the fingers had quickly gone numb His pace of four miles an hour had kept his heart pumping blood to the surface of his body and to all the extremities But the instant he stopped the action of the pump eased down The cold of space smote the unprotected tip of the planet and he being on that unprotected tip received the full force of the blow The blood of his body recoiled before it The blood was alive like the dog and like the dog it wanted to hide away and cover itself up from the fearful cold So long as he walked four miles an hour he pumped that blood willy-nilly to the surface but now it ebbed away and sank down into the recesses of his body The extremities were the first to feel its absence His wet feet froze the faster and his exposed fingers numbed the faster though they had not yet begun to freeze Nose and cheeks were already freezing while the skin of all his body chilled as it lost its blood

But he was safe Toes and nose and cheeks would be only touched by the frost for the fire was beginning to burn with strength He was feeding it

To Build a FireContinued

with twigs the size of his finger In another minute he would be able to feed it with branches the size of his wrier and then he could remove his wet toot-gear and while it dried he could keep his naked feet warm by the fire rubbing them at first of course with snow The fire was a success He was safe He remembered the advice of the old timer on Sulphur Creek and smiled The old-timer had been very serious in laying down the law that no man must travel alone in the Klondike after fifty below Well here he was he had had the accident he was alone and he had saved himself Those old-timers were rather womanish some of them he thought All a man had to do was to keep his head and he was all right Any man who was a man could travel alone But it was surprising the rapidity with which his cheeks and nose were freezing And he had not thought his fingers could go lifeless in so short a time Lifeless they were for he could scarcely make them move together to grip a twig and they seemed remote from his body and from him When he touched a twig he had to look and see whether or not he had hold of it The wires were pretty well down between him and his finger-ends

All of which counted for little There was the fire snapping and crackling and promising life with every dancing flame He started to untie his moccasins They were coated with ice the thick German socks were like sheaths of iron halfway to the knees and the moccasin strings were like rods of steel all twisted and knotted as by some conflagration For a moment he tugged with his numb fingers then realizing the folly of it he drew his sheath-knife

But before he could cut the strings it happened It was his own fault or rather his mistake He should not have built the fire under the spruce tree He should have built it in the open But it had been easier to pull the twigs from the brush and drop them directly on the fire Now the tree under which

he had done this carried a weight of snow on its boughs No wind had blown for weeks and each bough was fully freighted Each time he had pulled a twig he had communicated a slight agitation to the tree--an imperceptible agitation so far as he was concerned but an agitation sufficient to bring about the disaster High up in the tree one bough capsized its load of snow This fell on the boughs beneath capsizing them This process continued spreading out and involving the whole tree It grew like an avalanche and it descended without warning upon the man and the fire and the fire was blotted out Where it had burned was a mantle of fresh and disordered snow

The man was shocked It was as though he had just heard his own sentence of death For a moment he sat and stared at the spot where the fire had been Then he grew very calm Perhaps the old-timer on Sulphur Creek was right If he had only had a trail-mate he would have been in no danger now The trail-mate could have built the fire Well it was up to him to build the fire over again and this second time there must be no failure Even if he succeeded he would most likely lose some toes His feet must be badly frozen by now and there would be some time before the second fire Was ready

Such were his thoughts but he did not sit and think them He was busy all the time they were passing through his mind He made a new foundation for a fire this time in the open where no treacherous tree could blot it out Next he gathered dry grasses and tiny twigs from the high-water flotsam He could not bring his fingers together to pull them out but he was able to gather them by the handful In this way he got many rotten twigs and bits of green moss that were undesirable but it was the best he could do He worked methodically even collecting an armful of the larger branches to be used later when the fire gathered strength And all the while the dog sat and watched him a certain yearning wistfulness in its eyes for it looked upon

To Build a FireContinued

him as the fire-provider and the fire was slow in coming

When all was ready the man reached in his pocket for a second piece of birch bark He knew the bark was there and though he could not feel it with his fingers he could hear its crisp rustling as he fumbled for it Try as he would he could not clutch hold of it And all the time in his consciousness was the knowledge that each instant his feet were freezing This thought tended to put him in a panic but he fought against it and kept calm He pulled on his mittens with his teeth and threshed his arms back and forth beating his hands with all his might against his sides He did this sitting down and he stood up to do it and all the while the dog sat in the snow its wolf-brush of a tail curled around warmly over its forefeet its sharp wolf-ears pricked forward intently as it watched the man And the man as he beat and threshed with his arms and hands felt a great surge of envy as he regarded the creature that was warm ant secure in its natural covering

After a time he was aware of the first far-away signals of sensation in his beaten fingers The faint tingling grew stronger till it evolved into a stinging ache that was excruciating but which the man hailed with satisfaction He stripped the mitten from his right hand and fetched forth the birch bark The exposed fingers were quickly going numb again Next he brought out his bunch of sulphur matches But the tremendous cold had already driven the life out of his fingers In his effort to separate one match from the others the whole bunch fell in the snow He tried to pick it out of the snow but failed The dead fingers could neither touch nor clutch He was very careful He drove the thought of his freezing feet and nose and cheeks out of his mind devoting his whole soul to the matches He watched using the sense of vision in place of that of touch and when he saw his fingers on each side the bunch he dosed them--that is he willed to close them for the wires were down and the fingers did not obey He pulled

the mitten on the right hand and beat it fiercely against his knee Then with both mittened hands he scooped the bunch of matches along with much snow into his lap Yet he was no better off

After some manipulation he managed to get the bunch between the heels of his mittened hands In this fashion he carried it to his mouth The ice crackled and snapped when by a violent effort he opened his mouth He drew the lower jaw in curled the upper lip out of the way and scraped the bunch with his upper teeth in order to separate a match He succeeded in getting one which he dropped on his lap He was no better off He could not pick it up Then he devised a way He picked it up in his teeth and scratched it on his leg Twenty times he scratched before he succeeded in lighting it As it flamed he held it with his teeth to the birch bark But the burning brimstone went up his nostrils and into his lungs causing him to cough spasmodically The match fell into the snow and went out

The old-timer an Sulphur Creek was right he thought in the moment of controlled despair that ensued after fifty below a man should travel with a partner He beat his hands but failed in exciting any sensation Suddenly he bared both hands removing the mittens with his teeth He caught the whole bunch between the heels of his hands His arm muscles not being frozen enabled him to press the hand-heels tightly against the matches Then he scratched the bunch along his leg It flared into flame seventy sulphur matches at once There was no wind to blow them out He kept his head to one side to escape the strangling fumes and held the blazing bunch to the birth bark As he so held it he became aware of sensation in his hand His flesh was burning He could smell it Deep down below the surface he could feel it The sensation developed into pain that grew acute And still he endured it holding the flame of the matches clumsily to the bark that would not light readily because his own burning hands were in the way absorbing most of the flame

To Build a FireContinued

At last when he could endure no more he jerked his hands apart The blazing matches fell sizzling into the snow but the birch bark was alight He began laying dry grasses and the tiniest twigs on the flame He could not pick and choose for he had to lift the fuel between the heels of his hands Small pieces of rotten wood and green moss clung to the twigs and he bit them off as well as he could with his teeth He cherished the flame carefully and awkwardly It meant life and it must not perish The withdrawal of blood from the surface of his body now made him begin to shiver and he grew more awkward A large piece of green moss fell squarely on the little fire He tried to poke it out with his fingers but his shivering frame made him poke too far and he disrupted the nucleus of the little fire the burning grasses and tiny twigs separating and scattering He tried to poke them together again but in spite of the tenseness of the effort his shivering got away with him and the twigs were hopelessly scattered Each twig gushed a puff of smoke and went out The fire-provider had failed As he looked apathetically about him his eyes chanced on the dog sitting across the ruins of the fire from him in the snow making restless hunching movements slightly lifting one forefoot and then the other shifting its weight back and forth on them with wistful eagerness

The sight of the dog put a wild idea into his head He remembered the tale of the man caught in a blizzard who killed a steer and crawled inside the carcass and so was saved He would kill the dog and bury his hands in the warm body until the numbness went out of them Then he could build another fire He spoke to the dog calling it to him but in his voice was a strange note of fear that frightened the animal who had never known the man to speak in such way before Something was the matter and its suspicious nature sensed danger--it knew not what danger but somewhere somehow in its brain arose an apprehension of the man It flattened its ears down at the sound of the mans voice and its restless

hunching movements and the liftings and shiftings of its forefeet became more pronounced but it would not come to the man He got on his hands and knees and crawled toward the dog This unusual posture again excited suspicion and the animal sidled mincingly away

The man sat up in the snow for a moment and struggled for calmness Then he pulled on his mittens by means of his teeth and got upon his feet He glanced down at first in order to assure himself that he was really standing up for the absence of sensation in his feet left him unrelated to the earth His erect position in itself started to drive the webs of suspicion from the dogs mind and when he spoke peremptorily with the sound of whiplashes in his voice the dog rendered its customary allegiance and came to him As it came within reaching distance the man lost his control His arms flashed out to the dog and he experienced genuine surprise when he discovered that his hands could not clutch that there was neither bend nor feeling in the fingers He had forgotten for the moment that they were frozen and that they were freezing more and more All this happened quickly and before the animal could get away he encircled its body with his arms He sat down in the snow and in this fashion held the dog while it snarled and whined and struggled

But it was all he could do hold its body encircled in his arms and sit there He realized that he could not kill the dog There was no way to do it With his helpless hands he could neither draw nor hold his sheath knife nor throttle the animal He released it and it plunged wildly away with tail between its legs and still snarling It halted forty feet away and surveyed him curiously with ears sharply pricked forward The man looked down at his hands in order to locate them and found them hanging on the ends of his arms It struck him as curious that one should have to use his eyes in order to find out where his hands were He began threshing his arms back and forth beating the mittened hands against

To Build a FireContinued

his sides He did this for five minutes violently and his heart pumped enough blood up to the surface to put a stop to his shivering But no sensation was aroused in the hands He had an impression that they hung like weights on the ends of his arms but when he tried to run the impression down he could not find it

A certain fear of death dull and oppressive came to him This fear quickly became poignant as he realized that it was no longer a mere matter of freezing his fingers and toes or of losing his hands and feet but that it was a matter of life and death with the chances against him This threw him into a panic and he turned and ran up the creek-bed along the old dim trail The dog joined in behind and kept up with him He ran blindly without intention in fear such as he had never known in his life Slowly as he plowed and floundered through the snow he began to see things again the banks of the creek the old timber-jams the leafless aspens and the sky The running made him feel better He did not shiver Maybe if he ran on his feet would thaw out and anyway if he ran far enough he would reach camp and the boys Without doubt he would lose some fingers and toes and some of his face but the boys would take care of him and save the rest of him when he got there And at the same time there was another thought in his mind that said he would never get to the camp and the boys that it was too many miles away that the freezing had too great a start on him and that he would soon be stiff and dead This thought he kept in the background and refused to consider Sometimes it pushed itself forward and demanded to be heard but he thrust it back and strove to think of other things

It struck him as curious that he could run at all on feet so frozen that he could not feel them when they struck the earth and took the weigh of his body He seemed to himself to skim along above the surface and to have no connection with the earth Somewhere he had once seen a winged Mercury

and he wondered if Mercury felt as he felt when skimming over the earth

His theory of running until he reached camp and the boys had one flaw in it he lacked the endurance Several times he stumbled and finally he tottered crumpled up and fell When he tried to rise he failed He must sit and rest he decided and next time he would merely walk and keep on going As he sat and regained his breath he noted that he was feeling quite warm and comfortable He was not shivering and it even seemed that a warm glow had come to his chest and trunk And yet when he touched his nose or cheeks there was no sensation Running would not thaw them out Nor would it thaw out his hands and feet Then the thought came to him that the frozen portions of his body must be extending He tried to keep this thought down to forget it to think of something else he was aware of the panicky feeling that it caused and he was afraid of the panic But the thought asserted itself and persisted until it produced a vision of his body totally frozen This was too much and he made another wild run along the trail Once he slowed down to a walk but the thought of the freezing extending itself made him run again

And all the time the dog ran with him at his heels When he fell down a second time it curled its tad over its forefeet and sat in front of him facing him curiously eager and intent The warmth and security of the animal angered him and he cursed it till it flattened down its ears appealingly This time the shivering came more quickly upon the man He was losing in his battle with the frost It was creeping into his body from all sides The thought of it drove him on but he ran no more than a hundred feet when he staggered and pitched headlong It was his last panic When he had recovered his breath and control he sat up and entertained in his mind the conception of meeting death with dignity However the conception did not come to him in such terms His idea of it was that he had been making a fool of

To Build a FireContinued

himself running around like a chicken with its head cut off--such was the simile that occurred to him Well he was bound to freeze anyway and he might as well take it decently With this new-found peace of mind came the first glimmerings of drowsiness A good idea he thought to sleep off to death It was like salting an anesthetic Freezing was not so bad as people thought There were lots worse ways to die

He pictured the boys finding his body next day Suddenly he found himself with them coming along the trail and looking for himself And still with them he came around a turn in the trail and found himself lying in the snow He did not belong with himself any more for even then he was out of himself standing with the boys and looking at himself in the snow It certainly was cold was his thought When he got back to the States he could tell the folks what real cold was He drifted on from this to a vision of the old-timer on Sulphur Creek He could see him quite clearly warm and comfortable and smoking a pipe

You were right old boss you were right the man mumbled to the old-timer of Sulphur Creek

Then the man drowsed off into what seemed to him the most comfortable and satisfying sleep he had ever known The dog sat facing him and waiting The brief day drew to a close in a long slow twilight There were no signs of a fire to be made and besides never in the dogs experience had it known a man to sit like that in the snow and make no fire As the twilight drew on its eager yearning for the fire mastered it and with a great lifting and shifting of forefeet it whined softly then flattened its ears down in anticipation of being chidden by the man But the man remained silent Later the dog whined loudly And still later it crept close to the man and caught the scent of death This made the animal bristle and back away A little longer it delayed howling under the stars that leaped and danced and shone brightly in the cold sky Then it turned and trotted up the trail in the direction of the camp it knew where were the other food-providers and fire-providers

To Build a FireContinued

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Page 33: FitnessDigest.us Vol. 4.3 Cover

13 I was standing on shore fishing in my favorite spot A guy Irsquove never seen at the pond gets in and starts swimming After about 25 minutes of back and forth he stops at a place about 30 yards off shore He gives me a quick look and dices down below the water

His next lap he stops in the same place looks at me again and points down at the water He finished his swim and left I picked up my gear and moved to the other side of the outlet just a few yards from where he had stopped twice Caught a lunker in the first cast

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TOP TWEETS

Iowa Cubs (IowaCubs)Thanks to all our fans who showed up for the pre-game on-field catch with dad

Louise Pineda (forerunnerGPS)The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficultyWinston Churchill quotes

Softball Darlin (Softball_Darlin)My mom told me our team was gettin white uniforms for summer amp to try not to get them dirty Uh Have you seen me play Not gonna happen

I Swim I Suffer (ISwimISuffer)thatswimmerwho If the water is in your right ear for example then jump on your right leg and lean your head to the right side while jumping

I Swim and I Know It (iSwimWithIssues)During the summer you shower 467 times at the pool 17 times at hotels and 3 times at your house Truth

Everyday Health (WomensCancer)63000 Americans will be diagnosed w malignant melanoma (the deadliest skin cancer) this year Know your risk

US Paralympics (USParalympics)Want to be introduced to Paralympic sport Attend one of the Paralympic Experiences being held throughout the countryFi

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est

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SwimSwam (swimswamnews)Congrats to KenyaSwimmer on being selected to carry the Kenya flag swimswamcom

Better than sharing on a blog Twitter or Facebook and you can share a story even if you donrsquot maintain a social-web presencePublished for ALL FitnessDigestus readers

Sign with your real name pen-name or anonymoushttpLiveMediaFitnessDigestus

13 Funnest thing SPAM about some weight-loss supplements got posted on a friendrsquos Facebook My friend is an ultra-runner I notice there was also an ad for salami recipes on the same page The recipes were right next to the SPAM about diet-pills

13 Letrsquos see ndash it sounds like the beginning of a good joke Q What do you get when a friend tries to sell you ultra-runner endorsed salami-flavored-SPAM diet-pills on Facebook Answer Sick

Unsung Heroes1 Irsquove never swam open water and wanted to do a triathlon A friend that

races open water took extra time to swim with me at a lake I was much more comfortable after that

2 I was going on vacation and needed advice on a place to swim A friend living in the area took the time to help me find people to answer my questions

3 I was over eating and had complained to my friend about it She called me twice a day for three weeks just to remind me to eat healthy

4 I usually run to and from the gym It takes about 30 minutes to run both ways I didnrsquot have enough time to get there and back before a scheduled appointment I had A friend drove me to the gym saving me about 30 minutes I was able to run home and still had time to get to my appointment

SPAM DIET

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Visit the Suburban Mommy blog and learn more about AtresiaMicrotia a birth defect of the inner earFor links to SubMommy blog httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

SUBMOMMYBLOG

On Wednesday May 16 2012 at 7 PM simultaneous rides occurred around the

USA and the world

We all ride Now we can ride as one

One day One time One world world wide

Let the silence roar

322 locations world wide

The Ride of SilenceTonight we number many but ride as one

In honor of those not with us friends

mothers fathers sisters sons

With helmets on tight and heads down low

We ride in silence cautious and slow

The wheels start spinning in the lead pack

But tonight we ride and no one attacks

The dark sunglasses cover our tears

Remembering those we held so dear

Tonights ride is to make others aware

The road is there for all to share

To those not with us or by our side

May God be your partner on your final ride

- Mike Murgas

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 50 states

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 7 Continents

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 0 words spoken

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 1 million memories

Ride of Silence

ldquoCost-effective investments in bicycling boost our economy help individuals and government agencies save money and directly address key societal challenges such as obesity and road congestion In these tough economic times our federal government can only afford to invest in solutions that solve multiple problems Bicycling fits the billrdquo ndash PeopleForBikesorg

This photo collection was taken byRobert LaVallee of Mason City IA

To see his entire collection visithttpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

Non-subscriberSign-up for delivery of

the FREE edition at coopnetbiz

It provides an outstanding aerobic workout in less than half the time we would spend in still water It has allowed us as swim coaches to observe swimmers stroke characteristics up close and to see the effects of fatigue on stroke mechanics ~ Larry L Chazy NY

Swimming is an excellent exercise and now I can swim every day because its so convenient and private I can swim when I want and how long I want Im able to have it at a temperature that is comfortable to me The small size of an Endless Pool enabled me to install a pool where I could not install a regular size one

As an aging baby boomer nutrition professional I have yearned for consistent exercise that doesnt stress joints and will enable me to attain physical fitness cardiovascular health and weight control I can eat what I want and still firm up and lose weight ~ John C Columbus OH

Endless Pools make for long swims in small places The 8x15 Endless Pool is less than regulation size but offers the same benefits as a very large pool ~ Noah H Connecticut Post

The Endless Pool is a great strength builder I am amazed at the strength of the current I now swim against I did not buy it for that reason but because of my arthritis so the strength gain is a wonderful surprise

Endless PoolsTestimonials For more information visit httpLIveAdsFitnessDigestus

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Baseball Walking Stick13 My sons friend grabbed his baseball bat and said to me this is my walking stick I politely ask him why he calls it that He replied because my dad says if I hit a home run with it I donrsquot have to run the bases ndash I can walk

My Bike My mountain bike was stolen a while back and my kids were really upset Ive been riding my road bike in its place Since then Ive been careful to lock my bike up when we go to the park

13 On this occasion I did not lock-up my sonrsquos bike up with mine He looked at me quizzically and said sternly lock my bike up too I tried to explain that his bike was not as expensive and therefor didnt need to be locked up Boy that was a mistake He made me feel a little dumb when he said Dad I dont care how expensive it is Its the only bike Irsquove got

North Iowa Roads

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Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

parent sports tipBy FitnessDigestus staff writer JGA

PAR

EN

T

TIP

Keeping Kids Focused13 Organize their thoughts Help them prioritize and make decisions based on value Even kids can understand the value of simple non-monetized choices Questions like ldquoShould I finish playing my gameboy game or pause it when they call my swimming eventrdquo

If kids are taught to make good decisions and not just find quick answers everyone wins

AugustGolf Month5th Friendship Day15th Relaxation Day25th Kiss and Make Up Day31st Trail Mix DaySeptemberLittle League Month12th Chocolate Milk Shake Day13th Positive Thinking Day16th Womenrsquos Friendship Day21st Miniature Golf DayOctoberBreast Cancer Awareness MonthNational Diabetes Month1st World Vegetarian Day4th Golf Day25th World Pasta Day

National Calendar

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Encourage friendships writing skills sharing thoughts and

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Stay in touch with your swimming or triathlon buddies

It is better to be safe then to try to beat the heat There are many options to stay cool and run during a hot-summer day Staying inside and running on the treadmill is a good one Remember staying safe is a top priority

Most workouts can be modified to work indoors This issuersquos workout is to do your usual run or interval set just stay inside and run it on the treadmill Visualize the different landmarks to see during your outdoor run

Coach Millerrsquos Quarterly ChallengeStay safe in the heatBy Mark Miller mmillerFitnessDigestus

A few years back we had a hot-spell similar to this yearrsquos record heat

I remember training for a long run and having to stop at the local swimming hole to cool off I literally took off my

shoes and jumped in with my running clothes on I was so hot

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OPEN WATER SWIMMING BY THE NUMBERS

In kilometers The shortest open water race included in the Fina World Championships

10107 How many miles it

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1000Number of swimming strokes in a mile for a typical swimmer

31800About the number of calories it takes to swim 100 miles

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The minimum open water distance in kilometers that is considered a swimming-

marathon

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Open water safety means swimming in shallow water where there is a lifeguard or using an escort

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WaynesSkiandCyclenet

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s w i m m i n g s h o r t s

Googles

13 Swimming fans can really appreciate a 200 IM when their goggles fill with water How about an Olympian Swimming a leg of the 400 Free Relay with his goggles across his opened mouth ndash and going 45rsquos A great team swimmer an Olympian wouldnrsquot let down his teammates by throwing them off or fixing them

500 Fly13 A world class butterflyer asked if he could swim butterfly in the 500 yard freestyle during a dual meet His goal was to break five minutes After considering the competition it seemed like a great way to make him really work a hard fly swim so we agreed Problem was he swam a 502 and the opposing coach complained to the officials because he embarrassed his swimmers Oh well you canrsquot win lsquoem all

Stories sent in by Robert Steele

No-No-No13 The other morning I was teaching front-streamlines to snotty nosed 8 year olds (some are literally snotty-nosed) One boy was taking a big gulp of air and holding his breath When he lifted his head he had to exhale and inhale before submerging again Swimmers will understand this does not work very well Kids need to learn to exhale underwater The first time he did it I told him to exhale underwater The second time I stopped him looked him in the eye and reminded him to exhale underwater The third and fourth times I started to get a little frustrated ldquoJohnny you need to exhale underwater so you can breath betterrdquo The fifth time as his head popped up for a breath I quickly asked ldquoJohnny Do you even know what exhale meansrdquo as he submerged his head below the water I could see him shake his head no-no-no

Favorite Potato Chips13We try to limit the junk food the kids eat at our house For lunch one day our son wanted some potato chips I gave him 3 large chips with his sandwich He started to cry and said he wanted one more chip ldquoI wanted four chipsrdquo he screamed I took the plate back When he wasnt looking I broke a chip in half and give it back to him with four chips

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

13 My cancer story is one of uniqueness Leave it to me to do something like cancer to its fullest It did not begin with a mammogram diagnosis or a lump My journey began about 4 years ago with some suspicious activity that turned into Pagetrsquos disease of the nipple which signaled the underlying cancer On April 1st I found out about my breast cancer through a biopsy that came back as positive for Pagetrsquos disease The onslaught of tests learning and decisions were dizzying I immediately went for an evaluation of the suspicious tissue and had to begin making decisions for my mastectomy I quickly learned there is a test called the BRAC Analysis which is a genetic test for breast and ovarian cancer Finally a piece of good news for me I did not have the gene

Decisions Now it was time to make decisions about my mastectomy and how I was going to handle reconstruction I discussed my options with my boyfriend Brian friends family members and even my principalboss I read books searched the Internet and contacted people I

Brandi ShipmanCancer Survivor and elite triathlete

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

know and knew from my past that had been directly affected and that I thought might have answers for me The outpouring of love encouragement and help during this process was overwhelming After meeting with four different doctors two surgeons and two plastic surgeons I decided to go with immediate reconstruction and was lucky enough to find two wonderful doctors They were willing to work together just because I wanted them to even though they had never done so before My surgery was scheduled for mid May

Mental Toughness13 My mental preparation at this point was very important I had to scrap any idea of competing in triathlons for the rest of the year and focus on a positive attitude of getting better I stopped thinking about what I wasnrsquot going to able to do and started thinking about what I could do that I was alive and kept my mind on the fact that so many others had made it before me

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links

Part 213 I was prepared by the doctors survivors and literature to be ldquodownrdquo for several weeks after my surgery I even took the rest of the school year off My surgery went well and I was out of the hospital the next day A few friends came to visit while I was in the hospital and my principal and vice principal brought the most wonderful picture of the faculty wearing pink for me I can only imagine what it looked like at Thornton Elementary on that day in May 2009 a sea of pink all for Brandi Shipman Shortly after their visit I received a text from my friend Margie Massey My friends from the gym wore pink for me that day as well The support brought tears to my eyes I was so excited to come home and be comfortable in my own home I just wish the stupid drain that was attached could have stayed at the hospital The pain from that was worse than the pain from the mastectomy

the most

powerful picture

13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Recovery ndash May13 Once I got home I slept and watched a lot of TV Friends visited and brought yummy food and my favorites I am not supposed to eat I ate them all My friend and co-worker set up a cancer care calendar that alerted anyone who logged on when I was having a doctorrsquos appointment or when I was in need of anything I felt like royalty as everyone took care of me I think Brian secretly enjoyed the fact that he wouldnrsquot have to cook for me each night My recovery was quicker than I thought as I was doing my best to get better and get the stinkinrsquo drain out of my skin I was out walking within a week and running within 3 weeks I couldnrsquot believe my recovery I know it was from all the prayers love and good care from Brian and the loved ones around me Life was looking better each day

ldquoLife was looking

better each dayrdquo

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Part three and part

four of I am Survivor

will be published in

the next edition of

FitnessDigestus

Get the convenience of

digital-delivery

Sign-up or subscribe at

httpFitnessDigestus

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During the past 150 years we have witnessed many remarkable advances against cancer a disease known to humanity for thousands of years The advances highlighted below represent a sampling of what has been accomplished to date

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

1882 William Halsted performs the first radical mastectomy to treat breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast the lymph nodes under the arm (axillary lymph nodes) and the chest muscles behind the breast (pectoralis major and pectoralis minor muscles) are removed Radical mastectomy will remain the standard operation for breast cancer until latter half of the 20th century when the use of modified radical mastectomy becomes widely accepted

1932 David H Patey develops the modified radical mastectomy for breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast axillary lymph nodes and pectoralis minor muscle behind the breast are removed The modified radical mastectomy is less disfiguring than the radical mastectomy and will eventually replace the radical mastectomy as a standard treatment option for breast cancer

1953 James Watson and Francis Crick discover the molecular structure of DNA (the double helix)

1963 The Health Insurance Plan (HIP) of Greater New York Study begins HIP is the first randomized controlled trial of periodic breast cancer screening with mammography

1882

1932

1953

1963

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1976 The results of a randomized clinical trial show that women with early breast cancer who receive post-operative (adjuvant) combination chemotherapy with the drugs cyclophosphamide methotrexate and 5-FU have improved disease-free survival

1981 A randomized clinical trial in the United Kingdom shows for the first time that the rates of survival local recurrence and tumor metastasis among women whose breast cancer is treated with modified radical mastectomy are not substantially different from those of women who are treated with radical mastectomy

1993 An NCI-convened international workshop on screening for breast cancer reports that screening with mammography reduces breast cancer mortality among women ages 50-69 This conclusion is based on a review of published and unpublished data from eight randomized controlled trials

2004 Data from the Womens Health Initiative (WHI) study show that women who take estrogen in combination with the hormone progestin have a greater risk of developing breast cancer than women who take estrogen alone The results also show that menopausal hormone therapy with estrogen alone has no benefit in disease prevention specifically in reducing the risks of colorectal cancer coronary heart disease and dementia

1976

1981

1993

2004

Although we still have a long way to go to reduce the toll of cancer in the United States and worldwide our research and public health efforts are beginning to pay dividends

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

Volunteering vs Participating13 My girl friend and I are involved in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation The local chapter raises awareness for the cause with a fun-run each year We have volunteered to help with the race five years in a row This year we were stationed at a water table where the runners pick-up cups of water to drink Toward the end of the race there are very few runners There was a little time to chat about things We were talking about what we would wish for if we could have three wishes I told her I would wish for an end to Juvenile Diabetes and to lose 10 pounds Being nice I said ldquoyou can have my last wishrdquo She said I wish you would skip volunteering and just run this race next year

Admission Price Our aquatic center was having a promotion one night and advertised an elementary school night The kids could swim for free When we got to the pool we saw a promotional sign for the event In small lettering it read All swimmers must be accompanied by an adult We thought no big deal one of us can just stay and watch When we got to the front desk we found the lifeguard was enforcing the adult-admission price of $8

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CNFI Publishing - Products Books Chapbooks Bookmarks Plaques and Poetry Collector Cards Merchandising Products Coffee Mugs Mouse Pads Tiles 3x6 Coasters T - Shirts and Wall Plaques More info athttpliveadsFitnessDigestus

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

Featured PhotosFitnessDigestus feature

Chicago open water swim course at nighttop left

Kids race at Bicycle Blues and BBQtop right

Some team members volunteer at the local soup kitchenmiddle right

Ken Mauer loads the balls for hitting practice during a Twins baseball camp for

children 7-13 bottom right

Get your local event photos published in the next issue of FitnessDigestus E-mail

your photo to photoFitnessDigestus

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As he turned to go on he spat speculatively There was a sharp explosive crackle that startled him He spat again And again in the air before it could fall to the snow the spittle crackled He knew that at fifty below spittle crackled on the snow but this spittle had crackled in the air Undoubtedly it was colder than fifty below--how much colder he did not know But the temperature did not matter He was bound for the old claim on the left fork of Henderson Creek where the boys were already They had come over across the divide from the Indian Creek country while he had come the roundabout way to take a look at the possibilities of getting out logs in the spring from the islands in the Yukon He would be in to camp by six oclock a bit after dark it was true but the boys would be there a fire would be going and a hot supper would be ready As for lunch he pressed his hand against the protruding bundle under his jacket It was also under his shirt wrapped up in a handkerchief and lying against the naked skin It was the only way to keep the biscuits from freezing He smiled agreeably to himself as he thought of those biscuits each cut open and sopped in bacon grease and each enclosing a generous slice of fried bacon

He plunged in among the big spruce trees The trail was faint A foot of snow had fallen since the last sled had passed over and he was glad he was without a sled traveling light In fact he carried nothing but the lunch wrapped in the handkerchief He was surprised however at the cold It certainly was cold he concluded as he rubbed his numb nose and cheek-bones with his mittened hand He was a warm-whiskered man but the hair on his face did not protect the high cheek-bones and the eager nose that thrust itself aggressively into the frosty air

At the mans heels trotted a dog a big native husky the proper wolf-dog gray-coated and without any visible or temperamental difference from its brother the wild wolf The animal was depressed by the tremendous cold It knew that it was no time for

traveling Its instinct told it a truer tale than was told to the man by the mans judgment In reality it was not merely colder than fifty below zero it was colder than sixty below than seventy below It was seventy-five below zero Since the freezing point is thirty-two above zero it meant that one hundred and seven degrees of frost obtained The dog did not know anything about thermometers Possibly in its brain there was no sharp consciousness of a condition of very cold such as was in the mans brain But the brute had its instinct It experienced a vague but menacing apprehension that subdued it then made it slink along at the mans heels and that made it question eagerly every unwonted movement of the man as if expecting him to go into camp or to seek shelter somewhere and build a fire The dog had learned fire and it wanted fire or else to burrow under the snow and cuddle its warmth away from the air

The frozen moisture of its breathing had settled on its fur in a fine powder of frost and especially were its jowls muzzle and eyelashes whitened by its cry-stalled breath The mans red beard and mustache were likewise frosted but more solidly the deposit taking the form of ice and increasing with every warm moist breath he exhaled Also the man was chewing tobacco and the muzzle of ice held his lips so rigidly that he was unable to clear his chin when he expelled the juice The result was that a crystal beard of the color and solidity of amber was increasing its length on his chin If he fell down it would shatter itself like glass into brittle fragments But he did not mind the appendage It was the penalty all tobacco-chewers paid in that country and he had been out before in two cold snaps They had not been so cold as this he knew but by the spirit thermometer at Sixty Mile he knew they had been registered at fifty below and at fifty-five

He held on through the level stretch of woods for several miles crossed a wide flat of rigger-heads and dropped down a bank to the frozen bed of a

To Build a FireContinued

small stream This was Henderson Creek and he knew he was ten miles from the forks He looked at his watch It was ten oclock He was making four miles an hour and he calculated that he would arrive at the forks at half-past twelve He decided to celebrate that event by eating his lunch there

The dog dropped in again at his heels with a tail drooping discouragement as the man swung along the creek-bed The furrow of the old sled-trail was plainly visible but a dozen inches of snow covered the marks of the last runners In a month no man had come up or down that silent creek The man held steadily on He was not much given to thinking and just then particularly he had nothing to think about save that he would eat lunch at-the forks and that at six oclock he would be in camp with the boys There was nobody to talk to and had there been speech would have been impossible because of the ice-muzzle on his mouth So he continued monotonously to chew tobacco and to increase the length of his amber beard

Once in a while the thought reiterated itself that it was very cold and that he had never experienced such cold As he walked along he rubbed his cheek-bones and nose with the back of his mittened hand He did this automatically now and again changing hands But rub as he would the instant he stopped his cheek-bones went numb and the following instant the end of his nose went numb He was sure to frost his cheeks he knew that and experienced a pang of regret that he had not devised a nose-strap of the sort Bud wore in cold snaps Such a strap passed across the cheeks as well and saved them But it didnt matter much after all What were frosted cheeks A bit painful that was all they were never serious

Empty as the mans mind was of thoughts he was keenly observant and he noticed the changes in the creek the curves and bends and timber jams and always he sharply noted where he placed his feet Once coming around a bend he shied abruptly

like a startled horse curved away from the place where he had been walking and retreated several paces back along the trail The creek he knew was frozen clear to the bottom--no creek could contain water in that arctic winter--but he knew also that there were springs that bubbled out from the hillsides and ran along under the snow and on top the ice of the creek He knew that the coldest snaps never froze these springs and he knew likewise their danger They were traps They hid pools of water under the snow that might be three inches deep or three feet Sometimes a skin of ice half an inch thick covered them and in turn was covered by the snow Sometimes there were alternate layers of water and ice-skin so that when one broke through he kept on breaking through for a while sometimes wetting himself to the waist

That was why he had shied in such panic He had felt the give under his feet and heard the crackle of a snow-hidden ice-skin And to get his feet wet in such a temperature meant trouble and danger At the very least it meant delay for he would be forced to stop and build a fire and under its protection to bare his feet while he dried his socks and moccasins He stood and studied the creek-bed and its banks and decided that the flow of water came from the right He reflected a while rubbing his nose and cheeks then skirted to the left stepping gingerly and testing the footing for each step Once clear of the danger he took a fresh chew of tobacco and swung along at his four-mile gait

In the course of the next two hours he came upon several similar traps Usually the snow above the hidden pools had a sunken candied appearance that advertised the danger Once again however he had a close call and once suspecting danger he compelled the dog to go on in front The dog did not want to go It hung back until the man shoved it forward and then it went quickly across the white unbroken surface Suddenly it broke through floundered to one side and got away to firmer

To Build a FireContinued

To Build a FireContinued

footing It had wet its forefeet and legs and almost immediately the water that clung to it turned to ice It made quick efforts to lick the ice off its legs then dropped down in the snow and began to bite out the ice that had formed between the toes l his was a matter of instinct To permit the ice to remain would mean sore feet It did not know this It merely obeyed the mysterious prompting that arose from the deep crypts of its being But the man knew having achieved a judgment on the subject and he removed the mitten from his right hand and helped tear out the ice-particles He did not expose his fingers more than a minute and was astonished at the swift numbness that smote them It certainly was cold He pulled on the mitten hastily and beat the hand savagely across his chest

At twelve oclock the day was at its brightest Yet the sun was too far south an its winter journey to clear the horizon The bulge of the earth intervened between it arid Henderson Creek where the man walked under a clear sky at noon and cast no shadow At half-past twelve to the minute he arrived at the forks of the creek He was pleased at the speed he had made If he kept it up he would certainly be with the boys by six He unbuttoned his jacket and shirt and drew forth his lunch The action consumed no more than a quarter of a minute yet in that brief moment the numbness laid hold of the exposed fingers He did not put the mitten on but instead struck the fingers a dozen sharp smashes against his leg Then he sat down on a snow-covered log to eat The sting that followed upon the striking of his fingers against his leg ceased so quickly that he was startled He had had no chance to take a bite of biscuit He struck the fingers repeatedly and returned them to the mitten baring the other hand for the purpose of eating He tried to take a mouthful but the ice-muzzle prevented He had forgotten to build a fire and thaw out He chuckled at his foolishness and as he chuckled he noted the numbness creeping into the exposed fingers Also he noted that the stinging which had first come to his

toes when he sat down was already passing away He wandered whether the toes were warm or numb He moved them inside the moccasins and decided that they were numb

He pulled the mitten on hurriedly and stood up He was a bit frightened He stamped up and down until the stinging returned into the feet It certainly was cold was his thought That man from Sulphur Creek had spoken the truth when telling how cold it sometimes got in the country And he had laughed at him at the time That showed one must not be too sure of things There was no mistake about it it was cold He strode up and down stamping his feet and threshing his arms until reassured by the returning warmth Then he got out matches and proceeded to make a fire From the undergrowth where high water of the previous spring had lodged a supply of seasoned twigs he got his firewood Working carefully from a small beginning he soon had a roaring fire over which he thawed the ice from his face and in the protection of which he ate his biscuits For the moment the cold space was outwitted The dog took satisfaction in the fire stretching out close enough for warmth and far enough away to escape being singed

When the man had finished be filled his pipe and took his comfortable time over a smoke Then he pulled on his mittens settled the ear-flaps of his cap firmly about his ears and took the creek trail up the left fork The dog was disappointed and yearned back toward the fire This man did not know cold Possibly all the generations of his ancestry had been ignorant of cold of real cold of cold one hundred and seven degrees below freezing point But the dog knew all its ancestry knew and it had inherited the knowledge And it knew that it was not good to walk abroad in such fearful cold It was the time to lie snug in a hole in the snow and wait for a curtain of cloud to be drawn across the face of outer space whence this cold came On the other hand there was no keen intimacy between the dog and the man

The one was the toil-slave of the other and the only caresses it had ever received were the caresses of the whiplash and of harsh and menacing throat-sounds that threatened the whiplash So the dog made no effort to communicate its apprehension to the man It was not concerned in the welfare of the man it was for its own sake that it yearned back toward the fire But the man whistled and spoke to it with the sound of whiplashes and the dog swung in at the mans heel and followed after

The man took a chew of tobacco and proceeded to start a new amber beard Also his moist breath quickly powdered with white his mustache eyebrows and lashes There did not seem to be so many springs on the left fork of the Henderson and for half an hour the man saw no signs of any And then it happened At a place where there were no signs where the soft unbroken snow seemed to advertise solidity beneath tee man broke through It was not deep He wet himself halfway to the knees before he floundered out to the firm crust

He was angry and cursed his luck aloud He had hoped to get into camp with the boys at six oclock and this would delay him an hour for he would have to build a fire and dry out his foot-gear This was imperative at that low temperature--he knew that much and he turned aside to the bank which he climbed On top tangled in the underbrush about the trunks of several small spruce trees was a high-water deposit of dry firewood--sticks and twigs principally but also larger portions of seasoned branches and fine dry last-years grasses He threw down several large pieces on top of the snow This served for a foundation and prevented the young flame from drowning itself in the snow it otherwise would melt The flame he got by touching a match to a small shred of birch bark that he took from his pocket This burned even more readily than paper Placing it on the foundation he fed the young flame with wisps of dry grass and with the tiniest dry twigs

He worked slowly and carefully keenly aware of his danger Gradually as the flame grew stronger he increased the size of the twigs with which he fed it He squatted in the snow pulling the twigs out from their entanglement in the brush and feeding directly to the flame He knew there must be no failure When it is seventy-five below zero a man must not fail in his first attempt to build a fire--that is if his feet are wet If his feet are dry and he fails he can run along the trail for half a mile and restore his circulation But the circulation of wet and freezing feet cannot be restored by running when it is seventy-five below No matter how fast he runs the wet feet will freeze the harder

All this the man knew The old-timer on Sulphur Creek had told him about it the previous fall and now he was appreciating the advice Already all sensation had gone out of his feet To build the fire he had been forced to remove his mittens and the fingers had quickly gone numb His pace of four miles an hour had kept his heart pumping blood to the surface of his body and to all the extremities But the instant he stopped the action of the pump eased down The cold of space smote the unprotected tip of the planet and he being on that unprotected tip received the full force of the blow The blood of his body recoiled before it The blood was alive like the dog and like the dog it wanted to hide away and cover itself up from the fearful cold So long as he walked four miles an hour he pumped that blood willy-nilly to the surface but now it ebbed away and sank down into the recesses of his body The extremities were the first to feel its absence His wet feet froze the faster and his exposed fingers numbed the faster though they had not yet begun to freeze Nose and cheeks were already freezing while the skin of all his body chilled as it lost its blood

But he was safe Toes and nose and cheeks would be only touched by the frost for the fire was beginning to burn with strength He was feeding it

To Build a FireContinued

with twigs the size of his finger In another minute he would be able to feed it with branches the size of his wrier and then he could remove his wet toot-gear and while it dried he could keep his naked feet warm by the fire rubbing them at first of course with snow The fire was a success He was safe He remembered the advice of the old timer on Sulphur Creek and smiled The old-timer had been very serious in laying down the law that no man must travel alone in the Klondike after fifty below Well here he was he had had the accident he was alone and he had saved himself Those old-timers were rather womanish some of them he thought All a man had to do was to keep his head and he was all right Any man who was a man could travel alone But it was surprising the rapidity with which his cheeks and nose were freezing And he had not thought his fingers could go lifeless in so short a time Lifeless they were for he could scarcely make them move together to grip a twig and they seemed remote from his body and from him When he touched a twig he had to look and see whether or not he had hold of it The wires were pretty well down between him and his finger-ends

All of which counted for little There was the fire snapping and crackling and promising life with every dancing flame He started to untie his moccasins They were coated with ice the thick German socks were like sheaths of iron halfway to the knees and the moccasin strings were like rods of steel all twisted and knotted as by some conflagration For a moment he tugged with his numb fingers then realizing the folly of it he drew his sheath-knife

But before he could cut the strings it happened It was his own fault or rather his mistake He should not have built the fire under the spruce tree He should have built it in the open But it had been easier to pull the twigs from the brush and drop them directly on the fire Now the tree under which

he had done this carried a weight of snow on its boughs No wind had blown for weeks and each bough was fully freighted Each time he had pulled a twig he had communicated a slight agitation to the tree--an imperceptible agitation so far as he was concerned but an agitation sufficient to bring about the disaster High up in the tree one bough capsized its load of snow This fell on the boughs beneath capsizing them This process continued spreading out and involving the whole tree It grew like an avalanche and it descended without warning upon the man and the fire and the fire was blotted out Where it had burned was a mantle of fresh and disordered snow

The man was shocked It was as though he had just heard his own sentence of death For a moment he sat and stared at the spot where the fire had been Then he grew very calm Perhaps the old-timer on Sulphur Creek was right If he had only had a trail-mate he would have been in no danger now The trail-mate could have built the fire Well it was up to him to build the fire over again and this second time there must be no failure Even if he succeeded he would most likely lose some toes His feet must be badly frozen by now and there would be some time before the second fire Was ready

Such were his thoughts but he did not sit and think them He was busy all the time they were passing through his mind He made a new foundation for a fire this time in the open where no treacherous tree could blot it out Next he gathered dry grasses and tiny twigs from the high-water flotsam He could not bring his fingers together to pull them out but he was able to gather them by the handful In this way he got many rotten twigs and bits of green moss that were undesirable but it was the best he could do He worked methodically even collecting an armful of the larger branches to be used later when the fire gathered strength And all the while the dog sat and watched him a certain yearning wistfulness in its eyes for it looked upon

To Build a FireContinued

him as the fire-provider and the fire was slow in coming

When all was ready the man reached in his pocket for a second piece of birch bark He knew the bark was there and though he could not feel it with his fingers he could hear its crisp rustling as he fumbled for it Try as he would he could not clutch hold of it And all the time in his consciousness was the knowledge that each instant his feet were freezing This thought tended to put him in a panic but he fought against it and kept calm He pulled on his mittens with his teeth and threshed his arms back and forth beating his hands with all his might against his sides He did this sitting down and he stood up to do it and all the while the dog sat in the snow its wolf-brush of a tail curled around warmly over its forefeet its sharp wolf-ears pricked forward intently as it watched the man And the man as he beat and threshed with his arms and hands felt a great surge of envy as he regarded the creature that was warm ant secure in its natural covering

After a time he was aware of the first far-away signals of sensation in his beaten fingers The faint tingling grew stronger till it evolved into a stinging ache that was excruciating but which the man hailed with satisfaction He stripped the mitten from his right hand and fetched forth the birch bark The exposed fingers were quickly going numb again Next he brought out his bunch of sulphur matches But the tremendous cold had already driven the life out of his fingers In his effort to separate one match from the others the whole bunch fell in the snow He tried to pick it out of the snow but failed The dead fingers could neither touch nor clutch He was very careful He drove the thought of his freezing feet and nose and cheeks out of his mind devoting his whole soul to the matches He watched using the sense of vision in place of that of touch and when he saw his fingers on each side the bunch he dosed them--that is he willed to close them for the wires were down and the fingers did not obey He pulled

the mitten on the right hand and beat it fiercely against his knee Then with both mittened hands he scooped the bunch of matches along with much snow into his lap Yet he was no better off

After some manipulation he managed to get the bunch between the heels of his mittened hands In this fashion he carried it to his mouth The ice crackled and snapped when by a violent effort he opened his mouth He drew the lower jaw in curled the upper lip out of the way and scraped the bunch with his upper teeth in order to separate a match He succeeded in getting one which he dropped on his lap He was no better off He could not pick it up Then he devised a way He picked it up in his teeth and scratched it on his leg Twenty times he scratched before he succeeded in lighting it As it flamed he held it with his teeth to the birch bark But the burning brimstone went up his nostrils and into his lungs causing him to cough spasmodically The match fell into the snow and went out

The old-timer an Sulphur Creek was right he thought in the moment of controlled despair that ensued after fifty below a man should travel with a partner He beat his hands but failed in exciting any sensation Suddenly he bared both hands removing the mittens with his teeth He caught the whole bunch between the heels of his hands His arm muscles not being frozen enabled him to press the hand-heels tightly against the matches Then he scratched the bunch along his leg It flared into flame seventy sulphur matches at once There was no wind to blow them out He kept his head to one side to escape the strangling fumes and held the blazing bunch to the birth bark As he so held it he became aware of sensation in his hand His flesh was burning He could smell it Deep down below the surface he could feel it The sensation developed into pain that grew acute And still he endured it holding the flame of the matches clumsily to the bark that would not light readily because his own burning hands were in the way absorbing most of the flame

To Build a FireContinued

At last when he could endure no more he jerked his hands apart The blazing matches fell sizzling into the snow but the birch bark was alight He began laying dry grasses and the tiniest twigs on the flame He could not pick and choose for he had to lift the fuel between the heels of his hands Small pieces of rotten wood and green moss clung to the twigs and he bit them off as well as he could with his teeth He cherished the flame carefully and awkwardly It meant life and it must not perish The withdrawal of blood from the surface of his body now made him begin to shiver and he grew more awkward A large piece of green moss fell squarely on the little fire He tried to poke it out with his fingers but his shivering frame made him poke too far and he disrupted the nucleus of the little fire the burning grasses and tiny twigs separating and scattering He tried to poke them together again but in spite of the tenseness of the effort his shivering got away with him and the twigs were hopelessly scattered Each twig gushed a puff of smoke and went out The fire-provider had failed As he looked apathetically about him his eyes chanced on the dog sitting across the ruins of the fire from him in the snow making restless hunching movements slightly lifting one forefoot and then the other shifting its weight back and forth on them with wistful eagerness

The sight of the dog put a wild idea into his head He remembered the tale of the man caught in a blizzard who killed a steer and crawled inside the carcass and so was saved He would kill the dog and bury his hands in the warm body until the numbness went out of them Then he could build another fire He spoke to the dog calling it to him but in his voice was a strange note of fear that frightened the animal who had never known the man to speak in such way before Something was the matter and its suspicious nature sensed danger--it knew not what danger but somewhere somehow in its brain arose an apprehension of the man It flattened its ears down at the sound of the mans voice and its restless

hunching movements and the liftings and shiftings of its forefeet became more pronounced but it would not come to the man He got on his hands and knees and crawled toward the dog This unusual posture again excited suspicion and the animal sidled mincingly away

The man sat up in the snow for a moment and struggled for calmness Then he pulled on his mittens by means of his teeth and got upon his feet He glanced down at first in order to assure himself that he was really standing up for the absence of sensation in his feet left him unrelated to the earth His erect position in itself started to drive the webs of suspicion from the dogs mind and when he spoke peremptorily with the sound of whiplashes in his voice the dog rendered its customary allegiance and came to him As it came within reaching distance the man lost his control His arms flashed out to the dog and he experienced genuine surprise when he discovered that his hands could not clutch that there was neither bend nor feeling in the fingers He had forgotten for the moment that they were frozen and that they were freezing more and more All this happened quickly and before the animal could get away he encircled its body with his arms He sat down in the snow and in this fashion held the dog while it snarled and whined and struggled

But it was all he could do hold its body encircled in his arms and sit there He realized that he could not kill the dog There was no way to do it With his helpless hands he could neither draw nor hold his sheath knife nor throttle the animal He released it and it plunged wildly away with tail between its legs and still snarling It halted forty feet away and surveyed him curiously with ears sharply pricked forward The man looked down at his hands in order to locate them and found them hanging on the ends of his arms It struck him as curious that one should have to use his eyes in order to find out where his hands were He began threshing his arms back and forth beating the mittened hands against

To Build a FireContinued

his sides He did this for five minutes violently and his heart pumped enough blood up to the surface to put a stop to his shivering But no sensation was aroused in the hands He had an impression that they hung like weights on the ends of his arms but when he tried to run the impression down he could not find it

A certain fear of death dull and oppressive came to him This fear quickly became poignant as he realized that it was no longer a mere matter of freezing his fingers and toes or of losing his hands and feet but that it was a matter of life and death with the chances against him This threw him into a panic and he turned and ran up the creek-bed along the old dim trail The dog joined in behind and kept up with him He ran blindly without intention in fear such as he had never known in his life Slowly as he plowed and floundered through the snow he began to see things again the banks of the creek the old timber-jams the leafless aspens and the sky The running made him feel better He did not shiver Maybe if he ran on his feet would thaw out and anyway if he ran far enough he would reach camp and the boys Without doubt he would lose some fingers and toes and some of his face but the boys would take care of him and save the rest of him when he got there And at the same time there was another thought in his mind that said he would never get to the camp and the boys that it was too many miles away that the freezing had too great a start on him and that he would soon be stiff and dead This thought he kept in the background and refused to consider Sometimes it pushed itself forward and demanded to be heard but he thrust it back and strove to think of other things

It struck him as curious that he could run at all on feet so frozen that he could not feel them when they struck the earth and took the weigh of his body He seemed to himself to skim along above the surface and to have no connection with the earth Somewhere he had once seen a winged Mercury

and he wondered if Mercury felt as he felt when skimming over the earth

His theory of running until he reached camp and the boys had one flaw in it he lacked the endurance Several times he stumbled and finally he tottered crumpled up and fell When he tried to rise he failed He must sit and rest he decided and next time he would merely walk and keep on going As he sat and regained his breath he noted that he was feeling quite warm and comfortable He was not shivering and it even seemed that a warm glow had come to his chest and trunk And yet when he touched his nose or cheeks there was no sensation Running would not thaw them out Nor would it thaw out his hands and feet Then the thought came to him that the frozen portions of his body must be extending He tried to keep this thought down to forget it to think of something else he was aware of the panicky feeling that it caused and he was afraid of the panic But the thought asserted itself and persisted until it produced a vision of his body totally frozen This was too much and he made another wild run along the trail Once he slowed down to a walk but the thought of the freezing extending itself made him run again

And all the time the dog ran with him at his heels When he fell down a second time it curled its tad over its forefeet and sat in front of him facing him curiously eager and intent The warmth and security of the animal angered him and he cursed it till it flattened down its ears appealingly This time the shivering came more quickly upon the man He was losing in his battle with the frost It was creeping into his body from all sides The thought of it drove him on but he ran no more than a hundred feet when he staggered and pitched headlong It was his last panic When he had recovered his breath and control he sat up and entertained in his mind the conception of meeting death with dignity However the conception did not come to him in such terms His idea of it was that he had been making a fool of

To Build a FireContinued

himself running around like a chicken with its head cut off--such was the simile that occurred to him Well he was bound to freeze anyway and he might as well take it decently With this new-found peace of mind came the first glimmerings of drowsiness A good idea he thought to sleep off to death It was like salting an anesthetic Freezing was not so bad as people thought There were lots worse ways to die

He pictured the boys finding his body next day Suddenly he found himself with them coming along the trail and looking for himself And still with them he came around a turn in the trail and found himself lying in the snow He did not belong with himself any more for even then he was out of himself standing with the boys and looking at himself in the snow It certainly was cold was his thought When he got back to the States he could tell the folks what real cold was He drifted on from this to a vision of the old-timer on Sulphur Creek He could see him quite clearly warm and comfortable and smoking a pipe

You were right old boss you were right the man mumbled to the old-timer of Sulphur Creek

Then the man drowsed off into what seemed to him the most comfortable and satisfying sleep he had ever known The dog sat facing him and waiting The brief day drew to a close in a long slow twilight There were no signs of a fire to be made and besides never in the dogs experience had it known a man to sit like that in the snow and make no fire As the twilight drew on its eager yearning for the fire mastered it and with a great lifting and shifting of forefeet it whined softly then flattened its ears down in anticipation of being chidden by the man But the man remained silent Later the dog whined loudly And still later it crept close to the man and caught the scent of death This made the animal bristle and back away A little longer it delayed howling under the stars that leaped and danced and shone brightly in the cold sky Then it turned and trotted up the trail in the direction of the camp it knew where were the other food-providers and fire-providers

To Build a FireContinued

Blogs can be a lot of work to maintainTwitter only gives you 140 characters

Facebook is just your friends

Now you can share a story no matter your social-web status

Stories are published for ALL FitnessDigestus readers Archived professionally and digitally in thousands of libraries

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FitnessDigestUStrade Stories of the humankind

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Page 34: FitnessDigest.us Vol. 4.3 Cover

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TOP TWEETS

Iowa Cubs (IowaCubs)Thanks to all our fans who showed up for the pre-game on-field catch with dad

Louise Pineda (forerunnerGPS)The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficultyWinston Churchill quotes

Softball Darlin (Softball_Darlin)My mom told me our team was gettin white uniforms for summer amp to try not to get them dirty Uh Have you seen me play Not gonna happen

I Swim I Suffer (ISwimISuffer)thatswimmerwho If the water is in your right ear for example then jump on your right leg and lean your head to the right side while jumping

I Swim and I Know It (iSwimWithIssues)During the summer you shower 467 times at the pool 17 times at hotels and 3 times at your house Truth

Everyday Health (WomensCancer)63000 Americans will be diagnosed w malignant melanoma (the deadliest skin cancer) this year Know your risk

US Paralympics (USParalympics)Want to be introduced to Paralympic sport Attend one of the Paralympic Experiences being held throughout the countryFi

tnes

sDig

est

US v

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2

SwimSwam (swimswamnews)Congrats to KenyaSwimmer on being selected to carry the Kenya flag swimswamcom

Better than sharing on a blog Twitter or Facebook and you can share a story even if you donrsquot maintain a social-web presencePublished for ALL FitnessDigestus readers

Sign with your real name pen-name or anonymoushttpLiveMediaFitnessDigestus

13 Funnest thing SPAM about some weight-loss supplements got posted on a friendrsquos Facebook My friend is an ultra-runner I notice there was also an ad for salami recipes on the same page The recipes were right next to the SPAM about diet-pills

13 Letrsquos see ndash it sounds like the beginning of a good joke Q What do you get when a friend tries to sell you ultra-runner endorsed salami-flavored-SPAM diet-pills on Facebook Answer Sick

Unsung Heroes1 Irsquove never swam open water and wanted to do a triathlon A friend that

races open water took extra time to swim with me at a lake I was much more comfortable after that

2 I was going on vacation and needed advice on a place to swim A friend living in the area took the time to help me find people to answer my questions

3 I was over eating and had complained to my friend about it She called me twice a day for three weeks just to remind me to eat healthy

4 I usually run to and from the gym It takes about 30 minutes to run both ways I didnrsquot have enough time to get there and back before a scheduled appointment I had A friend drove me to the gym saving me about 30 minutes I was able to run home and still had time to get to my appointment

SPAM DIET

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Visit the Suburban Mommy blog and learn more about AtresiaMicrotia a birth defect of the inner earFor links to SubMommy blog httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

SUBMOMMYBLOG

On Wednesday May 16 2012 at 7 PM simultaneous rides occurred around the

USA and the world

We all ride Now we can ride as one

One day One time One world world wide

Let the silence roar

322 locations world wide

The Ride of SilenceTonight we number many but ride as one

In honor of those not with us friends

mothers fathers sisters sons

With helmets on tight and heads down low

We ride in silence cautious and slow

The wheels start spinning in the lead pack

But tonight we ride and no one attacks

The dark sunglasses cover our tears

Remembering those we held so dear

Tonights ride is to make others aware

The road is there for all to share

To those not with us or by our side

May God be your partner on your final ride

- Mike Murgas

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 50 states

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 7 Continents

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 0 words spoken

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 1 million memories

Ride of Silence

ldquoCost-effective investments in bicycling boost our economy help individuals and government agencies save money and directly address key societal challenges such as obesity and road congestion In these tough economic times our federal government can only afford to invest in solutions that solve multiple problems Bicycling fits the billrdquo ndash PeopleForBikesorg

This photo collection was taken byRobert LaVallee of Mason City IA

To see his entire collection visithttpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

Non-subscriberSign-up for delivery of

the FREE edition at coopnetbiz

It provides an outstanding aerobic workout in less than half the time we would spend in still water It has allowed us as swim coaches to observe swimmers stroke characteristics up close and to see the effects of fatigue on stroke mechanics ~ Larry L Chazy NY

Swimming is an excellent exercise and now I can swim every day because its so convenient and private I can swim when I want and how long I want Im able to have it at a temperature that is comfortable to me The small size of an Endless Pool enabled me to install a pool where I could not install a regular size one

As an aging baby boomer nutrition professional I have yearned for consistent exercise that doesnt stress joints and will enable me to attain physical fitness cardiovascular health and weight control I can eat what I want and still firm up and lose weight ~ John C Columbus OH

Endless Pools make for long swims in small places The 8x15 Endless Pool is less than regulation size but offers the same benefits as a very large pool ~ Noah H Connecticut Post

The Endless Pool is a great strength builder I am amazed at the strength of the current I now swim against I did not buy it for that reason but because of my arthritis so the strength gain is a wonderful surprise

Endless PoolsTestimonials For more information visit httpLIveAdsFitnessDigestus

s w i m m i n g s h o r t s

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Baseball Walking Stick13 My sons friend grabbed his baseball bat and said to me this is my walking stick I politely ask him why he calls it that He replied because my dad says if I hit a home run with it I donrsquot have to run the bases ndash I can walk

My Bike My mountain bike was stolen a while back and my kids were really upset Ive been riding my road bike in its place Since then Ive been careful to lock my bike up when we go to the park

13 On this occasion I did not lock-up my sonrsquos bike up with mine He looked at me quizzically and said sternly lock my bike up too I tried to explain that his bike was not as expensive and therefor didnt need to be locked up Boy that was a mistake He made me feel a little dumb when he said Dad I dont care how expensive it is Its the only bike Irsquove got

North Iowa Roads

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A LEADER inSearch Engine Optimization

Technology

Increase your visitor page views and Facebook Likes

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Digital Movers

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

parent sports tipBy FitnessDigestus staff writer JGA

PAR

EN

T

TIP

Keeping Kids Focused13 Organize their thoughts Help them prioritize and make decisions based on value Even kids can understand the value of simple non-monetized choices Questions like ldquoShould I finish playing my gameboy game or pause it when they call my swimming eventrdquo

If kids are taught to make good decisions and not just find quick answers everyone wins

AugustGolf Month5th Friendship Day15th Relaxation Day25th Kiss and Make Up Day31st Trail Mix DaySeptemberLittle League Month12th Chocolate Milk Shake Day13th Positive Thinking Day16th Womenrsquos Friendship Day21st Miniature Golf DayOctoberBreast Cancer Awareness MonthNational Diabetes Month1st World Vegetarian Day4th Golf Day25th World Pasta Day

National Calendar

Au

gu

stSe

pte

mb

er

Oc

tob

er

Encourage friendships writing skills sharing thoughts and

experiencesEight different cards

YAGOTTAWANNA

Variety of pricing From single orders to bulk orders of 24 notecards

Learn more online

Stay in touch with your swimming or triathlon buddies

It is better to be safe then to try to beat the heat There are many options to stay cool and run during a hot-summer day Staying inside and running on the treadmill is a good one Remember staying safe is a top priority

Most workouts can be modified to work indoors This issuersquos workout is to do your usual run or interval set just stay inside and run it on the treadmill Visualize the different landmarks to see during your outdoor run

Coach Millerrsquos Quarterly ChallengeStay safe in the heatBy Mark Miller mmillerFitnessDigestus

A few years back we had a hot-spell similar to this yearrsquos record heat

I remember training for a long run and having to stop at the local swimming hole to cool off I literally took off my

shoes and jumped in with my running clothes on I was so hot

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OPEN WATER SWIMMING BY THE NUMBERS

In kilometers The shortest open water race included in the Fina World Championships

10107 How many miles it

is to swim from Cuba to the USA

5

1000Number of swimming strokes in a mile for a typical swimmer

31800About the number of calories it takes to swim 100 miles

LOCATED IN ST ANSGAR IOWA

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Bridgette Beyer DesignerOwner

Bring your ideas in andVisual Aspect Designs can print

andor design for you

The minimum open water distance in kilometers that is considered a swimming-

marathon

On Facebook Visit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

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Open water safety means swimming in shallow water where there is a lifeguard or using an escort

Shop for Name BrandGear

24 Hoursa Day

WaynesSkiandCyclenet

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s w i m m i n g s h o r t s

Googles

13 Swimming fans can really appreciate a 200 IM when their goggles fill with water How about an Olympian Swimming a leg of the 400 Free Relay with his goggles across his opened mouth ndash and going 45rsquos A great team swimmer an Olympian wouldnrsquot let down his teammates by throwing them off or fixing them

500 Fly13 A world class butterflyer asked if he could swim butterfly in the 500 yard freestyle during a dual meet His goal was to break five minutes After considering the competition it seemed like a great way to make him really work a hard fly swim so we agreed Problem was he swam a 502 and the opposing coach complained to the officials because he embarrassed his swimmers Oh well you canrsquot win lsquoem all

Stories sent in by Robert Steele

No-No-No13 The other morning I was teaching front-streamlines to snotty nosed 8 year olds (some are literally snotty-nosed) One boy was taking a big gulp of air and holding his breath When he lifted his head he had to exhale and inhale before submerging again Swimmers will understand this does not work very well Kids need to learn to exhale underwater The first time he did it I told him to exhale underwater The second time I stopped him looked him in the eye and reminded him to exhale underwater The third and fourth times I started to get a little frustrated ldquoJohnny you need to exhale underwater so you can breath betterrdquo The fifth time as his head popped up for a breath I quickly asked ldquoJohnny Do you even know what exhale meansrdquo as he submerged his head below the water I could see him shake his head no-no-no

Favorite Potato Chips13We try to limit the junk food the kids eat at our house For lunch one day our son wanted some potato chips I gave him 3 large chips with his sandwich He started to cry and said he wanted one more chip ldquoI wanted four chipsrdquo he screamed I took the plate back When he wasnt looking I broke a chip in half and give it back to him with four chips

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

13 My cancer story is one of uniqueness Leave it to me to do something like cancer to its fullest It did not begin with a mammogram diagnosis or a lump My journey began about 4 years ago with some suspicious activity that turned into Pagetrsquos disease of the nipple which signaled the underlying cancer On April 1st I found out about my breast cancer through a biopsy that came back as positive for Pagetrsquos disease The onslaught of tests learning and decisions were dizzying I immediately went for an evaluation of the suspicious tissue and had to begin making decisions for my mastectomy I quickly learned there is a test called the BRAC Analysis which is a genetic test for breast and ovarian cancer Finally a piece of good news for me I did not have the gene

Decisions Now it was time to make decisions about my mastectomy and how I was going to handle reconstruction I discussed my options with my boyfriend Brian friends family members and even my principalboss I read books searched the Internet and contacted people I

Brandi ShipmanCancer Survivor and elite triathlete

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

know and knew from my past that had been directly affected and that I thought might have answers for me The outpouring of love encouragement and help during this process was overwhelming After meeting with four different doctors two surgeons and two plastic surgeons I decided to go with immediate reconstruction and was lucky enough to find two wonderful doctors They were willing to work together just because I wanted them to even though they had never done so before My surgery was scheduled for mid May

Mental Toughness13 My mental preparation at this point was very important I had to scrap any idea of competing in triathlons for the rest of the year and focus on a positive attitude of getting better I stopped thinking about what I wasnrsquot going to able to do and started thinking about what I could do that I was alive and kept my mind on the fact that so many others had made it before me

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links

Part 213 I was prepared by the doctors survivors and literature to be ldquodownrdquo for several weeks after my surgery I even took the rest of the school year off My surgery went well and I was out of the hospital the next day A few friends came to visit while I was in the hospital and my principal and vice principal brought the most wonderful picture of the faculty wearing pink for me I can only imagine what it looked like at Thornton Elementary on that day in May 2009 a sea of pink all for Brandi Shipman Shortly after their visit I received a text from my friend Margie Massey My friends from the gym wore pink for me that day as well The support brought tears to my eyes I was so excited to come home and be comfortable in my own home I just wish the stupid drain that was attached could have stayed at the hospital The pain from that was worse than the pain from the mastectomy

the most

powerful picture

13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Recovery ndash May13 Once I got home I slept and watched a lot of TV Friends visited and brought yummy food and my favorites I am not supposed to eat I ate them all My friend and co-worker set up a cancer care calendar that alerted anyone who logged on when I was having a doctorrsquos appointment or when I was in need of anything I felt like royalty as everyone took care of me I think Brian secretly enjoyed the fact that he wouldnrsquot have to cook for me each night My recovery was quicker than I thought as I was doing my best to get better and get the stinkinrsquo drain out of my skin I was out walking within a week and running within 3 weeks I couldnrsquot believe my recovery I know it was from all the prayers love and good care from Brian and the loved ones around me Life was looking better each day

ldquoLife was looking

better each dayrdquo

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Part three and part

four of I am Survivor

will be published in

the next edition of

FitnessDigestus

Get the convenience of

digital-delivery

Sign-up or subscribe at

httpFitnessDigestus

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During the past 150 years we have witnessed many remarkable advances against cancer a disease known to humanity for thousands of years The advances highlighted below represent a sampling of what has been accomplished to date

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

1882 William Halsted performs the first radical mastectomy to treat breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast the lymph nodes under the arm (axillary lymph nodes) and the chest muscles behind the breast (pectoralis major and pectoralis minor muscles) are removed Radical mastectomy will remain the standard operation for breast cancer until latter half of the 20th century when the use of modified radical mastectomy becomes widely accepted

1932 David H Patey develops the modified radical mastectomy for breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast axillary lymph nodes and pectoralis minor muscle behind the breast are removed The modified radical mastectomy is less disfiguring than the radical mastectomy and will eventually replace the radical mastectomy as a standard treatment option for breast cancer

1953 James Watson and Francis Crick discover the molecular structure of DNA (the double helix)

1963 The Health Insurance Plan (HIP) of Greater New York Study begins HIP is the first randomized controlled trial of periodic breast cancer screening with mammography

1882

1932

1953

1963

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1976 The results of a randomized clinical trial show that women with early breast cancer who receive post-operative (adjuvant) combination chemotherapy with the drugs cyclophosphamide methotrexate and 5-FU have improved disease-free survival

1981 A randomized clinical trial in the United Kingdom shows for the first time that the rates of survival local recurrence and tumor metastasis among women whose breast cancer is treated with modified radical mastectomy are not substantially different from those of women who are treated with radical mastectomy

1993 An NCI-convened international workshop on screening for breast cancer reports that screening with mammography reduces breast cancer mortality among women ages 50-69 This conclusion is based on a review of published and unpublished data from eight randomized controlled trials

2004 Data from the Womens Health Initiative (WHI) study show that women who take estrogen in combination with the hormone progestin have a greater risk of developing breast cancer than women who take estrogen alone The results also show that menopausal hormone therapy with estrogen alone has no benefit in disease prevention specifically in reducing the risks of colorectal cancer coronary heart disease and dementia

1976

1981

1993

2004

Although we still have a long way to go to reduce the toll of cancer in the United States and worldwide our research and public health efforts are beginning to pay dividends

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

Volunteering vs Participating13 My girl friend and I are involved in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation The local chapter raises awareness for the cause with a fun-run each year We have volunteered to help with the race five years in a row This year we were stationed at a water table where the runners pick-up cups of water to drink Toward the end of the race there are very few runners There was a little time to chat about things We were talking about what we would wish for if we could have three wishes I told her I would wish for an end to Juvenile Diabetes and to lose 10 pounds Being nice I said ldquoyou can have my last wishrdquo She said I wish you would skip volunteering and just run this race next year

Admission Price Our aquatic center was having a promotion one night and advertised an elementary school night The kids could swim for free When we got to the pool we saw a promotional sign for the event In small lettering it read All swimmers must be accompanied by an adult We thought no big deal one of us can just stay and watch When we got to the front desk we found the lifeguard was enforcing the adult-admission price of $8

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As he turned to go on he spat speculatively There was a sharp explosive crackle that startled him He spat again And again in the air before it could fall to the snow the spittle crackled He knew that at fifty below spittle crackled on the snow but this spittle had crackled in the air Undoubtedly it was colder than fifty below--how much colder he did not know But the temperature did not matter He was bound for the old claim on the left fork of Henderson Creek where the boys were already They had come over across the divide from the Indian Creek country while he had come the roundabout way to take a look at the possibilities of getting out logs in the spring from the islands in the Yukon He would be in to camp by six oclock a bit after dark it was true but the boys would be there a fire would be going and a hot supper would be ready As for lunch he pressed his hand against the protruding bundle under his jacket It was also under his shirt wrapped up in a handkerchief and lying against the naked skin It was the only way to keep the biscuits from freezing He smiled agreeably to himself as he thought of those biscuits each cut open and sopped in bacon grease and each enclosing a generous slice of fried bacon

He plunged in among the big spruce trees The trail was faint A foot of snow had fallen since the last sled had passed over and he was glad he was without a sled traveling light In fact he carried nothing but the lunch wrapped in the handkerchief He was surprised however at the cold It certainly was cold he concluded as he rubbed his numb nose and cheek-bones with his mittened hand He was a warm-whiskered man but the hair on his face did not protect the high cheek-bones and the eager nose that thrust itself aggressively into the frosty air

At the mans heels trotted a dog a big native husky the proper wolf-dog gray-coated and without any visible or temperamental difference from its brother the wild wolf The animal was depressed by the tremendous cold It knew that it was no time for

traveling Its instinct told it a truer tale than was told to the man by the mans judgment In reality it was not merely colder than fifty below zero it was colder than sixty below than seventy below It was seventy-five below zero Since the freezing point is thirty-two above zero it meant that one hundred and seven degrees of frost obtained The dog did not know anything about thermometers Possibly in its brain there was no sharp consciousness of a condition of very cold such as was in the mans brain But the brute had its instinct It experienced a vague but menacing apprehension that subdued it then made it slink along at the mans heels and that made it question eagerly every unwonted movement of the man as if expecting him to go into camp or to seek shelter somewhere and build a fire The dog had learned fire and it wanted fire or else to burrow under the snow and cuddle its warmth away from the air

The frozen moisture of its breathing had settled on its fur in a fine powder of frost and especially were its jowls muzzle and eyelashes whitened by its cry-stalled breath The mans red beard and mustache were likewise frosted but more solidly the deposit taking the form of ice and increasing with every warm moist breath he exhaled Also the man was chewing tobacco and the muzzle of ice held his lips so rigidly that he was unable to clear his chin when he expelled the juice The result was that a crystal beard of the color and solidity of amber was increasing its length on his chin If he fell down it would shatter itself like glass into brittle fragments But he did not mind the appendage It was the penalty all tobacco-chewers paid in that country and he had been out before in two cold snaps They had not been so cold as this he knew but by the spirit thermometer at Sixty Mile he knew they had been registered at fifty below and at fifty-five

He held on through the level stretch of woods for several miles crossed a wide flat of rigger-heads and dropped down a bank to the frozen bed of a

To Build a FireContinued

small stream This was Henderson Creek and he knew he was ten miles from the forks He looked at his watch It was ten oclock He was making four miles an hour and he calculated that he would arrive at the forks at half-past twelve He decided to celebrate that event by eating his lunch there

The dog dropped in again at his heels with a tail drooping discouragement as the man swung along the creek-bed The furrow of the old sled-trail was plainly visible but a dozen inches of snow covered the marks of the last runners In a month no man had come up or down that silent creek The man held steadily on He was not much given to thinking and just then particularly he had nothing to think about save that he would eat lunch at-the forks and that at six oclock he would be in camp with the boys There was nobody to talk to and had there been speech would have been impossible because of the ice-muzzle on his mouth So he continued monotonously to chew tobacco and to increase the length of his amber beard

Once in a while the thought reiterated itself that it was very cold and that he had never experienced such cold As he walked along he rubbed his cheek-bones and nose with the back of his mittened hand He did this automatically now and again changing hands But rub as he would the instant he stopped his cheek-bones went numb and the following instant the end of his nose went numb He was sure to frost his cheeks he knew that and experienced a pang of regret that he had not devised a nose-strap of the sort Bud wore in cold snaps Such a strap passed across the cheeks as well and saved them But it didnt matter much after all What were frosted cheeks A bit painful that was all they were never serious

Empty as the mans mind was of thoughts he was keenly observant and he noticed the changes in the creek the curves and bends and timber jams and always he sharply noted where he placed his feet Once coming around a bend he shied abruptly

like a startled horse curved away from the place where he had been walking and retreated several paces back along the trail The creek he knew was frozen clear to the bottom--no creek could contain water in that arctic winter--but he knew also that there were springs that bubbled out from the hillsides and ran along under the snow and on top the ice of the creek He knew that the coldest snaps never froze these springs and he knew likewise their danger They were traps They hid pools of water under the snow that might be three inches deep or three feet Sometimes a skin of ice half an inch thick covered them and in turn was covered by the snow Sometimes there were alternate layers of water and ice-skin so that when one broke through he kept on breaking through for a while sometimes wetting himself to the waist

That was why he had shied in such panic He had felt the give under his feet and heard the crackle of a snow-hidden ice-skin And to get his feet wet in such a temperature meant trouble and danger At the very least it meant delay for he would be forced to stop and build a fire and under its protection to bare his feet while he dried his socks and moccasins He stood and studied the creek-bed and its banks and decided that the flow of water came from the right He reflected a while rubbing his nose and cheeks then skirted to the left stepping gingerly and testing the footing for each step Once clear of the danger he took a fresh chew of tobacco and swung along at his four-mile gait

In the course of the next two hours he came upon several similar traps Usually the snow above the hidden pools had a sunken candied appearance that advertised the danger Once again however he had a close call and once suspecting danger he compelled the dog to go on in front The dog did not want to go It hung back until the man shoved it forward and then it went quickly across the white unbroken surface Suddenly it broke through floundered to one side and got away to firmer

To Build a FireContinued

To Build a FireContinued

footing It had wet its forefeet and legs and almost immediately the water that clung to it turned to ice It made quick efforts to lick the ice off its legs then dropped down in the snow and began to bite out the ice that had formed between the toes l his was a matter of instinct To permit the ice to remain would mean sore feet It did not know this It merely obeyed the mysterious prompting that arose from the deep crypts of its being But the man knew having achieved a judgment on the subject and he removed the mitten from his right hand and helped tear out the ice-particles He did not expose his fingers more than a minute and was astonished at the swift numbness that smote them It certainly was cold He pulled on the mitten hastily and beat the hand savagely across his chest

At twelve oclock the day was at its brightest Yet the sun was too far south an its winter journey to clear the horizon The bulge of the earth intervened between it arid Henderson Creek where the man walked under a clear sky at noon and cast no shadow At half-past twelve to the minute he arrived at the forks of the creek He was pleased at the speed he had made If he kept it up he would certainly be with the boys by six He unbuttoned his jacket and shirt and drew forth his lunch The action consumed no more than a quarter of a minute yet in that brief moment the numbness laid hold of the exposed fingers He did not put the mitten on but instead struck the fingers a dozen sharp smashes against his leg Then he sat down on a snow-covered log to eat The sting that followed upon the striking of his fingers against his leg ceased so quickly that he was startled He had had no chance to take a bite of biscuit He struck the fingers repeatedly and returned them to the mitten baring the other hand for the purpose of eating He tried to take a mouthful but the ice-muzzle prevented He had forgotten to build a fire and thaw out He chuckled at his foolishness and as he chuckled he noted the numbness creeping into the exposed fingers Also he noted that the stinging which had first come to his

toes when he sat down was already passing away He wandered whether the toes were warm or numb He moved them inside the moccasins and decided that they were numb

He pulled the mitten on hurriedly and stood up He was a bit frightened He stamped up and down until the stinging returned into the feet It certainly was cold was his thought That man from Sulphur Creek had spoken the truth when telling how cold it sometimes got in the country And he had laughed at him at the time That showed one must not be too sure of things There was no mistake about it it was cold He strode up and down stamping his feet and threshing his arms until reassured by the returning warmth Then he got out matches and proceeded to make a fire From the undergrowth where high water of the previous spring had lodged a supply of seasoned twigs he got his firewood Working carefully from a small beginning he soon had a roaring fire over which he thawed the ice from his face and in the protection of which he ate his biscuits For the moment the cold space was outwitted The dog took satisfaction in the fire stretching out close enough for warmth and far enough away to escape being singed

When the man had finished be filled his pipe and took his comfortable time over a smoke Then he pulled on his mittens settled the ear-flaps of his cap firmly about his ears and took the creek trail up the left fork The dog was disappointed and yearned back toward the fire This man did not know cold Possibly all the generations of his ancestry had been ignorant of cold of real cold of cold one hundred and seven degrees below freezing point But the dog knew all its ancestry knew and it had inherited the knowledge And it knew that it was not good to walk abroad in such fearful cold It was the time to lie snug in a hole in the snow and wait for a curtain of cloud to be drawn across the face of outer space whence this cold came On the other hand there was no keen intimacy between the dog and the man

The one was the toil-slave of the other and the only caresses it had ever received were the caresses of the whiplash and of harsh and menacing throat-sounds that threatened the whiplash So the dog made no effort to communicate its apprehension to the man It was not concerned in the welfare of the man it was for its own sake that it yearned back toward the fire But the man whistled and spoke to it with the sound of whiplashes and the dog swung in at the mans heel and followed after

The man took a chew of tobacco and proceeded to start a new amber beard Also his moist breath quickly powdered with white his mustache eyebrows and lashes There did not seem to be so many springs on the left fork of the Henderson and for half an hour the man saw no signs of any And then it happened At a place where there were no signs where the soft unbroken snow seemed to advertise solidity beneath tee man broke through It was not deep He wet himself halfway to the knees before he floundered out to the firm crust

He was angry and cursed his luck aloud He had hoped to get into camp with the boys at six oclock and this would delay him an hour for he would have to build a fire and dry out his foot-gear This was imperative at that low temperature--he knew that much and he turned aside to the bank which he climbed On top tangled in the underbrush about the trunks of several small spruce trees was a high-water deposit of dry firewood--sticks and twigs principally but also larger portions of seasoned branches and fine dry last-years grasses He threw down several large pieces on top of the snow This served for a foundation and prevented the young flame from drowning itself in the snow it otherwise would melt The flame he got by touching a match to a small shred of birch bark that he took from his pocket This burned even more readily than paper Placing it on the foundation he fed the young flame with wisps of dry grass and with the tiniest dry twigs

He worked slowly and carefully keenly aware of his danger Gradually as the flame grew stronger he increased the size of the twigs with which he fed it He squatted in the snow pulling the twigs out from their entanglement in the brush and feeding directly to the flame He knew there must be no failure When it is seventy-five below zero a man must not fail in his first attempt to build a fire--that is if his feet are wet If his feet are dry and he fails he can run along the trail for half a mile and restore his circulation But the circulation of wet and freezing feet cannot be restored by running when it is seventy-five below No matter how fast he runs the wet feet will freeze the harder

All this the man knew The old-timer on Sulphur Creek had told him about it the previous fall and now he was appreciating the advice Already all sensation had gone out of his feet To build the fire he had been forced to remove his mittens and the fingers had quickly gone numb His pace of four miles an hour had kept his heart pumping blood to the surface of his body and to all the extremities But the instant he stopped the action of the pump eased down The cold of space smote the unprotected tip of the planet and he being on that unprotected tip received the full force of the blow The blood of his body recoiled before it The blood was alive like the dog and like the dog it wanted to hide away and cover itself up from the fearful cold So long as he walked four miles an hour he pumped that blood willy-nilly to the surface but now it ebbed away and sank down into the recesses of his body The extremities were the first to feel its absence His wet feet froze the faster and his exposed fingers numbed the faster though they had not yet begun to freeze Nose and cheeks were already freezing while the skin of all his body chilled as it lost its blood

But he was safe Toes and nose and cheeks would be only touched by the frost for the fire was beginning to burn with strength He was feeding it

To Build a FireContinued

with twigs the size of his finger In another minute he would be able to feed it with branches the size of his wrier and then he could remove his wet toot-gear and while it dried he could keep his naked feet warm by the fire rubbing them at first of course with snow The fire was a success He was safe He remembered the advice of the old timer on Sulphur Creek and smiled The old-timer had been very serious in laying down the law that no man must travel alone in the Klondike after fifty below Well here he was he had had the accident he was alone and he had saved himself Those old-timers were rather womanish some of them he thought All a man had to do was to keep his head and he was all right Any man who was a man could travel alone But it was surprising the rapidity with which his cheeks and nose were freezing And he had not thought his fingers could go lifeless in so short a time Lifeless they were for he could scarcely make them move together to grip a twig and they seemed remote from his body and from him When he touched a twig he had to look and see whether or not he had hold of it The wires were pretty well down between him and his finger-ends

All of which counted for little There was the fire snapping and crackling and promising life with every dancing flame He started to untie his moccasins They were coated with ice the thick German socks were like sheaths of iron halfway to the knees and the moccasin strings were like rods of steel all twisted and knotted as by some conflagration For a moment he tugged with his numb fingers then realizing the folly of it he drew his sheath-knife

But before he could cut the strings it happened It was his own fault or rather his mistake He should not have built the fire under the spruce tree He should have built it in the open But it had been easier to pull the twigs from the brush and drop them directly on the fire Now the tree under which

he had done this carried a weight of snow on its boughs No wind had blown for weeks and each bough was fully freighted Each time he had pulled a twig he had communicated a slight agitation to the tree--an imperceptible agitation so far as he was concerned but an agitation sufficient to bring about the disaster High up in the tree one bough capsized its load of snow This fell on the boughs beneath capsizing them This process continued spreading out and involving the whole tree It grew like an avalanche and it descended without warning upon the man and the fire and the fire was blotted out Where it had burned was a mantle of fresh and disordered snow

The man was shocked It was as though he had just heard his own sentence of death For a moment he sat and stared at the spot where the fire had been Then he grew very calm Perhaps the old-timer on Sulphur Creek was right If he had only had a trail-mate he would have been in no danger now The trail-mate could have built the fire Well it was up to him to build the fire over again and this second time there must be no failure Even if he succeeded he would most likely lose some toes His feet must be badly frozen by now and there would be some time before the second fire Was ready

Such were his thoughts but he did not sit and think them He was busy all the time they were passing through his mind He made a new foundation for a fire this time in the open where no treacherous tree could blot it out Next he gathered dry grasses and tiny twigs from the high-water flotsam He could not bring his fingers together to pull them out but he was able to gather them by the handful In this way he got many rotten twigs and bits of green moss that were undesirable but it was the best he could do He worked methodically even collecting an armful of the larger branches to be used later when the fire gathered strength And all the while the dog sat and watched him a certain yearning wistfulness in its eyes for it looked upon

To Build a FireContinued

him as the fire-provider and the fire was slow in coming

When all was ready the man reached in his pocket for a second piece of birch bark He knew the bark was there and though he could not feel it with his fingers he could hear its crisp rustling as he fumbled for it Try as he would he could not clutch hold of it And all the time in his consciousness was the knowledge that each instant his feet were freezing This thought tended to put him in a panic but he fought against it and kept calm He pulled on his mittens with his teeth and threshed his arms back and forth beating his hands with all his might against his sides He did this sitting down and he stood up to do it and all the while the dog sat in the snow its wolf-brush of a tail curled around warmly over its forefeet its sharp wolf-ears pricked forward intently as it watched the man And the man as he beat and threshed with his arms and hands felt a great surge of envy as he regarded the creature that was warm ant secure in its natural covering

After a time he was aware of the first far-away signals of sensation in his beaten fingers The faint tingling grew stronger till it evolved into a stinging ache that was excruciating but which the man hailed with satisfaction He stripped the mitten from his right hand and fetched forth the birch bark The exposed fingers were quickly going numb again Next he brought out his bunch of sulphur matches But the tremendous cold had already driven the life out of his fingers In his effort to separate one match from the others the whole bunch fell in the snow He tried to pick it out of the snow but failed The dead fingers could neither touch nor clutch He was very careful He drove the thought of his freezing feet and nose and cheeks out of his mind devoting his whole soul to the matches He watched using the sense of vision in place of that of touch and when he saw his fingers on each side the bunch he dosed them--that is he willed to close them for the wires were down and the fingers did not obey He pulled

the mitten on the right hand and beat it fiercely against his knee Then with both mittened hands he scooped the bunch of matches along with much snow into his lap Yet he was no better off

After some manipulation he managed to get the bunch between the heels of his mittened hands In this fashion he carried it to his mouth The ice crackled and snapped when by a violent effort he opened his mouth He drew the lower jaw in curled the upper lip out of the way and scraped the bunch with his upper teeth in order to separate a match He succeeded in getting one which he dropped on his lap He was no better off He could not pick it up Then he devised a way He picked it up in his teeth and scratched it on his leg Twenty times he scratched before he succeeded in lighting it As it flamed he held it with his teeth to the birch bark But the burning brimstone went up his nostrils and into his lungs causing him to cough spasmodically The match fell into the snow and went out

The old-timer an Sulphur Creek was right he thought in the moment of controlled despair that ensued after fifty below a man should travel with a partner He beat his hands but failed in exciting any sensation Suddenly he bared both hands removing the mittens with his teeth He caught the whole bunch between the heels of his hands His arm muscles not being frozen enabled him to press the hand-heels tightly against the matches Then he scratched the bunch along his leg It flared into flame seventy sulphur matches at once There was no wind to blow them out He kept his head to one side to escape the strangling fumes and held the blazing bunch to the birth bark As he so held it he became aware of sensation in his hand His flesh was burning He could smell it Deep down below the surface he could feel it The sensation developed into pain that grew acute And still he endured it holding the flame of the matches clumsily to the bark that would not light readily because his own burning hands were in the way absorbing most of the flame

To Build a FireContinued

At last when he could endure no more he jerked his hands apart The blazing matches fell sizzling into the snow but the birch bark was alight He began laying dry grasses and the tiniest twigs on the flame He could not pick and choose for he had to lift the fuel between the heels of his hands Small pieces of rotten wood and green moss clung to the twigs and he bit them off as well as he could with his teeth He cherished the flame carefully and awkwardly It meant life and it must not perish The withdrawal of blood from the surface of his body now made him begin to shiver and he grew more awkward A large piece of green moss fell squarely on the little fire He tried to poke it out with his fingers but his shivering frame made him poke too far and he disrupted the nucleus of the little fire the burning grasses and tiny twigs separating and scattering He tried to poke them together again but in spite of the tenseness of the effort his shivering got away with him and the twigs were hopelessly scattered Each twig gushed a puff of smoke and went out The fire-provider had failed As he looked apathetically about him his eyes chanced on the dog sitting across the ruins of the fire from him in the snow making restless hunching movements slightly lifting one forefoot and then the other shifting its weight back and forth on them with wistful eagerness

The sight of the dog put a wild idea into his head He remembered the tale of the man caught in a blizzard who killed a steer and crawled inside the carcass and so was saved He would kill the dog and bury his hands in the warm body until the numbness went out of them Then he could build another fire He spoke to the dog calling it to him but in his voice was a strange note of fear that frightened the animal who had never known the man to speak in such way before Something was the matter and its suspicious nature sensed danger--it knew not what danger but somewhere somehow in its brain arose an apprehension of the man It flattened its ears down at the sound of the mans voice and its restless

hunching movements and the liftings and shiftings of its forefeet became more pronounced but it would not come to the man He got on his hands and knees and crawled toward the dog This unusual posture again excited suspicion and the animal sidled mincingly away

The man sat up in the snow for a moment and struggled for calmness Then he pulled on his mittens by means of his teeth and got upon his feet He glanced down at first in order to assure himself that he was really standing up for the absence of sensation in his feet left him unrelated to the earth His erect position in itself started to drive the webs of suspicion from the dogs mind and when he spoke peremptorily with the sound of whiplashes in his voice the dog rendered its customary allegiance and came to him As it came within reaching distance the man lost his control His arms flashed out to the dog and he experienced genuine surprise when he discovered that his hands could not clutch that there was neither bend nor feeling in the fingers He had forgotten for the moment that they were frozen and that they were freezing more and more All this happened quickly and before the animal could get away he encircled its body with his arms He sat down in the snow and in this fashion held the dog while it snarled and whined and struggled

But it was all he could do hold its body encircled in his arms and sit there He realized that he could not kill the dog There was no way to do it With his helpless hands he could neither draw nor hold his sheath knife nor throttle the animal He released it and it plunged wildly away with tail between its legs and still snarling It halted forty feet away and surveyed him curiously with ears sharply pricked forward The man looked down at his hands in order to locate them and found them hanging on the ends of his arms It struck him as curious that one should have to use his eyes in order to find out where his hands were He began threshing his arms back and forth beating the mittened hands against

To Build a FireContinued

his sides He did this for five minutes violently and his heart pumped enough blood up to the surface to put a stop to his shivering But no sensation was aroused in the hands He had an impression that they hung like weights on the ends of his arms but when he tried to run the impression down he could not find it

A certain fear of death dull and oppressive came to him This fear quickly became poignant as he realized that it was no longer a mere matter of freezing his fingers and toes or of losing his hands and feet but that it was a matter of life and death with the chances against him This threw him into a panic and he turned and ran up the creek-bed along the old dim trail The dog joined in behind and kept up with him He ran blindly without intention in fear such as he had never known in his life Slowly as he plowed and floundered through the snow he began to see things again the banks of the creek the old timber-jams the leafless aspens and the sky The running made him feel better He did not shiver Maybe if he ran on his feet would thaw out and anyway if he ran far enough he would reach camp and the boys Without doubt he would lose some fingers and toes and some of his face but the boys would take care of him and save the rest of him when he got there And at the same time there was another thought in his mind that said he would never get to the camp and the boys that it was too many miles away that the freezing had too great a start on him and that he would soon be stiff and dead This thought he kept in the background and refused to consider Sometimes it pushed itself forward and demanded to be heard but he thrust it back and strove to think of other things

It struck him as curious that he could run at all on feet so frozen that he could not feel them when they struck the earth and took the weigh of his body He seemed to himself to skim along above the surface and to have no connection with the earth Somewhere he had once seen a winged Mercury

and he wondered if Mercury felt as he felt when skimming over the earth

His theory of running until he reached camp and the boys had one flaw in it he lacked the endurance Several times he stumbled and finally he tottered crumpled up and fell When he tried to rise he failed He must sit and rest he decided and next time he would merely walk and keep on going As he sat and regained his breath he noted that he was feeling quite warm and comfortable He was not shivering and it even seemed that a warm glow had come to his chest and trunk And yet when he touched his nose or cheeks there was no sensation Running would not thaw them out Nor would it thaw out his hands and feet Then the thought came to him that the frozen portions of his body must be extending He tried to keep this thought down to forget it to think of something else he was aware of the panicky feeling that it caused and he was afraid of the panic But the thought asserted itself and persisted until it produced a vision of his body totally frozen This was too much and he made another wild run along the trail Once he slowed down to a walk but the thought of the freezing extending itself made him run again

And all the time the dog ran with him at his heels When he fell down a second time it curled its tad over its forefeet and sat in front of him facing him curiously eager and intent The warmth and security of the animal angered him and he cursed it till it flattened down its ears appealingly This time the shivering came more quickly upon the man He was losing in his battle with the frost It was creeping into his body from all sides The thought of it drove him on but he ran no more than a hundred feet when he staggered and pitched headlong It was his last panic When he had recovered his breath and control he sat up and entertained in his mind the conception of meeting death with dignity However the conception did not come to him in such terms His idea of it was that he had been making a fool of

To Build a FireContinued

himself running around like a chicken with its head cut off--such was the simile that occurred to him Well he was bound to freeze anyway and he might as well take it decently With this new-found peace of mind came the first glimmerings of drowsiness A good idea he thought to sleep off to death It was like salting an anesthetic Freezing was not so bad as people thought There were lots worse ways to die

He pictured the boys finding his body next day Suddenly he found himself with them coming along the trail and looking for himself And still with them he came around a turn in the trail and found himself lying in the snow He did not belong with himself any more for even then he was out of himself standing with the boys and looking at himself in the snow It certainly was cold was his thought When he got back to the States he could tell the folks what real cold was He drifted on from this to a vision of the old-timer on Sulphur Creek He could see him quite clearly warm and comfortable and smoking a pipe

You were right old boss you were right the man mumbled to the old-timer of Sulphur Creek

Then the man drowsed off into what seemed to him the most comfortable and satisfying sleep he had ever known The dog sat facing him and waiting The brief day drew to a close in a long slow twilight There were no signs of a fire to be made and besides never in the dogs experience had it known a man to sit like that in the snow and make no fire As the twilight drew on its eager yearning for the fire mastered it and with a great lifting and shifting of forefeet it whined softly then flattened its ears down in anticipation of being chidden by the man But the man remained silent Later the dog whined loudly And still later it crept close to the man and caught the scent of death This made the animal bristle and back away A little longer it delayed howling under the stars that leaped and danced and shone brightly in the cold sky Then it turned and trotted up the trail in the direction of the camp it knew where were the other food-providers and fire-providers

To Build a FireContinued

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PLACE AN AD Customers who have bought an issue of FitnessDigestus in the last 12 months can place an ad for free Just e-mail your ad of up to 140 characters to classifiedadFitnessDigestus or text it to (641) 583-2407 Your ad will appear in the next issue

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Page 35: FitnessDigest.us Vol. 4.3 Cover

TOP TWEETS

Iowa Cubs (IowaCubs)Thanks to all our fans who showed up for the pre-game on-field catch with dad

Louise Pineda (forerunnerGPS)The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficultyWinston Churchill quotes

Softball Darlin (Softball_Darlin)My mom told me our team was gettin white uniforms for summer amp to try not to get them dirty Uh Have you seen me play Not gonna happen

I Swim I Suffer (ISwimISuffer)thatswimmerwho If the water is in your right ear for example then jump on your right leg and lean your head to the right side while jumping

I Swim and I Know It (iSwimWithIssues)During the summer you shower 467 times at the pool 17 times at hotels and 3 times at your house Truth

Everyday Health (WomensCancer)63000 Americans will be diagnosed w malignant melanoma (the deadliest skin cancer) this year Know your risk

US Paralympics (USParalympics)Want to be introduced to Paralympic sport Attend one of the Paralympic Experiences being held throughout the countryFi

tnes

sDig

est

US v

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2

SwimSwam (swimswamnews)Congrats to KenyaSwimmer on being selected to carry the Kenya flag swimswamcom

Better than sharing on a blog Twitter or Facebook and you can share a story even if you donrsquot maintain a social-web presencePublished for ALL FitnessDigestus readers

Sign with your real name pen-name or anonymoushttpLiveMediaFitnessDigestus

13 Funnest thing SPAM about some weight-loss supplements got posted on a friendrsquos Facebook My friend is an ultra-runner I notice there was also an ad for salami recipes on the same page The recipes were right next to the SPAM about diet-pills

13 Letrsquos see ndash it sounds like the beginning of a good joke Q What do you get when a friend tries to sell you ultra-runner endorsed salami-flavored-SPAM diet-pills on Facebook Answer Sick

Unsung Heroes1 Irsquove never swam open water and wanted to do a triathlon A friend that

races open water took extra time to swim with me at a lake I was much more comfortable after that

2 I was going on vacation and needed advice on a place to swim A friend living in the area took the time to help me find people to answer my questions

3 I was over eating and had complained to my friend about it She called me twice a day for three weeks just to remind me to eat healthy

4 I usually run to and from the gym It takes about 30 minutes to run both ways I didnrsquot have enough time to get there and back before a scheduled appointment I had A friend drove me to the gym saving me about 30 minutes I was able to run home and still had time to get to my appointment

SPAM DIET

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Visit the Suburban Mommy blog and learn more about AtresiaMicrotia a birth defect of the inner earFor links to SubMommy blog httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

SUBMOMMYBLOG

On Wednesday May 16 2012 at 7 PM simultaneous rides occurred around the

USA and the world

We all ride Now we can ride as one

One day One time One world world wide

Let the silence roar

322 locations world wide

The Ride of SilenceTonight we number many but ride as one

In honor of those not with us friends

mothers fathers sisters sons

With helmets on tight and heads down low

We ride in silence cautious and slow

The wheels start spinning in the lead pack

But tonight we ride and no one attacks

The dark sunglasses cover our tears

Remembering those we held so dear

Tonights ride is to make others aware

The road is there for all to share

To those not with us or by our side

May God be your partner on your final ride

- Mike Murgas

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 50 states

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 7 Continents

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 0 words spoken

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 1 million memories

Ride of Silence

ldquoCost-effective investments in bicycling boost our economy help individuals and government agencies save money and directly address key societal challenges such as obesity and road congestion In these tough economic times our federal government can only afford to invest in solutions that solve multiple problems Bicycling fits the billrdquo ndash PeopleForBikesorg

This photo collection was taken byRobert LaVallee of Mason City IA

To see his entire collection visithttpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

Non-subscriberSign-up for delivery of

the FREE edition at coopnetbiz

It provides an outstanding aerobic workout in less than half the time we would spend in still water It has allowed us as swim coaches to observe swimmers stroke characteristics up close and to see the effects of fatigue on stroke mechanics ~ Larry L Chazy NY

Swimming is an excellent exercise and now I can swim every day because its so convenient and private I can swim when I want and how long I want Im able to have it at a temperature that is comfortable to me The small size of an Endless Pool enabled me to install a pool where I could not install a regular size one

As an aging baby boomer nutrition professional I have yearned for consistent exercise that doesnt stress joints and will enable me to attain physical fitness cardiovascular health and weight control I can eat what I want and still firm up and lose weight ~ John C Columbus OH

Endless Pools make for long swims in small places The 8x15 Endless Pool is less than regulation size but offers the same benefits as a very large pool ~ Noah H Connecticut Post

The Endless Pool is a great strength builder I am amazed at the strength of the current I now swim against I did not buy it for that reason but because of my arthritis so the strength gain is a wonderful surprise

Endless PoolsTestimonials For more information visit httpLIveAdsFitnessDigestus

s w i m m i n g s h o r t s

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Baseball Walking Stick13 My sons friend grabbed his baseball bat and said to me this is my walking stick I politely ask him why he calls it that He replied because my dad says if I hit a home run with it I donrsquot have to run the bases ndash I can walk

My Bike My mountain bike was stolen a while back and my kids were really upset Ive been riding my road bike in its place Since then Ive been careful to lock my bike up when we go to the park

13 On this occasion I did not lock-up my sonrsquos bike up with mine He looked at me quizzically and said sternly lock my bike up too I tried to explain that his bike was not as expensive and therefor didnt need to be locked up Boy that was a mistake He made me feel a little dumb when he said Dad I dont care how expensive it is Its the only bike Irsquove got

North Iowa Roads

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A LEADER inSearch Engine Optimization

Technology

Increase your visitor page views and Facebook Likes

Are you moving to a new state Already hired your mover

E-mail blind box at box02FitnessDigestus will get

you the best rates on cable phone and internet

Digital Movers

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

parent sports tipBy FitnessDigestus staff writer JGA

PAR

EN

T

TIP

Keeping Kids Focused13 Organize their thoughts Help them prioritize and make decisions based on value Even kids can understand the value of simple non-monetized choices Questions like ldquoShould I finish playing my gameboy game or pause it when they call my swimming eventrdquo

If kids are taught to make good decisions and not just find quick answers everyone wins

AugustGolf Month5th Friendship Day15th Relaxation Day25th Kiss and Make Up Day31st Trail Mix DaySeptemberLittle League Month12th Chocolate Milk Shake Day13th Positive Thinking Day16th Womenrsquos Friendship Day21st Miniature Golf DayOctoberBreast Cancer Awareness MonthNational Diabetes Month1st World Vegetarian Day4th Golf Day25th World Pasta Day

National Calendar

Au

gu

stSe

pte

mb

er

Oc

tob

er

Encourage friendships writing skills sharing thoughts and

experiencesEight different cards

YAGOTTAWANNA

Variety of pricing From single orders to bulk orders of 24 notecards

Learn more online

Stay in touch with your swimming or triathlon buddies

It is better to be safe then to try to beat the heat There are many options to stay cool and run during a hot-summer day Staying inside and running on the treadmill is a good one Remember staying safe is a top priority

Most workouts can be modified to work indoors This issuersquos workout is to do your usual run or interval set just stay inside and run it on the treadmill Visualize the different landmarks to see during your outdoor run

Coach Millerrsquos Quarterly ChallengeStay safe in the heatBy Mark Miller mmillerFitnessDigestus

A few years back we had a hot-spell similar to this yearrsquos record heat

I remember training for a long run and having to stop at the local swimming hole to cool off I literally took off my

shoes and jumped in with my running clothes on I was so hot

FitnessDigestUSEntertainment amp Inspiration

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OPEN WATER SWIMMING BY THE NUMBERS

In kilometers The shortest open water race included in the Fina World Championships

10107 How many miles it

is to swim from Cuba to the USA

5

1000Number of swimming strokes in a mile for a typical swimmer

31800About the number of calories it takes to swim 100 miles

LOCATED IN ST ANSGAR IOWA

Business Cards Envelopes

Letterheads Programs

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Posters Invites (graduation wedding showers etc)

Flyers Brochures

T-ShirtsShorts SweatshirtsSweats

Koozies Sashes

Business Forms Placemats

Postcards And Much More

Bridgette Beyer DesignerOwner

Bring your ideas in andVisual Aspect Designs can print

andor design for you

The minimum open water distance in kilometers that is considered a swimming-

marathon

On Facebook Visit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

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Open water safety means swimming in shallow water where there is a lifeguard or using an escort

Shop for Name BrandGear

24 Hoursa Day

WaynesSkiandCyclenet

For links to Waynersquos visit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

s w i m m i n g s h o r t s

Googles

13 Swimming fans can really appreciate a 200 IM when their goggles fill with water How about an Olympian Swimming a leg of the 400 Free Relay with his goggles across his opened mouth ndash and going 45rsquos A great team swimmer an Olympian wouldnrsquot let down his teammates by throwing them off or fixing them

500 Fly13 A world class butterflyer asked if he could swim butterfly in the 500 yard freestyle during a dual meet His goal was to break five minutes After considering the competition it seemed like a great way to make him really work a hard fly swim so we agreed Problem was he swam a 502 and the opposing coach complained to the officials because he embarrassed his swimmers Oh well you canrsquot win lsquoem all

Stories sent in by Robert Steele

No-No-No13 The other morning I was teaching front-streamlines to snotty nosed 8 year olds (some are literally snotty-nosed) One boy was taking a big gulp of air and holding his breath When he lifted his head he had to exhale and inhale before submerging again Swimmers will understand this does not work very well Kids need to learn to exhale underwater The first time he did it I told him to exhale underwater The second time I stopped him looked him in the eye and reminded him to exhale underwater The third and fourth times I started to get a little frustrated ldquoJohnny you need to exhale underwater so you can breath betterrdquo The fifth time as his head popped up for a breath I quickly asked ldquoJohnny Do you even know what exhale meansrdquo as he submerged his head below the water I could see him shake his head no-no-no

Favorite Potato Chips13We try to limit the junk food the kids eat at our house For lunch one day our son wanted some potato chips I gave him 3 large chips with his sandwich He started to cry and said he wanted one more chip ldquoI wanted four chipsrdquo he screamed I took the plate back When he wasnt looking I broke a chip in half and give it back to him with four chips

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

13 My cancer story is one of uniqueness Leave it to me to do something like cancer to its fullest It did not begin with a mammogram diagnosis or a lump My journey began about 4 years ago with some suspicious activity that turned into Pagetrsquos disease of the nipple which signaled the underlying cancer On April 1st I found out about my breast cancer through a biopsy that came back as positive for Pagetrsquos disease The onslaught of tests learning and decisions were dizzying I immediately went for an evaluation of the suspicious tissue and had to begin making decisions for my mastectomy I quickly learned there is a test called the BRAC Analysis which is a genetic test for breast and ovarian cancer Finally a piece of good news for me I did not have the gene

Decisions Now it was time to make decisions about my mastectomy and how I was going to handle reconstruction I discussed my options with my boyfriend Brian friends family members and even my principalboss I read books searched the Internet and contacted people I

Brandi ShipmanCancer Survivor and elite triathlete

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

know and knew from my past that had been directly affected and that I thought might have answers for me The outpouring of love encouragement and help during this process was overwhelming After meeting with four different doctors two surgeons and two plastic surgeons I decided to go with immediate reconstruction and was lucky enough to find two wonderful doctors They were willing to work together just because I wanted them to even though they had never done so before My surgery was scheduled for mid May

Mental Toughness13 My mental preparation at this point was very important I had to scrap any idea of competing in triathlons for the rest of the year and focus on a positive attitude of getting better I stopped thinking about what I wasnrsquot going to able to do and started thinking about what I could do that I was alive and kept my mind on the fact that so many others had made it before me

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links

Part 213 I was prepared by the doctors survivors and literature to be ldquodownrdquo for several weeks after my surgery I even took the rest of the school year off My surgery went well and I was out of the hospital the next day A few friends came to visit while I was in the hospital and my principal and vice principal brought the most wonderful picture of the faculty wearing pink for me I can only imagine what it looked like at Thornton Elementary on that day in May 2009 a sea of pink all for Brandi Shipman Shortly after their visit I received a text from my friend Margie Massey My friends from the gym wore pink for me that day as well The support brought tears to my eyes I was so excited to come home and be comfortable in my own home I just wish the stupid drain that was attached could have stayed at the hospital The pain from that was worse than the pain from the mastectomy

the most

powerful picture

13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Recovery ndash May13 Once I got home I slept and watched a lot of TV Friends visited and brought yummy food and my favorites I am not supposed to eat I ate them all My friend and co-worker set up a cancer care calendar that alerted anyone who logged on when I was having a doctorrsquos appointment or when I was in need of anything I felt like royalty as everyone took care of me I think Brian secretly enjoyed the fact that he wouldnrsquot have to cook for me each night My recovery was quicker than I thought as I was doing my best to get better and get the stinkinrsquo drain out of my skin I was out walking within a week and running within 3 weeks I couldnrsquot believe my recovery I know it was from all the prayers love and good care from Brian and the loved ones around me Life was looking better each day

ldquoLife was looking

better each dayrdquo

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Part three and part

four of I am Survivor

will be published in

the next edition of

FitnessDigestus

Get the convenience of

digital-delivery

Sign-up or subscribe at

httpFitnessDigestus

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During the past 150 years we have witnessed many remarkable advances against cancer a disease known to humanity for thousands of years The advances highlighted below represent a sampling of what has been accomplished to date

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

1882 William Halsted performs the first radical mastectomy to treat breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast the lymph nodes under the arm (axillary lymph nodes) and the chest muscles behind the breast (pectoralis major and pectoralis minor muscles) are removed Radical mastectomy will remain the standard operation for breast cancer until latter half of the 20th century when the use of modified radical mastectomy becomes widely accepted

1932 David H Patey develops the modified radical mastectomy for breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast axillary lymph nodes and pectoralis minor muscle behind the breast are removed The modified radical mastectomy is less disfiguring than the radical mastectomy and will eventually replace the radical mastectomy as a standard treatment option for breast cancer

1953 James Watson and Francis Crick discover the molecular structure of DNA (the double helix)

1963 The Health Insurance Plan (HIP) of Greater New York Study begins HIP is the first randomized controlled trial of periodic breast cancer screening with mammography

1882

1932

1953

1963

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1976 The results of a randomized clinical trial show that women with early breast cancer who receive post-operative (adjuvant) combination chemotherapy with the drugs cyclophosphamide methotrexate and 5-FU have improved disease-free survival

1981 A randomized clinical trial in the United Kingdom shows for the first time that the rates of survival local recurrence and tumor metastasis among women whose breast cancer is treated with modified radical mastectomy are not substantially different from those of women who are treated with radical mastectomy

1993 An NCI-convened international workshop on screening for breast cancer reports that screening with mammography reduces breast cancer mortality among women ages 50-69 This conclusion is based on a review of published and unpublished data from eight randomized controlled trials

2004 Data from the Womens Health Initiative (WHI) study show that women who take estrogen in combination with the hormone progestin have a greater risk of developing breast cancer than women who take estrogen alone The results also show that menopausal hormone therapy with estrogen alone has no benefit in disease prevention specifically in reducing the risks of colorectal cancer coronary heart disease and dementia

1976

1981

1993

2004

Although we still have a long way to go to reduce the toll of cancer in the United States and worldwide our research and public health efforts are beginning to pay dividends

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

Volunteering vs Participating13 My girl friend and I are involved in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation The local chapter raises awareness for the cause with a fun-run each year We have volunteered to help with the race five years in a row This year we were stationed at a water table where the runners pick-up cups of water to drink Toward the end of the race there are very few runners There was a little time to chat about things We were talking about what we would wish for if we could have three wishes I told her I would wish for an end to Juvenile Diabetes and to lose 10 pounds Being nice I said ldquoyou can have my last wishrdquo She said I wish you would skip volunteering and just run this race next year

Admission Price Our aquatic center was having a promotion one night and advertised an elementary school night The kids could swim for free When we got to the pool we saw a promotional sign for the event In small lettering it read All swimmers must be accompanied by an adult We thought no big deal one of us can just stay and watch When we got to the front desk we found the lifeguard was enforcing the adult-admission price of $8

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CNFI Publishing - Products Books Chapbooks Bookmarks Plaques and Poetry Collector Cards Merchandising Products Coffee Mugs Mouse Pads Tiles 3x6 Coasters T - Shirts and Wall Plaques More info athttpliveadsFitnessDigestus

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

Featured PhotosFitnessDigestus feature

Chicago open water swim course at nighttop left

Kids race at Bicycle Blues and BBQtop right

Some team members volunteer at the local soup kitchenmiddle right

Ken Mauer loads the balls for hitting practice during a Twins baseball camp for

children 7-13 bottom right

Get your local event photos published in the next issue of FitnessDigestus E-mail

your photo to photoFitnessDigestus

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As he turned to go on he spat speculatively There was a sharp explosive crackle that startled him He spat again And again in the air before it could fall to the snow the spittle crackled He knew that at fifty below spittle crackled on the snow but this spittle had crackled in the air Undoubtedly it was colder than fifty below--how much colder he did not know But the temperature did not matter He was bound for the old claim on the left fork of Henderson Creek where the boys were already They had come over across the divide from the Indian Creek country while he had come the roundabout way to take a look at the possibilities of getting out logs in the spring from the islands in the Yukon He would be in to camp by six oclock a bit after dark it was true but the boys would be there a fire would be going and a hot supper would be ready As for lunch he pressed his hand against the protruding bundle under his jacket It was also under his shirt wrapped up in a handkerchief and lying against the naked skin It was the only way to keep the biscuits from freezing He smiled agreeably to himself as he thought of those biscuits each cut open and sopped in bacon grease and each enclosing a generous slice of fried bacon

He plunged in among the big spruce trees The trail was faint A foot of snow had fallen since the last sled had passed over and he was glad he was without a sled traveling light In fact he carried nothing but the lunch wrapped in the handkerchief He was surprised however at the cold It certainly was cold he concluded as he rubbed his numb nose and cheek-bones with his mittened hand He was a warm-whiskered man but the hair on his face did not protect the high cheek-bones and the eager nose that thrust itself aggressively into the frosty air

At the mans heels trotted a dog a big native husky the proper wolf-dog gray-coated and without any visible or temperamental difference from its brother the wild wolf The animal was depressed by the tremendous cold It knew that it was no time for

traveling Its instinct told it a truer tale than was told to the man by the mans judgment In reality it was not merely colder than fifty below zero it was colder than sixty below than seventy below It was seventy-five below zero Since the freezing point is thirty-two above zero it meant that one hundred and seven degrees of frost obtained The dog did not know anything about thermometers Possibly in its brain there was no sharp consciousness of a condition of very cold such as was in the mans brain But the brute had its instinct It experienced a vague but menacing apprehension that subdued it then made it slink along at the mans heels and that made it question eagerly every unwonted movement of the man as if expecting him to go into camp or to seek shelter somewhere and build a fire The dog had learned fire and it wanted fire or else to burrow under the snow and cuddle its warmth away from the air

The frozen moisture of its breathing had settled on its fur in a fine powder of frost and especially were its jowls muzzle and eyelashes whitened by its cry-stalled breath The mans red beard and mustache were likewise frosted but more solidly the deposit taking the form of ice and increasing with every warm moist breath he exhaled Also the man was chewing tobacco and the muzzle of ice held his lips so rigidly that he was unable to clear his chin when he expelled the juice The result was that a crystal beard of the color and solidity of amber was increasing its length on his chin If he fell down it would shatter itself like glass into brittle fragments But he did not mind the appendage It was the penalty all tobacco-chewers paid in that country and he had been out before in two cold snaps They had not been so cold as this he knew but by the spirit thermometer at Sixty Mile he knew they had been registered at fifty below and at fifty-five

He held on through the level stretch of woods for several miles crossed a wide flat of rigger-heads and dropped down a bank to the frozen bed of a

To Build a FireContinued

small stream This was Henderson Creek and he knew he was ten miles from the forks He looked at his watch It was ten oclock He was making four miles an hour and he calculated that he would arrive at the forks at half-past twelve He decided to celebrate that event by eating his lunch there

The dog dropped in again at his heels with a tail drooping discouragement as the man swung along the creek-bed The furrow of the old sled-trail was plainly visible but a dozen inches of snow covered the marks of the last runners In a month no man had come up or down that silent creek The man held steadily on He was not much given to thinking and just then particularly he had nothing to think about save that he would eat lunch at-the forks and that at six oclock he would be in camp with the boys There was nobody to talk to and had there been speech would have been impossible because of the ice-muzzle on his mouth So he continued monotonously to chew tobacco and to increase the length of his amber beard

Once in a while the thought reiterated itself that it was very cold and that he had never experienced such cold As he walked along he rubbed his cheek-bones and nose with the back of his mittened hand He did this automatically now and again changing hands But rub as he would the instant he stopped his cheek-bones went numb and the following instant the end of his nose went numb He was sure to frost his cheeks he knew that and experienced a pang of regret that he had not devised a nose-strap of the sort Bud wore in cold snaps Such a strap passed across the cheeks as well and saved them But it didnt matter much after all What were frosted cheeks A bit painful that was all they were never serious

Empty as the mans mind was of thoughts he was keenly observant and he noticed the changes in the creek the curves and bends and timber jams and always he sharply noted where he placed his feet Once coming around a bend he shied abruptly

like a startled horse curved away from the place where he had been walking and retreated several paces back along the trail The creek he knew was frozen clear to the bottom--no creek could contain water in that arctic winter--but he knew also that there were springs that bubbled out from the hillsides and ran along under the snow and on top the ice of the creek He knew that the coldest snaps never froze these springs and he knew likewise their danger They were traps They hid pools of water under the snow that might be three inches deep or three feet Sometimes a skin of ice half an inch thick covered them and in turn was covered by the snow Sometimes there were alternate layers of water and ice-skin so that when one broke through he kept on breaking through for a while sometimes wetting himself to the waist

That was why he had shied in such panic He had felt the give under his feet and heard the crackle of a snow-hidden ice-skin And to get his feet wet in such a temperature meant trouble and danger At the very least it meant delay for he would be forced to stop and build a fire and under its protection to bare his feet while he dried his socks and moccasins He stood and studied the creek-bed and its banks and decided that the flow of water came from the right He reflected a while rubbing his nose and cheeks then skirted to the left stepping gingerly and testing the footing for each step Once clear of the danger he took a fresh chew of tobacco and swung along at his four-mile gait

In the course of the next two hours he came upon several similar traps Usually the snow above the hidden pools had a sunken candied appearance that advertised the danger Once again however he had a close call and once suspecting danger he compelled the dog to go on in front The dog did not want to go It hung back until the man shoved it forward and then it went quickly across the white unbroken surface Suddenly it broke through floundered to one side and got away to firmer

To Build a FireContinued

To Build a FireContinued

footing It had wet its forefeet and legs and almost immediately the water that clung to it turned to ice It made quick efforts to lick the ice off its legs then dropped down in the snow and began to bite out the ice that had formed between the toes l his was a matter of instinct To permit the ice to remain would mean sore feet It did not know this It merely obeyed the mysterious prompting that arose from the deep crypts of its being But the man knew having achieved a judgment on the subject and he removed the mitten from his right hand and helped tear out the ice-particles He did not expose his fingers more than a minute and was astonished at the swift numbness that smote them It certainly was cold He pulled on the mitten hastily and beat the hand savagely across his chest

At twelve oclock the day was at its brightest Yet the sun was too far south an its winter journey to clear the horizon The bulge of the earth intervened between it arid Henderson Creek where the man walked under a clear sky at noon and cast no shadow At half-past twelve to the minute he arrived at the forks of the creek He was pleased at the speed he had made If he kept it up he would certainly be with the boys by six He unbuttoned his jacket and shirt and drew forth his lunch The action consumed no more than a quarter of a minute yet in that brief moment the numbness laid hold of the exposed fingers He did not put the mitten on but instead struck the fingers a dozen sharp smashes against his leg Then he sat down on a snow-covered log to eat The sting that followed upon the striking of his fingers against his leg ceased so quickly that he was startled He had had no chance to take a bite of biscuit He struck the fingers repeatedly and returned them to the mitten baring the other hand for the purpose of eating He tried to take a mouthful but the ice-muzzle prevented He had forgotten to build a fire and thaw out He chuckled at his foolishness and as he chuckled he noted the numbness creeping into the exposed fingers Also he noted that the stinging which had first come to his

toes when he sat down was already passing away He wandered whether the toes were warm or numb He moved them inside the moccasins and decided that they were numb

He pulled the mitten on hurriedly and stood up He was a bit frightened He stamped up and down until the stinging returned into the feet It certainly was cold was his thought That man from Sulphur Creek had spoken the truth when telling how cold it sometimes got in the country And he had laughed at him at the time That showed one must not be too sure of things There was no mistake about it it was cold He strode up and down stamping his feet and threshing his arms until reassured by the returning warmth Then he got out matches and proceeded to make a fire From the undergrowth where high water of the previous spring had lodged a supply of seasoned twigs he got his firewood Working carefully from a small beginning he soon had a roaring fire over which he thawed the ice from his face and in the protection of which he ate his biscuits For the moment the cold space was outwitted The dog took satisfaction in the fire stretching out close enough for warmth and far enough away to escape being singed

When the man had finished be filled his pipe and took his comfortable time over a smoke Then he pulled on his mittens settled the ear-flaps of his cap firmly about his ears and took the creek trail up the left fork The dog was disappointed and yearned back toward the fire This man did not know cold Possibly all the generations of his ancestry had been ignorant of cold of real cold of cold one hundred and seven degrees below freezing point But the dog knew all its ancestry knew and it had inherited the knowledge And it knew that it was not good to walk abroad in such fearful cold It was the time to lie snug in a hole in the snow and wait for a curtain of cloud to be drawn across the face of outer space whence this cold came On the other hand there was no keen intimacy between the dog and the man

The one was the toil-slave of the other and the only caresses it had ever received were the caresses of the whiplash and of harsh and menacing throat-sounds that threatened the whiplash So the dog made no effort to communicate its apprehension to the man It was not concerned in the welfare of the man it was for its own sake that it yearned back toward the fire But the man whistled and spoke to it with the sound of whiplashes and the dog swung in at the mans heel and followed after

The man took a chew of tobacco and proceeded to start a new amber beard Also his moist breath quickly powdered with white his mustache eyebrows and lashes There did not seem to be so many springs on the left fork of the Henderson and for half an hour the man saw no signs of any And then it happened At a place where there were no signs where the soft unbroken snow seemed to advertise solidity beneath tee man broke through It was not deep He wet himself halfway to the knees before he floundered out to the firm crust

He was angry and cursed his luck aloud He had hoped to get into camp with the boys at six oclock and this would delay him an hour for he would have to build a fire and dry out his foot-gear This was imperative at that low temperature--he knew that much and he turned aside to the bank which he climbed On top tangled in the underbrush about the trunks of several small spruce trees was a high-water deposit of dry firewood--sticks and twigs principally but also larger portions of seasoned branches and fine dry last-years grasses He threw down several large pieces on top of the snow This served for a foundation and prevented the young flame from drowning itself in the snow it otherwise would melt The flame he got by touching a match to a small shred of birch bark that he took from his pocket This burned even more readily than paper Placing it on the foundation he fed the young flame with wisps of dry grass and with the tiniest dry twigs

He worked slowly and carefully keenly aware of his danger Gradually as the flame grew stronger he increased the size of the twigs with which he fed it He squatted in the snow pulling the twigs out from their entanglement in the brush and feeding directly to the flame He knew there must be no failure When it is seventy-five below zero a man must not fail in his first attempt to build a fire--that is if his feet are wet If his feet are dry and he fails he can run along the trail for half a mile and restore his circulation But the circulation of wet and freezing feet cannot be restored by running when it is seventy-five below No matter how fast he runs the wet feet will freeze the harder

All this the man knew The old-timer on Sulphur Creek had told him about it the previous fall and now he was appreciating the advice Already all sensation had gone out of his feet To build the fire he had been forced to remove his mittens and the fingers had quickly gone numb His pace of four miles an hour had kept his heart pumping blood to the surface of his body and to all the extremities But the instant he stopped the action of the pump eased down The cold of space smote the unprotected tip of the planet and he being on that unprotected tip received the full force of the blow The blood of his body recoiled before it The blood was alive like the dog and like the dog it wanted to hide away and cover itself up from the fearful cold So long as he walked four miles an hour he pumped that blood willy-nilly to the surface but now it ebbed away and sank down into the recesses of his body The extremities were the first to feel its absence His wet feet froze the faster and his exposed fingers numbed the faster though they had not yet begun to freeze Nose and cheeks were already freezing while the skin of all his body chilled as it lost its blood

But he was safe Toes and nose and cheeks would be only touched by the frost for the fire was beginning to burn with strength He was feeding it

To Build a FireContinued

with twigs the size of his finger In another minute he would be able to feed it with branches the size of his wrier and then he could remove his wet toot-gear and while it dried he could keep his naked feet warm by the fire rubbing them at first of course with snow The fire was a success He was safe He remembered the advice of the old timer on Sulphur Creek and smiled The old-timer had been very serious in laying down the law that no man must travel alone in the Klondike after fifty below Well here he was he had had the accident he was alone and he had saved himself Those old-timers were rather womanish some of them he thought All a man had to do was to keep his head and he was all right Any man who was a man could travel alone But it was surprising the rapidity with which his cheeks and nose were freezing And he had not thought his fingers could go lifeless in so short a time Lifeless they were for he could scarcely make them move together to grip a twig and they seemed remote from his body and from him When he touched a twig he had to look and see whether or not he had hold of it The wires were pretty well down between him and his finger-ends

All of which counted for little There was the fire snapping and crackling and promising life with every dancing flame He started to untie his moccasins They were coated with ice the thick German socks were like sheaths of iron halfway to the knees and the moccasin strings were like rods of steel all twisted and knotted as by some conflagration For a moment he tugged with his numb fingers then realizing the folly of it he drew his sheath-knife

But before he could cut the strings it happened It was his own fault or rather his mistake He should not have built the fire under the spruce tree He should have built it in the open But it had been easier to pull the twigs from the brush and drop them directly on the fire Now the tree under which

he had done this carried a weight of snow on its boughs No wind had blown for weeks and each bough was fully freighted Each time he had pulled a twig he had communicated a slight agitation to the tree--an imperceptible agitation so far as he was concerned but an agitation sufficient to bring about the disaster High up in the tree one bough capsized its load of snow This fell on the boughs beneath capsizing them This process continued spreading out and involving the whole tree It grew like an avalanche and it descended without warning upon the man and the fire and the fire was blotted out Where it had burned was a mantle of fresh and disordered snow

The man was shocked It was as though he had just heard his own sentence of death For a moment he sat and stared at the spot where the fire had been Then he grew very calm Perhaps the old-timer on Sulphur Creek was right If he had only had a trail-mate he would have been in no danger now The trail-mate could have built the fire Well it was up to him to build the fire over again and this second time there must be no failure Even if he succeeded he would most likely lose some toes His feet must be badly frozen by now and there would be some time before the second fire Was ready

Such were his thoughts but he did not sit and think them He was busy all the time they were passing through his mind He made a new foundation for a fire this time in the open where no treacherous tree could blot it out Next he gathered dry grasses and tiny twigs from the high-water flotsam He could not bring his fingers together to pull them out but he was able to gather them by the handful In this way he got many rotten twigs and bits of green moss that were undesirable but it was the best he could do He worked methodically even collecting an armful of the larger branches to be used later when the fire gathered strength And all the while the dog sat and watched him a certain yearning wistfulness in its eyes for it looked upon

To Build a FireContinued

him as the fire-provider and the fire was slow in coming

When all was ready the man reached in his pocket for a second piece of birch bark He knew the bark was there and though he could not feel it with his fingers he could hear its crisp rustling as he fumbled for it Try as he would he could not clutch hold of it And all the time in his consciousness was the knowledge that each instant his feet were freezing This thought tended to put him in a panic but he fought against it and kept calm He pulled on his mittens with his teeth and threshed his arms back and forth beating his hands with all his might against his sides He did this sitting down and he stood up to do it and all the while the dog sat in the snow its wolf-brush of a tail curled around warmly over its forefeet its sharp wolf-ears pricked forward intently as it watched the man And the man as he beat and threshed with his arms and hands felt a great surge of envy as he regarded the creature that was warm ant secure in its natural covering

After a time he was aware of the first far-away signals of sensation in his beaten fingers The faint tingling grew stronger till it evolved into a stinging ache that was excruciating but which the man hailed with satisfaction He stripped the mitten from his right hand and fetched forth the birch bark The exposed fingers were quickly going numb again Next he brought out his bunch of sulphur matches But the tremendous cold had already driven the life out of his fingers In his effort to separate one match from the others the whole bunch fell in the snow He tried to pick it out of the snow but failed The dead fingers could neither touch nor clutch He was very careful He drove the thought of his freezing feet and nose and cheeks out of his mind devoting his whole soul to the matches He watched using the sense of vision in place of that of touch and when he saw his fingers on each side the bunch he dosed them--that is he willed to close them for the wires were down and the fingers did not obey He pulled

the mitten on the right hand and beat it fiercely against his knee Then with both mittened hands he scooped the bunch of matches along with much snow into his lap Yet he was no better off

After some manipulation he managed to get the bunch between the heels of his mittened hands In this fashion he carried it to his mouth The ice crackled and snapped when by a violent effort he opened his mouth He drew the lower jaw in curled the upper lip out of the way and scraped the bunch with his upper teeth in order to separate a match He succeeded in getting one which he dropped on his lap He was no better off He could not pick it up Then he devised a way He picked it up in his teeth and scratched it on his leg Twenty times he scratched before he succeeded in lighting it As it flamed he held it with his teeth to the birch bark But the burning brimstone went up his nostrils and into his lungs causing him to cough spasmodically The match fell into the snow and went out

The old-timer an Sulphur Creek was right he thought in the moment of controlled despair that ensued after fifty below a man should travel with a partner He beat his hands but failed in exciting any sensation Suddenly he bared both hands removing the mittens with his teeth He caught the whole bunch between the heels of his hands His arm muscles not being frozen enabled him to press the hand-heels tightly against the matches Then he scratched the bunch along his leg It flared into flame seventy sulphur matches at once There was no wind to blow them out He kept his head to one side to escape the strangling fumes and held the blazing bunch to the birth bark As he so held it he became aware of sensation in his hand His flesh was burning He could smell it Deep down below the surface he could feel it The sensation developed into pain that grew acute And still he endured it holding the flame of the matches clumsily to the bark that would not light readily because his own burning hands were in the way absorbing most of the flame

To Build a FireContinued

At last when he could endure no more he jerked his hands apart The blazing matches fell sizzling into the snow but the birch bark was alight He began laying dry grasses and the tiniest twigs on the flame He could not pick and choose for he had to lift the fuel between the heels of his hands Small pieces of rotten wood and green moss clung to the twigs and he bit them off as well as he could with his teeth He cherished the flame carefully and awkwardly It meant life and it must not perish The withdrawal of blood from the surface of his body now made him begin to shiver and he grew more awkward A large piece of green moss fell squarely on the little fire He tried to poke it out with his fingers but his shivering frame made him poke too far and he disrupted the nucleus of the little fire the burning grasses and tiny twigs separating and scattering He tried to poke them together again but in spite of the tenseness of the effort his shivering got away with him and the twigs were hopelessly scattered Each twig gushed a puff of smoke and went out The fire-provider had failed As he looked apathetically about him his eyes chanced on the dog sitting across the ruins of the fire from him in the snow making restless hunching movements slightly lifting one forefoot and then the other shifting its weight back and forth on them with wistful eagerness

The sight of the dog put a wild idea into his head He remembered the tale of the man caught in a blizzard who killed a steer and crawled inside the carcass and so was saved He would kill the dog and bury his hands in the warm body until the numbness went out of them Then he could build another fire He spoke to the dog calling it to him but in his voice was a strange note of fear that frightened the animal who had never known the man to speak in such way before Something was the matter and its suspicious nature sensed danger--it knew not what danger but somewhere somehow in its brain arose an apprehension of the man It flattened its ears down at the sound of the mans voice and its restless

hunching movements and the liftings and shiftings of its forefeet became more pronounced but it would not come to the man He got on his hands and knees and crawled toward the dog This unusual posture again excited suspicion and the animal sidled mincingly away

The man sat up in the snow for a moment and struggled for calmness Then he pulled on his mittens by means of his teeth and got upon his feet He glanced down at first in order to assure himself that he was really standing up for the absence of sensation in his feet left him unrelated to the earth His erect position in itself started to drive the webs of suspicion from the dogs mind and when he spoke peremptorily with the sound of whiplashes in his voice the dog rendered its customary allegiance and came to him As it came within reaching distance the man lost his control His arms flashed out to the dog and he experienced genuine surprise when he discovered that his hands could not clutch that there was neither bend nor feeling in the fingers He had forgotten for the moment that they were frozen and that they were freezing more and more All this happened quickly and before the animal could get away he encircled its body with his arms He sat down in the snow and in this fashion held the dog while it snarled and whined and struggled

But it was all he could do hold its body encircled in his arms and sit there He realized that he could not kill the dog There was no way to do it With his helpless hands he could neither draw nor hold his sheath knife nor throttle the animal He released it and it plunged wildly away with tail between its legs and still snarling It halted forty feet away and surveyed him curiously with ears sharply pricked forward The man looked down at his hands in order to locate them and found them hanging on the ends of his arms It struck him as curious that one should have to use his eyes in order to find out where his hands were He began threshing his arms back and forth beating the mittened hands against

To Build a FireContinued

his sides He did this for five minutes violently and his heart pumped enough blood up to the surface to put a stop to his shivering But no sensation was aroused in the hands He had an impression that they hung like weights on the ends of his arms but when he tried to run the impression down he could not find it

A certain fear of death dull and oppressive came to him This fear quickly became poignant as he realized that it was no longer a mere matter of freezing his fingers and toes or of losing his hands and feet but that it was a matter of life and death with the chances against him This threw him into a panic and he turned and ran up the creek-bed along the old dim trail The dog joined in behind and kept up with him He ran blindly without intention in fear such as he had never known in his life Slowly as he plowed and floundered through the snow he began to see things again the banks of the creek the old timber-jams the leafless aspens and the sky The running made him feel better He did not shiver Maybe if he ran on his feet would thaw out and anyway if he ran far enough he would reach camp and the boys Without doubt he would lose some fingers and toes and some of his face but the boys would take care of him and save the rest of him when he got there And at the same time there was another thought in his mind that said he would never get to the camp and the boys that it was too many miles away that the freezing had too great a start on him and that he would soon be stiff and dead This thought he kept in the background and refused to consider Sometimes it pushed itself forward and demanded to be heard but he thrust it back and strove to think of other things

It struck him as curious that he could run at all on feet so frozen that he could not feel them when they struck the earth and took the weigh of his body He seemed to himself to skim along above the surface and to have no connection with the earth Somewhere he had once seen a winged Mercury

and he wondered if Mercury felt as he felt when skimming over the earth

His theory of running until he reached camp and the boys had one flaw in it he lacked the endurance Several times he stumbled and finally he tottered crumpled up and fell When he tried to rise he failed He must sit and rest he decided and next time he would merely walk and keep on going As he sat and regained his breath he noted that he was feeling quite warm and comfortable He was not shivering and it even seemed that a warm glow had come to his chest and trunk And yet when he touched his nose or cheeks there was no sensation Running would not thaw them out Nor would it thaw out his hands and feet Then the thought came to him that the frozen portions of his body must be extending He tried to keep this thought down to forget it to think of something else he was aware of the panicky feeling that it caused and he was afraid of the panic But the thought asserted itself and persisted until it produced a vision of his body totally frozen This was too much and he made another wild run along the trail Once he slowed down to a walk but the thought of the freezing extending itself made him run again

And all the time the dog ran with him at his heels When he fell down a second time it curled its tad over its forefeet and sat in front of him facing him curiously eager and intent The warmth and security of the animal angered him and he cursed it till it flattened down its ears appealingly This time the shivering came more quickly upon the man He was losing in his battle with the frost It was creeping into his body from all sides The thought of it drove him on but he ran no more than a hundred feet when he staggered and pitched headlong It was his last panic When he had recovered his breath and control he sat up and entertained in his mind the conception of meeting death with dignity However the conception did not come to him in such terms His idea of it was that he had been making a fool of

To Build a FireContinued

himself running around like a chicken with its head cut off--such was the simile that occurred to him Well he was bound to freeze anyway and he might as well take it decently With this new-found peace of mind came the first glimmerings of drowsiness A good idea he thought to sleep off to death It was like salting an anesthetic Freezing was not so bad as people thought There were lots worse ways to die

He pictured the boys finding his body next day Suddenly he found himself with them coming along the trail and looking for himself And still with them he came around a turn in the trail and found himself lying in the snow He did not belong with himself any more for even then he was out of himself standing with the boys and looking at himself in the snow It certainly was cold was his thought When he got back to the States he could tell the folks what real cold was He drifted on from this to a vision of the old-timer on Sulphur Creek He could see him quite clearly warm and comfortable and smoking a pipe

You were right old boss you were right the man mumbled to the old-timer of Sulphur Creek

Then the man drowsed off into what seemed to him the most comfortable and satisfying sleep he had ever known The dog sat facing him and waiting The brief day drew to a close in a long slow twilight There were no signs of a fire to be made and besides never in the dogs experience had it known a man to sit like that in the snow and make no fire As the twilight drew on its eager yearning for the fire mastered it and with a great lifting and shifting of forefeet it whined softly then flattened its ears down in anticipation of being chidden by the man But the man remained silent Later the dog whined loudly And still later it crept close to the man and caught the scent of death This made the animal bristle and back away A little longer it delayed howling under the stars that leaped and danced and shone brightly in the cold sky Then it turned and trotted up the trail in the direction of the camp it knew where were the other food-providers and fire-providers

To Build a FireContinued

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Page 36: FitnessDigest.us Vol. 4.3 Cover

13 Funnest thing SPAM about some weight-loss supplements got posted on a friendrsquos Facebook My friend is an ultra-runner I notice there was also an ad for salami recipes on the same page The recipes were right next to the SPAM about diet-pills

13 Letrsquos see ndash it sounds like the beginning of a good joke Q What do you get when a friend tries to sell you ultra-runner endorsed salami-flavored-SPAM diet-pills on Facebook Answer Sick

Unsung Heroes1 Irsquove never swam open water and wanted to do a triathlon A friend that

races open water took extra time to swim with me at a lake I was much more comfortable after that

2 I was going on vacation and needed advice on a place to swim A friend living in the area took the time to help me find people to answer my questions

3 I was over eating and had complained to my friend about it She called me twice a day for three weeks just to remind me to eat healthy

4 I usually run to and from the gym It takes about 30 minutes to run both ways I didnrsquot have enough time to get there and back before a scheduled appointment I had A friend drove me to the gym saving me about 30 minutes I was able to run home and still had time to get to my appointment

SPAM DIET

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Visit the Suburban Mommy blog and learn more about AtresiaMicrotia a birth defect of the inner earFor links to SubMommy blog httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

SUBMOMMYBLOG

On Wednesday May 16 2012 at 7 PM simultaneous rides occurred around the

USA and the world

We all ride Now we can ride as one

One day One time One world world wide

Let the silence roar

322 locations world wide

The Ride of SilenceTonight we number many but ride as one

In honor of those not with us friends

mothers fathers sisters sons

With helmets on tight and heads down low

We ride in silence cautious and slow

The wheels start spinning in the lead pack

But tonight we ride and no one attacks

The dark sunglasses cover our tears

Remembering those we held so dear

Tonights ride is to make others aware

The road is there for all to share

To those not with us or by our side

May God be your partner on your final ride

- Mike Murgas

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 50 states

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 7 Continents

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 0 words spoken

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 1 million memories

Ride of Silence

ldquoCost-effective investments in bicycling boost our economy help individuals and government agencies save money and directly address key societal challenges such as obesity and road congestion In these tough economic times our federal government can only afford to invest in solutions that solve multiple problems Bicycling fits the billrdquo ndash PeopleForBikesorg

This photo collection was taken byRobert LaVallee of Mason City IA

To see his entire collection visithttpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

Non-subscriberSign-up for delivery of

the FREE edition at coopnetbiz

It provides an outstanding aerobic workout in less than half the time we would spend in still water It has allowed us as swim coaches to observe swimmers stroke characteristics up close and to see the effects of fatigue on stroke mechanics ~ Larry L Chazy NY

Swimming is an excellent exercise and now I can swim every day because its so convenient and private I can swim when I want and how long I want Im able to have it at a temperature that is comfortable to me The small size of an Endless Pool enabled me to install a pool where I could not install a regular size one

As an aging baby boomer nutrition professional I have yearned for consistent exercise that doesnt stress joints and will enable me to attain physical fitness cardiovascular health and weight control I can eat what I want and still firm up and lose weight ~ John C Columbus OH

Endless Pools make for long swims in small places The 8x15 Endless Pool is less than regulation size but offers the same benefits as a very large pool ~ Noah H Connecticut Post

The Endless Pool is a great strength builder I am amazed at the strength of the current I now swim against I did not buy it for that reason but because of my arthritis so the strength gain is a wonderful surprise

Endless PoolsTestimonials For more information visit httpLIveAdsFitnessDigestus

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Baseball Walking Stick13 My sons friend grabbed his baseball bat and said to me this is my walking stick I politely ask him why he calls it that He replied because my dad says if I hit a home run with it I donrsquot have to run the bases ndash I can walk

My Bike My mountain bike was stolen a while back and my kids were really upset Ive been riding my road bike in its place Since then Ive been careful to lock my bike up when we go to the park

13 On this occasion I did not lock-up my sonrsquos bike up with mine He looked at me quizzically and said sternly lock my bike up too I tried to explain that his bike was not as expensive and therefor didnt need to be locked up Boy that was a mistake He made me feel a little dumb when he said Dad I dont care how expensive it is Its the only bike Irsquove got

North Iowa Roads

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A LEADER inSearch Engine Optimization

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Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

parent sports tipBy FitnessDigestus staff writer JGA

PAR

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TIP

Keeping Kids Focused13 Organize their thoughts Help them prioritize and make decisions based on value Even kids can understand the value of simple non-monetized choices Questions like ldquoShould I finish playing my gameboy game or pause it when they call my swimming eventrdquo

If kids are taught to make good decisions and not just find quick answers everyone wins

AugustGolf Month5th Friendship Day15th Relaxation Day25th Kiss and Make Up Day31st Trail Mix DaySeptemberLittle League Month12th Chocolate Milk Shake Day13th Positive Thinking Day16th Womenrsquos Friendship Day21st Miniature Golf DayOctoberBreast Cancer Awareness MonthNational Diabetes Month1st World Vegetarian Day4th Golf Day25th World Pasta Day

National Calendar

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Encourage friendships writing skills sharing thoughts and

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Stay in touch with your swimming or triathlon buddies

It is better to be safe then to try to beat the heat There are many options to stay cool and run during a hot-summer day Staying inside and running on the treadmill is a good one Remember staying safe is a top priority

Most workouts can be modified to work indoors This issuersquos workout is to do your usual run or interval set just stay inside and run it on the treadmill Visualize the different landmarks to see during your outdoor run

Coach Millerrsquos Quarterly ChallengeStay safe in the heatBy Mark Miller mmillerFitnessDigestus

A few years back we had a hot-spell similar to this yearrsquos record heat

I remember training for a long run and having to stop at the local swimming hole to cool off I literally took off my

shoes and jumped in with my running clothes on I was so hot

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In kilometers The shortest open water race included in the Fina World Championships

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31800About the number of calories it takes to swim 100 miles

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The minimum open water distance in kilometers that is considered a swimming-

marathon

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Open water safety means swimming in shallow water where there is a lifeguard or using an escort

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WaynesSkiandCyclenet

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s w i m m i n g s h o r t s

Googles

13 Swimming fans can really appreciate a 200 IM when their goggles fill with water How about an Olympian Swimming a leg of the 400 Free Relay with his goggles across his opened mouth ndash and going 45rsquos A great team swimmer an Olympian wouldnrsquot let down his teammates by throwing them off or fixing them

500 Fly13 A world class butterflyer asked if he could swim butterfly in the 500 yard freestyle during a dual meet His goal was to break five minutes After considering the competition it seemed like a great way to make him really work a hard fly swim so we agreed Problem was he swam a 502 and the opposing coach complained to the officials because he embarrassed his swimmers Oh well you canrsquot win lsquoem all

Stories sent in by Robert Steele

No-No-No13 The other morning I was teaching front-streamlines to snotty nosed 8 year olds (some are literally snotty-nosed) One boy was taking a big gulp of air and holding his breath When he lifted his head he had to exhale and inhale before submerging again Swimmers will understand this does not work very well Kids need to learn to exhale underwater The first time he did it I told him to exhale underwater The second time I stopped him looked him in the eye and reminded him to exhale underwater The third and fourth times I started to get a little frustrated ldquoJohnny you need to exhale underwater so you can breath betterrdquo The fifth time as his head popped up for a breath I quickly asked ldquoJohnny Do you even know what exhale meansrdquo as he submerged his head below the water I could see him shake his head no-no-no

Favorite Potato Chips13We try to limit the junk food the kids eat at our house For lunch one day our son wanted some potato chips I gave him 3 large chips with his sandwich He started to cry and said he wanted one more chip ldquoI wanted four chipsrdquo he screamed I took the plate back When he wasnt looking I broke a chip in half and give it back to him with four chips

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

13 My cancer story is one of uniqueness Leave it to me to do something like cancer to its fullest It did not begin with a mammogram diagnosis or a lump My journey began about 4 years ago with some suspicious activity that turned into Pagetrsquos disease of the nipple which signaled the underlying cancer On April 1st I found out about my breast cancer through a biopsy that came back as positive for Pagetrsquos disease The onslaught of tests learning and decisions were dizzying I immediately went for an evaluation of the suspicious tissue and had to begin making decisions for my mastectomy I quickly learned there is a test called the BRAC Analysis which is a genetic test for breast and ovarian cancer Finally a piece of good news for me I did not have the gene

Decisions Now it was time to make decisions about my mastectomy and how I was going to handle reconstruction I discussed my options with my boyfriend Brian friends family members and even my principalboss I read books searched the Internet and contacted people I

Brandi ShipmanCancer Survivor and elite triathlete

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

know and knew from my past that had been directly affected and that I thought might have answers for me The outpouring of love encouragement and help during this process was overwhelming After meeting with four different doctors two surgeons and two plastic surgeons I decided to go with immediate reconstruction and was lucky enough to find two wonderful doctors They were willing to work together just because I wanted them to even though they had never done so before My surgery was scheduled for mid May

Mental Toughness13 My mental preparation at this point was very important I had to scrap any idea of competing in triathlons for the rest of the year and focus on a positive attitude of getting better I stopped thinking about what I wasnrsquot going to able to do and started thinking about what I could do that I was alive and kept my mind on the fact that so many others had made it before me

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links

Part 213 I was prepared by the doctors survivors and literature to be ldquodownrdquo for several weeks after my surgery I even took the rest of the school year off My surgery went well and I was out of the hospital the next day A few friends came to visit while I was in the hospital and my principal and vice principal brought the most wonderful picture of the faculty wearing pink for me I can only imagine what it looked like at Thornton Elementary on that day in May 2009 a sea of pink all for Brandi Shipman Shortly after their visit I received a text from my friend Margie Massey My friends from the gym wore pink for me that day as well The support brought tears to my eyes I was so excited to come home and be comfortable in my own home I just wish the stupid drain that was attached could have stayed at the hospital The pain from that was worse than the pain from the mastectomy

the most

powerful picture

13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Recovery ndash May13 Once I got home I slept and watched a lot of TV Friends visited and brought yummy food and my favorites I am not supposed to eat I ate them all My friend and co-worker set up a cancer care calendar that alerted anyone who logged on when I was having a doctorrsquos appointment or when I was in need of anything I felt like royalty as everyone took care of me I think Brian secretly enjoyed the fact that he wouldnrsquot have to cook for me each night My recovery was quicker than I thought as I was doing my best to get better and get the stinkinrsquo drain out of my skin I was out walking within a week and running within 3 weeks I couldnrsquot believe my recovery I know it was from all the prayers love and good care from Brian and the loved ones around me Life was looking better each day

ldquoLife was looking

better each dayrdquo

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Part three and part

four of I am Survivor

will be published in

the next edition of

FitnessDigestus

Get the convenience of

digital-delivery

Sign-up or subscribe at

httpFitnessDigestus

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During the past 150 years we have witnessed many remarkable advances against cancer a disease known to humanity for thousands of years The advances highlighted below represent a sampling of what has been accomplished to date

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

1882 William Halsted performs the first radical mastectomy to treat breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast the lymph nodes under the arm (axillary lymph nodes) and the chest muscles behind the breast (pectoralis major and pectoralis minor muscles) are removed Radical mastectomy will remain the standard operation for breast cancer until latter half of the 20th century when the use of modified radical mastectomy becomes widely accepted

1932 David H Patey develops the modified radical mastectomy for breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast axillary lymph nodes and pectoralis minor muscle behind the breast are removed The modified radical mastectomy is less disfiguring than the radical mastectomy and will eventually replace the radical mastectomy as a standard treatment option for breast cancer

1953 James Watson and Francis Crick discover the molecular structure of DNA (the double helix)

1963 The Health Insurance Plan (HIP) of Greater New York Study begins HIP is the first randomized controlled trial of periodic breast cancer screening with mammography

1882

1932

1953

1963

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1976 The results of a randomized clinical trial show that women with early breast cancer who receive post-operative (adjuvant) combination chemotherapy with the drugs cyclophosphamide methotrexate and 5-FU have improved disease-free survival

1981 A randomized clinical trial in the United Kingdom shows for the first time that the rates of survival local recurrence and tumor metastasis among women whose breast cancer is treated with modified radical mastectomy are not substantially different from those of women who are treated with radical mastectomy

1993 An NCI-convened international workshop on screening for breast cancer reports that screening with mammography reduces breast cancer mortality among women ages 50-69 This conclusion is based on a review of published and unpublished data from eight randomized controlled trials

2004 Data from the Womens Health Initiative (WHI) study show that women who take estrogen in combination with the hormone progestin have a greater risk of developing breast cancer than women who take estrogen alone The results also show that menopausal hormone therapy with estrogen alone has no benefit in disease prevention specifically in reducing the risks of colorectal cancer coronary heart disease and dementia

1976

1981

1993

2004

Although we still have a long way to go to reduce the toll of cancer in the United States and worldwide our research and public health efforts are beginning to pay dividends

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

Volunteering vs Participating13 My girl friend and I are involved in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation The local chapter raises awareness for the cause with a fun-run each year We have volunteered to help with the race five years in a row This year we were stationed at a water table where the runners pick-up cups of water to drink Toward the end of the race there are very few runners There was a little time to chat about things We were talking about what we would wish for if we could have three wishes I told her I would wish for an end to Juvenile Diabetes and to lose 10 pounds Being nice I said ldquoyou can have my last wishrdquo She said I wish you would skip volunteering and just run this race next year

Admission Price Our aquatic center was having a promotion one night and advertised an elementary school night The kids could swim for free When we got to the pool we saw a promotional sign for the event In small lettering it read All swimmers must be accompanied by an adult We thought no big deal one of us can just stay and watch When we got to the front desk we found the lifeguard was enforcing the adult-admission price of $8

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CNFI Publishing - Products Books Chapbooks Bookmarks Plaques and Poetry Collector Cards Merchandising Products Coffee Mugs Mouse Pads Tiles 3x6 Coasters T - Shirts and Wall Plaques More info athttpliveadsFitnessDigestus

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

Featured PhotosFitnessDigestus feature

Chicago open water swim course at nighttop left

Kids race at Bicycle Blues and BBQtop right

Some team members volunteer at the local soup kitchenmiddle right

Ken Mauer loads the balls for hitting practice during a Twins baseball camp for

children 7-13 bottom right

Get your local event photos published in the next issue of FitnessDigestus E-mail

your photo to photoFitnessDigestus

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As he turned to go on he spat speculatively There was a sharp explosive crackle that startled him He spat again And again in the air before it could fall to the snow the spittle crackled He knew that at fifty below spittle crackled on the snow but this spittle had crackled in the air Undoubtedly it was colder than fifty below--how much colder he did not know But the temperature did not matter He was bound for the old claim on the left fork of Henderson Creek where the boys were already They had come over across the divide from the Indian Creek country while he had come the roundabout way to take a look at the possibilities of getting out logs in the spring from the islands in the Yukon He would be in to camp by six oclock a bit after dark it was true but the boys would be there a fire would be going and a hot supper would be ready As for lunch he pressed his hand against the protruding bundle under his jacket It was also under his shirt wrapped up in a handkerchief and lying against the naked skin It was the only way to keep the biscuits from freezing He smiled agreeably to himself as he thought of those biscuits each cut open and sopped in bacon grease and each enclosing a generous slice of fried bacon

He plunged in among the big spruce trees The trail was faint A foot of snow had fallen since the last sled had passed over and he was glad he was without a sled traveling light In fact he carried nothing but the lunch wrapped in the handkerchief He was surprised however at the cold It certainly was cold he concluded as he rubbed his numb nose and cheek-bones with his mittened hand He was a warm-whiskered man but the hair on his face did not protect the high cheek-bones and the eager nose that thrust itself aggressively into the frosty air

At the mans heels trotted a dog a big native husky the proper wolf-dog gray-coated and without any visible or temperamental difference from its brother the wild wolf The animal was depressed by the tremendous cold It knew that it was no time for

traveling Its instinct told it a truer tale than was told to the man by the mans judgment In reality it was not merely colder than fifty below zero it was colder than sixty below than seventy below It was seventy-five below zero Since the freezing point is thirty-two above zero it meant that one hundred and seven degrees of frost obtained The dog did not know anything about thermometers Possibly in its brain there was no sharp consciousness of a condition of very cold such as was in the mans brain But the brute had its instinct It experienced a vague but menacing apprehension that subdued it then made it slink along at the mans heels and that made it question eagerly every unwonted movement of the man as if expecting him to go into camp or to seek shelter somewhere and build a fire The dog had learned fire and it wanted fire or else to burrow under the snow and cuddle its warmth away from the air

The frozen moisture of its breathing had settled on its fur in a fine powder of frost and especially were its jowls muzzle and eyelashes whitened by its cry-stalled breath The mans red beard and mustache were likewise frosted but more solidly the deposit taking the form of ice and increasing with every warm moist breath he exhaled Also the man was chewing tobacco and the muzzle of ice held his lips so rigidly that he was unable to clear his chin when he expelled the juice The result was that a crystal beard of the color and solidity of amber was increasing its length on his chin If he fell down it would shatter itself like glass into brittle fragments But he did not mind the appendage It was the penalty all tobacco-chewers paid in that country and he had been out before in two cold snaps They had not been so cold as this he knew but by the spirit thermometer at Sixty Mile he knew they had been registered at fifty below and at fifty-five

He held on through the level stretch of woods for several miles crossed a wide flat of rigger-heads and dropped down a bank to the frozen bed of a

To Build a FireContinued

small stream This was Henderson Creek and he knew he was ten miles from the forks He looked at his watch It was ten oclock He was making four miles an hour and he calculated that he would arrive at the forks at half-past twelve He decided to celebrate that event by eating his lunch there

The dog dropped in again at his heels with a tail drooping discouragement as the man swung along the creek-bed The furrow of the old sled-trail was plainly visible but a dozen inches of snow covered the marks of the last runners In a month no man had come up or down that silent creek The man held steadily on He was not much given to thinking and just then particularly he had nothing to think about save that he would eat lunch at-the forks and that at six oclock he would be in camp with the boys There was nobody to talk to and had there been speech would have been impossible because of the ice-muzzle on his mouth So he continued monotonously to chew tobacco and to increase the length of his amber beard

Once in a while the thought reiterated itself that it was very cold and that he had never experienced such cold As he walked along he rubbed his cheek-bones and nose with the back of his mittened hand He did this automatically now and again changing hands But rub as he would the instant he stopped his cheek-bones went numb and the following instant the end of his nose went numb He was sure to frost his cheeks he knew that and experienced a pang of regret that he had not devised a nose-strap of the sort Bud wore in cold snaps Such a strap passed across the cheeks as well and saved them But it didnt matter much after all What were frosted cheeks A bit painful that was all they were never serious

Empty as the mans mind was of thoughts he was keenly observant and he noticed the changes in the creek the curves and bends and timber jams and always he sharply noted where he placed his feet Once coming around a bend he shied abruptly

like a startled horse curved away from the place where he had been walking and retreated several paces back along the trail The creek he knew was frozen clear to the bottom--no creek could contain water in that arctic winter--but he knew also that there were springs that bubbled out from the hillsides and ran along under the snow and on top the ice of the creek He knew that the coldest snaps never froze these springs and he knew likewise their danger They were traps They hid pools of water under the snow that might be three inches deep or three feet Sometimes a skin of ice half an inch thick covered them and in turn was covered by the snow Sometimes there were alternate layers of water and ice-skin so that when one broke through he kept on breaking through for a while sometimes wetting himself to the waist

That was why he had shied in such panic He had felt the give under his feet and heard the crackle of a snow-hidden ice-skin And to get his feet wet in such a temperature meant trouble and danger At the very least it meant delay for he would be forced to stop and build a fire and under its protection to bare his feet while he dried his socks and moccasins He stood and studied the creek-bed and its banks and decided that the flow of water came from the right He reflected a while rubbing his nose and cheeks then skirted to the left stepping gingerly and testing the footing for each step Once clear of the danger he took a fresh chew of tobacco and swung along at his four-mile gait

In the course of the next two hours he came upon several similar traps Usually the snow above the hidden pools had a sunken candied appearance that advertised the danger Once again however he had a close call and once suspecting danger he compelled the dog to go on in front The dog did not want to go It hung back until the man shoved it forward and then it went quickly across the white unbroken surface Suddenly it broke through floundered to one side and got away to firmer

To Build a FireContinued

To Build a FireContinued

footing It had wet its forefeet and legs and almost immediately the water that clung to it turned to ice It made quick efforts to lick the ice off its legs then dropped down in the snow and began to bite out the ice that had formed between the toes l his was a matter of instinct To permit the ice to remain would mean sore feet It did not know this It merely obeyed the mysterious prompting that arose from the deep crypts of its being But the man knew having achieved a judgment on the subject and he removed the mitten from his right hand and helped tear out the ice-particles He did not expose his fingers more than a minute and was astonished at the swift numbness that smote them It certainly was cold He pulled on the mitten hastily and beat the hand savagely across his chest

At twelve oclock the day was at its brightest Yet the sun was too far south an its winter journey to clear the horizon The bulge of the earth intervened between it arid Henderson Creek where the man walked under a clear sky at noon and cast no shadow At half-past twelve to the minute he arrived at the forks of the creek He was pleased at the speed he had made If he kept it up he would certainly be with the boys by six He unbuttoned his jacket and shirt and drew forth his lunch The action consumed no more than a quarter of a minute yet in that brief moment the numbness laid hold of the exposed fingers He did not put the mitten on but instead struck the fingers a dozen sharp smashes against his leg Then he sat down on a snow-covered log to eat The sting that followed upon the striking of his fingers against his leg ceased so quickly that he was startled He had had no chance to take a bite of biscuit He struck the fingers repeatedly and returned them to the mitten baring the other hand for the purpose of eating He tried to take a mouthful but the ice-muzzle prevented He had forgotten to build a fire and thaw out He chuckled at his foolishness and as he chuckled he noted the numbness creeping into the exposed fingers Also he noted that the stinging which had first come to his

toes when he sat down was already passing away He wandered whether the toes were warm or numb He moved them inside the moccasins and decided that they were numb

He pulled the mitten on hurriedly and stood up He was a bit frightened He stamped up and down until the stinging returned into the feet It certainly was cold was his thought That man from Sulphur Creek had spoken the truth when telling how cold it sometimes got in the country And he had laughed at him at the time That showed one must not be too sure of things There was no mistake about it it was cold He strode up and down stamping his feet and threshing his arms until reassured by the returning warmth Then he got out matches and proceeded to make a fire From the undergrowth where high water of the previous spring had lodged a supply of seasoned twigs he got his firewood Working carefully from a small beginning he soon had a roaring fire over which he thawed the ice from his face and in the protection of which he ate his biscuits For the moment the cold space was outwitted The dog took satisfaction in the fire stretching out close enough for warmth and far enough away to escape being singed

When the man had finished be filled his pipe and took his comfortable time over a smoke Then he pulled on his mittens settled the ear-flaps of his cap firmly about his ears and took the creek trail up the left fork The dog was disappointed and yearned back toward the fire This man did not know cold Possibly all the generations of his ancestry had been ignorant of cold of real cold of cold one hundred and seven degrees below freezing point But the dog knew all its ancestry knew and it had inherited the knowledge And it knew that it was not good to walk abroad in such fearful cold It was the time to lie snug in a hole in the snow and wait for a curtain of cloud to be drawn across the face of outer space whence this cold came On the other hand there was no keen intimacy between the dog and the man

The one was the toil-slave of the other and the only caresses it had ever received were the caresses of the whiplash and of harsh and menacing throat-sounds that threatened the whiplash So the dog made no effort to communicate its apprehension to the man It was not concerned in the welfare of the man it was for its own sake that it yearned back toward the fire But the man whistled and spoke to it with the sound of whiplashes and the dog swung in at the mans heel and followed after

The man took a chew of tobacco and proceeded to start a new amber beard Also his moist breath quickly powdered with white his mustache eyebrows and lashes There did not seem to be so many springs on the left fork of the Henderson and for half an hour the man saw no signs of any And then it happened At a place where there were no signs where the soft unbroken snow seemed to advertise solidity beneath tee man broke through It was not deep He wet himself halfway to the knees before he floundered out to the firm crust

He was angry and cursed his luck aloud He had hoped to get into camp with the boys at six oclock and this would delay him an hour for he would have to build a fire and dry out his foot-gear This was imperative at that low temperature--he knew that much and he turned aside to the bank which he climbed On top tangled in the underbrush about the trunks of several small spruce trees was a high-water deposit of dry firewood--sticks and twigs principally but also larger portions of seasoned branches and fine dry last-years grasses He threw down several large pieces on top of the snow This served for a foundation and prevented the young flame from drowning itself in the snow it otherwise would melt The flame he got by touching a match to a small shred of birch bark that he took from his pocket This burned even more readily than paper Placing it on the foundation he fed the young flame with wisps of dry grass and with the tiniest dry twigs

He worked slowly and carefully keenly aware of his danger Gradually as the flame grew stronger he increased the size of the twigs with which he fed it He squatted in the snow pulling the twigs out from their entanglement in the brush and feeding directly to the flame He knew there must be no failure When it is seventy-five below zero a man must not fail in his first attempt to build a fire--that is if his feet are wet If his feet are dry and he fails he can run along the trail for half a mile and restore his circulation But the circulation of wet and freezing feet cannot be restored by running when it is seventy-five below No matter how fast he runs the wet feet will freeze the harder

All this the man knew The old-timer on Sulphur Creek had told him about it the previous fall and now he was appreciating the advice Already all sensation had gone out of his feet To build the fire he had been forced to remove his mittens and the fingers had quickly gone numb His pace of four miles an hour had kept his heart pumping blood to the surface of his body and to all the extremities But the instant he stopped the action of the pump eased down The cold of space smote the unprotected tip of the planet and he being on that unprotected tip received the full force of the blow The blood of his body recoiled before it The blood was alive like the dog and like the dog it wanted to hide away and cover itself up from the fearful cold So long as he walked four miles an hour he pumped that blood willy-nilly to the surface but now it ebbed away and sank down into the recesses of his body The extremities were the first to feel its absence His wet feet froze the faster and his exposed fingers numbed the faster though they had not yet begun to freeze Nose and cheeks were already freezing while the skin of all his body chilled as it lost its blood

But he was safe Toes and nose and cheeks would be only touched by the frost for the fire was beginning to burn with strength He was feeding it

To Build a FireContinued

with twigs the size of his finger In another minute he would be able to feed it with branches the size of his wrier and then he could remove his wet toot-gear and while it dried he could keep his naked feet warm by the fire rubbing them at first of course with snow The fire was a success He was safe He remembered the advice of the old timer on Sulphur Creek and smiled The old-timer had been very serious in laying down the law that no man must travel alone in the Klondike after fifty below Well here he was he had had the accident he was alone and he had saved himself Those old-timers were rather womanish some of them he thought All a man had to do was to keep his head and he was all right Any man who was a man could travel alone But it was surprising the rapidity with which his cheeks and nose were freezing And he had not thought his fingers could go lifeless in so short a time Lifeless they were for he could scarcely make them move together to grip a twig and they seemed remote from his body and from him When he touched a twig he had to look and see whether or not he had hold of it The wires were pretty well down between him and his finger-ends

All of which counted for little There was the fire snapping and crackling and promising life with every dancing flame He started to untie his moccasins They were coated with ice the thick German socks were like sheaths of iron halfway to the knees and the moccasin strings were like rods of steel all twisted and knotted as by some conflagration For a moment he tugged with his numb fingers then realizing the folly of it he drew his sheath-knife

But before he could cut the strings it happened It was his own fault or rather his mistake He should not have built the fire under the spruce tree He should have built it in the open But it had been easier to pull the twigs from the brush and drop them directly on the fire Now the tree under which

he had done this carried a weight of snow on its boughs No wind had blown for weeks and each bough was fully freighted Each time he had pulled a twig he had communicated a slight agitation to the tree--an imperceptible agitation so far as he was concerned but an agitation sufficient to bring about the disaster High up in the tree one bough capsized its load of snow This fell on the boughs beneath capsizing them This process continued spreading out and involving the whole tree It grew like an avalanche and it descended without warning upon the man and the fire and the fire was blotted out Where it had burned was a mantle of fresh and disordered snow

The man was shocked It was as though he had just heard his own sentence of death For a moment he sat and stared at the spot where the fire had been Then he grew very calm Perhaps the old-timer on Sulphur Creek was right If he had only had a trail-mate he would have been in no danger now The trail-mate could have built the fire Well it was up to him to build the fire over again and this second time there must be no failure Even if he succeeded he would most likely lose some toes His feet must be badly frozen by now and there would be some time before the second fire Was ready

Such were his thoughts but he did not sit and think them He was busy all the time they were passing through his mind He made a new foundation for a fire this time in the open where no treacherous tree could blot it out Next he gathered dry grasses and tiny twigs from the high-water flotsam He could not bring his fingers together to pull them out but he was able to gather them by the handful In this way he got many rotten twigs and bits of green moss that were undesirable but it was the best he could do He worked methodically even collecting an armful of the larger branches to be used later when the fire gathered strength And all the while the dog sat and watched him a certain yearning wistfulness in its eyes for it looked upon

To Build a FireContinued

him as the fire-provider and the fire was slow in coming

When all was ready the man reached in his pocket for a second piece of birch bark He knew the bark was there and though he could not feel it with his fingers he could hear its crisp rustling as he fumbled for it Try as he would he could not clutch hold of it And all the time in his consciousness was the knowledge that each instant his feet were freezing This thought tended to put him in a panic but he fought against it and kept calm He pulled on his mittens with his teeth and threshed his arms back and forth beating his hands with all his might against his sides He did this sitting down and he stood up to do it and all the while the dog sat in the snow its wolf-brush of a tail curled around warmly over its forefeet its sharp wolf-ears pricked forward intently as it watched the man And the man as he beat and threshed with his arms and hands felt a great surge of envy as he regarded the creature that was warm ant secure in its natural covering

After a time he was aware of the first far-away signals of sensation in his beaten fingers The faint tingling grew stronger till it evolved into a stinging ache that was excruciating but which the man hailed with satisfaction He stripped the mitten from his right hand and fetched forth the birch bark The exposed fingers were quickly going numb again Next he brought out his bunch of sulphur matches But the tremendous cold had already driven the life out of his fingers In his effort to separate one match from the others the whole bunch fell in the snow He tried to pick it out of the snow but failed The dead fingers could neither touch nor clutch He was very careful He drove the thought of his freezing feet and nose and cheeks out of his mind devoting his whole soul to the matches He watched using the sense of vision in place of that of touch and when he saw his fingers on each side the bunch he dosed them--that is he willed to close them for the wires were down and the fingers did not obey He pulled

the mitten on the right hand and beat it fiercely against his knee Then with both mittened hands he scooped the bunch of matches along with much snow into his lap Yet he was no better off

After some manipulation he managed to get the bunch between the heels of his mittened hands In this fashion he carried it to his mouth The ice crackled and snapped when by a violent effort he opened his mouth He drew the lower jaw in curled the upper lip out of the way and scraped the bunch with his upper teeth in order to separate a match He succeeded in getting one which he dropped on his lap He was no better off He could not pick it up Then he devised a way He picked it up in his teeth and scratched it on his leg Twenty times he scratched before he succeeded in lighting it As it flamed he held it with his teeth to the birch bark But the burning brimstone went up his nostrils and into his lungs causing him to cough spasmodically The match fell into the snow and went out

The old-timer an Sulphur Creek was right he thought in the moment of controlled despair that ensued after fifty below a man should travel with a partner He beat his hands but failed in exciting any sensation Suddenly he bared both hands removing the mittens with his teeth He caught the whole bunch between the heels of his hands His arm muscles not being frozen enabled him to press the hand-heels tightly against the matches Then he scratched the bunch along his leg It flared into flame seventy sulphur matches at once There was no wind to blow them out He kept his head to one side to escape the strangling fumes and held the blazing bunch to the birth bark As he so held it he became aware of sensation in his hand His flesh was burning He could smell it Deep down below the surface he could feel it The sensation developed into pain that grew acute And still he endured it holding the flame of the matches clumsily to the bark that would not light readily because his own burning hands were in the way absorbing most of the flame

To Build a FireContinued

At last when he could endure no more he jerked his hands apart The blazing matches fell sizzling into the snow but the birch bark was alight He began laying dry grasses and the tiniest twigs on the flame He could not pick and choose for he had to lift the fuel between the heels of his hands Small pieces of rotten wood and green moss clung to the twigs and he bit them off as well as he could with his teeth He cherished the flame carefully and awkwardly It meant life and it must not perish The withdrawal of blood from the surface of his body now made him begin to shiver and he grew more awkward A large piece of green moss fell squarely on the little fire He tried to poke it out with his fingers but his shivering frame made him poke too far and he disrupted the nucleus of the little fire the burning grasses and tiny twigs separating and scattering He tried to poke them together again but in spite of the tenseness of the effort his shivering got away with him and the twigs were hopelessly scattered Each twig gushed a puff of smoke and went out The fire-provider had failed As he looked apathetically about him his eyes chanced on the dog sitting across the ruins of the fire from him in the snow making restless hunching movements slightly lifting one forefoot and then the other shifting its weight back and forth on them with wistful eagerness

The sight of the dog put a wild idea into his head He remembered the tale of the man caught in a blizzard who killed a steer and crawled inside the carcass and so was saved He would kill the dog and bury his hands in the warm body until the numbness went out of them Then he could build another fire He spoke to the dog calling it to him but in his voice was a strange note of fear that frightened the animal who had never known the man to speak in such way before Something was the matter and its suspicious nature sensed danger--it knew not what danger but somewhere somehow in its brain arose an apprehension of the man It flattened its ears down at the sound of the mans voice and its restless

hunching movements and the liftings and shiftings of its forefeet became more pronounced but it would not come to the man He got on his hands and knees and crawled toward the dog This unusual posture again excited suspicion and the animal sidled mincingly away

The man sat up in the snow for a moment and struggled for calmness Then he pulled on his mittens by means of his teeth and got upon his feet He glanced down at first in order to assure himself that he was really standing up for the absence of sensation in his feet left him unrelated to the earth His erect position in itself started to drive the webs of suspicion from the dogs mind and when he spoke peremptorily with the sound of whiplashes in his voice the dog rendered its customary allegiance and came to him As it came within reaching distance the man lost his control His arms flashed out to the dog and he experienced genuine surprise when he discovered that his hands could not clutch that there was neither bend nor feeling in the fingers He had forgotten for the moment that they were frozen and that they were freezing more and more All this happened quickly and before the animal could get away he encircled its body with his arms He sat down in the snow and in this fashion held the dog while it snarled and whined and struggled

But it was all he could do hold its body encircled in his arms and sit there He realized that he could not kill the dog There was no way to do it With his helpless hands he could neither draw nor hold his sheath knife nor throttle the animal He released it and it plunged wildly away with tail between its legs and still snarling It halted forty feet away and surveyed him curiously with ears sharply pricked forward The man looked down at his hands in order to locate them and found them hanging on the ends of his arms It struck him as curious that one should have to use his eyes in order to find out where his hands were He began threshing his arms back and forth beating the mittened hands against

To Build a FireContinued

his sides He did this for five minutes violently and his heart pumped enough blood up to the surface to put a stop to his shivering But no sensation was aroused in the hands He had an impression that they hung like weights on the ends of his arms but when he tried to run the impression down he could not find it

A certain fear of death dull and oppressive came to him This fear quickly became poignant as he realized that it was no longer a mere matter of freezing his fingers and toes or of losing his hands and feet but that it was a matter of life and death with the chances against him This threw him into a panic and he turned and ran up the creek-bed along the old dim trail The dog joined in behind and kept up with him He ran blindly without intention in fear such as he had never known in his life Slowly as he plowed and floundered through the snow he began to see things again the banks of the creek the old timber-jams the leafless aspens and the sky The running made him feel better He did not shiver Maybe if he ran on his feet would thaw out and anyway if he ran far enough he would reach camp and the boys Without doubt he would lose some fingers and toes and some of his face but the boys would take care of him and save the rest of him when he got there And at the same time there was another thought in his mind that said he would never get to the camp and the boys that it was too many miles away that the freezing had too great a start on him and that he would soon be stiff and dead This thought he kept in the background and refused to consider Sometimes it pushed itself forward and demanded to be heard but he thrust it back and strove to think of other things

It struck him as curious that he could run at all on feet so frozen that he could not feel them when they struck the earth and took the weigh of his body He seemed to himself to skim along above the surface and to have no connection with the earth Somewhere he had once seen a winged Mercury

and he wondered if Mercury felt as he felt when skimming over the earth

His theory of running until he reached camp and the boys had one flaw in it he lacked the endurance Several times he stumbled and finally he tottered crumpled up and fell When he tried to rise he failed He must sit and rest he decided and next time he would merely walk and keep on going As he sat and regained his breath he noted that he was feeling quite warm and comfortable He was not shivering and it even seemed that a warm glow had come to his chest and trunk And yet when he touched his nose or cheeks there was no sensation Running would not thaw them out Nor would it thaw out his hands and feet Then the thought came to him that the frozen portions of his body must be extending He tried to keep this thought down to forget it to think of something else he was aware of the panicky feeling that it caused and he was afraid of the panic But the thought asserted itself and persisted until it produced a vision of his body totally frozen This was too much and he made another wild run along the trail Once he slowed down to a walk but the thought of the freezing extending itself made him run again

And all the time the dog ran with him at his heels When he fell down a second time it curled its tad over its forefeet and sat in front of him facing him curiously eager and intent The warmth and security of the animal angered him and he cursed it till it flattened down its ears appealingly This time the shivering came more quickly upon the man He was losing in his battle with the frost It was creeping into his body from all sides The thought of it drove him on but he ran no more than a hundred feet when he staggered and pitched headlong It was his last panic When he had recovered his breath and control he sat up and entertained in his mind the conception of meeting death with dignity However the conception did not come to him in such terms His idea of it was that he had been making a fool of

To Build a FireContinued

himself running around like a chicken with its head cut off--such was the simile that occurred to him Well he was bound to freeze anyway and he might as well take it decently With this new-found peace of mind came the first glimmerings of drowsiness A good idea he thought to sleep off to death It was like salting an anesthetic Freezing was not so bad as people thought There were lots worse ways to die

He pictured the boys finding his body next day Suddenly he found himself with them coming along the trail and looking for himself And still with them he came around a turn in the trail and found himself lying in the snow He did not belong with himself any more for even then he was out of himself standing with the boys and looking at himself in the snow It certainly was cold was his thought When he got back to the States he could tell the folks what real cold was He drifted on from this to a vision of the old-timer on Sulphur Creek He could see him quite clearly warm and comfortable and smoking a pipe

You were right old boss you were right the man mumbled to the old-timer of Sulphur Creek

Then the man drowsed off into what seemed to him the most comfortable and satisfying sleep he had ever known The dog sat facing him and waiting The brief day drew to a close in a long slow twilight There were no signs of a fire to be made and besides never in the dogs experience had it known a man to sit like that in the snow and make no fire As the twilight drew on its eager yearning for the fire mastered it and with a great lifting and shifting of forefeet it whined softly then flattened its ears down in anticipation of being chidden by the man But the man remained silent Later the dog whined loudly And still later it crept close to the man and caught the scent of death This made the animal bristle and back away A little longer it delayed howling under the stars that leaped and danced and shone brightly in the cold sky Then it turned and trotted up the trail in the direction of the camp it knew where were the other food-providers and fire-providers

To Build a FireContinued

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Stories are published for ALL FitnessDigestus readers Archived professionally and digitally in thousands of libraries

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Page 37: FitnessDigest.us Vol. 4.3 Cover

On Wednesday May 16 2012 at 7 PM simultaneous rides occurred around the

USA and the world

We all ride Now we can ride as one

One day One time One world world wide

Let the silence roar

322 locations world wide

The Ride of SilenceTonight we number many but ride as one

In honor of those not with us friends

mothers fathers sisters sons

With helmets on tight and heads down low

We ride in silence cautious and slow

The wheels start spinning in the lead pack

But tonight we ride and no one attacks

The dark sunglasses cover our tears

Remembering those we held so dear

Tonights ride is to make others aware

The road is there for all to share

To those not with us or by our side

May God be your partner on your final ride

- Mike Murgas

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 50 states

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 7 Continents

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 0 words spoken

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 1 million memories

Ride of Silence

ldquoCost-effective investments in bicycling boost our economy help individuals and government agencies save money and directly address key societal challenges such as obesity and road congestion In these tough economic times our federal government can only afford to invest in solutions that solve multiple problems Bicycling fits the billrdquo ndash PeopleForBikesorg

This photo collection was taken byRobert LaVallee of Mason City IA

To see his entire collection visithttpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

Non-subscriberSign-up for delivery of

the FREE edition at coopnetbiz

It provides an outstanding aerobic workout in less than half the time we would spend in still water It has allowed us as swim coaches to observe swimmers stroke characteristics up close and to see the effects of fatigue on stroke mechanics ~ Larry L Chazy NY

Swimming is an excellent exercise and now I can swim every day because its so convenient and private I can swim when I want and how long I want Im able to have it at a temperature that is comfortable to me The small size of an Endless Pool enabled me to install a pool where I could not install a regular size one

As an aging baby boomer nutrition professional I have yearned for consistent exercise that doesnt stress joints and will enable me to attain physical fitness cardiovascular health and weight control I can eat what I want and still firm up and lose weight ~ John C Columbus OH

Endless Pools make for long swims in small places The 8x15 Endless Pool is less than regulation size but offers the same benefits as a very large pool ~ Noah H Connecticut Post

The Endless Pool is a great strength builder I am amazed at the strength of the current I now swim against I did not buy it for that reason but because of my arthritis so the strength gain is a wonderful surprise

Endless PoolsTestimonials For more information visit httpLIveAdsFitnessDigestus

s w i m m i n g s h o r t s

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Baseball Walking Stick13 My sons friend grabbed his baseball bat and said to me this is my walking stick I politely ask him why he calls it that He replied because my dad says if I hit a home run with it I donrsquot have to run the bases ndash I can walk

My Bike My mountain bike was stolen a while back and my kids were really upset Ive been riding my road bike in its place Since then Ive been careful to lock my bike up when we go to the park

13 On this occasion I did not lock-up my sonrsquos bike up with mine He looked at me quizzically and said sternly lock my bike up too I tried to explain that his bike was not as expensive and therefor didnt need to be locked up Boy that was a mistake He made me feel a little dumb when he said Dad I dont care how expensive it is Its the only bike Irsquove got

North Iowa Roads

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A LEADER inSearch Engine Optimization

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Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

parent sports tipBy FitnessDigestus staff writer JGA

PAR

EN

T

TIP

Keeping Kids Focused13 Organize their thoughts Help them prioritize and make decisions based on value Even kids can understand the value of simple non-monetized choices Questions like ldquoShould I finish playing my gameboy game or pause it when they call my swimming eventrdquo

If kids are taught to make good decisions and not just find quick answers everyone wins

AugustGolf Month5th Friendship Day15th Relaxation Day25th Kiss and Make Up Day31st Trail Mix DaySeptemberLittle League Month12th Chocolate Milk Shake Day13th Positive Thinking Day16th Womenrsquos Friendship Day21st Miniature Golf DayOctoberBreast Cancer Awareness MonthNational Diabetes Month1st World Vegetarian Day4th Golf Day25th World Pasta Day

National Calendar

Au

gu

stSe

pte

mb

er

Oc

tob

er

Encourage friendships writing skills sharing thoughts and

experiencesEight different cards

YAGOTTAWANNA

Variety of pricing From single orders to bulk orders of 24 notecards

Learn more online

Stay in touch with your swimming or triathlon buddies

It is better to be safe then to try to beat the heat There are many options to stay cool and run during a hot-summer day Staying inside and running on the treadmill is a good one Remember staying safe is a top priority

Most workouts can be modified to work indoors This issuersquos workout is to do your usual run or interval set just stay inside and run it on the treadmill Visualize the different landmarks to see during your outdoor run

Coach Millerrsquos Quarterly ChallengeStay safe in the heatBy Mark Miller mmillerFitnessDigestus

A few years back we had a hot-spell similar to this yearrsquos record heat

I remember training for a long run and having to stop at the local swimming hole to cool off I literally took off my

shoes and jumped in with my running clothes on I was so hot

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OPEN WATER SWIMMING BY THE NUMBERS

In kilometers The shortest open water race included in the Fina World Championships

10107 How many miles it

is to swim from Cuba to the USA

5

1000Number of swimming strokes in a mile for a typical swimmer

31800About the number of calories it takes to swim 100 miles

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The minimum open water distance in kilometers that is considered a swimming-

marathon

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Open water safety means swimming in shallow water where there is a lifeguard or using an escort

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24 Hoursa Day

WaynesSkiandCyclenet

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Googles

13 Swimming fans can really appreciate a 200 IM when their goggles fill with water How about an Olympian Swimming a leg of the 400 Free Relay with his goggles across his opened mouth ndash and going 45rsquos A great team swimmer an Olympian wouldnrsquot let down his teammates by throwing them off or fixing them

500 Fly13 A world class butterflyer asked if he could swim butterfly in the 500 yard freestyle during a dual meet His goal was to break five minutes After considering the competition it seemed like a great way to make him really work a hard fly swim so we agreed Problem was he swam a 502 and the opposing coach complained to the officials because he embarrassed his swimmers Oh well you canrsquot win lsquoem all

Stories sent in by Robert Steele

No-No-No13 The other morning I was teaching front-streamlines to snotty nosed 8 year olds (some are literally snotty-nosed) One boy was taking a big gulp of air and holding his breath When he lifted his head he had to exhale and inhale before submerging again Swimmers will understand this does not work very well Kids need to learn to exhale underwater The first time he did it I told him to exhale underwater The second time I stopped him looked him in the eye and reminded him to exhale underwater The third and fourth times I started to get a little frustrated ldquoJohnny you need to exhale underwater so you can breath betterrdquo The fifth time as his head popped up for a breath I quickly asked ldquoJohnny Do you even know what exhale meansrdquo as he submerged his head below the water I could see him shake his head no-no-no

Favorite Potato Chips13We try to limit the junk food the kids eat at our house For lunch one day our son wanted some potato chips I gave him 3 large chips with his sandwich He started to cry and said he wanted one more chip ldquoI wanted four chipsrdquo he screamed I took the plate back When he wasnt looking I broke a chip in half and give it back to him with four chips

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

13 My cancer story is one of uniqueness Leave it to me to do something like cancer to its fullest It did not begin with a mammogram diagnosis or a lump My journey began about 4 years ago with some suspicious activity that turned into Pagetrsquos disease of the nipple which signaled the underlying cancer On April 1st I found out about my breast cancer through a biopsy that came back as positive for Pagetrsquos disease The onslaught of tests learning and decisions were dizzying I immediately went for an evaluation of the suspicious tissue and had to begin making decisions for my mastectomy I quickly learned there is a test called the BRAC Analysis which is a genetic test for breast and ovarian cancer Finally a piece of good news for me I did not have the gene

Decisions Now it was time to make decisions about my mastectomy and how I was going to handle reconstruction I discussed my options with my boyfriend Brian friends family members and even my principalboss I read books searched the Internet and contacted people I

Brandi ShipmanCancer Survivor and elite triathlete

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

know and knew from my past that had been directly affected and that I thought might have answers for me The outpouring of love encouragement and help during this process was overwhelming After meeting with four different doctors two surgeons and two plastic surgeons I decided to go with immediate reconstruction and was lucky enough to find two wonderful doctors They were willing to work together just because I wanted them to even though they had never done so before My surgery was scheduled for mid May

Mental Toughness13 My mental preparation at this point was very important I had to scrap any idea of competing in triathlons for the rest of the year and focus on a positive attitude of getting better I stopped thinking about what I wasnrsquot going to able to do and started thinking about what I could do that I was alive and kept my mind on the fact that so many others had made it before me

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links

Part 213 I was prepared by the doctors survivors and literature to be ldquodownrdquo for several weeks after my surgery I even took the rest of the school year off My surgery went well and I was out of the hospital the next day A few friends came to visit while I was in the hospital and my principal and vice principal brought the most wonderful picture of the faculty wearing pink for me I can only imagine what it looked like at Thornton Elementary on that day in May 2009 a sea of pink all for Brandi Shipman Shortly after their visit I received a text from my friend Margie Massey My friends from the gym wore pink for me that day as well The support brought tears to my eyes I was so excited to come home and be comfortable in my own home I just wish the stupid drain that was attached could have stayed at the hospital The pain from that was worse than the pain from the mastectomy

the most

powerful picture

13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Recovery ndash May13 Once I got home I slept and watched a lot of TV Friends visited and brought yummy food and my favorites I am not supposed to eat I ate them all My friend and co-worker set up a cancer care calendar that alerted anyone who logged on when I was having a doctorrsquos appointment or when I was in need of anything I felt like royalty as everyone took care of me I think Brian secretly enjoyed the fact that he wouldnrsquot have to cook for me each night My recovery was quicker than I thought as I was doing my best to get better and get the stinkinrsquo drain out of my skin I was out walking within a week and running within 3 weeks I couldnrsquot believe my recovery I know it was from all the prayers love and good care from Brian and the loved ones around me Life was looking better each day

ldquoLife was looking

better each dayrdquo

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Part three and part

four of I am Survivor

will be published in

the next edition of

FitnessDigestus

Get the convenience of

digital-delivery

Sign-up or subscribe at

httpFitnessDigestus

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During the past 150 years we have witnessed many remarkable advances against cancer a disease known to humanity for thousands of years The advances highlighted below represent a sampling of what has been accomplished to date

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

1882 William Halsted performs the first radical mastectomy to treat breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast the lymph nodes under the arm (axillary lymph nodes) and the chest muscles behind the breast (pectoralis major and pectoralis minor muscles) are removed Radical mastectomy will remain the standard operation for breast cancer until latter half of the 20th century when the use of modified radical mastectomy becomes widely accepted

1932 David H Patey develops the modified radical mastectomy for breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast axillary lymph nodes and pectoralis minor muscle behind the breast are removed The modified radical mastectomy is less disfiguring than the radical mastectomy and will eventually replace the radical mastectomy as a standard treatment option for breast cancer

1953 James Watson and Francis Crick discover the molecular structure of DNA (the double helix)

1963 The Health Insurance Plan (HIP) of Greater New York Study begins HIP is the first randomized controlled trial of periodic breast cancer screening with mammography

1882

1932

1953

1963

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1976 The results of a randomized clinical trial show that women with early breast cancer who receive post-operative (adjuvant) combination chemotherapy with the drugs cyclophosphamide methotrexate and 5-FU have improved disease-free survival

1981 A randomized clinical trial in the United Kingdom shows for the first time that the rates of survival local recurrence and tumor metastasis among women whose breast cancer is treated with modified radical mastectomy are not substantially different from those of women who are treated with radical mastectomy

1993 An NCI-convened international workshop on screening for breast cancer reports that screening with mammography reduces breast cancer mortality among women ages 50-69 This conclusion is based on a review of published and unpublished data from eight randomized controlled trials

2004 Data from the Womens Health Initiative (WHI) study show that women who take estrogen in combination with the hormone progestin have a greater risk of developing breast cancer than women who take estrogen alone The results also show that menopausal hormone therapy with estrogen alone has no benefit in disease prevention specifically in reducing the risks of colorectal cancer coronary heart disease and dementia

1976

1981

1993

2004

Although we still have a long way to go to reduce the toll of cancer in the United States and worldwide our research and public health efforts are beginning to pay dividends

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

Volunteering vs Participating13 My girl friend and I are involved in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation The local chapter raises awareness for the cause with a fun-run each year We have volunteered to help with the race five years in a row This year we were stationed at a water table where the runners pick-up cups of water to drink Toward the end of the race there are very few runners There was a little time to chat about things We were talking about what we would wish for if we could have three wishes I told her I would wish for an end to Juvenile Diabetes and to lose 10 pounds Being nice I said ldquoyou can have my last wishrdquo She said I wish you would skip volunteering and just run this race next year

Admission Price Our aquatic center was having a promotion one night and advertised an elementary school night The kids could swim for free When we got to the pool we saw a promotional sign for the event In small lettering it read All swimmers must be accompanied by an adult We thought no big deal one of us can just stay and watch When we got to the front desk we found the lifeguard was enforcing the adult-admission price of $8

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CNFI Publishing - Products Books Chapbooks Bookmarks Plaques and Poetry Collector Cards Merchandising Products Coffee Mugs Mouse Pads Tiles 3x6 Coasters T - Shirts and Wall Plaques More info athttpliveadsFitnessDigestus

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

Featured PhotosFitnessDigestus feature

Chicago open water swim course at nighttop left

Kids race at Bicycle Blues and BBQtop right

Some team members volunteer at the local soup kitchenmiddle right

Ken Mauer loads the balls for hitting practice during a Twins baseball camp for

children 7-13 bottom right

Get your local event photos published in the next issue of FitnessDigestus E-mail

your photo to photoFitnessDigestus

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As he turned to go on he spat speculatively There was a sharp explosive crackle that startled him He spat again And again in the air before it could fall to the snow the spittle crackled He knew that at fifty below spittle crackled on the snow but this spittle had crackled in the air Undoubtedly it was colder than fifty below--how much colder he did not know But the temperature did not matter He was bound for the old claim on the left fork of Henderson Creek where the boys were already They had come over across the divide from the Indian Creek country while he had come the roundabout way to take a look at the possibilities of getting out logs in the spring from the islands in the Yukon He would be in to camp by six oclock a bit after dark it was true but the boys would be there a fire would be going and a hot supper would be ready As for lunch he pressed his hand against the protruding bundle under his jacket It was also under his shirt wrapped up in a handkerchief and lying against the naked skin It was the only way to keep the biscuits from freezing He smiled agreeably to himself as he thought of those biscuits each cut open and sopped in bacon grease and each enclosing a generous slice of fried bacon

He plunged in among the big spruce trees The trail was faint A foot of snow had fallen since the last sled had passed over and he was glad he was without a sled traveling light In fact he carried nothing but the lunch wrapped in the handkerchief He was surprised however at the cold It certainly was cold he concluded as he rubbed his numb nose and cheek-bones with his mittened hand He was a warm-whiskered man but the hair on his face did not protect the high cheek-bones and the eager nose that thrust itself aggressively into the frosty air

At the mans heels trotted a dog a big native husky the proper wolf-dog gray-coated and without any visible or temperamental difference from its brother the wild wolf The animal was depressed by the tremendous cold It knew that it was no time for

traveling Its instinct told it a truer tale than was told to the man by the mans judgment In reality it was not merely colder than fifty below zero it was colder than sixty below than seventy below It was seventy-five below zero Since the freezing point is thirty-two above zero it meant that one hundred and seven degrees of frost obtained The dog did not know anything about thermometers Possibly in its brain there was no sharp consciousness of a condition of very cold such as was in the mans brain But the brute had its instinct It experienced a vague but menacing apprehension that subdued it then made it slink along at the mans heels and that made it question eagerly every unwonted movement of the man as if expecting him to go into camp or to seek shelter somewhere and build a fire The dog had learned fire and it wanted fire or else to burrow under the snow and cuddle its warmth away from the air

The frozen moisture of its breathing had settled on its fur in a fine powder of frost and especially were its jowls muzzle and eyelashes whitened by its cry-stalled breath The mans red beard and mustache were likewise frosted but more solidly the deposit taking the form of ice and increasing with every warm moist breath he exhaled Also the man was chewing tobacco and the muzzle of ice held his lips so rigidly that he was unable to clear his chin when he expelled the juice The result was that a crystal beard of the color and solidity of amber was increasing its length on his chin If he fell down it would shatter itself like glass into brittle fragments But he did not mind the appendage It was the penalty all tobacco-chewers paid in that country and he had been out before in two cold snaps They had not been so cold as this he knew but by the spirit thermometer at Sixty Mile he knew they had been registered at fifty below and at fifty-five

He held on through the level stretch of woods for several miles crossed a wide flat of rigger-heads and dropped down a bank to the frozen bed of a

To Build a FireContinued

small stream This was Henderson Creek and he knew he was ten miles from the forks He looked at his watch It was ten oclock He was making four miles an hour and he calculated that he would arrive at the forks at half-past twelve He decided to celebrate that event by eating his lunch there

The dog dropped in again at his heels with a tail drooping discouragement as the man swung along the creek-bed The furrow of the old sled-trail was plainly visible but a dozen inches of snow covered the marks of the last runners In a month no man had come up or down that silent creek The man held steadily on He was not much given to thinking and just then particularly he had nothing to think about save that he would eat lunch at-the forks and that at six oclock he would be in camp with the boys There was nobody to talk to and had there been speech would have been impossible because of the ice-muzzle on his mouth So he continued monotonously to chew tobacco and to increase the length of his amber beard

Once in a while the thought reiterated itself that it was very cold and that he had never experienced such cold As he walked along he rubbed his cheek-bones and nose with the back of his mittened hand He did this automatically now and again changing hands But rub as he would the instant he stopped his cheek-bones went numb and the following instant the end of his nose went numb He was sure to frost his cheeks he knew that and experienced a pang of regret that he had not devised a nose-strap of the sort Bud wore in cold snaps Such a strap passed across the cheeks as well and saved them But it didnt matter much after all What were frosted cheeks A bit painful that was all they were never serious

Empty as the mans mind was of thoughts he was keenly observant and he noticed the changes in the creek the curves and bends and timber jams and always he sharply noted where he placed his feet Once coming around a bend he shied abruptly

like a startled horse curved away from the place where he had been walking and retreated several paces back along the trail The creek he knew was frozen clear to the bottom--no creek could contain water in that arctic winter--but he knew also that there were springs that bubbled out from the hillsides and ran along under the snow and on top the ice of the creek He knew that the coldest snaps never froze these springs and he knew likewise their danger They were traps They hid pools of water under the snow that might be three inches deep or three feet Sometimes a skin of ice half an inch thick covered them and in turn was covered by the snow Sometimes there were alternate layers of water and ice-skin so that when one broke through he kept on breaking through for a while sometimes wetting himself to the waist

That was why he had shied in such panic He had felt the give under his feet and heard the crackle of a snow-hidden ice-skin And to get his feet wet in such a temperature meant trouble and danger At the very least it meant delay for he would be forced to stop and build a fire and under its protection to bare his feet while he dried his socks and moccasins He stood and studied the creek-bed and its banks and decided that the flow of water came from the right He reflected a while rubbing his nose and cheeks then skirted to the left stepping gingerly and testing the footing for each step Once clear of the danger he took a fresh chew of tobacco and swung along at his four-mile gait

In the course of the next two hours he came upon several similar traps Usually the snow above the hidden pools had a sunken candied appearance that advertised the danger Once again however he had a close call and once suspecting danger he compelled the dog to go on in front The dog did not want to go It hung back until the man shoved it forward and then it went quickly across the white unbroken surface Suddenly it broke through floundered to one side and got away to firmer

To Build a FireContinued

To Build a FireContinued

footing It had wet its forefeet and legs and almost immediately the water that clung to it turned to ice It made quick efforts to lick the ice off its legs then dropped down in the snow and began to bite out the ice that had formed between the toes l his was a matter of instinct To permit the ice to remain would mean sore feet It did not know this It merely obeyed the mysterious prompting that arose from the deep crypts of its being But the man knew having achieved a judgment on the subject and he removed the mitten from his right hand and helped tear out the ice-particles He did not expose his fingers more than a minute and was astonished at the swift numbness that smote them It certainly was cold He pulled on the mitten hastily and beat the hand savagely across his chest

At twelve oclock the day was at its brightest Yet the sun was too far south an its winter journey to clear the horizon The bulge of the earth intervened between it arid Henderson Creek where the man walked under a clear sky at noon and cast no shadow At half-past twelve to the minute he arrived at the forks of the creek He was pleased at the speed he had made If he kept it up he would certainly be with the boys by six He unbuttoned his jacket and shirt and drew forth his lunch The action consumed no more than a quarter of a minute yet in that brief moment the numbness laid hold of the exposed fingers He did not put the mitten on but instead struck the fingers a dozen sharp smashes against his leg Then he sat down on a snow-covered log to eat The sting that followed upon the striking of his fingers against his leg ceased so quickly that he was startled He had had no chance to take a bite of biscuit He struck the fingers repeatedly and returned them to the mitten baring the other hand for the purpose of eating He tried to take a mouthful but the ice-muzzle prevented He had forgotten to build a fire and thaw out He chuckled at his foolishness and as he chuckled he noted the numbness creeping into the exposed fingers Also he noted that the stinging which had first come to his

toes when he sat down was already passing away He wandered whether the toes were warm or numb He moved them inside the moccasins and decided that they were numb

He pulled the mitten on hurriedly and stood up He was a bit frightened He stamped up and down until the stinging returned into the feet It certainly was cold was his thought That man from Sulphur Creek had spoken the truth when telling how cold it sometimes got in the country And he had laughed at him at the time That showed one must not be too sure of things There was no mistake about it it was cold He strode up and down stamping his feet and threshing his arms until reassured by the returning warmth Then he got out matches and proceeded to make a fire From the undergrowth where high water of the previous spring had lodged a supply of seasoned twigs he got his firewood Working carefully from a small beginning he soon had a roaring fire over which he thawed the ice from his face and in the protection of which he ate his biscuits For the moment the cold space was outwitted The dog took satisfaction in the fire stretching out close enough for warmth and far enough away to escape being singed

When the man had finished be filled his pipe and took his comfortable time over a smoke Then he pulled on his mittens settled the ear-flaps of his cap firmly about his ears and took the creek trail up the left fork The dog was disappointed and yearned back toward the fire This man did not know cold Possibly all the generations of his ancestry had been ignorant of cold of real cold of cold one hundred and seven degrees below freezing point But the dog knew all its ancestry knew and it had inherited the knowledge And it knew that it was not good to walk abroad in such fearful cold It was the time to lie snug in a hole in the snow and wait for a curtain of cloud to be drawn across the face of outer space whence this cold came On the other hand there was no keen intimacy between the dog and the man

The one was the toil-slave of the other and the only caresses it had ever received were the caresses of the whiplash and of harsh and menacing throat-sounds that threatened the whiplash So the dog made no effort to communicate its apprehension to the man It was not concerned in the welfare of the man it was for its own sake that it yearned back toward the fire But the man whistled and spoke to it with the sound of whiplashes and the dog swung in at the mans heel and followed after

The man took a chew of tobacco and proceeded to start a new amber beard Also his moist breath quickly powdered with white his mustache eyebrows and lashes There did not seem to be so many springs on the left fork of the Henderson and for half an hour the man saw no signs of any And then it happened At a place where there were no signs where the soft unbroken snow seemed to advertise solidity beneath tee man broke through It was not deep He wet himself halfway to the knees before he floundered out to the firm crust

He was angry and cursed his luck aloud He had hoped to get into camp with the boys at six oclock and this would delay him an hour for he would have to build a fire and dry out his foot-gear This was imperative at that low temperature--he knew that much and he turned aside to the bank which he climbed On top tangled in the underbrush about the trunks of several small spruce trees was a high-water deposit of dry firewood--sticks and twigs principally but also larger portions of seasoned branches and fine dry last-years grasses He threw down several large pieces on top of the snow This served for a foundation and prevented the young flame from drowning itself in the snow it otherwise would melt The flame he got by touching a match to a small shred of birch bark that he took from his pocket This burned even more readily than paper Placing it on the foundation he fed the young flame with wisps of dry grass and with the tiniest dry twigs

He worked slowly and carefully keenly aware of his danger Gradually as the flame grew stronger he increased the size of the twigs with which he fed it He squatted in the snow pulling the twigs out from their entanglement in the brush and feeding directly to the flame He knew there must be no failure When it is seventy-five below zero a man must not fail in his first attempt to build a fire--that is if his feet are wet If his feet are dry and he fails he can run along the trail for half a mile and restore his circulation But the circulation of wet and freezing feet cannot be restored by running when it is seventy-five below No matter how fast he runs the wet feet will freeze the harder

All this the man knew The old-timer on Sulphur Creek had told him about it the previous fall and now he was appreciating the advice Already all sensation had gone out of his feet To build the fire he had been forced to remove his mittens and the fingers had quickly gone numb His pace of four miles an hour had kept his heart pumping blood to the surface of his body and to all the extremities But the instant he stopped the action of the pump eased down The cold of space smote the unprotected tip of the planet and he being on that unprotected tip received the full force of the blow The blood of his body recoiled before it The blood was alive like the dog and like the dog it wanted to hide away and cover itself up from the fearful cold So long as he walked four miles an hour he pumped that blood willy-nilly to the surface but now it ebbed away and sank down into the recesses of his body The extremities were the first to feel its absence His wet feet froze the faster and his exposed fingers numbed the faster though they had not yet begun to freeze Nose and cheeks were already freezing while the skin of all his body chilled as it lost its blood

But he was safe Toes and nose and cheeks would be only touched by the frost for the fire was beginning to burn with strength He was feeding it

To Build a FireContinued

with twigs the size of his finger In another minute he would be able to feed it with branches the size of his wrier and then he could remove his wet toot-gear and while it dried he could keep his naked feet warm by the fire rubbing them at first of course with snow The fire was a success He was safe He remembered the advice of the old timer on Sulphur Creek and smiled The old-timer had been very serious in laying down the law that no man must travel alone in the Klondike after fifty below Well here he was he had had the accident he was alone and he had saved himself Those old-timers were rather womanish some of them he thought All a man had to do was to keep his head and he was all right Any man who was a man could travel alone But it was surprising the rapidity with which his cheeks and nose were freezing And he had not thought his fingers could go lifeless in so short a time Lifeless they were for he could scarcely make them move together to grip a twig and they seemed remote from his body and from him When he touched a twig he had to look and see whether or not he had hold of it The wires were pretty well down between him and his finger-ends

All of which counted for little There was the fire snapping and crackling and promising life with every dancing flame He started to untie his moccasins They were coated with ice the thick German socks were like sheaths of iron halfway to the knees and the moccasin strings were like rods of steel all twisted and knotted as by some conflagration For a moment he tugged with his numb fingers then realizing the folly of it he drew his sheath-knife

But before he could cut the strings it happened It was his own fault or rather his mistake He should not have built the fire under the spruce tree He should have built it in the open But it had been easier to pull the twigs from the brush and drop them directly on the fire Now the tree under which

he had done this carried a weight of snow on its boughs No wind had blown for weeks and each bough was fully freighted Each time he had pulled a twig he had communicated a slight agitation to the tree--an imperceptible agitation so far as he was concerned but an agitation sufficient to bring about the disaster High up in the tree one bough capsized its load of snow This fell on the boughs beneath capsizing them This process continued spreading out and involving the whole tree It grew like an avalanche and it descended without warning upon the man and the fire and the fire was blotted out Where it had burned was a mantle of fresh and disordered snow

The man was shocked It was as though he had just heard his own sentence of death For a moment he sat and stared at the spot where the fire had been Then he grew very calm Perhaps the old-timer on Sulphur Creek was right If he had only had a trail-mate he would have been in no danger now The trail-mate could have built the fire Well it was up to him to build the fire over again and this second time there must be no failure Even if he succeeded he would most likely lose some toes His feet must be badly frozen by now and there would be some time before the second fire Was ready

Such were his thoughts but he did not sit and think them He was busy all the time they were passing through his mind He made a new foundation for a fire this time in the open where no treacherous tree could blot it out Next he gathered dry grasses and tiny twigs from the high-water flotsam He could not bring his fingers together to pull them out but he was able to gather them by the handful In this way he got many rotten twigs and bits of green moss that were undesirable but it was the best he could do He worked methodically even collecting an armful of the larger branches to be used later when the fire gathered strength And all the while the dog sat and watched him a certain yearning wistfulness in its eyes for it looked upon

To Build a FireContinued

him as the fire-provider and the fire was slow in coming

When all was ready the man reached in his pocket for a second piece of birch bark He knew the bark was there and though he could not feel it with his fingers he could hear its crisp rustling as he fumbled for it Try as he would he could not clutch hold of it And all the time in his consciousness was the knowledge that each instant his feet were freezing This thought tended to put him in a panic but he fought against it and kept calm He pulled on his mittens with his teeth and threshed his arms back and forth beating his hands with all his might against his sides He did this sitting down and he stood up to do it and all the while the dog sat in the snow its wolf-brush of a tail curled around warmly over its forefeet its sharp wolf-ears pricked forward intently as it watched the man And the man as he beat and threshed with his arms and hands felt a great surge of envy as he regarded the creature that was warm ant secure in its natural covering

After a time he was aware of the first far-away signals of sensation in his beaten fingers The faint tingling grew stronger till it evolved into a stinging ache that was excruciating but which the man hailed with satisfaction He stripped the mitten from his right hand and fetched forth the birch bark The exposed fingers were quickly going numb again Next he brought out his bunch of sulphur matches But the tremendous cold had already driven the life out of his fingers In his effort to separate one match from the others the whole bunch fell in the snow He tried to pick it out of the snow but failed The dead fingers could neither touch nor clutch He was very careful He drove the thought of his freezing feet and nose and cheeks out of his mind devoting his whole soul to the matches He watched using the sense of vision in place of that of touch and when he saw his fingers on each side the bunch he dosed them--that is he willed to close them for the wires were down and the fingers did not obey He pulled

the mitten on the right hand and beat it fiercely against his knee Then with both mittened hands he scooped the bunch of matches along with much snow into his lap Yet he was no better off

After some manipulation he managed to get the bunch between the heels of his mittened hands In this fashion he carried it to his mouth The ice crackled and snapped when by a violent effort he opened his mouth He drew the lower jaw in curled the upper lip out of the way and scraped the bunch with his upper teeth in order to separate a match He succeeded in getting one which he dropped on his lap He was no better off He could not pick it up Then he devised a way He picked it up in his teeth and scratched it on his leg Twenty times he scratched before he succeeded in lighting it As it flamed he held it with his teeth to the birch bark But the burning brimstone went up his nostrils and into his lungs causing him to cough spasmodically The match fell into the snow and went out

The old-timer an Sulphur Creek was right he thought in the moment of controlled despair that ensued after fifty below a man should travel with a partner He beat his hands but failed in exciting any sensation Suddenly he bared both hands removing the mittens with his teeth He caught the whole bunch between the heels of his hands His arm muscles not being frozen enabled him to press the hand-heels tightly against the matches Then he scratched the bunch along his leg It flared into flame seventy sulphur matches at once There was no wind to blow them out He kept his head to one side to escape the strangling fumes and held the blazing bunch to the birth bark As he so held it he became aware of sensation in his hand His flesh was burning He could smell it Deep down below the surface he could feel it The sensation developed into pain that grew acute And still he endured it holding the flame of the matches clumsily to the bark that would not light readily because his own burning hands were in the way absorbing most of the flame

To Build a FireContinued

At last when he could endure no more he jerked his hands apart The blazing matches fell sizzling into the snow but the birch bark was alight He began laying dry grasses and the tiniest twigs on the flame He could not pick and choose for he had to lift the fuel between the heels of his hands Small pieces of rotten wood and green moss clung to the twigs and he bit them off as well as he could with his teeth He cherished the flame carefully and awkwardly It meant life and it must not perish The withdrawal of blood from the surface of his body now made him begin to shiver and he grew more awkward A large piece of green moss fell squarely on the little fire He tried to poke it out with his fingers but his shivering frame made him poke too far and he disrupted the nucleus of the little fire the burning grasses and tiny twigs separating and scattering He tried to poke them together again but in spite of the tenseness of the effort his shivering got away with him and the twigs were hopelessly scattered Each twig gushed a puff of smoke and went out The fire-provider had failed As he looked apathetically about him his eyes chanced on the dog sitting across the ruins of the fire from him in the snow making restless hunching movements slightly lifting one forefoot and then the other shifting its weight back and forth on them with wistful eagerness

The sight of the dog put a wild idea into his head He remembered the tale of the man caught in a blizzard who killed a steer and crawled inside the carcass and so was saved He would kill the dog and bury his hands in the warm body until the numbness went out of them Then he could build another fire He spoke to the dog calling it to him but in his voice was a strange note of fear that frightened the animal who had never known the man to speak in such way before Something was the matter and its suspicious nature sensed danger--it knew not what danger but somewhere somehow in its brain arose an apprehension of the man It flattened its ears down at the sound of the mans voice and its restless

hunching movements and the liftings and shiftings of its forefeet became more pronounced but it would not come to the man He got on his hands and knees and crawled toward the dog This unusual posture again excited suspicion and the animal sidled mincingly away

The man sat up in the snow for a moment and struggled for calmness Then he pulled on his mittens by means of his teeth and got upon his feet He glanced down at first in order to assure himself that he was really standing up for the absence of sensation in his feet left him unrelated to the earth His erect position in itself started to drive the webs of suspicion from the dogs mind and when he spoke peremptorily with the sound of whiplashes in his voice the dog rendered its customary allegiance and came to him As it came within reaching distance the man lost his control His arms flashed out to the dog and he experienced genuine surprise when he discovered that his hands could not clutch that there was neither bend nor feeling in the fingers He had forgotten for the moment that they were frozen and that they were freezing more and more All this happened quickly and before the animal could get away he encircled its body with his arms He sat down in the snow and in this fashion held the dog while it snarled and whined and struggled

But it was all he could do hold its body encircled in his arms and sit there He realized that he could not kill the dog There was no way to do it With his helpless hands he could neither draw nor hold his sheath knife nor throttle the animal He released it and it plunged wildly away with tail between its legs and still snarling It halted forty feet away and surveyed him curiously with ears sharply pricked forward The man looked down at his hands in order to locate them and found them hanging on the ends of his arms It struck him as curious that one should have to use his eyes in order to find out where his hands were He began threshing his arms back and forth beating the mittened hands against

To Build a FireContinued

his sides He did this for five minutes violently and his heart pumped enough blood up to the surface to put a stop to his shivering But no sensation was aroused in the hands He had an impression that they hung like weights on the ends of his arms but when he tried to run the impression down he could not find it

A certain fear of death dull and oppressive came to him This fear quickly became poignant as he realized that it was no longer a mere matter of freezing his fingers and toes or of losing his hands and feet but that it was a matter of life and death with the chances against him This threw him into a panic and he turned and ran up the creek-bed along the old dim trail The dog joined in behind and kept up with him He ran blindly without intention in fear such as he had never known in his life Slowly as he plowed and floundered through the snow he began to see things again the banks of the creek the old timber-jams the leafless aspens and the sky The running made him feel better He did not shiver Maybe if he ran on his feet would thaw out and anyway if he ran far enough he would reach camp and the boys Without doubt he would lose some fingers and toes and some of his face but the boys would take care of him and save the rest of him when he got there And at the same time there was another thought in his mind that said he would never get to the camp and the boys that it was too many miles away that the freezing had too great a start on him and that he would soon be stiff and dead This thought he kept in the background and refused to consider Sometimes it pushed itself forward and demanded to be heard but he thrust it back and strove to think of other things

It struck him as curious that he could run at all on feet so frozen that he could not feel them when they struck the earth and took the weigh of his body He seemed to himself to skim along above the surface and to have no connection with the earth Somewhere he had once seen a winged Mercury

and he wondered if Mercury felt as he felt when skimming over the earth

His theory of running until he reached camp and the boys had one flaw in it he lacked the endurance Several times he stumbled and finally he tottered crumpled up and fell When he tried to rise he failed He must sit and rest he decided and next time he would merely walk and keep on going As he sat and regained his breath he noted that he was feeling quite warm and comfortable He was not shivering and it even seemed that a warm glow had come to his chest and trunk And yet when he touched his nose or cheeks there was no sensation Running would not thaw them out Nor would it thaw out his hands and feet Then the thought came to him that the frozen portions of his body must be extending He tried to keep this thought down to forget it to think of something else he was aware of the panicky feeling that it caused and he was afraid of the panic But the thought asserted itself and persisted until it produced a vision of his body totally frozen This was too much and he made another wild run along the trail Once he slowed down to a walk but the thought of the freezing extending itself made him run again

And all the time the dog ran with him at his heels When he fell down a second time it curled its tad over its forefeet and sat in front of him facing him curiously eager and intent The warmth and security of the animal angered him and he cursed it till it flattened down its ears appealingly This time the shivering came more quickly upon the man He was losing in his battle with the frost It was creeping into his body from all sides The thought of it drove him on but he ran no more than a hundred feet when he staggered and pitched headlong It was his last panic When he had recovered his breath and control he sat up and entertained in his mind the conception of meeting death with dignity However the conception did not come to him in such terms His idea of it was that he had been making a fool of

To Build a FireContinued

himself running around like a chicken with its head cut off--such was the simile that occurred to him Well he was bound to freeze anyway and he might as well take it decently With this new-found peace of mind came the first glimmerings of drowsiness A good idea he thought to sleep off to death It was like salting an anesthetic Freezing was not so bad as people thought There were lots worse ways to die

He pictured the boys finding his body next day Suddenly he found himself with them coming along the trail and looking for himself And still with them he came around a turn in the trail and found himself lying in the snow He did not belong with himself any more for even then he was out of himself standing with the boys and looking at himself in the snow It certainly was cold was his thought When he got back to the States he could tell the folks what real cold was He drifted on from this to a vision of the old-timer on Sulphur Creek He could see him quite clearly warm and comfortable and smoking a pipe

You were right old boss you were right the man mumbled to the old-timer of Sulphur Creek

Then the man drowsed off into what seemed to him the most comfortable and satisfying sleep he had ever known The dog sat facing him and waiting The brief day drew to a close in a long slow twilight There were no signs of a fire to be made and besides never in the dogs experience had it known a man to sit like that in the snow and make no fire As the twilight drew on its eager yearning for the fire mastered it and with a great lifting and shifting of forefeet it whined softly then flattened its ears down in anticipation of being chidden by the man But the man remained silent Later the dog whined loudly And still later it crept close to the man and caught the scent of death This made the animal bristle and back away A little longer it delayed howling under the stars that leaped and danced and shone brightly in the cold sky Then it turned and trotted up the trail in the direction of the camp it knew where were the other food-providers and fire-providers

To Build a FireContinued

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Page 38: FitnessDigest.us Vol. 4.3 Cover

322 locations world wide

The Ride of SilenceTonight we number many but ride as one

In honor of those not with us friends

mothers fathers sisters sons

With helmets on tight and heads down low

We ride in silence cautious and slow

The wheels start spinning in the lead pack

But tonight we ride and no one attacks

The dark sunglasses cover our tears

Remembering those we held so dear

Tonights ride is to make others aware

The road is there for all to share

To those not with us or by our side

May God be your partner on your final ride

- Mike Murgas

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 50 states

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Ride of Silence

ldquoCost-effective investments in bicycling boost our economy help individuals and government agencies save money and directly address key societal challenges such as obesity and road congestion In these tough economic times our federal government can only afford to invest in solutions that solve multiple problems Bicycling fits the billrdquo ndash PeopleForBikesorg

This photo collection was taken byRobert LaVallee of Mason City IA

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It provides an outstanding aerobic workout in less than half the time we would spend in still water It has allowed us as swim coaches to observe swimmers stroke characteristics up close and to see the effects of fatigue on stroke mechanics ~ Larry L Chazy NY

Swimming is an excellent exercise and now I can swim every day because its so convenient and private I can swim when I want and how long I want Im able to have it at a temperature that is comfortable to me The small size of an Endless Pool enabled me to install a pool where I could not install a regular size one

As an aging baby boomer nutrition professional I have yearned for consistent exercise that doesnt stress joints and will enable me to attain physical fitness cardiovascular health and weight control I can eat what I want and still firm up and lose weight ~ John C Columbus OH

Endless Pools make for long swims in small places The 8x15 Endless Pool is less than regulation size but offers the same benefits as a very large pool ~ Noah H Connecticut Post

The Endless Pool is a great strength builder I am amazed at the strength of the current I now swim against I did not buy it for that reason but because of my arthritis so the strength gain is a wonderful surprise

Endless PoolsTestimonials For more information visit httpLIveAdsFitnessDigestus

s w i m m i n g s h o r t s

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Baseball Walking Stick13 My sons friend grabbed his baseball bat and said to me this is my walking stick I politely ask him why he calls it that He replied because my dad says if I hit a home run with it I donrsquot have to run the bases ndash I can walk

My Bike My mountain bike was stolen a while back and my kids were really upset Ive been riding my road bike in its place Since then Ive been careful to lock my bike up when we go to the park

13 On this occasion I did not lock-up my sonrsquos bike up with mine He looked at me quizzically and said sternly lock my bike up too I tried to explain that his bike was not as expensive and therefor didnt need to be locked up Boy that was a mistake He made me feel a little dumb when he said Dad I dont care how expensive it is Its the only bike Irsquove got

North Iowa Roads

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A LEADER inSearch Engine Optimization

Technology

Increase your visitor page views and Facebook Likes

Are you moving to a new state Already hired your mover

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Digital Movers

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

parent sports tipBy FitnessDigestus staff writer JGA

PAR

EN

T

TIP

Keeping Kids Focused13 Organize their thoughts Help them prioritize and make decisions based on value Even kids can understand the value of simple non-monetized choices Questions like ldquoShould I finish playing my gameboy game or pause it when they call my swimming eventrdquo

If kids are taught to make good decisions and not just find quick answers everyone wins

AugustGolf Month5th Friendship Day15th Relaxation Day25th Kiss and Make Up Day31st Trail Mix DaySeptemberLittle League Month12th Chocolate Milk Shake Day13th Positive Thinking Day16th Womenrsquos Friendship Day21st Miniature Golf DayOctoberBreast Cancer Awareness MonthNational Diabetes Month1st World Vegetarian Day4th Golf Day25th World Pasta Day

National Calendar

Au

gu

stSe

pte

mb

er

Oc

tob

er

Encourage friendships writing skills sharing thoughts and

experiencesEight different cards

YAGOTTAWANNA

Variety of pricing From single orders to bulk orders of 24 notecards

Learn more online

Stay in touch with your swimming or triathlon buddies

It is better to be safe then to try to beat the heat There are many options to stay cool and run during a hot-summer day Staying inside and running on the treadmill is a good one Remember staying safe is a top priority

Most workouts can be modified to work indoors This issuersquos workout is to do your usual run or interval set just stay inside and run it on the treadmill Visualize the different landmarks to see during your outdoor run

Coach Millerrsquos Quarterly ChallengeStay safe in the heatBy Mark Miller mmillerFitnessDigestus

A few years back we had a hot-spell similar to this yearrsquos record heat

I remember training for a long run and having to stop at the local swimming hole to cool off I literally took off my

shoes and jumped in with my running clothes on I was so hot

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OPEN WATER SWIMMING BY THE NUMBERS

In kilometers The shortest open water race included in the Fina World Championships

10107 How many miles it

is to swim from Cuba to the USA

5

1000Number of swimming strokes in a mile for a typical swimmer

31800About the number of calories it takes to swim 100 miles

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The minimum open water distance in kilometers that is considered a swimming-

marathon

On Facebook Visit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

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Open water safety means swimming in shallow water where there is a lifeguard or using an escort

Shop for Name BrandGear

24 Hoursa Day

WaynesSkiandCyclenet

For links to Waynersquos visit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

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Googles

13 Swimming fans can really appreciate a 200 IM when their goggles fill with water How about an Olympian Swimming a leg of the 400 Free Relay with his goggles across his opened mouth ndash and going 45rsquos A great team swimmer an Olympian wouldnrsquot let down his teammates by throwing them off or fixing them

500 Fly13 A world class butterflyer asked if he could swim butterfly in the 500 yard freestyle during a dual meet His goal was to break five minutes After considering the competition it seemed like a great way to make him really work a hard fly swim so we agreed Problem was he swam a 502 and the opposing coach complained to the officials because he embarrassed his swimmers Oh well you canrsquot win lsquoem all

Stories sent in by Robert Steele

No-No-No13 The other morning I was teaching front-streamlines to snotty nosed 8 year olds (some are literally snotty-nosed) One boy was taking a big gulp of air and holding his breath When he lifted his head he had to exhale and inhale before submerging again Swimmers will understand this does not work very well Kids need to learn to exhale underwater The first time he did it I told him to exhale underwater The second time I stopped him looked him in the eye and reminded him to exhale underwater The third and fourth times I started to get a little frustrated ldquoJohnny you need to exhale underwater so you can breath betterrdquo The fifth time as his head popped up for a breath I quickly asked ldquoJohnny Do you even know what exhale meansrdquo as he submerged his head below the water I could see him shake his head no-no-no

Favorite Potato Chips13We try to limit the junk food the kids eat at our house For lunch one day our son wanted some potato chips I gave him 3 large chips with his sandwich He started to cry and said he wanted one more chip ldquoI wanted four chipsrdquo he screamed I took the plate back When he wasnt looking I broke a chip in half and give it back to him with four chips

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

13 My cancer story is one of uniqueness Leave it to me to do something like cancer to its fullest It did not begin with a mammogram diagnosis or a lump My journey began about 4 years ago with some suspicious activity that turned into Pagetrsquos disease of the nipple which signaled the underlying cancer On April 1st I found out about my breast cancer through a biopsy that came back as positive for Pagetrsquos disease The onslaught of tests learning and decisions were dizzying I immediately went for an evaluation of the suspicious tissue and had to begin making decisions for my mastectomy I quickly learned there is a test called the BRAC Analysis which is a genetic test for breast and ovarian cancer Finally a piece of good news for me I did not have the gene

Decisions Now it was time to make decisions about my mastectomy and how I was going to handle reconstruction I discussed my options with my boyfriend Brian friends family members and even my principalboss I read books searched the Internet and contacted people I

Brandi ShipmanCancer Survivor and elite triathlete

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

know and knew from my past that had been directly affected and that I thought might have answers for me The outpouring of love encouragement and help during this process was overwhelming After meeting with four different doctors two surgeons and two plastic surgeons I decided to go with immediate reconstruction and was lucky enough to find two wonderful doctors They were willing to work together just because I wanted them to even though they had never done so before My surgery was scheduled for mid May

Mental Toughness13 My mental preparation at this point was very important I had to scrap any idea of competing in triathlons for the rest of the year and focus on a positive attitude of getting better I stopped thinking about what I wasnrsquot going to able to do and started thinking about what I could do that I was alive and kept my mind on the fact that so many others had made it before me

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links

Part 213 I was prepared by the doctors survivors and literature to be ldquodownrdquo for several weeks after my surgery I even took the rest of the school year off My surgery went well and I was out of the hospital the next day A few friends came to visit while I was in the hospital and my principal and vice principal brought the most wonderful picture of the faculty wearing pink for me I can only imagine what it looked like at Thornton Elementary on that day in May 2009 a sea of pink all for Brandi Shipman Shortly after their visit I received a text from my friend Margie Massey My friends from the gym wore pink for me that day as well The support brought tears to my eyes I was so excited to come home and be comfortable in my own home I just wish the stupid drain that was attached could have stayed at the hospital The pain from that was worse than the pain from the mastectomy

the most

powerful picture

13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Recovery ndash May13 Once I got home I slept and watched a lot of TV Friends visited and brought yummy food and my favorites I am not supposed to eat I ate them all My friend and co-worker set up a cancer care calendar that alerted anyone who logged on when I was having a doctorrsquos appointment or when I was in need of anything I felt like royalty as everyone took care of me I think Brian secretly enjoyed the fact that he wouldnrsquot have to cook for me each night My recovery was quicker than I thought as I was doing my best to get better and get the stinkinrsquo drain out of my skin I was out walking within a week and running within 3 weeks I couldnrsquot believe my recovery I know it was from all the prayers love and good care from Brian and the loved ones around me Life was looking better each day

ldquoLife was looking

better each dayrdquo

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Part three and part

four of I am Survivor

will be published in

the next edition of

FitnessDigestus

Get the convenience of

digital-delivery

Sign-up or subscribe at

httpFitnessDigestus

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During the past 150 years we have witnessed many remarkable advances against cancer a disease known to humanity for thousands of years The advances highlighted below represent a sampling of what has been accomplished to date

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

1882 William Halsted performs the first radical mastectomy to treat breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast the lymph nodes under the arm (axillary lymph nodes) and the chest muscles behind the breast (pectoralis major and pectoralis minor muscles) are removed Radical mastectomy will remain the standard operation for breast cancer until latter half of the 20th century when the use of modified radical mastectomy becomes widely accepted

1932 David H Patey develops the modified radical mastectomy for breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast axillary lymph nodes and pectoralis minor muscle behind the breast are removed The modified radical mastectomy is less disfiguring than the radical mastectomy and will eventually replace the radical mastectomy as a standard treatment option for breast cancer

1953 James Watson and Francis Crick discover the molecular structure of DNA (the double helix)

1963 The Health Insurance Plan (HIP) of Greater New York Study begins HIP is the first randomized controlled trial of periodic breast cancer screening with mammography

1882

1932

1953

1963

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1976 The results of a randomized clinical trial show that women with early breast cancer who receive post-operative (adjuvant) combination chemotherapy with the drugs cyclophosphamide methotrexate and 5-FU have improved disease-free survival

1981 A randomized clinical trial in the United Kingdom shows for the first time that the rates of survival local recurrence and tumor metastasis among women whose breast cancer is treated with modified radical mastectomy are not substantially different from those of women who are treated with radical mastectomy

1993 An NCI-convened international workshop on screening for breast cancer reports that screening with mammography reduces breast cancer mortality among women ages 50-69 This conclusion is based on a review of published and unpublished data from eight randomized controlled trials

2004 Data from the Womens Health Initiative (WHI) study show that women who take estrogen in combination with the hormone progestin have a greater risk of developing breast cancer than women who take estrogen alone The results also show that menopausal hormone therapy with estrogen alone has no benefit in disease prevention specifically in reducing the risks of colorectal cancer coronary heart disease and dementia

1976

1981

1993

2004

Although we still have a long way to go to reduce the toll of cancer in the United States and worldwide our research and public health efforts are beginning to pay dividends

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

Volunteering vs Participating13 My girl friend and I are involved in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation The local chapter raises awareness for the cause with a fun-run each year We have volunteered to help with the race five years in a row This year we were stationed at a water table where the runners pick-up cups of water to drink Toward the end of the race there are very few runners There was a little time to chat about things We were talking about what we would wish for if we could have three wishes I told her I would wish for an end to Juvenile Diabetes and to lose 10 pounds Being nice I said ldquoyou can have my last wishrdquo She said I wish you would skip volunteering and just run this race next year

Admission Price Our aquatic center was having a promotion one night and advertised an elementary school night The kids could swim for free When we got to the pool we saw a promotional sign for the event In small lettering it read All swimmers must be accompanied by an adult We thought no big deal one of us can just stay and watch When we got to the front desk we found the lifeguard was enforcing the adult-admission price of $8

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CNFI Publishing - Products Books Chapbooks Bookmarks Plaques and Poetry Collector Cards Merchandising Products Coffee Mugs Mouse Pads Tiles 3x6 Coasters T - Shirts and Wall Plaques More info athttpliveadsFitnessDigestus

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

Featured PhotosFitnessDigestus feature

Chicago open water swim course at nighttop left

Kids race at Bicycle Blues and BBQtop right

Some team members volunteer at the local soup kitchenmiddle right

Ken Mauer loads the balls for hitting practice during a Twins baseball camp for

children 7-13 bottom right

Get your local event photos published in the next issue of FitnessDigestus E-mail

your photo to photoFitnessDigestus

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As he turned to go on he spat speculatively There was a sharp explosive crackle that startled him He spat again And again in the air before it could fall to the snow the spittle crackled He knew that at fifty below spittle crackled on the snow but this spittle had crackled in the air Undoubtedly it was colder than fifty below--how much colder he did not know But the temperature did not matter He was bound for the old claim on the left fork of Henderson Creek where the boys were already They had come over across the divide from the Indian Creek country while he had come the roundabout way to take a look at the possibilities of getting out logs in the spring from the islands in the Yukon He would be in to camp by six oclock a bit after dark it was true but the boys would be there a fire would be going and a hot supper would be ready As for lunch he pressed his hand against the protruding bundle under his jacket It was also under his shirt wrapped up in a handkerchief and lying against the naked skin It was the only way to keep the biscuits from freezing He smiled agreeably to himself as he thought of those biscuits each cut open and sopped in bacon grease and each enclosing a generous slice of fried bacon

He plunged in among the big spruce trees The trail was faint A foot of snow had fallen since the last sled had passed over and he was glad he was without a sled traveling light In fact he carried nothing but the lunch wrapped in the handkerchief He was surprised however at the cold It certainly was cold he concluded as he rubbed his numb nose and cheek-bones with his mittened hand He was a warm-whiskered man but the hair on his face did not protect the high cheek-bones and the eager nose that thrust itself aggressively into the frosty air

At the mans heels trotted a dog a big native husky the proper wolf-dog gray-coated and without any visible or temperamental difference from its brother the wild wolf The animal was depressed by the tremendous cold It knew that it was no time for

traveling Its instinct told it a truer tale than was told to the man by the mans judgment In reality it was not merely colder than fifty below zero it was colder than sixty below than seventy below It was seventy-five below zero Since the freezing point is thirty-two above zero it meant that one hundred and seven degrees of frost obtained The dog did not know anything about thermometers Possibly in its brain there was no sharp consciousness of a condition of very cold such as was in the mans brain But the brute had its instinct It experienced a vague but menacing apprehension that subdued it then made it slink along at the mans heels and that made it question eagerly every unwonted movement of the man as if expecting him to go into camp or to seek shelter somewhere and build a fire The dog had learned fire and it wanted fire or else to burrow under the snow and cuddle its warmth away from the air

The frozen moisture of its breathing had settled on its fur in a fine powder of frost and especially were its jowls muzzle and eyelashes whitened by its cry-stalled breath The mans red beard and mustache were likewise frosted but more solidly the deposit taking the form of ice and increasing with every warm moist breath he exhaled Also the man was chewing tobacco and the muzzle of ice held his lips so rigidly that he was unable to clear his chin when he expelled the juice The result was that a crystal beard of the color and solidity of amber was increasing its length on his chin If he fell down it would shatter itself like glass into brittle fragments But he did not mind the appendage It was the penalty all tobacco-chewers paid in that country and he had been out before in two cold snaps They had not been so cold as this he knew but by the spirit thermometer at Sixty Mile he knew they had been registered at fifty below and at fifty-five

He held on through the level stretch of woods for several miles crossed a wide flat of rigger-heads and dropped down a bank to the frozen bed of a

To Build a FireContinued

small stream This was Henderson Creek and he knew he was ten miles from the forks He looked at his watch It was ten oclock He was making four miles an hour and he calculated that he would arrive at the forks at half-past twelve He decided to celebrate that event by eating his lunch there

The dog dropped in again at his heels with a tail drooping discouragement as the man swung along the creek-bed The furrow of the old sled-trail was plainly visible but a dozen inches of snow covered the marks of the last runners In a month no man had come up or down that silent creek The man held steadily on He was not much given to thinking and just then particularly he had nothing to think about save that he would eat lunch at-the forks and that at six oclock he would be in camp with the boys There was nobody to talk to and had there been speech would have been impossible because of the ice-muzzle on his mouth So he continued monotonously to chew tobacco and to increase the length of his amber beard

Once in a while the thought reiterated itself that it was very cold and that he had never experienced such cold As he walked along he rubbed his cheek-bones and nose with the back of his mittened hand He did this automatically now and again changing hands But rub as he would the instant he stopped his cheek-bones went numb and the following instant the end of his nose went numb He was sure to frost his cheeks he knew that and experienced a pang of regret that he had not devised a nose-strap of the sort Bud wore in cold snaps Such a strap passed across the cheeks as well and saved them But it didnt matter much after all What were frosted cheeks A bit painful that was all they were never serious

Empty as the mans mind was of thoughts he was keenly observant and he noticed the changes in the creek the curves and bends and timber jams and always he sharply noted where he placed his feet Once coming around a bend he shied abruptly

like a startled horse curved away from the place where he had been walking and retreated several paces back along the trail The creek he knew was frozen clear to the bottom--no creek could contain water in that arctic winter--but he knew also that there were springs that bubbled out from the hillsides and ran along under the snow and on top the ice of the creek He knew that the coldest snaps never froze these springs and he knew likewise their danger They were traps They hid pools of water under the snow that might be three inches deep or three feet Sometimes a skin of ice half an inch thick covered them and in turn was covered by the snow Sometimes there were alternate layers of water and ice-skin so that when one broke through he kept on breaking through for a while sometimes wetting himself to the waist

That was why he had shied in such panic He had felt the give under his feet and heard the crackle of a snow-hidden ice-skin And to get his feet wet in such a temperature meant trouble and danger At the very least it meant delay for he would be forced to stop and build a fire and under its protection to bare his feet while he dried his socks and moccasins He stood and studied the creek-bed and its banks and decided that the flow of water came from the right He reflected a while rubbing his nose and cheeks then skirted to the left stepping gingerly and testing the footing for each step Once clear of the danger he took a fresh chew of tobacco and swung along at his four-mile gait

In the course of the next two hours he came upon several similar traps Usually the snow above the hidden pools had a sunken candied appearance that advertised the danger Once again however he had a close call and once suspecting danger he compelled the dog to go on in front The dog did not want to go It hung back until the man shoved it forward and then it went quickly across the white unbroken surface Suddenly it broke through floundered to one side and got away to firmer

To Build a FireContinued

To Build a FireContinued

footing It had wet its forefeet and legs and almost immediately the water that clung to it turned to ice It made quick efforts to lick the ice off its legs then dropped down in the snow and began to bite out the ice that had formed between the toes l his was a matter of instinct To permit the ice to remain would mean sore feet It did not know this It merely obeyed the mysterious prompting that arose from the deep crypts of its being But the man knew having achieved a judgment on the subject and he removed the mitten from his right hand and helped tear out the ice-particles He did not expose his fingers more than a minute and was astonished at the swift numbness that smote them It certainly was cold He pulled on the mitten hastily and beat the hand savagely across his chest

At twelve oclock the day was at its brightest Yet the sun was too far south an its winter journey to clear the horizon The bulge of the earth intervened between it arid Henderson Creek where the man walked under a clear sky at noon and cast no shadow At half-past twelve to the minute he arrived at the forks of the creek He was pleased at the speed he had made If he kept it up he would certainly be with the boys by six He unbuttoned his jacket and shirt and drew forth his lunch The action consumed no more than a quarter of a minute yet in that brief moment the numbness laid hold of the exposed fingers He did not put the mitten on but instead struck the fingers a dozen sharp smashes against his leg Then he sat down on a snow-covered log to eat The sting that followed upon the striking of his fingers against his leg ceased so quickly that he was startled He had had no chance to take a bite of biscuit He struck the fingers repeatedly and returned them to the mitten baring the other hand for the purpose of eating He tried to take a mouthful but the ice-muzzle prevented He had forgotten to build a fire and thaw out He chuckled at his foolishness and as he chuckled he noted the numbness creeping into the exposed fingers Also he noted that the stinging which had first come to his

toes when he sat down was already passing away He wandered whether the toes were warm or numb He moved them inside the moccasins and decided that they were numb

He pulled the mitten on hurriedly and stood up He was a bit frightened He stamped up and down until the stinging returned into the feet It certainly was cold was his thought That man from Sulphur Creek had spoken the truth when telling how cold it sometimes got in the country And he had laughed at him at the time That showed one must not be too sure of things There was no mistake about it it was cold He strode up and down stamping his feet and threshing his arms until reassured by the returning warmth Then he got out matches and proceeded to make a fire From the undergrowth where high water of the previous spring had lodged a supply of seasoned twigs he got his firewood Working carefully from a small beginning he soon had a roaring fire over which he thawed the ice from his face and in the protection of which he ate his biscuits For the moment the cold space was outwitted The dog took satisfaction in the fire stretching out close enough for warmth and far enough away to escape being singed

When the man had finished be filled his pipe and took his comfortable time over a smoke Then he pulled on his mittens settled the ear-flaps of his cap firmly about his ears and took the creek trail up the left fork The dog was disappointed and yearned back toward the fire This man did not know cold Possibly all the generations of his ancestry had been ignorant of cold of real cold of cold one hundred and seven degrees below freezing point But the dog knew all its ancestry knew and it had inherited the knowledge And it knew that it was not good to walk abroad in such fearful cold It was the time to lie snug in a hole in the snow and wait for a curtain of cloud to be drawn across the face of outer space whence this cold came On the other hand there was no keen intimacy between the dog and the man

The one was the toil-slave of the other and the only caresses it had ever received were the caresses of the whiplash and of harsh and menacing throat-sounds that threatened the whiplash So the dog made no effort to communicate its apprehension to the man It was not concerned in the welfare of the man it was for its own sake that it yearned back toward the fire But the man whistled and spoke to it with the sound of whiplashes and the dog swung in at the mans heel and followed after

The man took a chew of tobacco and proceeded to start a new amber beard Also his moist breath quickly powdered with white his mustache eyebrows and lashes There did not seem to be so many springs on the left fork of the Henderson and for half an hour the man saw no signs of any And then it happened At a place where there were no signs where the soft unbroken snow seemed to advertise solidity beneath tee man broke through It was not deep He wet himself halfway to the knees before he floundered out to the firm crust

He was angry and cursed his luck aloud He had hoped to get into camp with the boys at six oclock and this would delay him an hour for he would have to build a fire and dry out his foot-gear This was imperative at that low temperature--he knew that much and he turned aside to the bank which he climbed On top tangled in the underbrush about the trunks of several small spruce trees was a high-water deposit of dry firewood--sticks and twigs principally but also larger portions of seasoned branches and fine dry last-years grasses He threw down several large pieces on top of the snow This served for a foundation and prevented the young flame from drowning itself in the snow it otherwise would melt The flame he got by touching a match to a small shred of birch bark that he took from his pocket This burned even more readily than paper Placing it on the foundation he fed the young flame with wisps of dry grass and with the tiniest dry twigs

He worked slowly and carefully keenly aware of his danger Gradually as the flame grew stronger he increased the size of the twigs with which he fed it He squatted in the snow pulling the twigs out from their entanglement in the brush and feeding directly to the flame He knew there must be no failure When it is seventy-five below zero a man must not fail in his first attempt to build a fire--that is if his feet are wet If his feet are dry and he fails he can run along the trail for half a mile and restore his circulation But the circulation of wet and freezing feet cannot be restored by running when it is seventy-five below No matter how fast he runs the wet feet will freeze the harder

All this the man knew The old-timer on Sulphur Creek had told him about it the previous fall and now he was appreciating the advice Already all sensation had gone out of his feet To build the fire he had been forced to remove his mittens and the fingers had quickly gone numb His pace of four miles an hour had kept his heart pumping blood to the surface of his body and to all the extremities But the instant he stopped the action of the pump eased down The cold of space smote the unprotected tip of the planet and he being on that unprotected tip received the full force of the blow The blood of his body recoiled before it The blood was alive like the dog and like the dog it wanted to hide away and cover itself up from the fearful cold So long as he walked four miles an hour he pumped that blood willy-nilly to the surface but now it ebbed away and sank down into the recesses of his body The extremities were the first to feel its absence His wet feet froze the faster and his exposed fingers numbed the faster though they had not yet begun to freeze Nose and cheeks were already freezing while the skin of all his body chilled as it lost its blood

But he was safe Toes and nose and cheeks would be only touched by the frost for the fire was beginning to burn with strength He was feeding it

To Build a FireContinued

with twigs the size of his finger In another minute he would be able to feed it with branches the size of his wrier and then he could remove his wet toot-gear and while it dried he could keep his naked feet warm by the fire rubbing them at first of course with snow The fire was a success He was safe He remembered the advice of the old timer on Sulphur Creek and smiled The old-timer had been very serious in laying down the law that no man must travel alone in the Klondike after fifty below Well here he was he had had the accident he was alone and he had saved himself Those old-timers were rather womanish some of them he thought All a man had to do was to keep his head and he was all right Any man who was a man could travel alone But it was surprising the rapidity with which his cheeks and nose were freezing And he had not thought his fingers could go lifeless in so short a time Lifeless they were for he could scarcely make them move together to grip a twig and they seemed remote from his body and from him When he touched a twig he had to look and see whether or not he had hold of it The wires were pretty well down between him and his finger-ends

All of which counted for little There was the fire snapping and crackling and promising life with every dancing flame He started to untie his moccasins They were coated with ice the thick German socks were like sheaths of iron halfway to the knees and the moccasin strings were like rods of steel all twisted and knotted as by some conflagration For a moment he tugged with his numb fingers then realizing the folly of it he drew his sheath-knife

But before he could cut the strings it happened It was his own fault or rather his mistake He should not have built the fire under the spruce tree He should have built it in the open But it had been easier to pull the twigs from the brush and drop them directly on the fire Now the tree under which

he had done this carried a weight of snow on its boughs No wind had blown for weeks and each bough was fully freighted Each time he had pulled a twig he had communicated a slight agitation to the tree--an imperceptible agitation so far as he was concerned but an agitation sufficient to bring about the disaster High up in the tree one bough capsized its load of snow This fell on the boughs beneath capsizing them This process continued spreading out and involving the whole tree It grew like an avalanche and it descended without warning upon the man and the fire and the fire was blotted out Where it had burned was a mantle of fresh and disordered snow

The man was shocked It was as though he had just heard his own sentence of death For a moment he sat and stared at the spot where the fire had been Then he grew very calm Perhaps the old-timer on Sulphur Creek was right If he had only had a trail-mate he would have been in no danger now The trail-mate could have built the fire Well it was up to him to build the fire over again and this second time there must be no failure Even if he succeeded he would most likely lose some toes His feet must be badly frozen by now and there would be some time before the second fire Was ready

Such were his thoughts but he did not sit and think them He was busy all the time they were passing through his mind He made a new foundation for a fire this time in the open where no treacherous tree could blot it out Next he gathered dry grasses and tiny twigs from the high-water flotsam He could not bring his fingers together to pull them out but he was able to gather them by the handful In this way he got many rotten twigs and bits of green moss that were undesirable but it was the best he could do He worked methodically even collecting an armful of the larger branches to be used later when the fire gathered strength And all the while the dog sat and watched him a certain yearning wistfulness in its eyes for it looked upon

To Build a FireContinued

him as the fire-provider and the fire was slow in coming

When all was ready the man reached in his pocket for a second piece of birch bark He knew the bark was there and though he could not feel it with his fingers he could hear its crisp rustling as he fumbled for it Try as he would he could not clutch hold of it And all the time in his consciousness was the knowledge that each instant his feet were freezing This thought tended to put him in a panic but he fought against it and kept calm He pulled on his mittens with his teeth and threshed his arms back and forth beating his hands with all his might against his sides He did this sitting down and he stood up to do it and all the while the dog sat in the snow its wolf-brush of a tail curled around warmly over its forefeet its sharp wolf-ears pricked forward intently as it watched the man And the man as he beat and threshed with his arms and hands felt a great surge of envy as he regarded the creature that was warm ant secure in its natural covering

After a time he was aware of the first far-away signals of sensation in his beaten fingers The faint tingling grew stronger till it evolved into a stinging ache that was excruciating but which the man hailed with satisfaction He stripped the mitten from his right hand and fetched forth the birch bark The exposed fingers were quickly going numb again Next he brought out his bunch of sulphur matches But the tremendous cold had already driven the life out of his fingers In his effort to separate one match from the others the whole bunch fell in the snow He tried to pick it out of the snow but failed The dead fingers could neither touch nor clutch He was very careful He drove the thought of his freezing feet and nose and cheeks out of his mind devoting his whole soul to the matches He watched using the sense of vision in place of that of touch and when he saw his fingers on each side the bunch he dosed them--that is he willed to close them for the wires were down and the fingers did not obey He pulled

the mitten on the right hand and beat it fiercely against his knee Then with both mittened hands he scooped the bunch of matches along with much snow into his lap Yet he was no better off

After some manipulation he managed to get the bunch between the heels of his mittened hands In this fashion he carried it to his mouth The ice crackled and snapped when by a violent effort he opened his mouth He drew the lower jaw in curled the upper lip out of the way and scraped the bunch with his upper teeth in order to separate a match He succeeded in getting one which he dropped on his lap He was no better off He could not pick it up Then he devised a way He picked it up in his teeth and scratched it on his leg Twenty times he scratched before he succeeded in lighting it As it flamed he held it with his teeth to the birch bark But the burning brimstone went up his nostrils and into his lungs causing him to cough spasmodically The match fell into the snow and went out

The old-timer an Sulphur Creek was right he thought in the moment of controlled despair that ensued after fifty below a man should travel with a partner He beat his hands but failed in exciting any sensation Suddenly he bared both hands removing the mittens with his teeth He caught the whole bunch between the heels of his hands His arm muscles not being frozen enabled him to press the hand-heels tightly against the matches Then he scratched the bunch along his leg It flared into flame seventy sulphur matches at once There was no wind to blow them out He kept his head to one side to escape the strangling fumes and held the blazing bunch to the birth bark As he so held it he became aware of sensation in his hand His flesh was burning He could smell it Deep down below the surface he could feel it The sensation developed into pain that grew acute And still he endured it holding the flame of the matches clumsily to the bark that would not light readily because his own burning hands were in the way absorbing most of the flame

To Build a FireContinued

At last when he could endure no more he jerked his hands apart The blazing matches fell sizzling into the snow but the birch bark was alight He began laying dry grasses and the tiniest twigs on the flame He could not pick and choose for he had to lift the fuel between the heels of his hands Small pieces of rotten wood and green moss clung to the twigs and he bit them off as well as he could with his teeth He cherished the flame carefully and awkwardly It meant life and it must not perish The withdrawal of blood from the surface of his body now made him begin to shiver and he grew more awkward A large piece of green moss fell squarely on the little fire He tried to poke it out with his fingers but his shivering frame made him poke too far and he disrupted the nucleus of the little fire the burning grasses and tiny twigs separating and scattering He tried to poke them together again but in spite of the tenseness of the effort his shivering got away with him and the twigs were hopelessly scattered Each twig gushed a puff of smoke and went out The fire-provider had failed As he looked apathetically about him his eyes chanced on the dog sitting across the ruins of the fire from him in the snow making restless hunching movements slightly lifting one forefoot and then the other shifting its weight back and forth on them with wistful eagerness

The sight of the dog put a wild idea into his head He remembered the tale of the man caught in a blizzard who killed a steer and crawled inside the carcass and so was saved He would kill the dog and bury his hands in the warm body until the numbness went out of them Then he could build another fire He spoke to the dog calling it to him but in his voice was a strange note of fear that frightened the animal who had never known the man to speak in such way before Something was the matter and its suspicious nature sensed danger--it knew not what danger but somewhere somehow in its brain arose an apprehension of the man It flattened its ears down at the sound of the mans voice and its restless

hunching movements and the liftings and shiftings of its forefeet became more pronounced but it would not come to the man He got on his hands and knees and crawled toward the dog This unusual posture again excited suspicion and the animal sidled mincingly away

The man sat up in the snow for a moment and struggled for calmness Then he pulled on his mittens by means of his teeth and got upon his feet He glanced down at first in order to assure himself that he was really standing up for the absence of sensation in his feet left him unrelated to the earth His erect position in itself started to drive the webs of suspicion from the dogs mind and when he spoke peremptorily with the sound of whiplashes in his voice the dog rendered its customary allegiance and came to him As it came within reaching distance the man lost his control His arms flashed out to the dog and he experienced genuine surprise when he discovered that his hands could not clutch that there was neither bend nor feeling in the fingers He had forgotten for the moment that they were frozen and that they were freezing more and more All this happened quickly and before the animal could get away he encircled its body with his arms He sat down in the snow and in this fashion held the dog while it snarled and whined and struggled

But it was all he could do hold its body encircled in his arms and sit there He realized that he could not kill the dog There was no way to do it With his helpless hands he could neither draw nor hold his sheath knife nor throttle the animal He released it and it plunged wildly away with tail between its legs and still snarling It halted forty feet away and surveyed him curiously with ears sharply pricked forward The man looked down at his hands in order to locate them and found them hanging on the ends of his arms It struck him as curious that one should have to use his eyes in order to find out where his hands were He began threshing his arms back and forth beating the mittened hands against

To Build a FireContinued

his sides He did this for five minutes violently and his heart pumped enough blood up to the surface to put a stop to his shivering But no sensation was aroused in the hands He had an impression that they hung like weights on the ends of his arms but when he tried to run the impression down he could not find it

A certain fear of death dull and oppressive came to him This fear quickly became poignant as he realized that it was no longer a mere matter of freezing his fingers and toes or of losing his hands and feet but that it was a matter of life and death with the chances against him This threw him into a panic and he turned and ran up the creek-bed along the old dim trail The dog joined in behind and kept up with him He ran blindly without intention in fear such as he had never known in his life Slowly as he plowed and floundered through the snow he began to see things again the banks of the creek the old timber-jams the leafless aspens and the sky The running made him feel better He did not shiver Maybe if he ran on his feet would thaw out and anyway if he ran far enough he would reach camp and the boys Without doubt he would lose some fingers and toes and some of his face but the boys would take care of him and save the rest of him when he got there And at the same time there was another thought in his mind that said he would never get to the camp and the boys that it was too many miles away that the freezing had too great a start on him and that he would soon be stiff and dead This thought he kept in the background and refused to consider Sometimes it pushed itself forward and demanded to be heard but he thrust it back and strove to think of other things

It struck him as curious that he could run at all on feet so frozen that he could not feel them when they struck the earth and took the weigh of his body He seemed to himself to skim along above the surface and to have no connection with the earth Somewhere he had once seen a winged Mercury

and he wondered if Mercury felt as he felt when skimming over the earth

His theory of running until he reached camp and the boys had one flaw in it he lacked the endurance Several times he stumbled and finally he tottered crumpled up and fell When he tried to rise he failed He must sit and rest he decided and next time he would merely walk and keep on going As he sat and regained his breath he noted that he was feeling quite warm and comfortable He was not shivering and it even seemed that a warm glow had come to his chest and trunk And yet when he touched his nose or cheeks there was no sensation Running would not thaw them out Nor would it thaw out his hands and feet Then the thought came to him that the frozen portions of his body must be extending He tried to keep this thought down to forget it to think of something else he was aware of the panicky feeling that it caused and he was afraid of the panic But the thought asserted itself and persisted until it produced a vision of his body totally frozen This was too much and he made another wild run along the trail Once he slowed down to a walk but the thought of the freezing extending itself made him run again

And all the time the dog ran with him at his heels When he fell down a second time it curled its tad over its forefeet and sat in front of him facing him curiously eager and intent The warmth and security of the animal angered him and he cursed it till it flattened down its ears appealingly This time the shivering came more quickly upon the man He was losing in his battle with the frost It was creeping into his body from all sides The thought of it drove him on but he ran no more than a hundred feet when he staggered and pitched headlong It was his last panic When he had recovered his breath and control he sat up and entertained in his mind the conception of meeting death with dignity However the conception did not come to him in such terms His idea of it was that he had been making a fool of

To Build a FireContinued

himself running around like a chicken with its head cut off--such was the simile that occurred to him Well he was bound to freeze anyway and he might as well take it decently With this new-found peace of mind came the first glimmerings of drowsiness A good idea he thought to sleep off to death It was like salting an anesthetic Freezing was not so bad as people thought There were lots worse ways to die

He pictured the boys finding his body next day Suddenly he found himself with them coming along the trail and looking for himself And still with them he came around a turn in the trail and found himself lying in the snow He did not belong with himself any more for even then he was out of himself standing with the boys and looking at himself in the snow It certainly was cold was his thought When he got back to the States he could tell the folks what real cold was He drifted on from this to a vision of the old-timer on Sulphur Creek He could see him quite clearly warm and comfortable and smoking a pipe

You were right old boss you were right the man mumbled to the old-timer of Sulphur Creek

Then the man drowsed off into what seemed to him the most comfortable and satisfying sleep he had ever known The dog sat facing him and waiting The brief day drew to a close in a long slow twilight There were no signs of a fire to be made and besides never in the dogs experience had it known a man to sit like that in the snow and make no fire As the twilight drew on its eager yearning for the fire mastered it and with a great lifting and shifting of forefeet it whined softly then flattened its ears down in anticipation of being chidden by the man But the man remained silent Later the dog whined loudly And still later it crept close to the man and caught the scent of death This made the animal bristle and back away A little longer it delayed howling under the stars that leaped and danced and shone brightly in the cold sky Then it turned and trotted up the trail in the direction of the camp it knew where were the other food-providers and fire-providers

To Build a FireContinued

Blogs can be a lot of work to maintainTwitter only gives you 140 characters

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Stories are published for ALL FitnessDigestus readers Archived professionally and digitally in thousands of libraries

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Page 39: FitnessDigest.us Vol. 4.3 Cover

The Ride of SilenceTonight we number many but ride as one

In honor of those not with us friends

mothers fathers sisters sons

With helmets on tight and heads down low

We ride in silence cautious and slow

The wheels start spinning in the lead pack

But tonight we ride and no one attacks

The dark sunglasses cover our tears

Remembering those we held so dear

Tonights ride is to make others aware

The road is there for all to share

To those not with us or by our side

May God be your partner on your final ride

- Mike Murgas

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 50 states

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 7 Continents

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 0 words spoken

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 1 million memories

Ride of Silence

ldquoCost-effective investments in bicycling boost our economy help individuals and government agencies save money and directly address key societal challenges such as obesity and road congestion In these tough economic times our federal government can only afford to invest in solutions that solve multiple problems Bicycling fits the billrdquo ndash PeopleForBikesorg

This photo collection was taken byRobert LaVallee of Mason City IA

To see his entire collection visithttpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

Non-subscriberSign-up for delivery of

the FREE edition at coopnetbiz

It provides an outstanding aerobic workout in less than half the time we would spend in still water It has allowed us as swim coaches to observe swimmers stroke characteristics up close and to see the effects of fatigue on stroke mechanics ~ Larry L Chazy NY

Swimming is an excellent exercise and now I can swim every day because its so convenient and private I can swim when I want and how long I want Im able to have it at a temperature that is comfortable to me The small size of an Endless Pool enabled me to install a pool where I could not install a regular size one

As an aging baby boomer nutrition professional I have yearned for consistent exercise that doesnt stress joints and will enable me to attain physical fitness cardiovascular health and weight control I can eat what I want and still firm up and lose weight ~ John C Columbus OH

Endless Pools make for long swims in small places The 8x15 Endless Pool is less than regulation size but offers the same benefits as a very large pool ~ Noah H Connecticut Post

The Endless Pool is a great strength builder I am amazed at the strength of the current I now swim against I did not buy it for that reason but because of my arthritis so the strength gain is a wonderful surprise

Endless PoolsTestimonials For more information visit httpLIveAdsFitnessDigestus

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Baseball Walking Stick13 My sons friend grabbed his baseball bat and said to me this is my walking stick I politely ask him why he calls it that He replied because my dad says if I hit a home run with it I donrsquot have to run the bases ndash I can walk

My Bike My mountain bike was stolen a while back and my kids were really upset Ive been riding my road bike in its place Since then Ive been careful to lock my bike up when we go to the park

13 On this occasion I did not lock-up my sonrsquos bike up with mine He looked at me quizzically and said sternly lock my bike up too I tried to explain that his bike was not as expensive and therefor didnt need to be locked up Boy that was a mistake He made me feel a little dumb when he said Dad I dont care how expensive it is Its the only bike Irsquove got

North Iowa Roads

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A LEADER inSearch Engine Optimization

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Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

parent sports tipBy FitnessDigestus staff writer JGA

PAR

EN

T

TIP

Keeping Kids Focused13 Organize their thoughts Help them prioritize and make decisions based on value Even kids can understand the value of simple non-monetized choices Questions like ldquoShould I finish playing my gameboy game or pause it when they call my swimming eventrdquo

If kids are taught to make good decisions and not just find quick answers everyone wins

AugustGolf Month5th Friendship Day15th Relaxation Day25th Kiss and Make Up Day31st Trail Mix DaySeptemberLittle League Month12th Chocolate Milk Shake Day13th Positive Thinking Day16th Womenrsquos Friendship Day21st Miniature Golf DayOctoberBreast Cancer Awareness MonthNational Diabetes Month1st World Vegetarian Day4th Golf Day25th World Pasta Day

National Calendar

Au

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stSe

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mb

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Oc

tob

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Encourage friendships writing skills sharing thoughts and

experiencesEight different cards

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Variety of pricing From single orders to bulk orders of 24 notecards

Learn more online

Stay in touch with your swimming or triathlon buddies

It is better to be safe then to try to beat the heat There are many options to stay cool and run during a hot-summer day Staying inside and running on the treadmill is a good one Remember staying safe is a top priority

Most workouts can be modified to work indoors This issuersquos workout is to do your usual run or interval set just stay inside and run it on the treadmill Visualize the different landmarks to see during your outdoor run

Coach Millerrsquos Quarterly ChallengeStay safe in the heatBy Mark Miller mmillerFitnessDigestus

A few years back we had a hot-spell similar to this yearrsquos record heat

I remember training for a long run and having to stop at the local swimming hole to cool off I literally took off my

shoes and jumped in with my running clothes on I was so hot

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OPEN WATER SWIMMING BY THE NUMBERS

In kilometers The shortest open water race included in the Fina World Championships

10107 How many miles it

is to swim from Cuba to the USA

5

1000Number of swimming strokes in a mile for a typical swimmer

31800About the number of calories it takes to swim 100 miles

LOCATED IN ST ANSGAR IOWA

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The minimum open water distance in kilometers that is considered a swimming-

marathon

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Open water safety means swimming in shallow water where there is a lifeguard or using an escort

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24 Hoursa Day

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Googles

13 Swimming fans can really appreciate a 200 IM when their goggles fill with water How about an Olympian Swimming a leg of the 400 Free Relay with his goggles across his opened mouth ndash and going 45rsquos A great team swimmer an Olympian wouldnrsquot let down his teammates by throwing them off or fixing them

500 Fly13 A world class butterflyer asked if he could swim butterfly in the 500 yard freestyle during a dual meet His goal was to break five minutes After considering the competition it seemed like a great way to make him really work a hard fly swim so we agreed Problem was he swam a 502 and the opposing coach complained to the officials because he embarrassed his swimmers Oh well you canrsquot win lsquoem all

Stories sent in by Robert Steele

No-No-No13 The other morning I was teaching front-streamlines to snotty nosed 8 year olds (some are literally snotty-nosed) One boy was taking a big gulp of air and holding his breath When he lifted his head he had to exhale and inhale before submerging again Swimmers will understand this does not work very well Kids need to learn to exhale underwater The first time he did it I told him to exhale underwater The second time I stopped him looked him in the eye and reminded him to exhale underwater The third and fourth times I started to get a little frustrated ldquoJohnny you need to exhale underwater so you can breath betterrdquo The fifth time as his head popped up for a breath I quickly asked ldquoJohnny Do you even know what exhale meansrdquo as he submerged his head below the water I could see him shake his head no-no-no

Favorite Potato Chips13We try to limit the junk food the kids eat at our house For lunch one day our son wanted some potato chips I gave him 3 large chips with his sandwich He started to cry and said he wanted one more chip ldquoI wanted four chipsrdquo he screamed I took the plate back When he wasnt looking I broke a chip in half and give it back to him with four chips

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

13 My cancer story is one of uniqueness Leave it to me to do something like cancer to its fullest It did not begin with a mammogram diagnosis or a lump My journey began about 4 years ago with some suspicious activity that turned into Pagetrsquos disease of the nipple which signaled the underlying cancer On April 1st I found out about my breast cancer through a biopsy that came back as positive for Pagetrsquos disease The onslaught of tests learning and decisions were dizzying I immediately went for an evaluation of the suspicious tissue and had to begin making decisions for my mastectomy I quickly learned there is a test called the BRAC Analysis which is a genetic test for breast and ovarian cancer Finally a piece of good news for me I did not have the gene

Decisions Now it was time to make decisions about my mastectomy and how I was going to handle reconstruction I discussed my options with my boyfriend Brian friends family members and even my principalboss I read books searched the Internet and contacted people I

Brandi ShipmanCancer Survivor and elite triathlete

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

know and knew from my past that had been directly affected and that I thought might have answers for me The outpouring of love encouragement and help during this process was overwhelming After meeting with four different doctors two surgeons and two plastic surgeons I decided to go with immediate reconstruction and was lucky enough to find two wonderful doctors They were willing to work together just because I wanted them to even though they had never done so before My surgery was scheduled for mid May

Mental Toughness13 My mental preparation at this point was very important I had to scrap any idea of competing in triathlons for the rest of the year and focus on a positive attitude of getting better I stopped thinking about what I wasnrsquot going to able to do and started thinking about what I could do that I was alive and kept my mind on the fact that so many others had made it before me

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links

Part 213 I was prepared by the doctors survivors and literature to be ldquodownrdquo for several weeks after my surgery I even took the rest of the school year off My surgery went well and I was out of the hospital the next day A few friends came to visit while I was in the hospital and my principal and vice principal brought the most wonderful picture of the faculty wearing pink for me I can only imagine what it looked like at Thornton Elementary on that day in May 2009 a sea of pink all for Brandi Shipman Shortly after their visit I received a text from my friend Margie Massey My friends from the gym wore pink for me that day as well The support brought tears to my eyes I was so excited to come home and be comfortable in my own home I just wish the stupid drain that was attached could have stayed at the hospital The pain from that was worse than the pain from the mastectomy

the most

powerful picture

13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Recovery ndash May13 Once I got home I slept and watched a lot of TV Friends visited and brought yummy food and my favorites I am not supposed to eat I ate them all My friend and co-worker set up a cancer care calendar that alerted anyone who logged on when I was having a doctorrsquos appointment or when I was in need of anything I felt like royalty as everyone took care of me I think Brian secretly enjoyed the fact that he wouldnrsquot have to cook for me each night My recovery was quicker than I thought as I was doing my best to get better and get the stinkinrsquo drain out of my skin I was out walking within a week and running within 3 weeks I couldnrsquot believe my recovery I know it was from all the prayers love and good care from Brian and the loved ones around me Life was looking better each day

ldquoLife was looking

better each dayrdquo

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Part three and part

four of I am Survivor

will be published in

the next edition of

FitnessDigestus

Get the convenience of

digital-delivery

Sign-up or subscribe at

httpFitnessDigestus

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During the past 150 years we have witnessed many remarkable advances against cancer a disease known to humanity for thousands of years The advances highlighted below represent a sampling of what has been accomplished to date

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

1882 William Halsted performs the first radical mastectomy to treat breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast the lymph nodes under the arm (axillary lymph nodes) and the chest muscles behind the breast (pectoralis major and pectoralis minor muscles) are removed Radical mastectomy will remain the standard operation for breast cancer until latter half of the 20th century when the use of modified radical mastectomy becomes widely accepted

1932 David H Patey develops the modified radical mastectomy for breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast axillary lymph nodes and pectoralis minor muscle behind the breast are removed The modified radical mastectomy is less disfiguring than the radical mastectomy and will eventually replace the radical mastectomy as a standard treatment option for breast cancer

1953 James Watson and Francis Crick discover the molecular structure of DNA (the double helix)

1963 The Health Insurance Plan (HIP) of Greater New York Study begins HIP is the first randomized controlled trial of periodic breast cancer screening with mammography

1882

1932

1953

1963

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1976 The results of a randomized clinical trial show that women with early breast cancer who receive post-operative (adjuvant) combination chemotherapy with the drugs cyclophosphamide methotrexate and 5-FU have improved disease-free survival

1981 A randomized clinical trial in the United Kingdom shows for the first time that the rates of survival local recurrence and tumor metastasis among women whose breast cancer is treated with modified radical mastectomy are not substantially different from those of women who are treated with radical mastectomy

1993 An NCI-convened international workshop on screening for breast cancer reports that screening with mammography reduces breast cancer mortality among women ages 50-69 This conclusion is based on a review of published and unpublished data from eight randomized controlled trials

2004 Data from the Womens Health Initiative (WHI) study show that women who take estrogen in combination with the hormone progestin have a greater risk of developing breast cancer than women who take estrogen alone The results also show that menopausal hormone therapy with estrogen alone has no benefit in disease prevention specifically in reducing the risks of colorectal cancer coronary heart disease and dementia

1976

1981

1993

2004

Although we still have a long way to go to reduce the toll of cancer in the United States and worldwide our research and public health efforts are beginning to pay dividends

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

Volunteering vs Participating13 My girl friend and I are involved in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation The local chapter raises awareness for the cause with a fun-run each year We have volunteered to help with the race five years in a row This year we were stationed at a water table where the runners pick-up cups of water to drink Toward the end of the race there are very few runners There was a little time to chat about things We were talking about what we would wish for if we could have three wishes I told her I would wish for an end to Juvenile Diabetes and to lose 10 pounds Being nice I said ldquoyou can have my last wishrdquo She said I wish you would skip volunteering and just run this race next year

Admission Price Our aquatic center was having a promotion one night and advertised an elementary school night The kids could swim for free When we got to the pool we saw a promotional sign for the event In small lettering it read All swimmers must be accompanied by an adult We thought no big deal one of us can just stay and watch When we got to the front desk we found the lifeguard was enforcing the adult-admission price of $8

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CNFI Publishing - Products Books Chapbooks Bookmarks Plaques and Poetry Collector Cards Merchandising Products Coffee Mugs Mouse Pads Tiles 3x6 Coasters T - Shirts and Wall Plaques More info athttpliveadsFitnessDigestus

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

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Chicago open water swim course at nighttop left

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Some team members volunteer at the local soup kitchenmiddle right

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children 7-13 bottom right

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As he turned to go on he spat speculatively There was a sharp explosive crackle that startled him He spat again And again in the air before it could fall to the snow the spittle crackled He knew that at fifty below spittle crackled on the snow but this spittle had crackled in the air Undoubtedly it was colder than fifty below--how much colder he did not know But the temperature did not matter He was bound for the old claim on the left fork of Henderson Creek where the boys were already They had come over across the divide from the Indian Creek country while he had come the roundabout way to take a look at the possibilities of getting out logs in the spring from the islands in the Yukon He would be in to camp by six oclock a bit after dark it was true but the boys would be there a fire would be going and a hot supper would be ready As for lunch he pressed his hand against the protruding bundle under his jacket It was also under his shirt wrapped up in a handkerchief and lying against the naked skin It was the only way to keep the biscuits from freezing He smiled agreeably to himself as he thought of those biscuits each cut open and sopped in bacon grease and each enclosing a generous slice of fried bacon

He plunged in among the big spruce trees The trail was faint A foot of snow had fallen since the last sled had passed over and he was glad he was without a sled traveling light In fact he carried nothing but the lunch wrapped in the handkerchief He was surprised however at the cold It certainly was cold he concluded as he rubbed his numb nose and cheek-bones with his mittened hand He was a warm-whiskered man but the hair on his face did not protect the high cheek-bones and the eager nose that thrust itself aggressively into the frosty air

At the mans heels trotted a dog a big native husky the proper wolf-dog gray-coated and without any visible or temperamental difference from its brother the wild wolf The animal was depressed by the tremendous cold It knew that it was no time for

traveling Its instinct told it a truer tale than was told to the man by the mans judgment In reality it was not merely colder than fifty below zero it was colder than sixty below than seventy below It was seventy-five below zero Since the freezing point is thirty-two above zero it meant that one hundred and seven degrees of frost obtained The dog did not know anything about thermometers Possibly in its brain there was no sharp consciousness of a condition of very cold such as was in the mans brain But the brute had its instinct It experienced a vague but menacing apprehension that subdued it then made it slink along at the mans heels and that made it question eagerly every unwonted movement of the man as if expecting him to go into camp or to seek shelter somewhere and build a fire The dog had learned fire and it wanted fire or else to burrow under the snow and cuddle its warmth away from the air

The frozen moisture of its breathing had settled on its fur in a fine powder of frost and especially were its jowls muzzle and eyelashes whitened by its cry-stalled breath The mans red beard and mustache were likewise frosted but more solidly the deposit taking the form of ice and increasing with every warm moist breath he exhaled Also the man was chewing tobacco and the muzzle of ice held his lips so rigidly that he was unable to clear his chin when he expelled the juice The result was that a crystal beard of the color and solidity of amber was increasing its length on his chin If he fell down it would shatter itself like glass into brittle fragments But he did not mind the appendage It was the penalty all tobacco-chewers paid in that country and he had been out before in two cold snaps They had not been so cold as this he knew but by the spirit thermometer at Sixty Mile he knew they had been registered at fifty below and at fifty-five

He held on through the level stretch of woods for several miles crossed a wide flat of rigger-heads and dropped down a bank to the frozen bed of a

To Build a FireContinued

small stream This was Henderson Creek and he knew he was ten miles from the forks He looked at his watch It was ten oclock He was making four miles an hour and he calculated that he would arrive at the forks at half-past twelve He decided to celebrate that event by eating his lunch there

The dog dropped in again at his heels with a tail drooping discouragement as the man swung along the creek-bed The furrow of the old sled-trail was plainly visible but a dozen inches of snow covered the marks of the last runners In a month no man had come up or down that silent creek The man held steadily on He was not much given to thinking and just then particularly he had nothing to think about save that he would eat lunch at-the forks and that at six oclock he would be in camp with the boys There was nobody to talk to and had there been speech would have been impossible because of the ice-muzzle on his mouth So he continued monotonously to chew tobacco and to increase the length of his amber beard

Once in a while the thought reiterated itself that it was very cold and that he had never experienced such cold As he walked along he rubbed his cheek-bones and nose with the back of his mittened hand He did this automatically now and again changing hands But rub as he would the instant he stopped his cheek-bones went numb and the following instant the end of his nose went numb He was sure to frost his cheeks he knew that and experienced a pang of regret that he had not devised a nose-strap of the sort Bud wore in cold snaps Such a strap passed across the cheeks as well and saved them But it didnt matter much after all What were frosted cheeks A bit painful that was all they were never serious

Empty as the mans mind was of thoughts he was keenly observant and he noticed the changes in the creek the curves and bends and timber jams and always he sharply noted where he placed his feet Once coming around a bend he shied abruptly

like a startled horse curved away from the place where he had been walking and retreated several paces back along the trail The creek he knew was frozen clear to the bottom--no creek could contain water in that arctic winter--but he knew also that there were springs that bubbled out from the hillsides and ran along under the snow and on top the ice of the creek He knew that the coldest snaps never froze these springs and he knew likewise their danger They were traps They hid pools of water under the snow that might be three inches deep or three feet Sometimes a skin of ice half an inch thick covered them and in turn was covered by the snow Sometimes there were alternate layers of water and ice-skin so that when one broke through he kept on breaking through for a while sometimes wetting himself to the waist

That was why he had shied in such panic He had felt the give under his feet and heard the crackle of a snow-hidden ice-skin And to get his feet wet in such a temperature meant trouble and danger At the very least it meant delay for he would be forced to stop and build a fire and under its protection to bare his feet while he dried his socks and moccasins He stood and studied the creek-bed and its banks and decided that the flow of water came from the right He reflected a while rubbing his nose and cheeks then skirted to the left stepping gingerly and testing the footing for each step Once clear of the danger he took a fresh chew of tobacco and swung along at his four-mile gait

In the course of the next two hours he came upon several similar traps Usually the snow above the hidden pools had a sunken candied appearance that advertised the danger Once again however he had a close call and once suspecting danger he compelled the dog to go on in front The dog did not want to go It hung back until the man shoved it forward and then it went quickly across the white unbroken surface Suddenly it broke through floundered to one side and got away to firmer

To Build a FireContinued

To Build a FireContinued

footing It had wet its forefeet and legs and almost immediately the water that clung to it turned to ice It made quick efforts to lick the ice off its legs then dropped down in the snow and began to bite out the ice that had formed between the toes l his was a matter of instinct To permit the ice to remain would mean sore feet It did not know this It merely obeyed the mysterious prompting that arose from the deep crypts of its being But the man knew having achieved a judgment on the subject and he removed the mitten from his right hand and helped tear out the ice-particles He did not expose his fingers more than a minute and was astonished at the swift numbness that smote them It certainly was cold He pulled on the mitten hastily and beat the hand savagely across his chest

At twelve oclock the day was at its brightest Yet the sun was too far south an its winter journey to clear the horizon The bulge of the earth intervened between it arid Henderson Creek where the man walked under a clear sky at noon and cast no shadow At half-past twelve to the minute he arrived at the forks of the creek He was pleased at the speed he had made If he kept it up he would certainly be with the boys by six He unbuttoned his jacket and shirt and drew forth his lunch The action consumed no more than a quarter of a minute yet in that brief moment the numbness laid hold of the exposed fingers He did not put the mitten on but instead struck the fingers a dozen sharp smashes against his leg Then he sat down on a snow-covered log to eat The sting that followed upon the striking of his fingers against his leg ceased so quickly that he was startled He had had no chance to take a bite of biscuit He struck the fingers repeatedly and returned them to the mitten baring the other hand for the purpose of eating He tried to take a mouthful but the ice-muzzle prevented He had forgotten to build a fire and thaw out He chuckled at his foolishness and as he chuckled he noted the numbness creeping into the exposed fingers Also he noted that the stinging which had first come to his

toes when he sat down was already passing away He wandered whether the toes were warm or numb He moved them inside the moccasins and decided that they were numb

He pulled the mitten on hurriedly and stood up He was a bit frightened He stamped up and down until the stinging returned into the feet It certainly was cold was his thought That man from Sulphur Creek had spoken the truth when telling how cold it sometimes got in the country And he had laughed at him at the time That showed one must not be too sure of things There was no mistake about it it was cold He strode up and down stamping his feet and threshing his arms until reassured by the returning warmth Then he got out matches and proceeded to make a fire From the undergrowth where high water of the previous spring had lodged a supply of seasoned twigs he got his firewood Working carefully from a small beginning he soon had a roaring fire over which he thawed the ice from his face and in the protection of which he ate his biscuits For the moment the cold space was outwitted The dog took satisfaction in the fire stretching out close enough for warmth and far enough away to escape being singed

When the man had finished be filled his pipe and took his comfortable time over a smoke Then he pulled on his mittens settled the ear-flaps of his cap firmly about his ears and took the creek trail up the left fork The dog was disappointed and yearned back toward the fire This man did not know cold Possibly all the generations of his ancestry had been ignorant of cold of real cold of cold one hundred and seven degrees below freezing point But the dog knew all its ancestry knew and it had inherited the knowledge And it knew that it was not good to walk abroad in such fearful cold It was the time to lie snug in a hole in the snow and wait for a curtain of cloud to be drawn across the face of outer space whence this cold came On the other hand there was no keen intimacy between the dog and the man

The one was the toil-slave of the other and the only caresses it had ever received were the caresses of the whiplash and of harsh and menacing throat-sounds that threatened the whiplash So the dog made no effort to communicate its apprehension to the man It was not concerned in the welfare of the man it was for its own sake that it yearned back toward the fire But the man whistled and spoke to it with the sound of whiplashes and the dog swung in at the mans heel and followed after

The man took a chew of tobacco and proceeded to start a new amber beard Also his moist breath quickly powdered with white his mustache eyebrows and lashes There did not seem to be so many springs on the left fork of the Henderson and for half an hour the man saw no signs of any And then it happened At a place where there were no signs where the soft unbroken snow seemed to advertise solidity beneath tee man broke through It was not deep He wet himself halfway to the knees before he floundered out to the firm crust

He was angry and cursed his luck aloud He had hoped to get into camp with the boys at six oclock and this would delay him an hour for he would have to build a fire and dry out his foot-gear This was imperative at that low temperature--he knew that much and he turned aside to the bank which he climbed On top tangled in the underbrush about the trunks of several small spruce trees was a high-water deposit of dry firewood--sticks and twigs principally but also larger portions of seasoned branches and fine dry last-years grasses He threw down several large pieces on top of the snow This served for a foundation and prevented the young flame from drowning itself in the snow it otherwise would melt The flame he got by touching a match to a small shred of birch bark that he took from his pocket This burned even more readily than paper Placing it on the foundation he fed the young flame with wisps of dry grass and with the tiniest dry twigs

He worked slowly and carefully keenly aware of his danger Gradually as the flame grew stronger he increased the size of the twigs with which he fed it He squatted in the snow pulling the twigs out from their entanglement in the brush and feeding directly to the flame He knew there must be no failure When it is seventy-five below zero a man must not fail in his first attempt to build a fire--that is if his feet are wet If his feet are dry and he fails he can run along the trail for half a mile and restore his circulation But the circulation of wet and freezing feet cannot be restored by running when it is seventy-five below No matter how fast he runs the wet feet will freeze the harder

All this the man knew The old-timer on Sulphur Creek had told him about it the previous fall and now he was appreciating the advice Already all sensation had gone out of his feet To build the fire he had been forced to remove his mittens and the fingers had quickly gone numb His pace of four miles an hour had kept his heart pumping blood to the surface of his body and to all the extremities But the instant he stopped the action of the pump eased down The cold of space smote the unprotected tip of the planet and he being on that unprotected tip received the full force of the blow The blood of his body recoiled before it The blood was alive like the dog and like the dog it wanted to hide away and cover itself up from the fearful cold So long as he walked four miles an hour he pumped that blood willy-nilly to the surface but now it ebbed away and sank down into the recesses of his body The extremities were the first to feel its absence His wet feet froze the faster and his exposed fingers numbed the faster though they had not yet begun to freeze Nose and cheeks were already freezing while the skin of all his body chilled as it lost its blood

But he was safe Toes and nose and cheeks would be only touched by the frost for the fire was beginning to burn with strength He was feeding it

To Build a FireContinued

with twigs the size of his finger In another minute he would be able to feed it with branches the size of his wrier and then he could remove his wet toot-gear and while it dried he could keep his naked feet warm by the fire rubbing them at first of course with snow The fire was a success He was safe He remembered the advice of the old timer on Sulphur Creek and smiled The old-timer had been very serious in laying down the law that no man must travel alone in the Klondike after fifty below Well here he was he had had the accident he was alone and he had saved himself Those old-timers were rather womanish some of them he thought All a man had to do was to keep his head and he was all right Any man who was a man could travel alone But it was surprising the rapidity with which his cheeks and nose were freezing And he had not thought his fingers could go lifeless in so short a time Lifeless they were for he could scarcely make them move together to grip a twig and they seemed remote from his body and from him When he touched a twig he had to look and see whether or not he had hold of it The wires were pretty well down between him and his finger-ends

All of which counted for little There was the fire snapping and crackling and promising life with every dancing flame He started to untie his moccasins They were coated with ice the thick German socks were like sheaths of iron halfway to the knees and the moccasin strings were like rods of steel all twisted and knotted as by some conflagration For a moment he tugged with his numb fingers then realizing the folly of it he drew his sheath-knife

But before he could cut the strings it happened It was his own fault or rather his mistake He should not have built the fire under the spruce tree He should have built it in the open But it had been easier to pull the twigs from the brush and drop them directly on the fire Now the tree under which

he had done this carried a weight of snow on its boughs No wind had blown for weeks and each bough was fully freighted Each time he had pulled a twig he had communicated a slight agitation to the tree--an imperceptible agitation so far as he was concerned but an agitation sufficient to bring about the disaster High up in the tree one bough capsized its load of snow This fell on the boughs beneath capsizing them This process continued spreading out and involving the whole tree It grew like an avalanche and it descended without warning upon the man and the fire and the fire was blotted out Where it had burned was a mantle of fresh and disordered snow

The man was shocked It was as though he had just heard his own sentence of death For a moment he sat and stared at the spot where the fire had been Then he grew very calm Perhaps the old-timer on Sulphur Creek was right If he had only had a trail-mate he would have been in no danger now The trail-mate could have built the fire Well it was up to him to build the fire over again and this second time there must be no failure Even if he succeeded he would most likely lose some toes His feet must be badly frozen by now and there would be some time before the second fire Was ready

Such were his thoughts but he did not sit and think them He was busy all the time they were passing through his mind He made a new foundation for a fire this time in the open where no treacherous tree could blot it out Next he gathered dry grasses and tiny twigs from the high-water flotsam He could not bring his fingers together to pull them out but he was able to gather them by the handful In this way he got many rotten twigs and bits of green moss that were undesirable but it was the best he could do He worked methodically even collecting an armful of the larger branches to be used later when the fire gathered strength And all the while the dog sat and watched him a certain yearning wistfulness in its eyes for it looked upon

To Build a FireContinued

him as the fire-provider and the fire was slow in coming

When all was ready the man reached in his pocket for a second piece of birch bark He knew the bark was there and though he could not feel it with his fingers he could hear its crisp rustling as he fumbled for it Try as he would he could not clutch hold of it And all the time in his consciousness was the knowledge that each instant his feet were freezing This thought tended to put him in a panic but he fought against it and kept calm He pulled on his mittens with his teeth and threshed his arms back and forth beating his hands with all his might against his sides He did this sitting down and he stood up to do it and all the while the dog sat in the snow its wolf-brush of a tail curled around warmly over its forefeet its sharp wolf-ears pricked forward intently as it watched the man And the man as he beat and threshed with his arms and hands felt a great surge of envy as he regarded the creature that was warm ant secure in its natural covering

After a time he was aware of the first far-away signals of sensation in his beaten fingers The faint tingling grew stronger till it evolved into a stinging ache that was excruciating but which the man hailed with satisfaction He stripped the mitten from his right hand and fetched forth the birch bark The exposed fingers were quickly going numb again Next he brought out his bunch of sulphur matches But the tremendous cold had already driven the life out of his fingers In his effort to separate one match from the others the whole bunch fell in the snow He tried to pick it out of the snow but failed The dead fingers could neither touch nor clutch He was very careful He drove the thought of his freezing feet and nose and cheeks out of his mind devoting his whole soul to the matches He watched using the sense of vision in place of that of touch and when he saw his fingers on each side the bunch he dosed them--that is he willed to close them for the wires were down and the fingers did not obey He pulled

the mitten on the right hand and beat it fiercely against his knee Then with both mittened hands he scooped the bunch of matches along with much snow into his lap Yet he was no better off

After some manipulation he managed to get the bunch between the heels of his mittened hands In this fashion he carried it to his mouth The ice crackled and snapped when by a violent effort he opened his mouth He drew the lower jaw in curled the upper lip out of the way and scraped the bunch with his upper teeth in order to separate a match He succeeded in getting one which he dropped on his lap He was no better off He could not pick it up Then he devised a way He picked it up in his teeth and scratched it on his leg Twenty times he scratched before he succeeded in lighting it As it flamed he held it with his teeth to the birch bark But the burning brimstone went up his nostrils and into his lungs causing him to cough spasmodically The match fell into the snow and went out

The old-timer an Sulphur Creek was right he thought in the moment of controlled despair that ensued after fifty below a man should travel with a partner He beat his hands but failed in exciting any sensation Suddenly he bared both hands removing the mittens with his teeth He caught the whole bunch between the heels of his hands His arm muscles not being frozen enabled him to press the hand-heels tightly against the matches Then he scratched the bunch along his leg It flared into flame seventy sulphur matches at once There was no wind to blow them out He kept his head to one side to escape the strangling fumes and held the blazing bunch to the birth bark As he so held it he became aware of sensation in his hand His flesh was burning He could smell it Deep down below the surface he could feel it The sensation developed into pain that grew acute And still he endured it holding the flame of the matches clumsily to the bark that would not light readily because his own burning hands were in the way absorbing most of the flame

To Build a FireContinued

At last when he could endure no more he jerked his hands apart The blazing matches fell sizzling into the snow but the birch bark was alight He began laying dry grasses and the tiniest twigs on the flame He could not pick and choose for he had to lift the fuel between the heels of his hands Small pieces of rotten wood and green moss clung to the twigs and he bit them off as well as he could with his teeth He cherished the flame carefully and awkwardly It meant life and it must not perish The withdrawal of blood from the surface of his body now made him begin to shiver and he grew more awkward A large piece of green moss fell squarely on the little fire He tried to poke it out with his fingers but his shivering frame made him poke too far and he disrupted the nucleus of the little fire the burning grasses and tiny twigs separating and scattering He tried to poke them together again but in spite of the tenseness of the effort his shivering got away with him and the twigs were hopelessly scattered Each twig gushed a puff of smoke and went out The fire-provider had failed As he looked apathetically about him his eyes chanced on the dog sitting across the ruins of the fire from him in the snow making restless hunching movements slightly lifting one forefoot and then the other shifting its weight back and forth on them with wistful eagerness

The sight of the dog put a wild idea into his head He remembered the tale of the man caught in a blizzard who killed a steer and crawled inside the carcass and so was saved He would kill the dog and bury his hands in the warm body until the numbness went out of them Then he could build another fire He spoke to the dog calling it to him but in his voice was a strange note of fear that frightened the animal who had never known the man to speak in such way before Something was the matter and its suspicious nature sensed danger--it knew not what danger but somewhere somehow in its brain arose an apprehension of the man It flattened its ears down at the sound of the mans voice and its restless

hunching movements and the liftings and shiftings of its forefeet became more pronounced but it would not come to the man He got on his hands and knees and crawled toward the dog This unusual posture again excited suspicion and the animal sidled mincingly away

The man sat up in the snow for a moment and struggled for calmness Then he pulled on his mittens by means of his teeth and got upon his feet He glanced down at first in order to assure himself that he was really standing up for the absence of sensation in his feet left him unrelated to the earth His erect position in itself started to drive the webs of suspicion from the dogs mind and when he spoke peremptorily with the sound of whiplashes in his voice the dog rendered its customary allegiance and came to him As it came within reaching distance the man lost his control His arms flashed out to the dog and he experienced genuine surprise when he discovered that his hands could not clutch that there was neither bend nor feeling in the fingers He had forgotten for the moment that they were frozen and that they were freezing more and more All this happened quickly and before the animal could get away he encircled its body with his arms He sat down in the snow and in this fashion held the dog while it snarled and whined and struggled

But it was all he could do hold its body encircled in his arms and sit there He realized that he could not kill the dog There was no way to do it With his helpless hands he could neither draw nor hold his sheath knife nor throttle the animal He released it and it plunged wildly away with tail between its legs and still snarling It halted forty feet away and surveyed him curiously with ears sharply pricked forward The man looked down at his hands in order to locate them and found them hanging on the ends of his arms It struck him as curious that one should have to use his eyes in order to find out where his hands were He began threshing his arms back and forth beating the mittened hands against

To Build a FireContinued

his sides He did this for five minutes violently and his heart pumped enough blood up to the surface to put a stop to his shivering But no sensation was aroused in the hands He had an impression that they hung like weights on the ends of his arms but when he tried to run the impression down he could not find it

A certain fear of death dull and oppressive came to him This fear quickly became poignant as he realized that it was no longer a mere matter of freezing his fingers and toes or of losing his hands and feet but that it was a matter of life and death with the chances against him This threw him into a panic and he turned and ran up the creek-bed along the old dim trail The dog joined in behind and kept up with him He ran blindly without intention in fear such as he had never known in his life Slowly as he plowed and floundered through the snow he began to see things again the banks of the creek the old timber-jams the leafless aspens and the sky The running made him feel better He did not shiver Maybe if he ran on his feet would thaw out and anyway if he ran far enough he would reach camp and the boys Without doubt he would lose some fingers and toes and some of his face but the boys would take care of him and save the rest of him when he got there And at the same time there was another thought in his mind that said he would never get to the camp and the boys that it was too many miles away that the freezing had too great a start on him and that he would soon be stiff and dead This thought he kept in the background and refused to consider Sometimes it pushed itself forward and demanded to be heard but he thrust it back and strove to think of other things

It struck him as curious that he could run at all on feet so frozen that he could not feel them when they struck the earth and took the weigh of his body He seemed to himself to skim along above the surface and to have no connection with the earth Somewhere he had once seen a winged Mercury

and he wondered if Mercury felt as he felt when skimming over the earth

His theory of running until he reached camp and the boys had one flaw in it he lacked the endurance Several times he stumbled and finally he tottered crumpled up and fell When he tried to rise he failed He must sit and rest he decided and next time he would merely walk and keep on going As he sat and regained his breath he noted that he was feeling quite warm and comfortable He was not shivering and it even seemed that a warm glow had come to his chest and trunk And yet when he touched his nose or cheeks there was no sensation Running would not thaw them out Nor would it thaw out his hands and feet Then the thought came to him that the frozen portions of his body must be extending He tried to keep this thought down to forget it to think of something else he was aware of the panicky feeling that it caused and he was afraid of the panic But the thought asserted itself and persisted until it produced a vision of his body totally frozen This was too much and he made another wild run along the trail Once he slowed down to a walk but the thought of the freezing extending itself made him run again

And all the time the dog ran with him at his heels When he fell down a second time it curled its tad over its forefeet and sat in front of him facing him curiously eager and intent The warmth and security of the animal angered him and he cursed it till it flattened down its ears appealingly This time the shivering came more quickly upon the man He was losing in his battle with the frost It was creeping into his body from all sides The thought of it drove him on but he ran no more than a hundred feet when he staggered and pitched headlong It was his last panic When he had recovered his breath and control he sat up and entertained in his mind the conception of meeting death with dignity However the conception did not come to him in such terms His idea of it was that he had been making a fool of

To Build a FireContinued

himself running around like a chicken with its head cut off--such was the simile that occurred to him Well he was bound to freeze anyway and he might as well take it decently With this new-found peace of mind came the first glimmerings of drowsiness A good idea he thought to sleep off to death It was like salting an anesthetic Freezing was not so bad as people thought There were lots worse ways to die

He pictured the boys finding his body next day Suddenly he found himself with them coming along the trail and looking for himself And still with them he came around a turn in the trail and found himself lying in the snow He did not belong with himself any more for even then he was out of himself standing with the boys and looking at himself in the snow It certainly was cold was his thought When he got back to the States he could tell the folks what real cold was He drifted on from this to a vision of the old-timer on Sulphur Creek He could see him quite clearly warm and comfortable and smoking a pipe

You were right old boss you were right the man mumbled to the old-timer of Sulphur Creek

Then the man drowsed off into what seemed to him the most comfortable and satisfying sleep he had ever known The dog sat facing him and waiting The brief day drew to a close in a long slow twilight There were no signs of a fire to be made and besides never in the dogs experience had it known a man to sit like that in the snow and make no fire As the twilight drew on its eager yearning for the fire mastered it and with a great lifting and shifting of forefeet it whined softly then flattened its ears down in anticipation of being chidden by the man But the man remained silent Later the dog whined loudly And still later it crept close to the man and caught the scent of death This made the animal bristle and back away A little longer it delayed howling under the stars that leaped and danced and shone brightly in the cold sky Then it turned and trotted up the trail in the direction of the camp it knew where were the other food-providers and fire-providers

To Build a FireContinued

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Stories are published for ALL FitnessDigestus readers Archived professionally and digitally in thousands of libraries

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Page 40: FitnessDigest.us Vol. 4.3 Cover

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 50 states

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 7 Continents

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Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 1 million memories

Ride of Silence

ldquoCost-effective investments in bicycling boost our economy help individuals and government agencies save money and directly address key societal challenges such as obesity and road congestion In these tough economic times our federal government can only afford to invest in solutions that solve multiple problems Bicycling fits the billrdquo ndash PeopleForBikesorg

This photo collection was taken byRobert LaVallee of Mason City IA

To see his entire collection visithttpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

Non-subscriberSign-up for delivery of

the FREE edition at coopnetbiz

It provides an outstanding aerobic workout in less than half the time we would spend in still water It has allowed us as swim coaches to observe swimmers stroke characteristics up close and to see the effects of fatigue on stroke mechanics ~ Larry L Chazy NY

Swimming is an excellent exercise and now I can swim every day because its so convenient and private I can swim when I want and how long I want Im able to have it at a temperature that is comfortable to me The small size of an Endless Pool enabled me to install a pool where I could not install a regular size one

As an aging baby boomer nutrition professional I have yearned for consistent exercise that doesnt stress joints and will enable me to attain physical fitness cardiovascular health and weight control I can eat what I want and still firm up and lose weight ~ John C Columbus OH

Endless Pools make for long swims in small places The 8x15 Endless Pool is less than regulation size but offers the same benefits as a very large pool ~ Noah H Connecticut Post

The Endless Pool is a great strength builder I am amazed at the strength of the current I now swim against I did not buy it for that reason but because of my arthritis so the strength gain is a wonderful surprise

Endless PoolsTestimonials For more information visit httpLIveAdsFitnessDigestus

s w i m m i n g s h o r t s

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Baseball Walking Stick13 My sons friend grabbed his baseball bat and said to me this is my walking stick I politely ask him why he calls it that He replied because my dad says if I hit a home run with it I donrsquot have to run the bases ndash I can walk

My Bike My mountain bike was stolen a while back and my kids were really upset Ive been riding my road bike in its place Since then Ive been careful to lock my bike up when we go to the park

13 On this occasion I did not lock-up my sonrsquos bike up with mine He looked at me quizzically and said sternly lock my bike up too I tried to explain that his bike was not as expensive and therefor didnt need to be locked up Boy that was a mistake He made me feel a little dumb when he said Dad I dont care how expensive it is Its the only bike Irsquove got

North Iowa Roads

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A LEADER inSearch Engine Optimization

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Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

parent sports tipBy FitnessDigestus staff writer JGA

PAR

EN

T

TIP

Keeping Kids Focused13 Organize their thoughts Help them prioritize and make decisions based on value Even kids can understand the value of simple non-monetized choices Questions like ldquoShould I finish playing my gameboy game or pause it when they call my swimming eventrdquo

If kids are taught to make good decisions and not just find quick answers everyone wins

AugustGolf Month5th Friendship Day15th Relaxation Day25th Kiss and Make Up Day31st Trail Mix DaySeptemberLittle League Month12th Chocolate Milk Shake Day13th Positive Thinking Day16th Womenrsquos Friendship Day21st Miniature Golf DayOctoberBreast Cancer Awareness MonthNational Diabetes Month1st World Vegetarian Day4th Golf Day25th World Pasta Day

National Calendar

Au

gu

stSe

pte

mb

er

Oc

tob

er

Encourage friendships writing skills sharing thoughts and

experiencesEight different cards

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Variety of pricing From single orders to bulk orders of 24 notecards

Learn more online

Stay in touch with your swimming or triathlon buddies

It is better to be safe then to try to beat the heat There are many options to stay cool and run during a hot-summer day Staying inside and running on the treadmill is a good one Remember staying safe is a top priority

Most workouts can be modified to work indoors This issuersquos workout is to do your usual run or interval set just stay inside and run it on the treadmill Visualize the different landmarks to see during your outdoor run

Coach Millerrsquos Quarterly ChallengeStay safe in the heatBy Mark Miller mmillerFitnessDigestus

A few years back we had a hot-spell similar to this yearrsquos record heat

I remember training for a long run and having to stop at the local swimming hole to cool off I literally took off my

shoes and jumped in with my running clothes on I was so hot

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OPEN WATER SWIMMING BY THE NUMBERS

In kilometers The shortest open water race included in the Fina World Championships

10107 How many miles it

is to swim from Cuba to the USA

5

1000Number of swimming strokes in a mile for a typical swimmer

31800About the number of calories it takes to swim 100 miles

LOCATED IN ST ANSGAR IOWA

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The minimum open water distance in kilometers that is considered a swimming-

marathon

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Open water safety means swimming in shallow water where there is a lifeguard or using an escort

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24 Hoursa Day

WaynesSkiandCyclenet

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s w i m m i n g s h o r t s

Googles

13 Swimming fans can really appreciate a 200 IM when their goggles fill with water How about an Olympian Swimming a leg of the 400 Free Relay with his goggles across his opened mouth ndash and going 45rsquos A great team swimmer an Olympian wouldnrsquot let down his teammates by throwing them off or fixing them

500 Fly13 A world class butterflyer asked if he could swim butterfly in the 500 yard freestyle during a dual meet His goal was to break five minutes After considering the competition it seemed like a great way to make him really work a hard fly swim so we agreed Problem was he swam a 502 and the opposing coach complained to the officials because he embarrassed his swimmers Oh well you canrsquot win lsquoem all

Stories sent in by Robert Steele

No-No-No13 The other morning I was teaching front-streamlines to snotty nosed 8 year olds (some are literally snotty-nosed) One boy was taking a big gulp of air and holding his breath When he lifted his head he had to exhale and inhale before submerging again Swimmers will understand this does not work very well Kids need to learn to exhale underwater The first time he did it I told him to exhale underwater The second time I stopped him looked him in the eye and reminded him to exhale underwater The third and fourth times I started to get a little frustrated ldquoJohnny you need to exhale underwater so you can breath betterrdquo The fifth time as his head popped up for a breath I quickly asked ldquoJohnny Do you even know what exhale meansrdquo as he submerged his head below the water I could see him shake his head no-no-no

Favorite Potato Chips13We try to limit the junk food the kids eat at our house For lunch one day our son wanted some potato chips I gave him 3 large chips with his sandwich He started to cry and said he wanted one more chip ldquoI wanted four chipsrdquo he screamed I took the plate back When he wasnt looking I broke a chip in half and give it back to him with four chips

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

13 My cancer story is one of uniqueness Leave it to me to do something like cancer to its fullest It did not begin with a mammogram diagnosis or a lump My journey began about 4 years ago with some suspicious activity that turned into Pagetrsquos disease of the nipple which signaled the underlying cancer On April 1st I found out about my breast cancer through a biopsy that came back as positive for Pagetrsquos disease The onslaught of tests learning and decisions were dizzying I immediately went for an evaluation of the suspicious tissue and had to begin making decisions for my mastectomy I quickly learned there is a test called the BRAC Analysis which is a genetic test for breast and ovarian cancer Finally a piece of good news for me I did not have the gene

Decisions Now it was time to make decisions about my mastectomy and how I was going to handle reconstruction I discussed my options with my boyfriend Brian friends family members and even my principalboss I read books searched the Internet and contacted people I

Brandi ShipmanCancer Survivor and elite triathlete

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

know and knew from my past that had been directly affected and that I thought might have answers for me The outpouring of love encouragement and help during this process was overwhelming After meeting with four different doctors two surgeons and two plastic surgeons I decided to go with immediate reconstruction and was lucky enough to find two wonderful doctors They were willing to work together just because I wanted them to even though they had never done so before My surgery was scheduled for mid May

Mental Toughness13 My mental preparation at this point was very important I had to scrap any idea of competing in triathlons for the rest of the year and focus on a positive attitude of getting better I stopped thinking about what I wasnrsquot going to able to do and started thinking about what I could do that I was alive and kept my mind on the fact that so many others had made it before me

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links

Part 213 I was prepared by the doctors survivors and literature to be ldquodownrdquo for several weeks after my surgery I even took the rest of the school year off My surgery went well and I was out of the hospital the next day A few friends came to visit while I was in the hospital and my principal and vice principal brought the most wonderful picture of the faculty wearing pink for me I can only imagine what it looked like at Thornton Elementary on that day in May 2009 a sea of pink all for Brandi Shipman Shortly after their visit I received a text from my friend Margie Massey My friends from the gym wore pink for me that day as well The support brought tears to my eyes I was so excited to come home and be comfortable in my own home I just wish the stupid drain that was attached could have stayed at the hospital The pain from that was worse than the pain from the mastectomy

the most

powerful picture

13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Recovery ndash May13 Once I got home I slept and watched a lot of TV Friends visited and brought yummy food and my favorites I am not supposed to eat I ate them all My friend and co-worker set up a cancer care calendar that alerted anyone who logged on when I was having a doctorrsquos appointment or when I was in need of anything I felt like royalty as everyone took care of me I think Brian secretly enjoyed the fact that he wouldnrsquot have to cook for me each night My recovery was quicker than I thought as I was doing my best to get better and get the stinkinrsquo drain out of my skin I was out walking within a week and running within 3 weeks I couldnrsquot believe my recovery I know it was from all the prayers love and good care from Brian and the loved ones around me Life was looking better each day

ldquoLife was looking

better each dayrdquo

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Part three and part

four of I am Survivor

will be published in

the next edition of

FitnessDigestus

Get the convenience of

digital-delivery

Sign-up or subscribe at

httpFitnessDigestus

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During the past 150 years we have witnessed many remarkable advances against cancer a disease known to humanity for thousands of years The advances highlighted below represent a sampling of what has been accomplished to date

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

1882 William Halsted performs the first radical mastectomy to treat breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast the lymph nodes under the arm (axillary lymph nodes) and the chest muscles behind the breast (pectoralis major and pectoralis minor muscles) are removed Radical mastectomy will remain the standard operation for breast cancer until latter half of the 20th century when the use of modified radical mastectomy becomes widely accepted

1932 David H Patey develops the modified radical mastectomy for breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast axillary lymph nodes and pectoralis minor muscle behind the breast are removed The modified radical mastectomy is less disfiguring than the radical mastectomy and will eventually replace the radical mastectomy as a standard treatment option for breast cancer

1953 James Watson and Francis Crick discover the molecular structure of DNA (the double helix)

1963 The Health Insurance Plan (HIP) of Greater New York Study begins HIP is the first randomized controlled trial of periodic breast cancer screening with mammography

1882

1932

1953

1963

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1976 The results of a randomized clinical trial show that women with early breast cancer who receive post-operative (adjuvant) combination chemotherapy with the drugs cyclophosphamide methotrexate and 5-FU have improved disease-free survival

1981 A randomized clinical trial in the United Kingdom shows for the first time that the rates of survival local recurrence and tumor metastasis among women whose breast cancer is treated with modified radical mastectomy are not substantially different from those of women who are treated with radical mastectomy

1993 An NCI-convened international workshop on screening for breast cancer reports that screening with mammography reduces breast cancer mortality among women ages 50-69 This conclusion is based on a review of published and unpublished data from eight randomized controlled trials

2004 Data from the Womens Health Initiative (WHI) study show that women who take estrogen in combination with the hormone progestin have a greater risk of developing breast cancer than women who take estrogen alone The results also show that menopausal hormone therapy with estrogen alone has no benefit in disease prevention specifically in reducing the risks of colorectal cancer coronary heart disease and dementia

1976

1981

1993

2004

Although we still have a long way to go to reduce the toll of cancer in the United States and worldwide our research and public health efforts are beginning to pay dividends

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

Volunteering vs Participating13 My girl friend and I are involved in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation The local chapter raises awareness for the cause with a fun-run each year We have volunteered to help with the race five years in a row This year we were stationed at a water table where the runners pick-up cups of water to drink Toward the end of the race there are very few runners There was a little time to chat about things We were talking about what we would wish for if we could have three wishes I told her I would wish for an end to Juvenile Diabetes and to lose 10 pounds Being nice I said ldquoyou can have my last wishrdquo She said I wish you would skip volunteering and just run this race next year

Admission Price Our aquatic center was having a promotion one night and advertised an elementary school night The kids could swim for free When we got to the pool we saw a promotional sign for the event In small lettering it read All swimmers must be accompanied by an adult We thought no big deal one of us can just stay and watch When we got to the front desk we found the lifeguard was enforcing the adult-admission price of $8

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CNFI Publishing - Products Books Chapbooks Bookmarks Plaques and Poetry Collector Cards Merchandising Products Coffee Mugs Mouse Pads Tiles 3x6 Coasters T - Shirts and Wall Plaques More info athttpliveadsFitnessDigestus

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

Featured PhotosFitnessDigestus feature

Chicago open water swim course at nighttop left

Kids race at Bicycle Blues and BBQtop right

Some team members volunteer at the local soup kitchenmiddle right

Ken Mauer loads the balls for hitting practice during a Twins baseball camp for

children 7-13 bottom right

Get your local event photos published in the next issue of FitnessDigestus E-mail

your photo to photoFitnessDigestus

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As he turned to go on he spat speculatively There was a sharp explosive crackle that startled him He spat again And again in the air before it could fall to the snow the spittle crackled He knew that at fifty below spittle crackled on the snow but this spittle had crackled in the air Undoubtedly it was colder than fifty below--how much colder he did not know But the temperature did not matter He was bound for the old claim on the left fork of Henderson Creek where the boys were already They had come over across the divide from the Indian Creek country while he had come the roundabout way to take a look at the possibilities of getting out logs in the spring from the islands in the Yukon He would be in to camp by six oclock a bit after dark it was true but the boys would be there a fire would be going and a hot supper would be ready As for lunch he pressed his hand against the protruding bundle under his jacket It was also under his shirt wrapped up in a handkerchief and lying against the naked skin It was the only way to keep the biscuits from freezing He smiled agreeably to himself as he thought of those biscuits each cut open and sopped in bacon grease and each enclosing a generous slice of fried bacon

He plunged in among the big spruce trees The trail was faint A foot of snow had fallen since the last sled had passed over and he was glad he was without a sled traveling light In fact he carried nothing but the lunch wrapped in the handkerchief He was surprised however at the cold It certainly was cold he concluded as he rubbed his numb nose and cheek-bones with his mittened hand He was a warm-whiskered man but the hair on his face did not protect the high cheek-bones and the eager nose that thrust itself aggressively into the frosty air

At the mans heels trotted a dog a big native husky the proper wolf-dog gray-coated and without any visible or temperamental difference from its brother the wild wolf The animal was depressed by the tremendous cold It knew that it was no time for

traveling Its instinct told it a truer tale than was told to the man by the mans judgment In reality it was not merely colder than fifty below zero it was colder than sixty below than seventy below It was seventy-five below zero Since the freezing point is thirty-two above zero it meant that one hundred and seven degrees of frost obtained The dog did not know anything about thermometers Possibly in its brain there was no sharp consciousness of a condition of very cold such as was in the mans brain But the brute had its instinct It experienced a vague but menacing apprehension that subdued it then made it slink along at the mans heels and that made it question eagerly every unwonted movement of the man as if expecting him to go into camp or to seek shelter somewhere and build a fire The dog had learned fire and it wanted fire or else to burrow under the snow and cuddle its warmth away from the air

The frozen moisture of its breathing had settled on its fur in a fine powder of frost and especially were its jowls muzzle and eyelashes whitened by its cry-stalled breath The mans red beard and mustache were likewise frosted but more solidly the deposit taking the form of ice and increasing with every warm moist breath he exhaled Also the man was chewing tobacco and the muzzle of ice held his lips so rigidly that he was unable to clear his chin when he expelled the juice The result was that a crystal beard of the color and solidity of amber was increasing its length on his chin If he fell down it would shatter itself like glass into brittle fragments But he did not mind the appendage It was the penalty all tobacco-chewers paid in that country and he had been out before in two cold snaps They had not been so cold as this he knew but by the spirit thermometer at Sixty Mile he knew they had been registered at fifty below and at fifty-five

He held on through the level stretch of woods for several miles crossed a wide flat of rigger-heads and dropped down a bank to the frozen bed of a

To Build a FireContinued

small stream This was Henderson Creek and he knew he was ten miles from the forks He looked at his watch It was ten oclock He was making four miles an hour and he calculated that he would arrive at the forks at half-past twelve He decided to celebrate that event by eating his lunch there

The dog dropped in again at his heels with a tail drooping discouragement as the man swung along the creek-bed The furrow of the old sled-trail was plainly visible but a dozen inches of snow covered the marks of the last runners In a month no man had come up or down that silent creek The man held steadily on He was not much given to thinking and just then particularly he had nothing to think about save that he would eat lunch at-the forks and that at six oclock he would be in camp with the boys There was nobody to talk to and had there been speech would have been impossible because of the ice-muzzle on his mouth So he continued monotonously to chew tobacco and to increase the length of his amber beard

Once in a while the thought reiterated itself that it was very cold and that he had never experienced such cold As he walked along he rubbed his cheek-bones and nose with the back of his mittened hand He did this automatically now and again changing hands But rub as he would the instant he stopped his cheek-bones went numb and the following instant the end of his nose went numb He was sure to frost his cheeks he knew that and experienced a pang of regret that he had not devised a nose-strap of the sort Bud wore in cold snaps Such a strap passed across the cheeks as well and saved them But it didnt matter much after all What were frosted cheeks A bit painful that was all they were never serious

Empty as the mans mind was of thoughts he was keenly observant and he noticed the changes in the creek the curves and bends and timber jams and always he sharply noted where he placed his feet Once coming around a bend he shied abruptly

like a startled horse curved away from the place where he had been walking and retreated several paces back along the trail The creek he knew was frozen clear to the bottom--no creek could contain water in that arctic winter--but he knew also that there were springs that bubbled out from the hillsides and ran along under the snow and on top the ice of the creek He knew that the coldest snaps never froze these springs and he knew likewise their danger They were traps They hid pools of water under the snow that might be three inches deep or three feet Sometimes a skin of ice half an inch thick covered them and in turn was covered by the snow Sometimes there were alternate layers of water and ice-skin so that when one broke through he kept on breaking through for a while sometimes wetting himself to the waist

That was why he had shied in such panic He had felt the give under his feet and heard the crackle of a snow-hidden ice-skin And to get his feet wet in such a temperature meant trouble and danger At the very least it meant delay for he would be forced to stop and build a fire and under its protection to bare his feet while he dried his socks and moccasins He stood and studied the creek-bed and its banks and decided that the flow of water came from the right He reflected a while rubbing his nose and cheeks then skirted to the left stepping gingerly and testing the footing for each step Once clear of the danger he took a fresh chew of tobacco and swung along at his four-mile gait

In the course of the next two hours he came upon several similar traps Usually the snow above the hidden pools had a sunken candied appearance that advertised the danger Once again however he had a close call and once suspecting danger he compelled the dog to go on in front The dog did not want to go It hung back until the man shoved it forward and then it went quickly across the white unbroken surface Suddenly it broke through floundered to one side and got away to firmer

To Build a FireContinued

To Build a FireContinued

footing It had wet its forefeet and legs and almost immediately the water that clung to it turned to ice It made quick efforts to lick the ice off its legs then dropped down in the snow and began to bite out the ice that had formed between the toes l his was a matter of instinct To permit the ice to remain would mean sore feet It did not know this It merely obeyed the mysterious prompting that arose from the deep crypts of its being But the man knew having achieved a judgment on the subject and he removed the mitten from his right hand and helped tear out the ice-particles He did not expose his fingers more than a minute and was astonished at the swift numbness that smote them It certainly was cold He pulled on the mitten hastily and beat the hand savagely across his chest

At twelve oclock the day was at its brightest Yet the sun was too far south an its winter journey to clear the horizon The bulge of the earth intervened between it arid Henderson Creek where the man walked under a clear sky at noon and cast no shadow At half-past twelve to the minute he arrived at the forks of the creek He was pleased at the speed he had made If he kept it up he would certainly be with the boys by six He unbuttoned his jacket and shirt and drew forth his lunch The action consumed no more than a quarter of a minute yet in that brief moment the numbness laid hold of the exposed fingers He did not put the mitten on but instead struck the fingers a dozen sharp smashes against his leg Then he sat down on a snow-covered log to eat The sting that followed upon the striking of his fingers against his leg ceased so quickly that he was startled He had had no chance to take a bite of biscuit He struck the fingers repeatedly and returned them to the mitten baring the other hand for the purpose of eating He tried to take a mouthful but the ice-muzzle prevented He had forgotten to build a fire and thaw out He chuckled at his foolishness and as he chuckled he noted the numbness creeping into the exposed fingers Also he noted that the stinging which had first come to his

toes when he sat down was already passing away He wandered whether the toes were warm or numb He moved them inside the moccasins and decided that they were numb

He pulled the mitten on hurriedly and stood up He was a bit frightened He stamped up and down until the stinging returned into the feet It certainly was cold was his thought That man from Sulphur Creek had spoken the truth when telling how cold it sometimes got in the country And he had laughed at him at the time That showed one must not be too sure of things There was no mistake about it it was cold He strode up and down stamping his feet and threshing his arms until reassured by the returning warmth Then he got out matches and proceeded to make a fire From the undergrowth where high water of the previous spring had lodged a supply of seasoned twigs he got his firewood Working carefully from a small beginning he soon had a roaring fire over which he thawed the ice from his face and in the protection of which he ate his biscuits For the moment the cold space was outwitted The dog took satisfaction in the fire stretching out close enough for warmth and far enough away to escape being singed

When the man had finished be filled his pipe and took his comfortable time over a smoke Then he pulled on his mittens settled the ear-flaps of his cap firmly about his ears and took the creek trail up the left fork The dog was disappointed and yearned back toward the fire This man did not know cold Possibly all the generations of his ancestry had been ignorant of cold of real cold of cold one hundred and seven degrees below freezing point But the dog knew all its ancestry knew and it had inherited the knowledge And it knew that it was not good to walk abroad in such fearful cold It was the time to lie snug in a hole in the snow and wait for a curtain of cloud to be drawn across the face of outer space whence this cold came On the other hand there was no keen intimacy between the dog and the man

The one was the toil-slave of the other and the only caresses it had ever received were the caresses of the whiplash and of harsh and menacing throat-sounds that threatened the whiplash So the dog made no effort to communicate its apprehension to the man It was not concerned in the welfare of the man it was for its own sake that it yearned back toward the fire But the man whistled and spoke to it with the sound of whiplashes and the dog swung in at the mans heel and followed after

The man took a chew of tobacco and proceeded to start a new amber beard Also his moist breath quickly powdered with white his mustache eyebrows and lashes There did not seem to be so many springs on the left fork of the Henderson and for half an hour the man saw no signs of any And then it happened At a place where there were no signs where the soft unbroken snow seemed to advertise solidity beneath tee man broke through It was not deep He wet himself halfway to the knees before he floundered out to the firm crust

He was angry and cursed his luck aloud He had hoped to get into camp with the boys at six oclock and this would delay him an hour for he would have to build a fire and dry out his foot-gear This was imperative at that low temperature--he knew that much and he turned aside to the bank which he climbed On top tangled in the underbrush about the trunks of several small spruce trees was a high-water deposit of dry firewood--sticks and twigs principally but also larger portions of seasoned branches and fine dry last-years grasses He threw down several large pieces on top of the snow This served for a foundation and prevented the young flame from drowning itself in the snow it otherwise would melt The flame he got by touching a match to a small shred of birch bark that he took from his pocket This burned even more readily than paper Placing it on the foundation he fed the young flame with wisps of dry grass and with the tiniest dry twigs

He worked slowly and carefully keenly aware of his danger Gradually as the flame grew stronger he increased the size of the twigs with which he fed it He squatted in the snow pulling the twigs out from their entanglement in the brush and feeding directly to the flame He knew there must be no failure When it is seventy-five below zero a man must not fail in his first attempt to build a fire--that is if his feet are wet If his feet are dry and he fails he can run along the trail for half a mile and restore his circulation But the circulation of wet and freezing feet cannot be restored by running when it is seventy-five below No matter how fast he runs the wet feet will freeze the harder

All this the man knew The old-timer on Sulphur Creek had told him about it the previous fall and now he was appreciating the advice Already all sensation had gone out of his feet To build the fire he had been forced to remove his mittens and the fingers had quickly gone numb His pace of four miles an hour had kept his heart pumping blood to the surface of his body and to all the extremities But the instant he stopped the action of the pump eased down The cold of space smote the unprotected tip of the planet and he being on that unprotected tip received the full force of the blow The blood of his body recoiled before it The blood was alive like the dog and like the dog it wanted to hide away and cover itself up from the fearful cold So long as he walked four miles an hour he pumped that blood willy-nilly to the surface but now it ebbed away and sank down into the recesses of his body The extremities were the first to feel its absence His wet feet froze the faster and his exposed fingers numbed the faster though they had not yet begun to freeze Nose and cheeks were already freezing while the skin of all his body chilled as it lost its blood

But he was safe Toes and nose and cheeks would be only touched by the frost for the fire was beginning to burn with strength He was feeding it

To Build a FireContinued

with twigs the size of his finger In another minute he would be able to feed it with branches the size of his wrier and then he could remove his wet toot-gear and while it dried he could keep his naked feet warm by the fire rubbing them at first of course with snow The fire was a success He was safe He remembered the advice of the old timer on Sulphur Creek and smiled The old-timer had been very serious in laying down the law that no man must travel alone in the Klondike after fifty below Well here he was he had had the accident he was alone and he had saved himself Those old-timers were rather womanish some of them he thought All a man had to do was to keep his head and he was all right Any man who was a man could travel alone But it was surprising the rapidity with which his cheeks and nose were freezing And he had not thought his fingers could go lifeless in so short a time Lifeless they were for he could scarcely make them move together to grip a twig and they seemed remote from his body and from him When he touched a twig he had to look and see whether or not he had hold of it The wires were pretty well down between him and his finger-ends

All of which counted for little There was the fire snapping and crackling and promising life with every dancing flame He started to untie his moccasins They were coated with ice the thick German socks were like sheaths of iron halfway to the knees and the moccasin strings were like rods of steel all twisted and knotted as by some conflagration For a moment he tugged with his numb fingers then realizing the folly of it he drew his sheath-knife

But before he could cut the strings it happened It was his own fault or rather his mistake He should not have built the fire under the spruce tree He should have built it in the open But it had been easier to pull the twigs from the brush and drop them directly on the fire Now the tree under which

he had done this carried a weight of snow on its boughs No wind had blown for weeks and each bough was fully freighted Each time he had pulled a twig he had communicated a slight agitation to the tree--an imperceptible agitation so far as he was concerned but an agitation sufficient to bring about the disaster High up in the tree one bough capsized its load of snow This fell on the boughs beneath capsizing them This process continued spreading out and involving the whole tree It grew like an avalanche and it descended without warning upon the man and the fire and the fire was blotted out Where it had burned was a mantle of fresh and disordered snow

The man was shocked It was as though he had just heard his own sentence of death For a moment he sat and stared at the spot where the fire had been Then he grew very calm Perhaps the old-timer on Sulphur Creek was right If he had only had a trail-mate he would have been in no danger now The trail-mate could have built the fire Well it was up to him to build the fire over again and this second time there must be no failure Even if he succeeded he would most likely lose some toes His feet must be badly frozen by now and there would be some time before the second fire Was ready

Such were his thoughts but he did not sit and think them He was busy all the time they were passing through his mind He made a new foundation for a fire this time in the open where no treacherous tree could blot it out Next he gathered dry grasses and tiny twigs from the high-water flotsam He could not bring his fingers together to pull them out but he was able to gather them by the handful In this way he got many rotten twigs and bits of green moss that were undesirable but it was the best he could do He worked methodically even collecting an armful of the larger branches to be used later when the fire gathered strength And all the while the dog sat and watched him a certain yearning wistfulness in its eyes for it looked upon

To Build a FireContinued

him as the fire-provider and the fire was slow in coming

When all was ready the man reached in his pocket for a second piece of birch bark He knew the bark was there and though he could not feel it with his fingers he could hear its crisp rustling as he fumbled for it Try as he would he could not clutch hold of it And all the time in his consciousness was the knowledge that each instant his feet were freezing This thought tended to put him in a panic but he fought against it and kept calm He pulled on his mittens with his teeth and threshed his arms back and forth beating his hands with all his might against his sides He did this sitting down and he stood up to do it and all the while the dog sat in the snow its wolf-brush of a tail curled around warmly over its forefeet its sharp wolf-ears pricked forward intently as it watched the man And the man as he beat and threshed with his arms and hands felt a great surge of envy as he regarded the creature that was warm ant secure in its natural covering

After a time he was aware of the first far-away signals of sensation in his beaten fingers The faint tingling grew stronger till it evolved into a stinging ache that was excruciating but which the man hailed with satisfaction He stripped the mitten from his right hand and fetched forth the birch bark The exposed fingers were quickly going numb again Next he brought out his bunch of sulphur matches But the tremendous cold had already driven the life out of his fingers In his effort to separate one match from the others the whole bunch fell in the snow He tried to pick it out of the snow but failed The dead fingers could neither touch nor clutch He was very careful He drove the thought of his freezing feet and nose and cheeks out of his mind devoting his whole soul to the matches He watched using the sense of vision in place of that of touch and when he saw his fingers on each side the bunch he dosed them--that is he willed to close them for the wires were down and the fingers did not obey He pulled

the mitten on the right hand and beat it fiercely against his knee Then with both mittened hands he scooped the bunch of matches along with much snow into his lap Yet he was no better off

After some manipulation he managed to get the bunch between the heels of his mittened hands In this fashion he carried it to his mouth The ice crackled and snapped when by a violent effort he opened his mouth He drew the lower jaw in curled the upper lip out of the way and scraped the bunch with his upper teeth in order to separate a match He succeeded in getting one which he dropped on his lap He was no better off He could not pick it up Then he devised a way He picked it up in his teeth and scratched it on his leg Twenty times he scratched before he succeeded in lighting it As it flamed he held it with his teeth to the birch bark But the burning brimstone went up his nostrils and into his lungs causing him to cough spasmodically The match fell into the snow and went out

The old-timer an Sulphur Creek was right he thought in the moment of controlled despair that ensued after fifty below a man should travel with a partner He beat his hands but failed in exciting any sensation Suddenly he bared both hands removing the mittens with his teeth He caught the whole bunch between the heels of his hands His arm muscles not being frozen enabled him to press the hand-heels tightly against the matches Then he scratched the bunch along his leg It flared into flame seventy sulphur matches at once There was no wind to blow them out He kept his head to one side to escape the strangling fumes and held the blazing bunch to the birth bark As he so held it he became aware of sensation in his hand His flesh was burning He could smell it Deep down below the surface he could feel it The sensation developed into pain that grew acute And still he endured it holding the flame of the matches clumsily to the bark that would not light readily because his own burning hands were in the way absorbing most of the flame

To Build a FireContinued

At last when he could endure no more he jerked his hands apart The blazing matches fell sizzling into the snow but the birch bark was alight He began laying dry grasses and the tiniest twigs on the flame He could not pick and choose for he had to lift the fuel between the heels of his hands Small pieces of rotten wood and green moss clung to the twigs and he bit them off as well as he could with his teeth He cherished the flame carefully and awkwardly It meant life and it must not perish The withdrawal of blood from the surface of his body now made him begin to shiver and he grew more awkward A large piece of green moss fell squarely on the little fire He tried to poke it out with his fingers but his shivering frame made him poke too far and he disrupted the nucleus of the little fire the burning grasses and tiny twigs separating and scattering He tried to poke them together again but in spite of the tenseness of the effort his shivering got away with him and the twigs were hopelessly scattered Each twig gushed a puff of smoke and went out The fire-provider had failed As he looked apathetically about him his eyes chanced on the dog sitting across the ruins of the fire from him in the snow making restless hunching movements slightly lifting one forefoot and then the other shifting its weight back and forth on them with wistful eagerness

The sight of the dog put a wild idea into his head He remembered the tale of the man caught in a blizzard who killed a steer and crawled inside the carcass and so was saved He would kill the dog and bury his hands in the warm body until the numbness went out of them Then he could build another fire He spoke to the dog calling it to him but in his voice was a strange note of fear that frightened the animal who had never known the man to speak in such way before Something was the matter and its suspicious nature sensed danger--it knew not what danger but somewhere somehow in its brain arose an apprehension of the man It flattened its ears down at the sound of the mans voice and its restless

hunching movements and the liftings and shiftings of its forefeet became more pronounced but it would not come to the man He got on his hands and knees and crawled toward the dog This unusual posture again excited suspicion and the animal sidled mincingly away

The man sat up in the snow for a moment and struggled for calmness Then he pulled on his mittens by means of his teeth and got upon his feet He glanced down at first in order to assure himself that he was really standing up for the absence of sensation in his feet left him unrelated to the earth His erect position in itself started to drive the webs of suspicion from the dogs mind and when he spoke peremptorily with the sound of whiplashes in his voice the dog rendered its customary allegiance and came to him As it came within reaching distance the man lost his control His arms flashed out to the dog and he experienced genuine surprise when he discovered that his hands could not clutch that there was neither bend nor feeling in the fingers He had forgotten for the moment that they were frozen and that they were freezing more and more All this happened quickly and before the animal could get away he encircled its body with his arms He sat down in the snow and in this fashion held the dog while it snarled and whined and struggled

But it was all he could do hold its body encircled in his arms and sit there He realized that he could not kill the dog There was no way to do it With his helpless hands he could neither draw nor hold his sheath knife nor throttle the animal He released it and it plunged wildly away with tail between its legs and still snarling It halted forty feet away and surveyed him curiously with ears sharply pricked forward The man looked down at his hands in order to locate them and found them hanging on the ends of his arms It struck him as curious that one should have to use his eyes in order to find out where his hands were He began threshing his arms back and forth beating the mittened hands against

To Build a FireContinued

his sides He did this for five minutes violently and his heart pumped enough blood up to the surface to put a stop to his shivering But no sensation was aroused in the hands He had an impression that they hung like weights on the ends of his arms but when he tried to run the impression down he could not find it

A certain fear of death dull and oppressive came to him This fear quickly became poignant as he realized that it was no longer a mere matter of freezing his fingers and toes or of losing his hands and feet but that it was a matter of life and death with the chances against him This threw him into a panic and he turned and ran up the creek-bed along the old dim trail The dog joined in behind and kept up with him He ran blindly without intention in fear such as he had never known in his life Slowly as he plowed and floundered through the snow he began to see things again the banks of the creek the old timber-jams the leafless aspens and the sky The running made him feel better He did not shiver Maybe if he ran on his feet would thaw out and anyway if he ran far enough he would reach camp and the boys Without doubt he would lose some fingers and toes and some of his face but the boys would take care of him and save the rest of him when he got there And at the same time there was another thought in his mind that said he would never get to the camp and the boys that it was too many miles away that the freezing had too great a start on him and that he would soon be stiff and dead This thought he kept in the background and refused to consider Sometimes it pushed itself forward and demanded to be heard but he thrust it back and strove to think of other things

It struck him as curious that he could run at all on feet so frozen that he could not feel them when they struck the earth and took the weigh of his body He seemed to himself to skim along above the surface and to have no connection with the earth Somewhere he had once seen a winged Mercury

and he wondered if Mercury felt as he felt when skimming over the earth

His theory of running until he reached camp and the boys had one flaw in it he lacked the endurance Several times he stumbled and finally he tottered crumpled up and fell When he tried to rise he failed He must sit and rest he decided and next time he would merely walk and keep on going As he sat and regained his breath he noted that he was feeling quite warm and comfortable He was not shivering and it even seemed that a warm glow had come to his chest and trunk And yet when he touched his nose or cheeks there was no sensation Running would not thaw them out Nor would it thaw out his hands and feet Then the thought came to him that the frozen portions of his body must be extending He tried to keep this thought down to forget it to think of something else he was aware of the panicky feeling that it caused and he was afraid of the panic But the thought asserted itself and persisted until it produced a vision of his body totally frozen This was too much and he made another wild run along the trail Once he slowed down to a walk but the thought of the freezing extending itself made him run again

And all the time the dog ran with him at his heels When he fell down a second time it curled its tad over its forefeet and sat in front of him facing him curiously eager and intent The warmth and security of the animal angered him and he cursed it till it flattened down its ears appealingly This time the shivering came more quickly upon the man He was losing in his battle with the frost It was creeping into his body from all sides The thought of it drove him on but he ran no more than a hundred feet when he staggered and pitched headlong It was his last panic When he had recovered his breath and control he sat up and entertained in his mind the conception of meeting death with dignity However the conception did not come to him in such terms His idea of it was that he had been making a fool of

To Build a FireContinued

himself running around like a chicken with its head cut off--such was the simile that occurred to him Well he was bound to freeze anyway and he might as well take it decently With this new-found peace of mind came the first glimmerings of drowsiness A good idea he thought to sleep off to death It was like salting an anesthetic Freezing was not so bad as people thought There were lots worse ways to die

He pictured the boys finding his body next day Suddenly he found himself with them coming along the trail and looking for himself And still with them he came around a turn in the trail and found himself lying in the snow He did not belong with himself any more for even then he was out of himself standing with the boys and looking at himself in the snow It certainly was cold was his thought When he got back to the States he could tell the folks what real cold was He drifted on from this to a vision of the old-timer on Sulphur Creek He could see him quite clearly warm and comfortable and smoking a pipe

You were right old boss you were right the man mumbled to the old-timer of Sulphur Creek

Then the man drowsed off into what seemed to him the most comfortable and satisfying sleep he had ever known The dog sat facing him and waiting The brief day drew to a close in a long slow twilight There were no signs of a fire to be made and besides never in the dogs experience had it known a man to sit like that in the snow and make no fire As the twilight drew on its eager yearning for the fire mastered it and with a great lifting and shifting of forefeet it whined softly then flattened its ears down in anticipation of being chidden by the man But the man remained silent Later the dog whined loudly And still later it crept close to the man and caught the scent of death This made the animal bristle and back away A little longer it delayed howling under the stars that leaped and danced and shone brightly in the cold sky Then it turned and trotted up the trail in the direction of the camp it knew where were the other food-providers and fire-providers

To Build a FireContinued

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Page 41: FitnessDigest.us Vol. 4.3 Cover

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 7 Continents

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Ride of Silence

ldquoCost-effective investments in bicycling boost our economy help individuals and government agencies save money and directly address key societal challenges such as obesity and road congestion In these tough economic times our federal government can only afford to invest in solutions that solve multiple problems Bicycling fits the billrdquo ndash PeopleForBikesorg

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It provides an outstanding aerobic workout in less than half the time we would spend in still water It has allowed us as swim coaches to observe swimmers stroke characteristics up close and to see the effects of fatigue on stroke mechanics ~ Larry L Chazy NY

Swimming is an excellent exercise and now I can swim every day because its so convenient and private I can swim when I want and how long I want Im able to have it at a temperature that is comfortable to me The small size of an Endless Pool enabled me to install a pool where I could not install a regular size one

As an aging baby boomer nutrition professional I have yearned for consistent exercise that doesnt stress joints and will enable me to attain physical fitness cardiovascular health and weight control I can eat what I want and still firm up and lose weight ~ John C Columbus OH

Endless Pools make for long swims in small places The 8x15 Endless Pool is less than regulation size but offers the same benefits as a very large pool ~ Noah H Connecticut Post

The Endless Pool is a great strength builder I am amazed at the strength of the current I now swim against I did not buy it for that reason but because of my arthritis so the strength gain is a wonderful surprise

Endless PoolsTestimonials For more information visit httpLIveAdsFitnessDigestus

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Baseball Walking Stick13 My sons friend grabbed his baseball bat and said to me this is my walking stick I politely ask him why he calls it that He replied because my dad says if I hit a home run with it I donrsquot have to run the bases ndash I can walk

My Bike My mountain bike was stolen a while back and my kids were really upset Ive been riding my road bike in its place Since then Ive been careful to lock my bike up when we go to the park

13 On this occasion I did not lock-up my sonrsquos bike up with mine He looked at me quizzically and said sternly lock my bike up too I tried to explain that his bike was not as expensive and therefor didnt need to be locked up Boy that was a mistake He made me feel a little dumb when he said Dad I dont care how expensive it is Its the only bike Irsquove got

North Iowa Roads

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A LEADER inSearch Engine Optimization

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Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

parent sports tipBy FitnessDigestus staff writer JGA

PAR

EN

T

TIP

Keeping Kids Focused13 Organize their thoughts Help them prioritize and make decisions based on value Even kids can understand the value of simple non-monetized choices Questions like ldquoShould I finish playing my gameboy game or pause it when they call my swimming eventrdquo

If kids are taught to make good decisions and not just find quick answers everyone wins

AugustGolf Month5th Friendship Day15th Relaxation Day25th Kiss and Make Up Day31st Trail Mix DaySeptemberLittle League Month12th Chocolate Milk Shake Day13th Positive Thinking Day16th Womenrsquos Friendship Day21st Miniature Golf DayOctoberBreast Cancer Awareness MonthNational Diabetes Month1st World Vegetarian Day4th Golf Day25th World Pasta Day

National Calendar

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Encourage friendships writing skills sharing thoughts and

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Stay in touch with your swimming or triathlon buddies

It is better to be safe then to try to beat the heat There are many options to stay cool and run during a hot-summer day Staying inside and running on the treadmill is a good one Remember staying safe is a top priority

Most workouts can be modified to work indoors This issuersquos workout is to do your usual run or interval set just stay inside and run it on the treadmill Visualize the different landmarks to see during your outdoor run

Coach Millerrsquos Quarterly ChallengeStay safe in the heatBy Mark Miller mmillerFitnessDigestus

A few years back we had a hot-spell similar to this yearrsquos record heat

I remember training for a long run and having to stop at the local swimming hole to cool off I literally took off my

shoes and jumped in with my running clothes on I was so hot

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OPEN WATER SWIMMING BY THE NUMBERS

In kilometers The shortest open water race included in the Fina World Championships

10107 How many miles it

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31800About the number of calories it takes to swim 100 miles

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The minimum open water distance in kilometers that is considered a swimming-

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Open water safety means swimming in shallow water where there is a lifeguard or using an escort

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Googles

13 Swimming fans can really appreciate a 200 IM when their goggles fill with water How about an Olympian Swimming a leg of the 400 Free Relay with his goggles across his opened mouth ndash and going 45rsquos A great team swimmer an Olympian wouldnrsquot let down his teammates by throwing them off or fixing them

500 Fly13 A world class butterflyer asked if he could swim butterfly in the 500 yard freestyle during a dual meet His goal was to break five minutes After considering the competition it seemed like a great way to make him really work a hard fly swim so we agreed Problem was he swam a 502 and the opposing coach complained to the officials because he embarrassed his swimmers Oh well you canrsquot win lsquoem all

Stories sent in by Robert Steele

No-No-No13 The other morning I was teaching front-streamlines to snotty nosed 8 year olds (some are literally snotty-nosed) One boy was taking a big gulp of air and holding his breath When he lifted his head he had to exhale and inhale before submerging again Swimmers will understand this does not work very well Kids need to learn to exhale underwater The first time he did it I told him to exhale underwater The second time I stopped him looked him in the eye and reminded him to exhale underwater The third and fourth times I started to get a little frustrated ldquoJohnny you need to exhale underwater so you can breath betterrdquo The fifth time as his head popped up for a breath I quickly asked ldquoJohnny Do you even know what exhale meansrdquo as he submerged his head below the water I could see him shake his head no-no-no

Favorite Potato Chips13We try to limit the junk food the kids eat at our house For lunch one day our son wanted some potato chips I gave him 3 large chips with his sandwich He started to cry and said he wanted one more chip ldquoI wanted four chipsrdquo he screamed I took the plate back When he wasnt looking I broke a chip in half and give it back to him with four chips

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

13 My cancer story is one of uniqueness Leave it to me to do something like cancer to its fullest It did not begin with a mammogram diagnosis or a lump My journey began about 4 years ago with some suspicious activity that turned into Pagetrsquos disease of the nipple which signaled the underlying cancer On April 1st I found out about my breast cancer through a biopsy that came back as positive for Pagetrsquos disease The onslaught of tests learning and decisions were dizzying I immediately went for an evaluation of the suspicious tissue and had to begin making decisions for my mastectomy I quickly learned there is a test called the BRAC Analysis which is a genetic test for breast and ovarian cancer Finally a piece of good news for me I did not have the gene

Decisions Now it was time to make decisions about my mastectomy and how I was going to handle reconstruction I discussed my options with my boyfriend Brian friends family members and even my principalboss I read books searched the Internet and contacted people I

Brandi ShipmanCancer Survivor and elite triathlete

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

know and knew from my past that had been directly affected and that I thought might have answers for me The outpouring of love encouragement and help during this process was overwhelming After meeting with four different doctors two surgeons and two plastic surgeons I decided to go with immediate reconstruction and was lucky enough to find two wonderful doctors They were willing to work together just because I wanted them to even though they had never done so before My surgery was scheduled for mid May

Mental Toughness13 My mental preparation at this point was very important I had to scrap any idea of competing in triathlons for the rest of the year and focus on a positive attitude of getting better I stopped thinking about what I wasnrsquot going to able to do and started thinking about what I could do that I was alive and kept my mind on the fact that so many others had made it before me

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links

Part 213 I was prepared by the doctors survivors and literature to be ldquodownrdquo for several weeks after my surgery I even took the rest of the school year off My surgery went well and I was out of the hospital the next day A few friends came to visit while I was in the hospital and my principal and vice principal brought the most wonderful picture of the faculty wearing pink for me I can only imagine what it looked like at Thornton Elementary on that day in May 2009 a sea of pink all for Brandi Shipman Shortly after their visit I received a text from my friend Margie Massey My friends from the gym wore pink for me that day as well The support brought tears to my eyes I was so excited to come home and be comfortable in my own home I just wish the stupid drain that was attached could have stayed at the hospital The pain from that was worse than the pain from the mastectomy

the most

powerful picture

13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Recovery ndash May13 Once I got home I slept and watched a lot of TV Friends visited and brought yummy food and my favorites I am not supposed to eat I ate them all My friend and co-worker set up a cancer care calendar that alerted anyone who logged on when I was having a doctorrsquos appointment or when I was in need of anything I felt like royalty as everyone took care of me I think Brian secretly enjoyed the fact that he wouldnrsquot have to cook for me each night My recovery was quicker than I thought as I was doing my best to get better and get the stinkinrsquo drain out of my skin I was out walking within a week and running within 3 weeks I couldnrsquot believe my recovery I know it was from all the prayers love and good care from Brian and the loved ones around me Life was looking better each day

ldquoLife was looking

better each dayrdquo

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Part three and part

four of I am Survivor

will be published in

the next edition of

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During the past 150 years we have witnessed many remarkable advances against cancer a disease known to humanity for thousands of years The advances highlighted below represent a sampling of what has been accomplished to date

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

1882 William Halsted performs the first radical mastectomy to treat breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast the lymph nodes under the arm (axillary lymph nodes) and the chest muscles behind the breast (pectoralis major and pectoralis minor muscles) are removed Radical mastectomy will remain the standard operation for breast cancer until latter half of the 20th century when the use of modified radical mastectomy becomes widely accepted

1932 David H Patey develops the modified radical mastectomy for breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast axillary lymph nodes and pectoralis minor muscle behind the breast are removed The modified radical mastectomy is less disfiguring than the radical mastectomy and will eventually replace the radical mastectomy as a standard treatment option for breast cancer

1953 James Watson and Francis Crick discover the molecular structure of DNA (the double helix)

1963 The Health Insurance Plan (HIP) of Greater New York Study begins HIP is the first randomized controlled trial of periodic breast cancer screening with mammography

1882

1932

1953

1963

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1976 The results of a randomized clinical trial show that women with early breast cancer who receive post-operative (adjuvant) combination chemotherapy with the drugs cyclophosphamide methotrexate and 5-FU have improved disease-free survival

1981 A randomized clinical trial in the United Kingdom shows for the first time that the rates of survival local recurrence and tumor metastasis among women whose breast cancer is treated with modified radical mastectomy are not substantially different from those of women who are treated with radical mastectomy

1993 An NCI-convened international workshop on screening for breast cancer reports that screening with mammography reduces breast cancer mortality among women ages 50-69 This conclusion is based on a review of published and unpublished data from eight randomized controlled trials

2004 Data from the Womens Health Initiative (WHI) study show that women who take estrogen in combination with the hormone progestin have a greater risk of developing breast cancer than women who take estrogen alone The results also show that menopausal hormone therapy with estrogen alone has no benefit in disease prevention specifically in reducing the risks of colorectal cancer coronary heart disease and dementia

1976

1981

1993

2004

Although we still have a long way to go to reduce the toll of cancer in the United States and worldwide our research and public health efforts are beginning to pay dividends

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

Volunteering vs Participating13 My girl friend and I are involved in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation The local chapter raises awareness for the cause with a fun-run each year We have volunteered to help with the race five years in a row This year we were stationed at a water table where the runners pick-up cups of water to drink Toward the end of the race there are very few runners There was a little time to chat about things We were talking about what we would wish for if we could have three wishes I told her I would wish for an end to Juvenile Diabetes and to lose 10 pounds Being nice I said ldquoyou can have my last wishrdquo She said I wish you would skip volunteering and just run this race next year

Admission Price Our aquatic center was having a promotion one night and advertised an elementary school night The kids could swim for free When we got to the pool we saw a promotional sign for the event In small lettering it read All swimmers must be accompanied by an adult We thought no big deal one of us can just stay and watch When we got to the front desk we found the lifeguard was enforcing the adult-admission price of $8

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CNFI Publishing - Products Books Chapbooks Bookmarks Plaques and Poetry Collector Cards Merchandising Products Coffee Mugs Mouse Pads Tiles 3x6 Coasters T - Shirts and Wall Plaques More info athttpliveadsFitnessDigestus

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

Featured PhotosFitnessDigestus feature

Chicago open water swim course at nighttop left

Kids race at Bicycle Blues and BBQtop right

Some team members volunteer at the local soup kitchenmiddle right

Ken Mauer loads the balls for hitting practice during a Twins baseball camp for

children 7-13 bottom right

Get your local event photos published in the next issue of FitnessDigestus E-mail

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As he turned to go on he spat speculatively There was a sharp explosive crackle that startled him He spat again And again in the air before it could fall to the snow the spittle crackled He knew that at fifty below spittle crackled on the snow but this spittle had crackled in the air Undoubtedly it was colder than fifty below--how much colder he did not know But the temperature did not matter He was bound for the old claim on the left fork of Henderson Creek where the boys were already They had come over across the divide from the Indian Creek country while he had come the roundabout way to take a look at the possibilities of getting out logs in the spring from the islands in the Yukon He would be in to camp by six oclock a bit after dark it was true but the boys would be there a fire would be going and a hot supper would be ready As for lunch he pressed his hand against the protruding bundle under his jacket It was also under his shirt wrapped up in a handkerchief and lying against the naked skin It was the only way to keep the biscuits from freezing He smiled agreeably to himself as he thought of those biscuits each cut open and sopped in bacon grease and each enclosing a generous slice of fried bacon

He plunged in among the big spruce trees The trail was faint A foot of snow had fallen since the last sled had passed over and he was glad he was without a sled traveling light In fact he carried nothing but the lunch wrapped in the handkerchief He was surprised however at the cold It certainly was cold he concluded as he rubbed his numb nose and cheek-bones with his mittened hand He was a warm-whiskered man but the hair on his face did not protect the high cheek-bones and the eager nose that thrust itself aggressively into the frosty air

At the mans heels trotted a dog a big native husky the proper wolf-dog gray-coated and without any visible or temperamental difference from its brother the wild wolf The animal was depressed by the tremendous cold It knew that it was no time for

traveling Its instinct told it a truer tale than was told to the man by the mans judgment In reality it was not merely colder than fifty below zero it was colder than sixty below than seventy below It was seventy-five below zero Since the freezing point is thirty-two above zero it meant that one hundred and seven degrees of frost obtained The dog did not know anything about thermometers Possibly in its brain there was no sharp consciousness of a condition of very cold such as was in the mans brain But the brute had its instinct It experienced a vague but menacing apprehension that subdued it then made it slink along at the mans heels and that made it question eagerly every unwonted movement of the man as if expecting him to go into camp or to seek shelter somewhere and build a fire The dog had learned fire and it wanted fire or else to burrow under the snow and cuddle its warmth away from the air

The frozen moisture of its breathing had settled on its fur in a fine powder of frost and especially were its jowls muzzle and eyelashes whitened by its cry-stalled breath The mans red beard and mustache were likewise frosted but more solidly the deposit taking the form of ice and increasing with every warm moist breath he exhaled Also the man was chewing tobacco and the muzzle of ice held his lips so rigidly that he was unable to clear his chin when he expelled the juice The result was that a crystal beard of the color and solidity of amber was increasing its length on his chin If he fell down it would shatter itself like glass into brittle fragments But he did not mind the appendage It was the penalty all tobacco-chewers paid in that country and he had been out before in two cold snaps They had not been so cold as this he knew but by the spirit thermometer at Sixty Mile he knew they had been registered at fifty below and at fifty-five

He held on through the level stretch of woods for several miles crossed a wide flat of rigger-heads and dropped down a bank to the frozen bed of a

To Build a FireContinued

small stream This was Henderson Creek and he knew he was ten miles from the forks He looked at his watch It was ten oclock He was making four miles an hour and he calculated that he would arrive at the forks at half-past twelve He decided to celebrate that event by eating his lunch there

The dog dropped in again at his heels with a tail drooping discouragement as the man swung along the creek-bed The furrow of the old sled-trail was plainly visible but a dozen inches of snow covered the marks of the last runners In a month no man had come up or down that silent creek The man held steadily on He was not much given to thinking and just then particularly he had nothing to think about save that he would eat lunch at-the forks and that at six oclock he would be in camp with the boys There was nobody to talk to and had there been speech would have been impossible because of the ice-muzzle on his mouth So he continued monotonously to chew tobacco and to increase the length of his amber beard

Once in a while the thought reiterated itself that it was very cold and that he had never experienced such cold As he walked along he rubbed his cheek-bones and nose with the back of his mittened hand He did this automatically now and again changing hands But rub as he would the instant he stopped his cheek-bones went numb and the following instant the end of his nose went numb He was sure to frost his cheeks he knew that and experienced a pang of regret that he had not devised a nose-strap of the sort Bud wore in cold snaps Such a strap passed across the cheeks as well and saved them But it didnt matter much after all What were frosted cheeks A bit painful that was all they were never serious

Empty as the mans mind was of thoughts he was keenly observant and he noticed the changes in the creek the curves and bends and timber jams and always he sharply noted where he placed his feet Once coming around a bend he shied abruptly

like a startled horse curved away from the place where he had been walking and retreated several paces back along the trail The creek he knew was frozen clear to the bottom--no creek could contain water in that arctic winter--but he knew also that there were springs that bubbled out from the hillsides and ran along under the snow and on top the ice of the creek He knew that the coldest snaps never froze these springs and he knew likewise their danger They were traps They hid pools of water under the snow that might be three inches deep or three feet Sometimes a skin of ice half an inch thick covered them and in turn was covered by the snow Sometimes there were alternate layers of water and ice-skin so that when one broke through he kept on breaking through for a while sometimes wetting himself to the waist

That was why he had shied in such panic He had felt the give under his feet and heard the crackle of a snow-hidden ice-skin And to get his feet wet in such a temperature meant trouble and danger At the very least it meant delay for he would be forced to stop and build a fire and under its protection to bare his feet while he dried his socks and moccasins He stood and studied the creek-bed and its banks and decided that the flow of water came from the right He reflected a while rubbing his nose and cheeks then skirted to the left stepping gingerly and testing the footing for each step Once clear of the danger he took a fresh chew of tobacco and swung along at his four-mile gait

In the course of the next two hours he came upon several similar traps Usually the snow above the hidden pools had a sunken candied appearance that advertised the danger Once again however he had a close call and once suspecting danger he compelled the dog to go on in front The dog did not want to go It hung back until the man shoved it forward and then it went quickly across the white unbroken surface Suddenly it broke through floundered to one side and got away to firmer

To Build a FireContinued

To Build a FireContinued

footing It had wet its forefeet and legs and almost immediately the water that clung to it turned to ice It made quick efforts to lick the ice off its legs then dropped down in the snow and began to bite out the ice that had formed between the toes l his was a matter of instinct To permit the ice to remain would mean sore feet It did not know this It merely obeyed the mysterious prompting that arose from the deep crypts of its being But the man knew having achieved a judgment on the subject and he removed the mitten from his right hand and helped tear out the ice-particles He did not expose his fingers more than a minute and was astonished at the swift numbness that smote them It certainly was cold He pulled on the mitten hastily and beat the hand savagely across his chest

At twelve oclock the day was at its brightest Yet the sun was too far south an its winter journey to clear the horizon The bulge of the earth intervened between it arid Henderson Creek where the man walked under a clear sky at noon and cast no shadow At half-past twelve to the minute he arrived at the forks of the creek He was pleased at the speed he had made If he kept it up he would certainly be with the boys by six He unbuttoned his jacket and shirt and drew forth his lunch The action consumed no more than a quarter of a minute yet in that brief moment the numbness laid hold of the exposed fingers He did not put the mitten on but instead struck the fingers a dozen sharp smashes against his leg Then he sat down on a snow-covered log to eat The sting that followed upon the striking of his fingers against his leg ceased so quickly that he was startled He had had no chance to take a bite of biscuit He struck the fingers repeatedly and returned them to the mitten baring the other hand for the purpose of eating He tried to take a mouthful but the ice-muzzle prevented He had forgotten to build a fire and thaw out He chuckled at his foolishness and as he chuckled he noted the numbness creeping into the exposed fingers Also he noted that the stinging which had first come to his

toes when he sat down was already passing away He wandered whether the toes were warm or numb He moved them inside the moccasins and decided that they were numb

He pulled the mitten on hurriedly and stood up He was a bit frightened He stamped up and down until the stinging returned into the feet It certainly was cold was his thought That man from Sulphur Creek had spoken the truth when telling how cold it sometimes got in the country And he had laughed at him at the time That showed one must not be too sure of things There was no mistake about it it was cold He strode up and down stamping his feet and threshing his arms until reassured by the returning warmth Then he got out matches and proceeded to make a fire From the undergrowth where high water of the previous spring had lodged a supply of seasoned twigs he got his firewood Working carefully from a small beginning he soon had a roaring fire over which he thawed the ice from his face and in the protection of which he ate his biscuits For the moment the cold space was outwitted The dog took satisfaction in the fire stretching out close enough for warmth and far enough away to escape being singed

When the man had finished be filled his pipe and took his comfortable time over a smoke Then he pulled on his mittens settled the ear-flaps of his cap firmly about his ears and took the creek trail up the left fork The dog was disappointed and yearned back toward the fire This man did not know cold Possibly all the generations of his ancestry had been ignorant of cold of real cold of cold one hundred and seven degrees below freezing point But the dog knew all its ancestry knew and it had inherited the knowledge And it knew that it was not good to walk abroad in such fearful cold It was the time to lie snug in a hole in the snow and wait for a curtain of cloud to be drawn across the face of outer space whence this cold came On the other hand there was no keen intimacy between the dog and the man

The one was the toil-slave of the other and the only caresses it had ever received were the caresses of the whiplash and of harsh and menacing throat-sounds that threatened the whiplash So the dog made no effort to communicate its apprehension to the man It was not concerned in the welfare of the man it was for its own sake that it yearned back toward the fire But the man whistled and spoke to it with the sound of whiplashes and the dog swung in at the mans heel and followed after

The man took a chew of tobacco and proceeded to start a new amber beard Also his moist breath quickly powdered with white his mustache eyebrows and lashes There did not seem to be so many springs on the left fork of the Henderson and for half an hour the man saw no signs of any And then it happened At a place where there were no signs where the soft unbroken snow seemed to advertise solidity beneath tee man broke through It was not deep He wet himself halfway to the knees before he floundered out to the firm crust

He was angry and cursed his luck aloud He had hoped to get into camp with the boys at six oclock and this would delay him an hour for he would have to build a fire and dry out his foot-gear This was imperative at that low temperature--he knew that much and he turned aside to the bank which he climbed On top tangled in the underbrush about the trunks of several small spruce trees was a high-water deposit of dry firewood--sticks and twigs principally but also larger portions of seasoned branches and fine dry last-years grasses He threw down several large pieces on top of the snow This served for a foundation and prevented the young flame from drowning itself in the snow it otherwise would melt The flame he got by touching a match to a small shred of birch bark that he took from his pocket This burned even more readily than paper Placing it on the foundation he fed the young flame with wisps of dry grass and with the tiniest dry twigs

He worked slowly and carefully keenly aware of his danger Gradually as the flame grew stronger he increased the size of the twigs with which he fed it He squatted in the snow pulling the twigs out from their entanglement in the brush and feeding directly to the flame He knew there must be no failure When it is seventy-five below zero a man must not fail in his first attempt to build a fire--that is if his feet are wet If his feet are dry and he fails he can run along the trail for half a mile and restore his circulation But the circulation of wet and freezing feet cannot be restored by running when it is seventy-five below No matter how fast he runs the wet feet will freeze the harder

All this the man knew The old-timer on Sulphur Creek had told him about it the previous fall and now he was appreciating the advice Already all sensation had gone out of his feet To build the fire he had been forced to remove his mittens and the fingers had quickly gone numb His pace of four miles an hour had kept his heart pumping blood to the surface of his body and to all the extremities But the instant he stopped the action of the pump eased down The cold of space smote the unprotected tip of the planet and he being on that unprotected tip received the full force of the blow The blood of his body recoiled before it The blood was alive like the dog and like the dog it wanted to hide away and cover itself up from the fearful cold So long as he walked four miles an hour he pumped that blood willy-nilly to the surface but now it ebbed away and sank down into the recesses of his body The extremities were the first to feel its absence His wet feet froze the faster and his exposed fingers numbed the faster though they had not yet begun to freeze Nose and cheeks were already freezing while the skin of all his body chilled as it lost its blood

But he was safe Toes and nose and cheeks would be only touched by the frost for the fire was beginning to burn with strength He was feeding it

To Build a FireContinued

with twigs the size of his finger In another minute he would be able to feed it with branches the size of his wrier and then he could remove his wet toot-gear and while it dried he could keep his naked feet warm by the fire rubbing them at first of course with snow The fire was a success He was safe He remembered the advice of the old timer on Sulphur Creek and smiled The old-timer had been very serious in laying down the law that no man must travel alone in the Klondike after fifty below Well here he was he had had the accident he was alone and he had saved himself Those old-timers were rather womanish some of them he thought All a man had to do was to keep his head and he was all right Any man who was a man could travel alone But it was surprising the rapidity with which his cheeks and nose were freezing And he had not thought his fingers could go lifeless in so short a time Lifeless they were for he could scarcely make them move together to grip a twig and they seemed remote from his body and from him When he touched a twig he had to look and see whether or not he had hold of it The wires were pretty well down between him and his finger-ends

All of which counted for little There was the fire snapping and crackling and promising life with every dancing flame He started to untie his moccasins They were coated with ice the thick German socks were like sheaths of iron halfway to the knees and the moccasin strings were like rods of steel all twisted and knotted as by some conflagration For a moment he tugged with his numb fingers then realizing the folly of it he drew his sheath-knife

But before he could cut the strings it happened It was his own fault or rather his mistake He should not have built the fire under the spruce tree He should have built it in the open But it had been easier to pull the twigs from the brush and drop them directly on the fire Now the tree under which

he had done this carried a weight of snow on its boughs No wind had blown for weeks and each bough was fully freighted Each time he had pulled a twig he had communicated a slight agitation to the tree--an imperceptible agitation so far as he was concerned but an agitation sufficient to bring about the disaster High up in the tree one bough capsized its load of snow This fell on the boughs beneath capsizing them This process continued spreading out and involving the whole tree It grew like an avalanche and it descended without warning upon the man and the fire and the fire was blotted out Where it had burned was a mantle of fresh and disordered snow

The man was shocked It was as though he had just heard his own sentence of death For a moment he sat and stared at the spot where the fire had been Then he grew very calm Perhaps the old-timer on Sulphur Creek was right If he had only had a trail-mate he would have been in no danger now The trail-mate could have built the fire Well it was up to him to build the fire over again and this second time there must be no failure Even if he succeeded he would most likely lose some toes His feet must be badly frozen by now and there would be some time before the second fire Was ready

Such were his thoughts but he did not sit and think them He was busy all the time they were passing through his mind He made a new foundation for a fire this time in the open where no treacherous tree could blot it out Next he gathered dry grasses and tiny twigs from the high-water flotsam He could not bring his fingers together to pull them out but he was able to gather them by the handful In this way he got many rotten twigs and bits of green moss that were undesirable but it was the best he could do He worked methodically even collecting an armful of the larger branches to be used later when the fire gathered strength And all the while the dog sat and watched him a certain yearning wistfulness in its eyes for it looked upon

To Build a FireContinued

him as the fire-provider and the fire was slow in coming

When all was ready the man reached in his pocket for a second piece of birch bark He knew the bark was there and though he could not feel it with his fingers he could hear its crisp rustling as he fumbled for it Try as he would he could not clutch hold of it And all the time in his consciousness was the knowledge that each instant his feet were freezing This thought tended to put him in a panic but he fought against it and kept calm He pulled on his mittens with his teeth and threshed his arms back and forth beating his hands with all his might against his sides He did this sitting down and he stood up to do it and all the while the dog sat in the snow its wolf-brush of a tail curled around warmly over its forefeet its sharp wolf-ears pricked forward intently as it watched the man And the man as he beat and threshed with his arms and hands felt a great surge of envy as he regarded the creature that was warm ant secure in its natural covering

After a time he was aware of the first far-away signals of sensation in his beaten fingers The faint tingling grew stronger till it evolved into a stinging ache that was excruciating but which the man hailed with satisfaction He stripped the mitten from his right hand and fetched forth the birch bark The exposed fingers were quickly going numb again Next he brought out his bunch of sulphur matches But the tremendous cold had already driven the life out of his fingers In his effort to separate one match from the others the whole bunch fell in the snow He tried to pick it out of the snow but failed The dead fingers could neither touch nor clutch He was very careful He drove the thought of his freezing feet and nose and cheeks out of his mind devoting his whole soul to the matches He watched using the sense of vision in place of that of touch and when he saw his fingers on each side the bunch he dosed them--that is he willed to close them for the wires were down and the fingers did not obey He pulled

the mitten on the right hand and beat it fiercely against his knee Then with both mittened hands he scooped the bunch of matches along with much snow into his lap Yet he was no better off

After some manipulation he managed to get the bunch between the heels of his mittened hands In this fashion he carried it to his mouth The ice crackled and snapped when by a violent effort he opened his mouth He drew the lower jaw in curled the upper lip out of the way and scraped the bunch with his upper teeth in order to separate a match He succeeded in getting one which he dropped on his lap He was no better off He could not pick it up Then he devised a way He picked it up in his teeth and scratched it on his leg Twenty times he scratched before he succeeded in lighting it As it flamed he held it with his teeth to the birch bark But the burning brimstone went up his nostrils and into his lungs causing him to cough spasmodically The match fell into the snow and went out

The old-timer an Sulphur Creek was right he thought in the moment of controlled despair that ensued after fifty below a man should travel with a partner He beat his hands but failed in exciting any sensation Suddenly he bared both hands removing the mittens with his teeth He caught the whole bunch between the heels of his hands His arm muscles not being frozen enabled him to press the hand-heels tightly against the matches Then he scratched the bunch along his leg It flared into flame seventy sulphur matches at once There was no wind to blow them out He kept his head to one side to escape the strangling fumes and held the blazing bunch to the birth bark As he so held it he became aware of sensation in his hand His flesh was burning He could smell it Deep down below the surface he could feel it The sensation developed into pain that grew acute And still he endured it holding the flame of the matches clumsily to the bark that would not light readily because his own burning hands were in the way absorbing most of the flame

To Build a FireContinued

At last when he could endure no more he jerked his hands apart The blazing matches fell sizzling into the snow but the birch bark was alight He began laying dry grasses and the tiniest twigs on the flame He could not pick and choose for he had to lift the fuel between the heels of his hands Small pieces of rotten wood and green moss clung to the twigs and he bit them off as well as he could with his teeth He cherished the flame carefully and awkwardly It meant life and it must not perish The withdrawal of blood from the surface of his body now made him begin to shiver and he grew more awkward A large piece of green moss fell squarely on the little fire He tried to poke it out with his fingers but his shivering frame made him poke too far and he disrupted the nucleus of the little fire the burning grasses and tiny twigs separating and scattering He tried to poke them together again but in spite of the tenseness of the effort his shivering got away with him and the twigs were hopelessly scattered Each twig gushed a puff of smoke and went out The fire-provider had failed As he looked apathetically about him his eyes chanced on the dog sitting across the ruins of the fire from him in the snow making restless hunching movements slightly lifting one forefoot and then the other shifting its weight back and forth on them with wistful eagerness

The sight of the dog put a wild idea into his head He remembered the tale of the man caught in a blizzard who killed a steer and crawled inside the carcass and so was saved He would kill the dog and bury his hands in the warm body until the numbness went out of them Then he could build another fire He spoke to the dog calling it to him but in his voice was a strange note of fear that frightened the animal who had never known the man to speak in such way before Something was the matter and its suspicious nature sensed danger--it knew not what danger but somewhere somehow in its brain arose an apprehension of the man It flattened its ears down at the sound of the mans voice and its restless

hunching movements and the liftings and shiftings of its forefeet became more pronounced but it would not come to the man He got on his hands and knees and crawled toward the dog This unusual posture again excited suspicion and the animal sidled mincingly away

The man sat up in the snow for a moment and struggled for calmness Then he pulled on his mittens by means of his teeth and got upon his feet He glanced down at first in order to assure himself that he was really standing up for the absence of sensation in his feet left him unrelated to the earth His erect position in itself started to drive the webs of suspicion from the dogs mind and when he spoke peremptorily with the sound of whiplashes in his voice the dog rendered its customary allegiance and came to him As it came within reaching distance the man lost his control His arms flashed out to the dog and he experienced genuine surprise when he discovered that his hands could not clutch that there was neither bend nor feeling in the fingers He had forgotten for the moment that they were frozen and that they were freezing more and more All this happened quickly and before the animal could get away he encircled its body with his arms He sat down in the snow and in this fashion held the dog while it snarled and whined and struggled

But it was all he could do hold its body encircled in his arms and sit there He realized that he could not kill the dog There was no way to do it With his helpless hands he could neither draw nor hold his sheath knife nor throttle the animal He released it and it plunged wildly away with tail between its legs and still snarling It halted forty feet away and surveyed him curiously with ears sharply pricked forward The man looked down at his hands in order to locate them and found them hanging on the ends of his arms It struck him as curious that one should have to use his eyes in order to find out where his hands were He began threshing his arms back and forth beating the mittened hands against

To Build a FireContinued

his sides He did this for five minutes violently and his heart pumped enough blood up to the surface to put a stop to his shivering But no sensation was aroused in the hands He had an impression that they hung like weights on the ends of his arms but when he tried to run the impression down he could not find it

A certain fear of death dull and oppressive came to him This fear quickly became poignant as he realized that it was no longer a mere matter of freezing his fingers and toes or of losing his hands and feet but that it was a matter of life and death with the chances against him This threw him into a panic and he turned and ran up the creek-bed along the old dim trail The dog joined in behind and kept up with him He ran blindly without intention in fear such as he had never known in his life Slowly as he plowed and floundered through the snow he began to see things again the banks of the creek the old timber-jams the leafless aspens and the sky The running made him feel better He did not shiver Maybe if he ran on his feet would thaw out and anyway if he ran far enough he would reach camp and the boys Without doubt he would lose some fingers and toes and some of his face but the boys would take care of him and save the rest of him when he got there And at the same time there was another thought in his mind that said he would never get to the camp and the boys that it was too many miles away that the freezing had too great a start on him and that he would soon be stiff and dead This thought he kept in the background and refused to consider Sometimes it pushed itself forward and demanded to be heard but he thrust it back and strove to think of other things

It struck him as curious that he could run at all on feet so frozen that he could not feel them when they struck the earth and took the weigh of his body He seemed to himself to skim along above the surface and to have no connection with the earth Somewhere he had once seen a winged Mercury

and he wondered if Mercury felt as he felt when skimming over the earth

His theory of running until he reached camp and the boys had one flaw in it he lacked the endurance Several times he stumbled and finally he tottered crumpled up and fell When he tried to rise he failed He must sit and rest he decided and next time he would merely walk and keep on going As he sat and regained his breath he noted that he was feeling quite warm and comfortable He was not shivering and it even seemed that a warm glow had come to his chest and trunk And yet when he touched his nose or cheeks there was no sensation Running would not thaw them out Nor would it thaw out his hands and feet Then the thought came to him that the frozen portions of his body must be extending He tried to keep this thought down to forget it to think of something else he was aware of the panicky feeling that it caused and he was afraid of the panic But the thought asserted itself and persisted until it produced a vision of his body totally frozen This was too much and he made another wild run along the trail Once he slowed down to a walk but the thought of the freezing extending itself made him run again

And all the time the dog ran with him at his heels When he fell down a second time it curled its tad over its forefeet and sat in front of him facing him curiously eager and intent The warmth and security of the animal angered him and he cursed it till it flattened down its ears appealingly This time the shivering came more quickly upon the man He was losing in his battle with the frost It was creeping into his body from all sides The thought of it drove him on but he ran no more than a hundred feet when he staggered and pitched headlong It was his last panic When he had recovered his breath and control he sat up and entertained in his mind the conception of meeting death with dignity However the conception did not come to him in such terms His idea of it was that he had been making a fool of

To Build a FireContinued

himself running around like a chicken with its head cut off--such was the simile that occurred to him Well he was bound to freeze anyway and he might as well take it decently With this new-found peace of mind came the first glimmerings of drowsiness A good idea he thought to sleep off to death It was like salting an anesthetic Freezing was not so bad as people thought There were lots worse ways to die

He pictured the boys finding his body next day Suddenly he found himself with them coming along the trail and looking for himself And still with them he came around a turn in the trail and found himself lying in the snow He did not belong with himself any more for even then he was out of himself standing with the boys and looking at himself in the snow It certainly was cold was his thought When he got back to the States he could tell the folks what real cold was He drifted on from this to a vision of the old-timer on Sulphur Creek He could see him quite clearly warm and comfortable and smoking a pipe

You were right old boss you were right the man mumbled to the old-timer of Sulphur Creek

Then the man drowsed off into what seemed to him the most comfortable and satisfying sleep he had ever known The dog sat facing him and waiting The brief day drew to a close in a long slow twilight There were no signs of a fire to be made and besides never in the dogs experience had it known a man to sit like that in the snow and make no fire As the twilight drew on its eager yearning for the fire mastered it and with a great lifting and shifting of forefeet it whined softly then flattened its ears down in anticipation of being chidden by the man But the man remained silent Later the dog whined loudly And still later it crept close to the man and caught the scent of death This made the animal bristle and back away A little longer it delayed howling under the stars that leaped and danced and shone brightly in the cold sky Then it turned and trotted up the trail in the direction of the camp it knew where were the other food-providers and fire-providers

To Build a FireContinued

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Page 42: FitnessDigest.us Vol. 4.3 Cover

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 0 words spoken

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 1 million memories

Ride of Silence

ldquoCost-effective investments in bicycling boost our economy help individuals and government agencies save money and directly address key societal challenges such as obesity and road congestion In these tough economic times our federal government can only afford to invest in solutions that solve multiple problems Bicycling fits the billrdquo ndash PeopleForBikesorg

This photo collection was taken byRobert LaVallee of Mason City IA

To see his entire collection visithttpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

Non-subscriberSign-up for delivery of

the FREE edition at coopnetbiz

It provides an outstanding aerobic workout in less than half the time we would spend in still water It has allowed us as swim coaches to observe swimmers stroke characteristics up close and to see the effects of fatigue on stroke mechanics ~ Larry L Chazy NY

Swimming is an excellent exercise and now I can swim every day because its so convenient and private I can swim when I want and how long I want Im able to have it at a temperature that is comfortable to me The small size of an Endless Pool enabled me to install a pool where I could not install a regular size one

As an aging baby boomer nutrition professional I have yearned for consistent exercise that doesnt stress joints and will enable me to attain physical fitness cardiovascular health and weight control I can eat what I want and still firm up and lose weight ~ John C Columbus OH

Endless Pools make for long swims in small places The 8x15 Endless Pool is less than regulation size but offers the same benefits as a very large pool ~ Noah H Connecticut Post

The Endless Pool is a great strength builder I am amazed at the strength of the current I now swim against I did not buy it for that reason but because of my arthritis so the strength gain is a wonderful surprise

Endless PoolsTestimonials For more information visit httpLIveAdsFitnessDigestus

s w i m m i n g s h o r t s

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Baseball Walking Stick13 My sons friend grabbed his baseball bat and said to me this is my walking stick I politely ask him why he calls it that He replied because my dad says if I hit a home run with it I donrsquot have to run the bases ndash I can walk

My Bike My mountain bike was stolen a while back and my kids were really upset Ive been riding my road bike in its place Since then Ive been careful to lock my bike up when we go to the park

13 On this occasion I did not lock-up my sonrsquos bike up with mine He looked at me quizzically and said sternly lock my bike up too I tried to explain that his bike was not as expensive and therefor didnt need to be locked up Boy that was a mistake He made me feel a little dumb when he said Dad I dont care how expensive it is Its the only bike Irsquove got

North Iowa Roads

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A LEADER inSearch Engine Optimization

Technology

Increase your visitor page views and Facebook Likes

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Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

parent sports tipBy FitnessDigestus staff writer JGA

PAR

EN

T

TIP

Keeping Kids Focused13 Organize their thoughts Help them prioritize and make decisions based on value Even kids can understand the value of simple non-monetized choices Questions like ldquoShould I finish playing my gameboy game or pause it when they call my swimming eventrdquo

If kids are taught to make good decisions and not just find quick answers everyone wins

AugustGolf Month5th Friendship Day15th Relaxation Day25th Kiss and Make Up Day31st Trail Mix DaySeptemberLittle League Month12th Chocolate Milk Shake Day13th Positive Thinking Day16th Womenrsquos Friendship Day21st Miniature Golf DayOctoberBreast Cancer Awareness MonthNational Diabetes Month1st World Vegetarian Day4th Golf Day25th World Pasta Day

National Calendar

Au

gu

stSe

pte

mb

er

Oc

tob

er

Encourage friendships writing skills sharing thoughts and

experiencesEight different cards

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Variety of pricing From single orders to bulk orders of 24 notecards

Learn more online

Stay in touch with your swimming or triathlon buddies

It is better to be safe then to try to beat the heat There are many options to stay cool and run during a hot-summer day Staying inside and running on the treadmill is a good one Remember staying safe is a top priority

Most workouts can be modified to work indoors This issuersquos workout is to do your usual run or interval set just stay inside and run it on the treadmill Visualize the different landmarks to see during your outdoor run

Coach Millerrsquos Quarterly ChallengeStay safe in the heatBy Mark Miller mmillerFitnessDigestus

A few years back we had a hot-spell similar to this yearrsquos record heat

I remember training for a long run and having to stop at the local swimming hole to cool off I literally took off my

shoes and jumped in with my running clothes on I was so hot

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In kilometers The shortest open water race included in the Fina World Championships

10107 How many miles it

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The minimum open water distance in kilometers that is considered a swimming-

marathon

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Open water safety means swimming in shallow water where there is a lifeguard or using an escort

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24 Hoursa Day

WaynesSkiandCyclenet

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Googles

13 Swimming fans can really appreciate a 200 IM when their goggles fill with water How about an Olympian Swimming a leg of the 400 Free Relay with his goggles across his opened mouth ndash and going 45rsquos A great team swimmer an Olympian wouldnrsquot let down his teammates by throwing them off or fixing them

500 Fly13 A world class butterflyer asked if he could swim butterfly in the 500 yard freestyle during a dual meet His goal was to break five minutes After considering the competition it seemed like a great way to make him really work a hard fly swim so we agreed Problem was he swam a 502 and the opposing coach complained to the officials because he embarrassed his swimmers Oh well you canrsquot win lsquoem all

Stories sent in by Robert Steele

No-No-No13 The other morning I was teaching front-streamlines to snotty nosed 8 year olds (some are literally snotty-nosed) One boy was taking a big gulp of air and holding his breath When he lifted his head he had to exhale and inhale before submerging again Swimmers will understand this does not work very well Kids need to learn to exhale underwater The first time he did it I told him to exhale underwater The second time I stopped him looked him in the eye and reminded him to exhale underwater The third and fourth times I started to get a little frustrated ldquoJohnny you need to exhale underwater so you can breath betterrdquo The fifth time as his head popped up for a breath I quickly asked ldquoJohnny Do you even know what exhale meansrdquo as he submerged his head below the water I could see him shake his head no-no-no

Favorite Potato Chips13We try to limit the junk food the kids eat at our house For lunch one day our son wanted some potato chips I gave him 3 large chips with his sandwich He started to cry and said he wanted one more chip ldquoI wanted four chipsrdquo he screamed I took the plate back When he wasnt looking I broke a chip in half and give it back to him with four chips

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

13 My cancer story is one of uniqueness Leave it to me to do something like cancer to its fullest It did not begin with a mammogram diagnosis or a lump My journey began about 4 years ago with some suspicious activity that turned into Pagetrsquos disease of the nipple which signaled the underlying cancer On April 1st I found out about my breast cancer through a biopsy that came back as positive for Pagetrsquos disease The onslaught of tests learning and decisions were dizzying I immediately went for an evaluation of the suspicious tissue and had to begin making decisions for my mastectomy I quickly learned there is a test called the BRAC Analysis which is a genetic test for breast and ovarian cancer Finally a piece of good news for me I did not have the gene

Decisions Now it was time to make decisions about my mastectomy and how I was going to handle reconstruction I discussed my options with my boyfriend Brian friends family members and even my principalboss I read books searched the Internet and contacted people I

Brandi ShipmanCancer Survivor and elite triathlete

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

know and knew from my past that had been directly affected and that I thought might have answers for me The outpouring of love encouragement and help during this process was overwhelming After meeting with four different doctors two surgeons and two plastic surgeons I decided to go with immediate reconstruction and was lucky enough to find two wonderful doctors They were willing to work together just because I wanted them to even though they had never done so before My surgery was scheduled for mid May

Mental Toughness13 My mental preparation at this point was very important I had to scrap any idea of competing in triathlons for the rest of the year and focus on a positive attitude of getting better I stopped thinking about what I wasnrsquot going to able to do and started thinking about what I could do that I was alive and kept my mind on the fact that so many others had made it before me

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links

Part 213 I was prepared by the doctors survivors and literature to be ldquodownrdquo for several weeks after my surgery I even took the rest of the school year off My surgery went well and I was out of the hospital the next day A few friends came to visit while I was in the hospital and my principal and vice principal brought the most wonderful picture of the faculty wearing pink for me I can only imagine what it looked like at Thornton Elementary on that day in May 2009 a sea of pink all for Brandi Shipman Shortly after their visit I received a text from my friend Margie Massey My friends from the gym wore pink for me that day as well The support brought tears to my eyes I was so excited to come home and be comfortable in my own home I just wish the stupid drain that was attached could have stayed at the hospital The pain from that was worse than the pain from the mastectomy

the most

powerful picture

13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Recovery ndash May13 Once I got home I slept and watched a lot of TV Friends visited and brought yummy food and my favorites I am not supposed to eat I ate them all My friend and co-worker set up a cancer care calendar that alerted anyone who logged on when I was having a doctorrsquos appointment or when I was in need of anything I felt like royalty as everyone took care of me I think Brian secretly enjoyed the fact that he wouldnrsquot have to cook for me each night My recovery was quicker than I thought as I was doing my best to get better and get the stinkinrsquo drain out of my skin I was out walking within a week and running within 3 weeks I couldnrsquot believe my recovery I know it was from all the prayers love and good care from Brian and the loved ones around me Life was looking better each day

ldquoLife was looking

better each dayrdquo

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Part three and part

four of I am Survivor

will be published in

the next edition of

FitnessDigestus

Get the convenience of

digital-delivery

Sign-up or subscribe at

httpFitnessDigestus

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During the past 150 years we have witnessed many remarkable advances against cancer a disease known to humanity for thousands of years The advances highlighted below represent a sampling of what has been accomplished to date

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

1882 William Halsted performs the first radical mastectomy to treat breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast the lymph nodes under the arm (axillary lymph nodes) and the chest muscles behind the breast (pectoralis major and pectoralis minor muscles) are removed Radical mastectomy will remain the standard operation for breast cancer until latter half of the 20th century when the use of modified radical mastectomy becomes widely accepted

1932 David H Patey develops the modified radical mastectomy for breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast axillary lymph nodes and pectoralis minor muscle behind the breast are removed The modified radical mastectomy is less disfiguring than the radical mastectomy and will eventually replace the radical mastectomy as a standard treatment option for breast cancer

1953 James Watson and Francis Crick discover the molecular structure of DNA (the double helix)

1963 The Health Insurance Plan (HIP) of Greater New York Study begins HIP is the first randomized controlled trial of periodic breast cancer screening with mammography

1882

1932

1953

1963

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1976 The results of a randomized clinical trial show that women with early breast cancer who receive post-operative (adjuvant) combination chemotherapy with the drugs cyclophosphamide methotrexate and 5-FU have improved disease-free survival

1981 A randomized clinical trial in the United Kingdom shows for the first time that the rates of survival local recurrence and tumor metastasis among women whose breast cancer is treated with modified radical mastectomy are not substantially different from those of women who are treated with radical mastectomy

1993 An NCI-convened international workshop on screening for breast cancer reports that screening with mammography reduces breast cancer mortality among women ages 50-69 This conclusion is based on a review of published and unpublished data from eight randomized controlled trials

2004 Data from the Womens Health Initiative (WHI) study show that women who take estrogen in combination with the hormone progestin have a greater risk of developing breast cancer than women who take estrogen alone The results also show that menopausal hormone therapy with estrogen alone has no benefit in disease prevention specifically in reducing the risks of colorectal cancer coronary heart disease and dementia

1976

1981

1993

2004

Although we still have a long way to go to reduce the toll of cancer in the United States and worldwide our research and public health efforts are beginning to pay dividends

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

Volunteering vs Participating13 My girl friend and I are involved in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation The local chapter raises awareness for the cause with a fun-run each year We have volunteered to help with the race five years in a row This year we were stationed at a water table where the runners pick-up cups of water to drink Toward the end of the race there are very few runners There was a little time to chat about things We were talking about what we would wish for if we could have three wishes I told her I would wish for an end to Juvenile Diabetes and to lose 10 pounds Being nice I said ldquoyou can have my last wishrdquo She said I wish you would skip volunteering and just run this race next year

Admission Price Our aquatic center was having a promotion one night and advertised an elementary school night The kids could swim for free When we got to the pool we saw a promotional sign for the event In small lettering it read All swimmers must be accompanied by an adult We thought no big deal one of us can just stay and watch When we got to the front desk we found the lifeguard was enforcing the adult-admission price of $8

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CNFI Publishing - Products Books Chapbooks Bookmarks Plaques and Poetry Collector Cards Merchandising Products Coffee Mugs Mouse Pads Tiles 3x6 Coasters T - Shirts and Wall Plaques More info athttpliveadsFitnessDigestus

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

Featured PhotosFitnessDigestus feature

Chicago open water swim course at nighttop left

Kids race at Bicycle Blues and BBQtop right

Some team members volunteer at the local soup kitchenmiddle right

Ken Mauer loads the balls for hitting practice during a Twins baseball camp for

children 7-13 bottom right

Get your local event photos published in the next issue of FitnessDigestus E-mail

your photo to photoFitnessDigestus

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As he turned to go on he spat speculatively There was a sharp explosive crackle that startled him He spat again And again in the air before it could fall to the snow the spittle crackled He knew that at fifty below spittle crackled on the snow but this spittle had crackled in the air Undoubtedly it was colder than fifty below--how much colder he did not know But the temperature did not matter He was bound for the old claim on the left fork of Henderson Creek where the boys were already They had come over across the divide from the Indian Creek country while he had come the roundabout way to take a look at the possibilities of getting out logs in the spring from the islands in the Yukon He would be in to camp by six oclock a bit after dark it was true but the boys would be there a fire would be going and a hot supper would be ready As for lunch he pressed his hand against the protruding bundle under his jacket It was also under his shirt wrapped up in a handkerchief and lying against the naked skin It was the only way to keep the biscuits from freezing He smiled agreeably to himself as he thought of those biscuits each cut open and sopped in bacon grease and each enclosing a generous slice of fried bacon

He plunged in among the big spruce trees The trail was faint A foot of snow had fallen since the last sled had passed over and he was glad he was without a sled traveling light In fact he carried nothing but the lunch wrapped in the handkerchief He was surprised however at the cold It certainly was cold he concluded as he rubbed his numb nose and cheek-bones with his mittened hand He was a warm-whiskered man but the hair on his face did not protect the high cheek-bones and the eager nose that thrust itself aggressively into the frosty air

At the mans heels trotted a dog a big native husky the proper wolf-dog gray-coated and without any visible or temperamental difference from its brother the wild wolf The animal was depressed by the tremendous cold It knew that it was no time for

traveling Its instinct told it a truer tale than was told to the man by the mans judgment In reality it was not merely colder than fifty below zero it was colder than sixty below than seventy below It was seventy-five below zero Since the freezing point is thirty-two above zero it meant that one hundred and seven degrees of frost obtained The dog did not know anything about thermometers Possibly in its brain there was no sharp consciousness of a condition of very cold such as was in the mans brain But the brute had its instinct It experienced a vague but menacing apprehension that subdued it then made it slink along at the mans heels and that made it question eagerly every unwonted movement of the man as if expecting him to go into camp or to seek shelter somewhere and build a fire The dog had learned fire and it wanted fire or else to burrow under the snow and cuddle its warmth away from the air

The frozen moisture of its breathing had settled on its fur in a fine powder of frost and especially were its jowls muzzle and eyelashes whitened by its cry-stalled breath The mans red beard and mustache were likewise frosted but more solidly the deposit taking the form of ice and increasing with every warm moist breath he exhaled Also the man was chewing tobacco and the muzzle of ice held his lips so rigidly that he was unable to clear his chin when he expelled the juice The result was that a crystal beard of the color and solidity of amber was increasing its length on his chin If he fell down it would shatter itself like glass into brittle fragments But he did not mind the appendage It was the penalty all tobacco-chewers paid in that country and he had been out before in two cold snaps They had not been so cold as this he knew but by the spirit thermometer at Sixty Mile he knew they had been registered at fifty below and at fifty-five

He held on through the level stretch of woods for several miles crossed a wide flat of rigger-heads and dropped down a bank to the frozen bed of a

To Build a FireContinued

small stream This was Henderson Creek and he knew he was ten miles from the forks He looked at his watch It was ten oclock He was making four miles an hour and he calculated that he would arrive at the forks at half-past twelve He decided to celebrate that event by eating his lunch there

The dog dropped in again at his heels with a tail drooping discouragement as the man swung along the creek-bed The furrow of the old sled-trail was plainly visible but a dozen inches of snow covered the marks of the last runners In a month no man had come up or down that silent creek The man held steadily on He was not much given to thinking and just then particularly he had nothing to think about save that he would eat lunch at-the forks and that at six oclock he would be in camp with the boys There was nobody to talk to and had there been speech would have been impossible because of the ice-muzzle on his mouth So he continued monotonously to chew tobacco and to increase the length of his amber beard

Once in a while the thought reiterated itself that it was very cold and that he had never experienced such cold As he walked along he rubbed his cheek-bones and nose with the back of his mittened hand He did this automatically now and again changing hands But rub as he would the instant he stopped his cheek-bones went numb and the following instant the end of his nose went numb He was sure to frost his cheeks he knew that and experienced a pang of regret that he had not devised a nose-strap of the sort Bud wore in cold snaps Such a strap passed across the cheeks as well and saved them But it didnt matter much after all What were frosted cheeks A bit painful that was all they were never serious

Empty as the mans mind was of thoughts he was keenly observant and he noticed the changes in the creek the curves and bends and timber jams and always he sharply noted where he placed his feet Once coming around a bend he shied abruptly

like a startled horse curved away from the place where he had been walking and retreated several paces back along the trail The creek he knew was frozen clear to the bottom--no creek could contain water in that arctic winter--but he knew also that there were springs that bubbled out from the hillsides and ran along under the snow and on top the ice of the creek He knew that the coldest snaps never froze these springs and he knew likewise their danger They were traps They hid pools of water under the snow that might be three inches deep or three feet Sometimes a skin of ice half an inch thick covered them and in turn was covered by the snow Sometimes there were alternate layers of water and ice-skin so that when one broke through he kept on breaking through for a while sometimes wetting himself to the waist

That was why he had shied in such panic He had felt the give under his feet and heard the crackle of a snow-hidden ice-skin And to get his feet wet in such a temperature meant trouble and danger At the very least it meant delay for he would be forced to stop and build a fire and under its protection to bare his feet while he dried his socks and moccasins He stood and studied the creek-bed and its banks and decided that the flow of water came from the right He reflected a while rubbing his nose and cheeks then skirted to the left stepping gingerly and testing the footing for each step Once clear of the danger he took a fresh chew of tobacco and swung along at his four-mile gait

In the course of the next two hours he came upon several similar traps Usually the snow above the hidden pools had a sunken candied appearance that advertised the danger Once again however he had a close call and once suspecting danger he compelled the dog to go on in front The dog did not want to go It hung back until the man shoved it forward and then it went quickly across the white unbroken surface Suddenly it broke through floundered to one side and got away to firmer

To Build a FireContinued

To Build a FireContinued

footing It had wet its forefeet and legs and almost immediately the water that clung to it turned to ice It made quick efforts to lick the ice off its legs then dropped down in the snow and began to bite out the ice that had formed between the toes l his was a matter of instinct To permit the ice to remain would mean sore feet It did not know this It merely obeyed the mysterious prompting that arose from the deep crypts of its being But the man knew having achieved a judgment on the subject and he removed the mitten from his right hand and helped tear out the ice-particles He did not expose his fingers more than a minute and was astonished at the swift numbness that smote them It certainly was cold He pulled on the mitten hastily and beat the hand savagely across his chest

At twelve oclock the day was at its brightest Yet the sun was too far south an its winter journey to clear the horizon The bulge of the earth intervened between it arid Henderson Creek where the man walked under a clear sky at noon and cast no shadow At half-past twelve to the minute he arrived at the forks of the creek He was pleased at the speed he had made If he kept it up he would certainly be with the boys by six He unbuttoned his jacket and shirt and drew forth his lunch The action consumed no more than a quarter of a minute yet in that brief moment the numbness laid hold of the exposed fingers He did not put the mitten on but instead struck the fingers a dozen sharp smashes against his leg Then he sat down on a snow-covered log to eat The sting that followed upon the striking of his fingers against his leg ceased so quickly that he was startled He had had no chance to take a bite of biscuit He struck the fingers repeatedly and returned them to the mitten baring the other hand for the purpose of eating He tried to take a mouthful but the ice-muzzle prevented He had forgotten to build a fire and thaw out He chuckled at his foolishness and as he chuckled he noted the numbness creeping into the exposed fingers Also he noted that the stinging which had first come to his

toes when he sat down was already passing away He wandered whether the toes were warm or numb He moved them inside the moccasins and decided that they were numb

He pulled the mitten on hurriedly and stood up He was a bit frightened He stamped up and down until the stinging returned into the feet It certainly was cold was his thought That man from Sulphur Creek had spoken the truth when telling how cold it sometimes got in the country And he had laughed at him at the time That showed one must not be too sure of things There was no mistake about it it was cold He strode up and down stamping his feet and threshing his arms until reassured by the returning warmth Then he got out matches and proceeded to make a fire From the undergrowth where high water of the previous spring had lodged a supply of seasoned twigs he got his firewood Working carefully from a small beginning he soon had a roaring fire over which he thawed the ice from his face and in the protection of which he ate his biscuits For the moment the cold space was outwitted The dog took satisfaction in the fire stretching out close enough for warmth and far enough away to escape being singed

When the man had finished be filled his pipe and took his comfortable time over a smoke Then he pulled on his mittens settled the ear-flaps of his cap firmly about his ears and took the creek trail up the left fork The dog was disappointed and yearned back toward the fire This man did not know cold Possibly all the generations of his ancestry had been ignorant of cold of real cold of cold one hundred and seven degrees below freezing point But the dog knew all its ancestry knew and it had inherited the knowledge And it knew that it was not good to walk abroad in such fearful cold It was the time to lie snug in a hole in the snow and wait for a curtain of cloud to be drawn across the face of outer space whence this cold came On the other hand there was no keen intimacy between the dog and the man

The one was the toil-slave of the other and the only caresses it had ever received were the caresses of the whiplash and of harsh and menacing throat-sounds that threatened the whiplash So the dog made no effort to communicate its apprehension to the man It was not concerned in the welfare of the man it was for its own sake that it yearned back toward the fire But the man whistled and spoke to it with the sound of whiplashes and the dog swung in at the mans heel and followed after

The man took a chew of tobacco and proceeded to start a new amber beard Also his moist breath quickly powdered with white his mustache eyebrows and lashes There did not seem to be so many springs on the left fork of the Henderson and for half an hour the man saw no signs of any And then it happened At a place where there were no signs where the soft unbroken snow seemed to advertise solidity beneath tee man broke through It was not deep He wet himself halfway to the knees before he floundered out to the firm crust

He was angry and cursed his luck aloud He had hoped to get into camp with the boys at six oclock and this would delay him an hour for he would have to build a fire and dry out his foot-gear This was imperative at that low temperature--he knew that much and he turned aside to the bank which he climbed On top tangled in the underbrush about the trunks of several small spruce trees was a high-water deposit of dry firewood--sticks and twigs principally but also larger portions of seasoned branches and fine dry last-years grasses He threw down several large pieces on top of the snow This served for a foundation and prevented the young flame from drowning itself in the snow it otherwise would melt The flame he got by touching a match to a small shred of birch bark that he took from his pocket This burned even more readily than paper Placing it on the foundation he fed the young flame with wisps of dry grass and with the tiniest dry twigs

He worked slowly and carefully keenly aware of his danger Gradually as the flame grew stronger he increased the size of the twigs with which he fed it He squatted in the snow pulling the twigs out from their entanglement in the brush and feeding directly to the flame He knew there must be no failure When it is seventy-five below zero a man must not fail in his first attempt to build a fire--that is if his feet are wet If his feet are dry and he fails he can run along the trail for half a mile and restore his circulation But the circulation of wet and freezing feet cannot be restored by running when it is seventy-five below No matter how fast he runs the wet feet will freeze the harder

All this the man knew The old-timer on Sulphur Creek had told him about it the previous fall and now he was appreciating the advice Already all sensation had gone out of his feet To build the fire he had been forced to remove his mittens and the fingers had quickly gone numb His pace of four miles an hour had kept his heart pumping blood to the surface of his body and to all the extremities But the instant he stopped the action of the pump eased down The cold of space smote the unprotected tip of the planet and he being on that unprotected tip received the full force of the blow The blood of his body recoiled before it The blood was alive like the dog and like the dog it wanted to hide away and cover itself up from the fearful cold So long as he walked four miles an hour he pumped that blood willy-nilly to the surface but now it ebbed away and sank down into the recesses of his body The extremities were the first to feel its absence His wet feet froze the faster and his exposed fingers numbed the faster though they had not yet begun to freeze Nose and cheeks were already freezing while the skin of all his body chilled as it lost its blood

But he was safe Toes and nose and cheeks would be only touched by the frost for the fire was beginning to burn with strength He was feeding it

To Build a FireContinued

with twigs the size of his finger In another minute he would be able to feed it with branches the size of his wrier and then he could remove his wet toot-gear and while it dried he could keep his naked feet warm by the fire rubbing them at first of course with snow The fire was a success He was safe He remembered the advice of the old timer on Sulphur Creek and smiled The old-timer had been very serious in laying down the law that no man must travel alone in the Klondike after fifty below Well here he was he had had the accident he was alone and he had saved himself Those old-timers were rather womanish some of them he thought All a man had to do was to keep his head and he was all right Any man who was a man could travel alone But it was surprising the rapidity with which his cheeks and nose were freezing And he had not thought his fingers could go lifeless in so short a time Lifeless they were for he could scarcely make them move together to grip a twig and they seemed remote from his body and from him When he touched a twig he had to look and see whether or not he had hold of it The wires were pretty well down between him and his finger-ends

All of which counted for little There was the fire snapping and crackling and promising life with every dancing flame He started to untie his moccasins They were coated with ice the thick German socks were like sheaths of iron halfway to the knees and the moccasin strings were like rods of steel all twisted and knotted as by some conflagration For a moment he tugged with his numb fingers then realizing the folly of it he drew his sheath-knife

But before he could cut the strings it happened It was his own fault or rather his mistake He should not have built the fire under the spruce tree He should have built it in the open But it had been easier to pull the twigs from the brush and drop them directly on the fire Now the tree under which

he had done this carried a weight of snow on its boughs No wind had blown for weeks and each bough was fully freighted Each time he had pulled a twig he had communicated a slight agitation to the tree--an imperceptible agitation so far as he was concerned but an agitation sufficient to bring about the disaster High up in the tree one bough capsized its load of snow This fell on the boughs beneath capsizing them This process continued spreading out and involving the whole tree It grew like an avalanche and it descended without warning upon the man and the fire and the fire was blotted out Where it had burned was a mantle of fresh and disordered snow

The man was shocked It was as though he had just heard his own sentence of death For a moment he sat and stared at the spot where the fire had been Then he grew very calm Perhaps the old-timer on Sulphur Creek was right If he had only had a trail-mate he would have been in no danger now The trail-mate could have built the fire Well it was up to him to build the fire over again and this second time there must be no failure Even if he succeeded he would most likely lose some toes His feet must be badly frozen by now and there would be some time before the second fire Was ready

Such were his thoughts but he did not sit and think them He was busy all the time they were passing through his mind He made a new foundation for a fire this time in the open where no treacherous tree could blot it out Next he gathered dry grasses and tiny twigs from the high-water flotsam He could not bring his fingers together to pull them out but he was able to gather them by the handful In this way he got many rotten twigs and bits of green moss that were undesirable but it was the best he could do He worked methodically even collecting an armful of the larger branches to be used later when the fire gathered strength And all the while the dog sat and watched him a certain yearning wistfulness in its eyes for it looked upon

To Build a FireContinued

him as the fire-provider and the fire was slow in coming

When all was ready the man reached in his pocket for a second piece of birch bark He knew the bark was there and though he could not feel it with his fingers he could hear its crisp rustling as he fumbled for it Try as he would he could not clutch hold of it And all the time in his consciousness was the knowledge that each instant his feet were freezing This thought tended to put him in a panic but he fought against it and kept calm He pulled on his mittens with his teeth and threshed his arms back and forth beating his hands with all his might against his sides He did this sitting down and he stood up to do it and all the while the dog sat in the snow its wolf-brush of a tail curled around warmly over its forefeet its sharp wolf-ears pricked forward intently as it watched the man And the man as he beat and threshed with his arms and hands felt a great surge of envy as he regarded the creature that was warm ant secure in its natural covering

After a time he was aware of the first far-away signals of sensation in his beaten fingers The faint tingling grew stronger till it evolved into a stinging ache that was excruciating but which the man hailed with satisfaction He stripped the mitten from his right hand and fetched forth the birch bark The exposed fingers were quickly going numb again Next he brought out his bunch of sulphur matches But the tremendous cold had already driven the life out of his fingers In his effort to separate one match from the others the whole bunch fell in the snow He tried to pick it out of the snow but failed The dead fingers could neither touch nor clutch He was very careful He drove the thought of his freezing feet and nose and cheeks out of his mind devoting his whole soul to the matches He watched using the sense of vision in place of that of touch and when he saw his fingers on each side the bunch he dosed them--that is he willed to close them for the wires were down and the fingers did not obey He pulled

the mitten on the right hand and beat it fiercely against his knee Then with both mittened hands he scooped the bunch of matches along with much snow into his lap Yet he was no better off

After some manipulation he managed to get the bunch between the heels of his mittened hands In this fashion he carried it to his mouth The ice crackled and snapped when by a violent effort he opened his mouth He drew the lower jaw in curled the upper lip out of the way and scraped the bunch with his upper teeth in order to separate a match He succeeded in getting one which he dropped on his lap He was no better off He could not pick it up Then he devised a way He picked it up in his teeth and scratched it on his leg Twenty times he scratched before he succeeded in lighting it As it flamed he held it with his teeth to the birch bark But the burning brimstone went up his nostrils and into his lungs causing him to cough spasmodically The match fell into the snow and went out

The old-timer an Sulphur Creek was right he thought in the moment of controlled despair that ensued after fifty below a man should travel with a partner He beat his hands but failed in exciting any sensation Suddenly he bared both hands removing the mittens with his teeth He caught the whole bunch between the heels of his hands His arm muscles not being frozen enabled him to press the hand-heels tightly against the matches Then he scratched the bunch along his leg It flared into flame seventy sulphur matches at once There was no wind to blow them out He kept his head to one side to escape the strangling fumes and held the blazing bunch to the birth bark As he so held it he became aware of sensation in his hand His flesh was burning He could smell it Deep down below the surface he could feel it The sensation developed into pain that grew acute And still he endured it holding the flame of the matches clumsily to the bark that would not light readily because his own burning hands were in the way absorbing most of the flame

To Build a FireContinued

At last when he could endure no more he jerked his hands apart The blazing matches fell sizzling into the snow but the birch bark was alight He began laying dry grasses and the tiniest twigs on the flame He could not pick and choose for he had to lift the fuel between the heels of his hands Small pieces of rotten wood and green moss clung to the twigs and he bit them off as well as he could with his teeth He cherished the flame carefully and awkwardly It meant life and it must not perish The withdrawal of blood from the surface of his body now made him begin to shiver and he grew more awkward A large piece of green moss fell squarely on the little fire He tried to poke it out with his fingers but his shivering frame made him poke too far and he disrupted the nucleus of the little fire the burning grasses and tiny twigs separating and scattering He tried to poke them together again but in spite of the tenseness of the effort his shivering got away with him and the twigs were hopelessly scattered Each twig gushed a puff of smoke and went out The fire-provider had failed As he looked apathetically about him his eyes chanced on the dog sitting across the ruins of the fire from him in the snow making restless hunching movements slightly lifting one forefoot and then the other shifting its weight back and forth on them with wistful eagerness

The sight of the dog put a wild idea into his head He remembered the tale of the man caught in a blizzard who killed a steer and crawled inside the carcass and so was saved He would kill the dog and bury his hands in the warm body until the numbness went out of them Then he could build another fire He spoke to the dog calling it to him but in his voice was a strange note of fear that frightened the animal who had never known the man to speak in such way before Something was the matter and its suspicious nature sensed danger--it knew not what danger but somewhere somehow in its brain arose an apprehension of the man It flattened its ears down at the sound of the mans voice and its restless

hunching movements and the liftings and shiftings of its forefeet became more pronounced but it would not come to the man He got on his hands and knees and crawled toward the dog This unusual posture again excited suspicion and the animal sidled mincingly away

The man sat up in the snow for a moment and struggled for calmness Then he pulled on his mittens by means of his teeth and got upon his feet He glanced down at first in order to assure himself that he was really standing up for the absence of sensation in his feet left him unrelated to the earth His erect position in itself started to drive the webs of suspicion from the dogs mind and when he spoke peremptorily with the sound of whiplashes in his voice the dog rendered its customary allegiance and came to him As it came within reaching distance the man lost his control His arms flashed out to the dog and he experienced genuine surprise when he discovered that his hands could not clutch that there was neither bend nor feeling in the fingers He had forgotten for the moment that they were frozen and that they were freezing more and more All this happened quickly and before the animal could get away he encircled its body with his arms He sat down in the snow and in this fashion held the dog while it snarled and whined and struggled

But it was all he could do hold its body encircled in his arms and sit there He realized that he could not kill the dog There was no way to do it With his helpless hands he could neither draw nor hold his sheath knife nor throttle the animal He released it and it plunged wildly away with tail between its legs and still snarling It halted forty feet away and surveyed him curiously with ears sharply pricked forward The man looked down at his hands in order to locate them and found them hanging on the ends of his arms It struck him as curious that one should have to use his eyes in order to find out where his hands were He began threshing his arms back and forth beating the mittened hands against

To Build a FireContinued

his sides He did this for five minutes violently and his heart pumped enough blood up to the surface to put a stop to his shivering But no sensation was aroused in the hands He had an impression that they hung like weights on the ends of his arms but when he tried to run the impression down he could not find it

A certain fear of death dull and oppressive came to him This fear quickly became poignant as he realized that it was no longer a mere matter of freezing his fingers and toes or of losing his hands and feet but that it was a matter of life and death with the chances against him This threw him into a panic and he turned and ran up the creek-bed along the old dim trail The dog joined in behind and kept up with him He ran blindly without intention in fear such as he had never known in his life Slowly as he plowed and floundered through the snow he began to see things again the banks of the creek the old timber-jams the leafless aspens and the sky The running made him feel better He did not shiver Maybe if he ran on his feet would thaw out and anyway if he ran far enough he would reach camp and the boys Without doubt he would lose some fingers and toes and some of his face but the boys would take care of him and save the rest of him when he got there And at the same time there was another thought in his mind that said he would never get to the camp and the boys that it was too many miles away that the freezing had too great a start on him and that he would soon be stiff and dead This thought he kept in the background and refused to consider Sometimes it pushed itself forward and demanded to be heard but he thrust it back and strove to think of other things

It struck him as curious that he could run at all on feet so frozen that he could not feel them when they struck the earth and took the weigh of his body He seemed to himself to skim along above the surface and to have no connection with the earth Somewhere he had once seen a winged Mercury

and he wondered if Mercury felt as he felt when skimming over the earth

His theory of running until he reached camp and the boys had one flaw in it he lacked the endurance Several times he stumbled and finally he tottered crumpled up and fell When he tried to rise he failed He must sit and rest he decided and next time he would merely walk and keep on going As he sat and regained his breath he noted that he was feeling quite warm and comfortable He was not shivering and it even seemed that a warm glow had come to his chest and trunk And yet when he touched his nose or cheeks there was no sensation Running would not thaw them out Nor would it thaw out his hands and feet Then the thought came to him that the frozen portions of his body must be extending He tried to keep this thought down to forget it to think of something else he was aware of the panicky feeling that it caused and he was afraid of the panic But the thought asserted itself and persisted until it produced a vision of his body totally frozen This was too much and he made another wild run along the trail Once he slowed down to a walk but the thought of the freezing extending itself made him run again

And all the time the dog ran with him at his heels When he fell down a second time it curled its tad over its forefeet and sat in front of him facing him curiously eager and intent The warmth and security of the animal angered him and he cursed it till it flattened down its ears appealingly This time the shivering came more quickly upon the man He was losing in his battle with the frost It was creeping into his body from all sides The thought of it drove him on but he ran no more than a hundred feet when he staggered and pitched headlong It was his last panic When he had recovered his breath and control he sat up and entertained in his mind the conception of meeting death with dignity However the conception did not come to him in such terms His idea of it was that he had been making a fool of

To Build a FireContinued

himself running around like a chicken with its head cut off--such was the simile that occurred to him Well he was bound to freeze anyway and he might as well take it decently With this new-found peace of mind came the first glimmerings of drowsiness A good idea he thought to sleep off to death It was like salting an anesthetic Freezing was not so bad as people thought There were lots worse ways to die

He pictured the boys finding his body next day Suddenly he found himself with them coming along the trail and looking for himself And still with them he came around a turn in the trail and found himself lying in the snow He did not belong with himself any more for even then he was out of himself standing with the boys and looking at himself in the snow It certainly was cold was his thought When he got back to the States he could tell the folks what real cold was He drifted on from this to a vision of the old-timer on Sulphur Creek He could see him quite clearly warm and comfortable and smoking a pipe

You were right old boss you were right the man mumbled to the old-timer of Sulphur Creek

Then the man drowsed off into what seemed to him the most comfortable and satisfying sleep he had ever known The dog sat facing him and waiting The brief day drew to a close in a long slow twilight There were no signs of a fire to be made and besides never in the dogs experience had it known a man to sit like that in the snow and make no fire As the twilight drew on its eager yearning for the fire mastered it and with a great lifting and shifting of forefeet it whined softly then flattened its ears down in anticipation of being chidden by the man But the man remained silent Later the dog whined loudly And still later it crept close to the man and caught the scent of death This made the animal bristle and back away A little longer it delayed howling under the stars that leaped and danced and shone brightly in the cold sky Then it turned and trotted up the trail in the direction of the camp it knew where were the other food-providers and fire-providers

To Build a FireContinued

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Page 43: FitnessDigest.us Vol. 4.3 Cover

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links 1 million memories

Ride of Silence

ldquoCost-effective investments in bicycling boost our economy help individuals and government agencies save money and directly address key societal challenges such as obesity and road congestion In these tough economic times our federal government can only afford to invest in solutions that solve multiple problems Bicycling fits the billrdquo ndash PeopleForBikesorg

This photo collection was taken byRobert LaVallee of Mason City IA

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It provides an outstanding aerobic workout in less than half the time we would spend in still water It has allowed us as swim coaches to observe swimmers stroke characteristics up close and to see the effects of fatigue on stroke mechanics ~ Larry L Chazy NY

Swimming is an excellent exercise and now I can swim every day because its so convenient and private I can swim when I want and how long I want Im able to have it at a temperature that is comfortable to me The small size of an Endless Pool enabled me to install a pool where I could not install a regular size one

As an aging baby boomer nutrition professional I have yearned for consistent exercise that doesnt stress joints and will enable me to attain physical fitness cardiovascular health and weight control I can eat what I want and still firm up and lose weight ~ John C Columbus OH

Endless Pools make for long swims in small places The 8x15 Endless Pool is less than regulation size but offers the same benefits as a very large pool ~ Noah H Connecticut Post

The Endless Pool is a great strength builder I am amazed at the strength of the current I now swim against I did not buy it for that reason but because of my arthritis so the strength gain is a wonderful surprise

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Baseball Walking Stick13 My sons friend grabbed his baseball bat and said to me this is my walking stick I politely ask him why he calls it that He replied because my dad says if I hit a home run with it I donrsquot have to run the bases ndash I can walk

My Bike My mountain bike was stolen a while back and my kids were really upset Ive been riding my road bike in its place Since then Ive been careful to lock my bike up when we go to the park

13 On this occasion I did not lock-up my sonrsquos bike up with mine He looked at me quizzically and said sternly lock my bike up too I tried to explain that his bike was not as expensive and therefor didnt need to be locked up Boy that was a mistake He made me feel a little dumb when he said Dad I dont care how expensive it is Its the only bike Irsquove got

North Iowa Roads

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Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

parent sports tipBy FitnessDigestus staff writer JGA

PAR

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TIP

Keeping Kids Focused13 Organize their thoughts Help them prioritize and make decisions based on value Even kids can understand the value of simple non-monetized choices Questions like ldquoShould I finish playing my gameboy game or pause it when they call my swimming eventrdquo

If kids are taught to make good decisions and not just find quick answers everyone wins

AugustGolf Month5th Friendship Day15th Relaxation Day25th Kiss and Make Up Day31st Trail Mix DaySeptemberLittle League Month12th Chocolate Milk Shake Day13th Positive Thinking Day16th Womenrsquos Friendship Day21st Miniature Golf DayOctoberBreast Cancer Awareness MonthNational Diabetes Month1st World Vegetarian Day4th Golf Day25th World Pasta Day

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Stay in touch with your swimming or triathlon buddies

It is better to be safe then to try to beat the heat There are many options to stay cool and run during a hot-summer day Staying inside and running on the treadmill is a good one Remember staying safe is a top priority

Most workouts can be modified to work indoors This issuersquos workout is to do your usual run or interval set just stay inside and run it on the treadmill Visualize the different landmarks to see during your outdoor run

Coach Millerrsquos Quarterly ChallengeStay safe in the heatBy Mark Miller mmillerFitnessDigestus

A few years back we had a hot-spell similar to this yearrsquos record heat

I remember training for a long run and having to stop at the local swimming hole to cool off I literally took off my

shoes and jumped in with my running clothes on I was so hot

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In kilometers The shortest open water race included in the Fina World Championships

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The minimum open water distance in kilometers that is considered a swimming-

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Open water safety means swimming in shallow water where there is a lifeguard or using an escort

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Googles

13 Swimming fans can really appreciate a 200 IM when their goggles fill with water How about an Olympian Swimming a leg of the 400 Free Relay with his goggles across his opened mouth ndash and going 45rsquos A great team swimmer an Olympian wouldnrsquot let down his teammates by throwing them off or fixing them

500 Fly13 A world class butterflyer asked if he could swim butterfly in the 500 yard freestyle during a dual meet His goal was to break five minutes After considering the competition it seemed like a great way to make him really work a hard fly swim so we agreed Problem was he swam a 502 and the opposing coach complained to the officials because he embarrassed his swimmers Oh well you canrsquot win lsquoem all

Stories sent in by Robert Steele

No-No-No13 The other morning I was teaching front-streamlines to snotty nosed 8 year olds (some are literally snotty-nosed) One boy was taking a big gulp of air and holding his breath When he lifted his head he had to exhale and inhale before submerging again Swimmers will understand this does not work very well Kids need to learn to exhale underwater The first time he did it I told him to exhale underwater The second time I stopped him looked him in the eye and reminded him to exhale underwater The third and fourth times I started to get a little frustrated ldquoJohnny you need to exhale underwater so you can breath betterrdquo The fifth time as his head popped up for a breath I quickly asked ldquoJohnny Do you even know what exhale meansrdquo as he submerged his head below the water I could see him shake his head no-no-no

Favorite Potato Chips13We try to limit the junk food the kids eat at our house For lunch one day our son wanted some potato chips I gave him 3 large chips with his sandwich He started to cry and said he wanted one more chip ldquoI wanted four chipsrdquo he screamed I took the plate back When he wasnt looking I broke a chip in half and give it back to him with four chips

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

13 My cancer story is one of uniqueness Leave it to me to do something like cancer to its fullest It did not begin with a mammogram diagnosis or a lump My journey began about 4 years ago with some suspicious activity that turned into Pagetrsquos disease of the nipple which signaled the underlying cancer On April 1st I found out about my breast cancer through a biopsy that came back as positive for Pagetrsquos disease The onslaught of tests learning and decisions were dizzying I immediately went for an evaluation of the suspicious tissue and had to begin making decisions for my mastectomy I quickly learned there is a test called the BRAC Analysis which is a genetic test for breast and ovarian cancer Finally a piece of good news for me I did not have the gene

Decisions Now it was time to make decisions about my mastectomy and how I was going to handle reconstruction I discussed my options with my boyfriend Brian friends family members and even my principalboss I read books searched the Internet and contacted people I

Brandi ShipmanCancer Survivor and elite triathlete

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

know and knew from my past that had been directly affected and that I thought might have answers for me The outpouring of love encouragement and help during this process was overwhelming After meeting with four different doctors two surgeons and two plastic surgeons I decided to go with immediate reconstruction and was lucky enough to find two wonderful doctors They were willing to work together just because I wanted them to even though they had never done so before My surgery was scheduled for mid May

Mental Toughness13 My mental preparation at this point was very important I had to scrap any idea of competing in triathlons for the rest of the year and focus on a positive attitude of getting better I stopped thinking about what I wasnrsquot going to able to do and started thinking about what I could do that I was alive and kept my mind on the fact that so many others had made it before me

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links

Part 213 I was prepared by the doctors survivors and literature to be ldquodownrdquo for several weeks after my surgery I even took the rest of the school year off My surgery went well and I was out of the hospital the next day A few friends came to visit while I was in the hospital and my principal and vice principal brought the most wonderful picture of the faculty wearing pink for me I can only imagine what it looked like at Thornton Elementary on that day in May 2009 a sea of pink all for Brandi Shipman Shortly after their visit I received a text from my friend Margie Massey My friends from the gym wore pink for me that day as well The support brought tears to my eyes I was so excited to come home and be comfortable in my own home I just wish the stupid drain that was attached could have stayed at the hospital The pain from that was worse than the pain from the mastectomy

the most

powerful picture

13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Recovery ndash May13 Once I got home I slept and watched a lot of TV Friends visited and brought yummy food and my favorites I am not supposed to eat I ate them all My friend and co-worker set up a cancer care calendar that alerted anyone who logged on when I was having a doctorrsquos appointment or when I was in need of anything I felt like royalty as everyone took care of me I think Brian secretly enjoyed the fact that he wouldnrsquot have to cook for me each night My recovery was quicker than I thought as I was doing my best to get better and get the stinkinrsquo drain out of my skin I was out walking within a week and running within 3 weeks I couldnrsquot believe my recovery I know it was from all the prayers love and good care from Brian and the loved ones around me Life was looking better each day

ldquoLife was looking

better each dayrdquo

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Part three and part

four of I am Survivor

will be published in

the next edition of

FitnessDigestus

Get the convenience of

digital-delivery

Sign-up or subscribe at

httpFitnessDigestus

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During the past 150 years we have witnessed many remarkable advances against cancer a disease known to humanity for thousands of years The advances highlighted below represent a sampling of what has been accomplished to date

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

1882 William Halsted performs the first radical mastectomy to treat breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast the lymph nodes under the arm (axillary lymph nodes) and the chest muscles behind the breast (pectoralis major and pectoralis minor muscles) are removed Radical mastectomy will remain the standard operation for breast cancer until latter half of the 20th century when the use of modified radical mastectomy becomes widely accepted

1932 David H Patey develops the modified radical mastectomy for breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast axillary lymph nodes and pectoralis minor muscle behind the breast are removed The modified radical mastectomy is less disfiguring than the radical mastectomy and will eventually replace the radical mastectomy as a standard treatment option for breast cancer

1953 James Watson and Francis Crick discover the molecular structure of DNA (the double helix)

1963 The Health Insurance Plan (HIP) of Greater New York Study begins HIP is the first randomized controlled trial of periodic breast cancer screening with mammography

1882

1932

1953

1963

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1976 The results of a randomized clinical trial show that women with early breast cancer who receive post-operative (adjuvant) combination chemotherapy with the drugs cyclophosphamide methotrexate and 5-FU have improved disease-free survival

1981 A randomized clinical trial in the United Kingdom shows for the first time that the rates of survival local recurrence and tumor metastasis among women whose breast cancer is treated with modified radical mastectomy are not substantially different from those of women who are treated with radical mastectomy

1993 An NCI-convened international workshop on screening for breast cancer reports that screening with mammography reduces breast cancer mortality among women ages 50-69 This conclusion is based on a review of published and unpublished data from eight randomized controlled trials

2004 Data from the Womens Health Initiative (WHI) study show that women who take estrogen in combination with the hormone progestin have a greater risk of developing breast cancer than women who take estrogen alone The results also show that menopausal hormone therapy with estrogen alone has no benefit in disease prevention specifically in reducing the risks of colorectal cancer coronary heart disease and dementia

1976

1981

1993

2004

Although we still have a long way to go to reduce the toll of cancer in the United States and worldwide our research and public health efforts are beginning to pay dividends

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

Volunteering vs Participating13 My girl friend and I are involved in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation The local chapter raises awareness for the cause with a fun-run each year We have volunteered to help with the race five years in a row This year we were stationed at a water table where the runners pick-up cups of water to drink Toward the end of the race there are very few runners There was a little time to chat about things We were talking about what we would wish for if we could have three wishes I told her I would wish for an end to Juvenile Diabetes and to lose 10 pounds Being nice I said ldquoyou can have my last wishrdquo She said I wish you would skip volunteering and just run this race next year

Admission Price Our aquatic center was having a promotion one night and advertised an elementary school night The kids could swim for free When we got to the pool we saw a promotional sign for the event In small lettering it read All swimmers must be accompanied by an adult We thought no big deal one of us can just stay and watch When we got to the front desk we found the lifeguard was enforcing the adult-admission price of $8

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CNFI Publishing - Products Books Chapbooks Bookmarks Plaques and Poetry Collector Cards Merchandising Products Coffee Mugs Mouse Pads Tiles 3x6 Coasters T - Shirts and Wall Plaques More info athttpliveadsFitnessDigestus

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

Featured PhotosFitnessDigestus feature

Chicago open water swim course at nighttop left

Kids race at Bicycle Blues and BBQtop right

Some team members volunteer at the local soup kitchenmiddle right

Ken Mauer loads the balls for hitting practice during a Twins baseball camp for

children 7-13 bottom right

Get your local event photos published in the next issue of FitnessDigestus E-mail

your photo to photoFitnessDigestus

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As he turned to go on he spat speculatively There was a sharp explosive crackle that startled him He spat again And again in the air before it could fall to the snow the spittle crackled He knew that at fifty below spittle crackled on the snow but this spittle had crackled in the air Undoubtedly it was colder than fifty below--how much colder he did not know But the temperature did not matter He was bound for the old claim on the left fork of Henderson Creek where the boys were already They had come over across the divide from the Indian Creek country while he had come the roundabout way to take a look at the possibilities of getting out logs in the spring from the islands in the Yukon He would be in to camp by six oclock a bit after dark it was true but the boys would be there a fire would be going and a hot supper would be ready As for lunch he pressed his hand against the protruding bundle under his jacket It was also under his shirt wrapped up in a handkerchief and lying against the naked skin It was the only way to keep the biscuits from freezing He smiled agreeably to himself as he thought of those biscuits each cut open and sopped in bacon grease and each enclosing a generous slice of fried bacon

He plunged in among the big spruce trees The trail was faint A foot of snow had fallen since the last sled had passed over and he was glad he was without a sled traveling light In fact he carried nothing but the lunch wrapped in the handkerchief He was surprised however at the cold It certainly was cold he concluded as he rubbed his numb nose and cheek-bones with his mittened hand He was a warm-whiskered man but the hair on his face did not protect the high cheek-bones and the eager nose that thrust itself aggressively into the frosty air

At the mans heels trotted a dog a big native husky the proper wolf-dog gray-coated and without any visible or temperamental difference from its brother the wild wolf The animal was depressed by the tremendous cold It knew that it was no time for

traveling Its instinct told it a truer tale than was told to the man by the mans judgment In reality it was not merely colder than fifty below zero it was colder than sixty below than seventy below It was seventy-five below zero Since the freezing point is thirty-two above zero it meant that one hundred and seven degrees of frost obtained The dog did not know anything about thermometers Possibly in its brain there was no sharp consciousness of a condition of very cold such as was in the mans brain But the brute had its instinct It experienced a vague but menacing apprehension that subdued it then made it slink along at the mans heels and that made it question eagerly every unwonted movement of the man as if expecting him to go into camp or to seek shelter somewhere and build a fire The dog had learned fire and it wanted fire or else to burrow under the snow and cuddle its warmth away from the air

The frozen moisture of its breathing had settled on its fur in a fine powder of frost and especially were its jowls muzzle and eyelashes whitened by its cry-stalled breath The mans red beard and mustache were likewise frosted but more solidly the deposit taking the form of ice and increasing with every warm moist breath he exhaled Also the man was chewing tobacco and the muzzle of ice held his lips so rigidly that he was unable to clear his chin when he expelled the juice The result was that a crystal beard of the color and solidity of amber was increasing its length on his chin If he fell down it would shatter itself like glass into brittle fragments But he did not mind the appendage It was the penalty all tobacco-chewers paid in that country and he had been out before in two cold snaps They had not been so cold as this he knew but by the spirit thermometer at Sixty Mile he knew they had been registered at fifty below and at fifty-five

He held on through the level stretch of woods for several miles crossed a wide flat of rigger-heads and dropped down a bank to the frozen bed of a

To Build a FireContinued

small stream This was Henderson Creek and he knew he was ten miles from the forks He looked at his watch It was ten oclock He was making four miles an hour and he calculated that he would arrive at the forks at half-past twelve He decided to celebrate that event by eating his lunch there

The dog dropped in again at his heels with a tail drooping discouragement as the man swung along the creek-bed The furrow of the old sled-trail was plainly visible but a dozen inches of snow covered the marks of the last runners In a month no man had come up or down that silent creek The man held steadily on He was not much given to thinking and just then particularly he had nothing to think about save that he would eat lunch at-the forks and that at six oclock he would be in camp with the boys There was nobody to talk to and had there been speech would have been impossible because of the ice-muzzle on his mouth So he continued monotonously to chew tobacco and to increase the length of his amber beard

Once in a while the thought reiterated itself that it was very cold and that he had never experienced such cold As he walked along he rubbed his cheek-bones and nose with the back of his mittened hand He did this automatically now and again changing hands But rub as he would the instant he stopped his cheek-bones went numb and the following instant the end of his nose went numb He was sure to frost his cheeks he knew that and experienced a pang of regret that he had not devised a nose-strap of the sort Bud wore in cold snaps Such a strap passed across the cheeks as well and saved them But it didnt matter much after all What were frosted cheeks A bit painful that was all they were never serious

Empty as the mans mind was of thoughts he was keenly observant and he noticed the changes in the creek the curves and bends and timber jams and always he sharply noted where he placed his feet Once coming around a bend he shied abruptly

like a startled horse curved away from the place where he had been walking and retreated several paces back along the trail The creek he knew was frozen clear to the bottom--no creek could contain water in that arctic winter--but he knew also that there were springs that bubbled out from the hillsides and ran along under the snow and on top the ice of the creek He knew that the coldest snaps never froze these springs and he knew likewise their danger They were traps They hid pools of water under the snow that might be three inches deep or three feet Sometimes a skin of ice half an inch thick covered them and in turn was covered by the snow Sometimes there were alternate layers of water and ice-skin so that when one broke through he kept on breaking through for a while sometimes wetting himself to the waist

That was why he had shied in such panic He had felt the give under his feet and heard the crackle of a snow-hidden ice-skin And to get his feet wet in such a temperature meant trouble and danger At the very least it meant delay for he would be forced to stop and build a fire and under its protection to bare his feet while he dried his socks and moccasins He stood and studied the creek-bed and its banks and decided that the flow of water came from the right He reflected a while rubbing his nose and cheeks then skirted to the left stepping gingerly and testing the footing for each step Once clear of the danger he took a fresh chew of tobacco and swung along at his four-mile gait

In the course of the next two hours he came upon several similar traps Usually the snow above the hidden pools had a sunken candied appearance that advertised the danger Once again however he had a close call and once suspecting danger he compelled the dog to go on in front The dog did not want to go It hung back until the man shoved it forward and then it went quickly across the white unbroken surface Suddenly it broke through floundered to one side and got away to firmer

To Build a FireContinued

To Build a FireContinued

footing It had wet its forefeet and legs and almost immediately the water that clung to it turned to ice It made quick efforts to lick the ice off its legs then dropped down in the snow and began to bite out the ice that had formed between the toes l his was a matter of instinct To permit the ice to remain would mean sore feet It did not know this It merely obeyed the mysterious prompting that arose from the deep crypts of its being But the man knew having achieved a judgment on the subject and he removed the mitten from his right hand and helped tear out the ice-particles He did not expose his fingers more than a minute and was astonished at the swift numbness that smote them It certainly was cold He pulled on the mitten hastily and beat the hand savagely across his chest

At twelve oclock the day was at its brightest Yet the sun was too far south an its winter journey to clear the horizon The bulge of the earth intervened between it arid Henderson Creek where the man walked under a clear sky at noon and cast no shadow At half-past twelve to the minute he arrived at the forks of the creek He was pleased at the speed he had made If he kept it up he would certainly be with the boys by six He unbuttoned his jacket and shirt and drew forth his lunch The action consumed no more than a quarter of a minute yet in that brief moment the numbness laid hold of the exposed fingers He did not put the mitten on but instead struck the fingers a dozen sharp smashes against his leg Then he sat down on a snow-covered log to eat The sting that followed upon the striking of his fingers against his leg ceased so quickly that he was startled He had had no chance to take a bite of biscuit He struck the fingers repeatedly and returned them to the mitten baring the other hand for the purpose of eating He tried to take a mouthful but the ice-muzzle prevented He had forgotten to build a fire and thaw out He chuckled at his foolishness and as he chuckled he noted the numbness creeping into the exposed fingers Also he noted that the stinging which had first come to his

toes when he sat down was already passing away He wandered whether the toes were warm or numb He moved them inside the moccasins and decided that they were numb

He pulled the mitten on hurriedly and stood up He was a bit frightened He stamped up and down until the stinging returned into the feet It certainly was cold was his thought That man from Sulphur Creek had spoken the truth when telling how cold it sometimes got in the country And he had laughed at him at the time That showed one must not be too sure of things There was no mistake about it it was cold He strode up and down stamping his feet and threshing his arms until reassured by the returning warmth Then he got out matches and proceeded to make a fire From the undergrowth where high water of the previous spring had lodged a supply of seasoned twigs he got his firewood Working carefully from a small beginning he soon had a roaring fire over which he thawed the ice from his face and in the protection of which he ate his biscuits For the moment the cold space was outwitted The dog took satisfaction in the fire stretching out close enough for warmth and far enough away to escape being singed

When the man had finished be filled his pipe and took his comfortable time over a smoke Then he pulled on his mittens settled the ear-flaps of his cap firmly about his ears and took the creek trail up the left fork The dog was disappointed and yearned back toward the fire This man did not know cold Possibly all the generations of his ancestry had been ignorant of cold of real cold of cold one hundred and seven degrees below freezing point But the dog knew all its ancestry knew and it had inherited the knowledge And it knew that it was not good to walk abroad in such fearful cold It was the time to lie snug in a hole in the snow and wait for a curtain of cloud to be drawn across the face of outer space whence this cold came On the other hand there was no keen intimacy between the dog and the man

The one was the toil-slave of the other and the only caresses it had ever received were the caresses of the whiplash and of harsh and menacing throat-sounds that threatened the whiplash So the dog made no effort to communicate its apprehension to the man It was not concerned in the welfare of the man it was for its own sake that it yearned back toward the fire But the man whistled and spoke to it with the sound of whiplashes and the dog swung in at the mans heel and followed after

The man took a chew of tobacco and proceeded to start a new amber beard Also his moist breath quickly powdered with white his mustache eyebrows and lashes There did not seem to be so many springs on the left fork of the Henderson and for half an hour the man saw no signs of any And then it happened At a place where there were no signs where the soft unbroken snow seemed to advertise solidity beneath tee man broke through It was not deep He wet himself halfway to the knees before he floundered out to the firm crust

He was angry and cursed his luck aloud He had hoped to get into camp with the boys at six oclock and this would delay him an hour for he would have to build a fire and dry out his foot-gear This was imperative at that low temperature--he knew that much and he turned aside to the bank which he climbed On top tangled in the underbrush about the trunks of several small spruce trees was a high-water deposit of dry firewood--sticks and twigs principally but also larger portions of seasoned branches and fine dry last-years grasses He threw down several large pieces on top of the snow This served for a foundation and prevented the young flame from drowning itself in the snow it otherwise would melt The flame he got by touching a match to a small shred of birch bark that he took from his pocket This burned even more readily than paper Placing it on the foundation he fed the young flame with wisps of dry grass and with the tiniest dry twigs

He worked slowly and carefully keenly aware of his danger Gradually as the flame grew stronger he increased the size of the twigs with which he fed it He squatted in the snow pulling the twigs out from their entanglement in the brush and feeding directly to the flame He knew there must be no failure When it is seventy-five below zero a man must not fail in his first attempt to build a fire--that is if his feet are wet If his feet are dry and he fails he can run along the trail for half a mile and restore his circulation But the circulation of wet and freezing feet cannot be restored by running when it is seventy-five below No matter how fast he runs the wet feet will freeze the harder

All this the man knew The old-timer on Sulphur Creek had told him about it the previous fall and now he was appreciating the advice Already all sensation had gone out of his feet To build the fire he had been forced to remove his mittens and the fingers had quickly gone numb His pace of four miles an hour had kept his heart pumping blood to the surface of his body and to all the extremities But the instant he stopped the action of the pump eased down The cold of space smote the unprotected tip of the planet and he being on that unprotected tip received the full force of the blow The blood of his body recoiled before it The blood was alive like the dog and like the dog it wanted to hide away and cover itself up from the fearful cold So long as he walked four miles an hour he pumped that blood willy-nilly to the surface but now it ebbed away and sank down into the recesses of his body The extremities were the first to feel its absence His wet feet froze the faster and his exposed fingers numbed the faster though they had not yet begun to freeze Nose and cheeks were already freezing while the skin of all his body chilled as it lost its blood

But he was safe Toes and nose and cheeks would be only touched by the frost for the fire was beginning to burn with strength He was feeding it

To Build a FireContinued

with twigs the size of his finger In another minute he would be able to feed it with branches the size of his wrier and then he could remove his wet toot-gear and while it dried he could keep his naked feet warm by the fire rubbing them at first of course with snow The fire was a success He was safe He remembered the advice of the old timer on Sulphur Creek and smiled The old-timer had been very serious in laying down the law that no man must travel alone in the Klondike after fifty below Well here he was he had had the accident he was alone and he had saved himself Those old-timers were rather womanish some of them he thought All a man had to do was to keep his head and he was all right Any man who was a man could travel alone But it was surprising the rapidity with which his cheeks and nose were freezing And he had not thought his fingers could go lifeless in so short a time Lifeless they were for he could scarcely make them move together to grip a twig and they seemed remote from his body and from him When he touched a twig he had to look and see whether or not he had hold of it The wires were pretty well down between him and his finger-ends

All of which counted for little There was the fire snapping and crackling and promising life with every dancing flame He started to untie his moccasins They were coated with ice the thick German socks were like sheaths of iron halfway to the knees and the moccasin strings were like rods of steel all twisted and knotted as by some conflagration For a moment he tugged with his numb fingers then realizing the folly of it he drew his sheath-knife

But before he could cut the strings it happened It was his own fault or rather his mistake He should not have built the fire under the spruce tree He should have built it in the open But it had been easier to pull the twigs from the brush and drop them directly on the fire Now the tree under which

he had done this carried a weight of snow on its boughs No wind had blown for weeks and each bough was fully freighted Each time he had pulled a twig he had communicated a slight agitation to the tree--an imperceptible agitation so far as he was concerned but an agitation sufficient to bring about the disaster High up in the tree one bough capsized its load of snow This fell on the boughs beneath capsizing them This process continued spreading out and involving the whole tree It grew like an avalanche and it descended without warning upon the man and the fire and the fire was blotted out Where it had burned was a mantle of fresh and disordered snow

The man was shocked It was as though he had just heard his own sentence of death For a moment he sat and stared at the spot where the fire had been Then he grew very calm Perhaps the old-timer on Sulphur Creek was right If he had only had a trail-mate he would have been in no danger now The trail-mate could have built the fire Well it was up to him to build the fire over again and this second time there must be no failure Even if he succeeded he would most likely lose some toes His feet must be badly frozen by now and there would be some time before the second fire Was ready

Such were his thoughts but he did not sit and think them He was busy all the time they were passing through his mind He made a new foundation for a fire this time in the open where no treacherous tree could blot it out Next he gathered dry grasses and tiny twigs from the high-water flotsam He could not bring his fingers together to pull them out but he was able to gather them by the handful In this way he got many rotten twigs and bits of green moss that were undesirable but it was the best he could do He worked methodically even collecting an armful of the larger branches to be used later when the fire gathered strength And all the while the dog sat and watched him a certain yearning wistfulness in its eyes for it looked upon

To Build a FireContinued

him as the fire-provider and the fire was slow in coming

When all was ready the man reached in his pocket for a second piece of birch bark He knew the bark was there and though he could not feel it with his fingers he could hear its crisp rustling as he fumbled for it Try as he would he could not clutch hold of it And all the time in his consciousness was the knowledge that each instant his feet were freezing This thought tended to put him in a panic but he fought against it and kept calm He pulled on his mittens with his teeth and threshed his arms back and forth beating his hands with all his might against his sides He did this sitting down and he stood up to do it and all the while the dog sat in the snow its wolf-brush of a tail curled around warmly over its forefeet its sharp wolf-ears pricked forward intently as it watched the man And the man as he beat and threshed with his arms and hands felt a great surge of envy as he regarded the creature that was warm ant secure in its natural covering

After a time he was aware of the first far-away signals of sensation in his beaten fingers The faint tingling grew stronger till it evolved into a stinging ache that was excruciating but which the man hailed with satisfaction He stripped the mitten from his right hand and fetched forth the birch bark The exposed fingers were quickly going numb again Next he brought out his bunch of sulphur matches But the tremendous cold had already driven the life out of his fingers In his effort to separate one match from the others the whole bunch fell in the snow He tried to pick it out of the snow but failed The dead fingers could neither touch nor clutch He was very careful He drove the thought of his freezing feet and nose and cheeks out of his mind devoting his whole soul to the matches He watched using the sense of vision in place of that of touch and when he saw his fingers on each side the bunch he dosed them--that is he willed to close them for the wires were down and the fingers did not obey He pulled

the mitten on the right hand and beat it fiercely against his knee Then with both mittened hands he scooped the bunch of matches along with much snow into his lap Yet he was no better off

After some manipulation he managed to get the bunch between the heels of his mittened hands In this fashion he carried it to his mouth The ice crackled and snapped when by a violent effort he opened his mouth He drew the lower jaw in curled the upper lip out of the way and scraped the bunch with his upper teeth in order to separate a match He succeeded in getting one which he dropped on his lap He was no better off He could not pick it up Then he devised a way He picked it up in his teeth and scratched it on his leg Twenty times he scratched before he succeeded in lighting it As it flamed he held it with his teeth to the birch bark But the burning brimstone went up his nostrils and into his lungs causing him to cough spasmodically The match fell into the snow and went out

The old-timer an Sulphur Creek was right he thought in the moment of controlled despair that ensued after fifty below a man should travel with a partner He beat his hands but failed in exciting any sensation Suddenly he bared both hands removing the mittens with his teeth He caught the whole bunch between the heels of his hands His arm muscles not being frozen enabled him to press the hand-heels tightly against the matches Then he scratched the bunch along his leg It flared into flame seventy sulphur matches at once There was no wind to blow them out He kept his head to one side to escape the strangling fumes and held the blazing bunch to the birth bark As he so held it he became aware of sensation in his hand His flesh was burning He could smell it Deep down below the surface he could feel it The sensation developed into pain that grew acute And still he endured it holding the flame of the matches clumsily to the bark that would not light readily because his own burning hands were in the way absorbing most of the flame

To Build a FireContinued

At last when he could endure no more he jerked his hands apart The blazing matches fell sizzling into the snow but the birch bark was alight He began laying dry grasses and the tiniest twigs on the flame He could not pick and choose for he had to lift the fuel between the heels of his hands Small pieces of rotten wood and green moss clung to the twigs and he bit them off as well as he could with his teeth He cherished the flame carefully and awkwardly It meant life and it must not perish The withdrawal of blood from the surface of his body now made him begin to shiver and he grew more awkward A large piece of green moss fell squarely on the little fire He tried to poke it out with his fingers but his shivering frame made him poke too far and he disrupted the nucleus of the little fire the burning grasses and tiny twigs separating and scattering He tried to poke them together again but in spite of the tenseness of the effort his shivering got away with him and the twigs were hopelessly scattered Each twig gushed a puff of smoke and went out The fire-provider had failed As he looked apathetically about him his eyes chanced on the dog sitting across the ruins of the fire from him in the snow making restless hunching movements slightly lifting one forefoot and then the other shifting its weight back and forth on them with wistful eagerness

The sight of the dog put a wild idea into his head He remembered the tale of the man caught in a blizzard who killed a steer and crawled inside the carcass and so was saved He would kill the dog and bury his hands in the warm body until the numbness went out of them Then he could build another fire He spoke to the dog calling it to him but in his voice was a strange note of fear that frightened the animal who had never known the man to speak in such way before Something was the matter and its suspicious nature sensed danger--it knew not what danger but somewhere somehow in its brain arose an apprehension of the man It flattened its ears down at the sound of the mans voice and its restless

hunching movements and the liftings and shiftings of its forefeet became more pronounced but it would not come to the man He got on his hands and knees and crawled toward the dog This unusual posture again excited suspicion and the animal sidled mincingly away

The man sat up in the snow for a moment and struggled for calmness Then he pulled on his mittens by means of his teeth and got upon his feet He glanced down at first in order to assure himself that he was really standing up for the absence of sensation in his feet left him unrelated to the earth His erect position in itself started to drive the webs of suspicion from the dogs mind and when he spoke peremptorily with the sound of whiplashes in his voice the dog rendered its customary allegiance and came to him As it came within reaching distance the man lost his control His arms flashed out to the dog and he experienced genuine surprise when he discovered that his hands could not clutch that there was neither bend nor feeling in the fingers He had forgotten for the moment that they were frozen and that they were freezing more and more All this happened quickly and before the animal could get away he encircled its body with his arms He sat down in the snow and in this fashion held the dog while it snarled and whined and struggled

But it was all he could do hold its body encircled in his arms and sit there He realized that he could not kill the dog There was no way to do it With his helpless hands he could neither draw nor hold his sheath knife nor throttle the animal He released it and it plunged wildly away with tail between its legs and still snarling It halted forty feet away and surveyed him curiously with ears sharply pricked forward The man looked down at his hands in order to locate them and found them hanging on the ends of his arms It struck him as curious that one should have to use his eyes in order to find out where his hands were He began threshing his arms back and forth beating the mittened hands against

To Build a FireContinued

his sides He did this for five minutes violently and his heart pumped enough blood up to the surface to put a stop to his shivering But no sensation was aroused in the hands He had an impression that they hung like weights on the ends of his arms but when he tried to run the impression down he could not find it

A certain fear of death dull and oppressive came to him This fear quickly became poignant as he realized that it was no longer a mere matter of freezing his fingers and toes or of losing his hands and feet but that it was a matter of life and death with the chances against him This threw him into a panic and he turned and ran up the creek-bed along the old dim trail The dog joined in behind and kept up with him He ran blindly without intention in fear such as he had never known in his life Slowly as he plowed and floundered through the snow he began to see things again the banks of the creek the old timber-jams the leafless aspens and the sky The running made him feel better He did not shiver Maybe if he ran on his feet would thaw out and anyway if he ran far enough he would reach camp and the boys Without doubt he would lose some fingers and toes and some of his face but the boys would take care of him and save the rest of him when he got there And at the same time there was another thought in his mind that said he would never get to the camp and the boys that it was too many miles away that the freezing had too great a start on him and that he would soon be stiff and dead This thought he kept in the background and refused to consider Sometimes it pushed itself forward and demanded to be heard but he thrust it back and strove to think of other things

It struck him as curious that he could run at all on feet so frozen that he could not feel them when they struck the earth and took the weigh of his body He seemed to himself to skim along above the surface and to have no connection with the earth Somewhere he had once seen a winged Mercury

and he wondered if Mercury felt as he felt when skimming over the earth

His theory of running until he reached camp and the boys had one flaw in it he lacked the endurance Several times he stumbled and finally he tottered crumpled up and fell When he tried to rise he failed He must sit and rest he decided and next time he would merely walk and keep on going As he sat and regained his breath he noted that he was feeling quite warm and comfortable He was not shivering and it even seemed that a warm glow had come to his chest and trunk And yet when he touched his nose or cheeks there was no sensation Running would not thaw them out Nor would it thaw out his hands and feet Then the thought came to him that the frozen portions of his body must be extending He tried to keep this thought down to forget it to think of something else he was aware of the panicky feeling that it caused and he was afraid of the panic But the thought asserted itself and persisted until it produced a vision of his body totally frozen This was too much and he made another wild run along the trail Once he slowed down to a walk but the thought of the freezing extending itself made him run again

And all the time the dog ran with him at his heels When he fell down a second time it curled its tad over its forefeet and sat in front of him facing him curiously eager and intent The warmth and security of the animal angered him and he cursed it till it flattened down its ears appealingly This time the shivering came more quickly upon the man He was losing in his battle with the frost It was creeping into his body from all sides The thought of it drove him on but he ran no more than a hundred feet when he staggered and pitched headlong It was his last panic When he had recovered his breath and control he sat up and entertained in his mind the conception of meeting death with dignity However the conception did not come to him in such terms His idea of it was that he had been making a fool of

To Build a FireContinued

himself running around like a chicken with its head cut off--such was the simile that occurred to him Well he was bound to freeze anyway and he might as well take it decently With this new-found peace of mind came the first glimmerings of drowsiness A good idea he thought to sleep off to death It was like salting an anesthetic Freezing was not so bad as people thought There were lots worse ways to die

He pictured the boys finding his body next day Suddenly he found himself with them coming along the trail and looking for himself And still with them he came around a turn in the trail and found himself lying in the snow He did not belong with himself any more for even then he was out of himself standing with the boys and looking at himself in the snow It certainly was cold was his thought When he got back to the States he could tell the folks what real cold was He drifted on from this to a vision of the old-timer on Sulphur Creek He could see him quite clearly warm and comfortable and smoking a pipe

You were right old boss you were right the man mumbled to the old-timer of Sulphur Creek

Then the man drowsed off into what seemed to him the most comfortable and satisfying sleep he had ever known The dog sat facing him and waiting The brief day drew to a close in a long slow twilight There were no signs of a fire to be made and besides never in the dogs experience had it known a man to sit like that in the snow and make no fire As the twilight drew on its eager yearning for the fire mastered it and with a great lifting and shifting of forefeet it whined softly then flattened its ears down in anticipation of being chidden by the man But the man remained silent Later the dog whined loudly And still later it crept close to the man and caught the scent of death This made the animal bristle and back away A little longer it delayed howling under the stars that leaped and danced and shone brightly in the cold sky Then it turned and trotted up the trail in the direction of the camp it knew where were the other food-providers and fire-providers

To Build a FireContinued

Blogs can be a lot of work to maintainTwitter only gives you 140 characters

Facebook is just your friends

Now you can share a story no matter your social-web status

Stories are published for ALL FitnessDigestus readers Archived professionally and digitally in thousands of libraries

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Page 44: FitnessDigest.us Vol. 4.3 Cover

Ride of Silence

ldquoCost-effective investments in bicycling boost our economy help individuals and government agencies save money and directly address key societal challenges such as obesity and road congestion In these tough economic times our federal government can only afford to invest in solutions that solve multiple problems Bicycling fits the billrdquo ndash PeopleForBikesorg

This photo collection was taken byRobert LaVallee of Mason City IA

To see his entire collection visithttpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

Non-subscriberSign-up for delivery of

the FREE edition at coopnetbiz

It provides an outstanding aerobic workout in less than half the time we would spend in still water It has allowed us as swim coaches to observe swimmers stroke characteristics up close and to see the effects of fatigue on stroke mechanics ~ Larry L Chazy NY

Swimming is an excellent exercise and now I can swim every day because its so convenient and private I can swim when I want and how long I want Im able to have it at a temperature that is comfortable to me The small size of an Endless Pool enabled me to install a pool where I could not install a regular size one

As an aging baby boomer nutrition professional I have yearned for consistent exercise that doesnt stress joints and will enable me to attain physical fitness cardiovascular health and weight control I can eat what I want and still firm up and lose weight ~ John C Columbus OH

Endless Pools make for long swims in small places The 8x15 Endless Pool is less than regulation size but offers the same benefits as a very large pool ~ Noah H Connecticut Post

The Endless Pool is a great strength builder I am amazed at the strength of the current I now swim against I did not buy it for that reason but because of my arthritis so the strength gain is a wonderful surprise

Endless PoolsTestimonials For more information visit httpLIveAdsFitnessDigestus

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Baseball Walking Stick13 My sons friend grabbed his baseball bat and said to me this is my walking stick I politely ask him why he calls it that He replied because my dad says if I hit a home run with it I donrsquot have to run the bases ndash I can walk

My Bike My mountain bike was stolen a while back and my kids were really upset Ive been riding my road bike in its place Since then Ive been careful to lock my bike up when we go to the park

13 On this occasion I did not lock-up my sonrsquos bike up with mine He looked at me quizzically and said sternly lock my bike up too I tried to explain that his bike was not as expensive and therefor didnt need to be locked up Boy that was a mistake He made me feel a little dumb when he said Dad I dont care how expensive it is Its the only bike Irsquove got

North Iowa Roads

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A LEADER inSearch Engine Optimization

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Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

parent sports tipBy FitnessDigestus staff writer JGA

PAR

EN

T

TIP

Keeping Kids Focused13 Organize their thoughts Help them prioritize and make decisions based on value Even kids can understand the value of simple non-monetized choices Questions like ldquoShould I finish playing my gameboy game or pause it when they call my swimming eventrdquo

If kids are taught to make good decisions and not just find quick answers everyone wins

AugustGolf Month5th Friendship Day15th Relaxation Day25th Kiss and Make Up Day31st Trail Mix DaySeptemberLittle League Month12th Chocolate Milk Shake Day13th Positive Thinking Day16th Womenrsquos Friendship Day21st Miniature Golf DayOctoberBreast Cancer Awareness MonthNational Diabetes Month1st World Vegetarian Day4th Golf Day25th World Pasta Day

National Calendar

Au

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Oc

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Encourage friendships writing skills sharing thoughts and

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Stay in touch with your swimming or triathlon buddies

It is better to be safe then to try to beat the heat There are many options to stay cool and run during a hot-summer day Staying inside and running on the treadmill is a good one Remember staying safe is a top priority

Most workouts can be modified to work indoors This issuersquos workout is to do your usual run or interval set just stay inside and run it on the treadmill Visualize the different landmarks to see during your outdoor run

Coach Millerrsquos Quarterly ChallengeStay safe in the heatBy Mark Miller mmillerFitnessDigestus

A few years back we had a hot-spell similar to this yearrsquos record heat

I remember training for a long run and having to stop at the local swimming hole to cool off I literally took off my

shoes and jumped in with my running clothes on I was so hot

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In kilometers The shortest open water race included in the Fina World Championships

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The minimum open water distance in kilometers that is considered a swimming-

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Open water safety means swimming in shallow water where there is a lifeguard or using an escort

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Googles

13 Swimming fans can really appreciate a 200 IM when their goggles fill with water How about an Olympian Swimming a leg of the 400 Free Relay with his goggles across his opened mouth ndash and going 45rsquos A great team swimmer an Olympian wouldnrsquot let down his teammates by throwing them off or fixing them

500 Fly13 A world class butterflyer asked if he could swim butterfly in the 500 yard freestyle during a dual meet His goal was to break five minutes After considering the competition it seemed like a great way to make him really work a hard fly swim so we agreed Problem was he swam a 502 and the opposing coach complained to the officials because he embarrassed his swimmers Oh well you canrsquot win lsquoem all

Stories sent in by Robert Steele

No-No-No13 The other morning I was teaching front-streamlines to snotty nosed 8 year olds (some are literally snotty-nosed) One boy was taking a big gulp of air and holding his breath When he lifted his head he had to exhale and inhale before submerging again Swimmers will understand this does not work very well Kids need to learn to exhale underwater The first time he did it I told him to exhale underwater The second time I stopped him looked him in the eye and reminded him to exhale underwater The third and fourth times I started to get a little frustrated ldquoJohnny you need to exhale underwater so you can breath betterrdquo The fifth time as his head popped up for a breath I quickly asked ldquoJohnny Do you even know what exhale meansrdquo as he submerged his head below the water I could see him shake his head no-no-no

Favorite Potato Chips13We try to limit the junk food the kids eat at our house For lunch one day our son wanted some potato chips I gave him 3 large chips with his sandwich He started to cry and said he wanted one more chip ldquoI wanted four chipsrdquo he screamed I took the plate back When he wasnt looking I broke a chip in half and give it back to him with four chips

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

13 My cancer story is one of uniqueness Leave it to me to do something like cancer to its fullest It did not begin with a mammogram diagnosis or a lump My journey began about 4 years ago with some suspicious activity that turned into Pagetrsquos disease of the nipple which signaled the underlying cancer On April 1st I found out about my breast cancer through a biopsy that came back as positive for Pagetrsquos disease The onslaught of tests learning and decisions were dizzying I immediately went for an evaluation of the suspicious tissue and had to begin making decisions for my mastectomy I quickly learned there is a test called the BRAC Analysis which is a genetic test for breast and ovarian cancer Finally a piece of good news for me I did not have the gene

Decisions Now it was time to make decisions about my mastectomy and how I was going to handle reconstruction I discussed my options with my boyfriend Brian friends family members and even my principalboss I read books searched the Internet and contacted people I

Brandi ShipmanCancer Survivor and elite triathlete

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

know and knew from my past that had been directly affected and that I thought might have answers for me The outpouring of love encouragement and help during this process was overwhelming After meeting with four different doctors two surgeons and two plastic surgeons I decided to go with immediate reconstruction and was lucky enough to find two wonderful doctors They were willing to work together just because I wanted them to even though they had never done so before My surgery was scheduled for mid May

Mental Toughness13 My mental preparation at this point was very important I had to scrap any idea of competing in triathlons for the rest of the year and focus on a positive attitude of getting better I stopped thinking about what I wasnrsquot going to able to do and started thinking about what I could do that I was alive and kept my mind on the fact that so many others had made it before me

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links

Part 213 I was prepared by the doctors survivors and literature to be ldquodownrdquo for several weeks after my surgery I even took the rest of the school year off My surgery went well and I was out of the hospital the next day A few friends came to visit while I was in the hospital and my principal and vice principal brought the most wonderful picture of the faculty wearing pink for me I can only imagine what it looked like at Thornton Elementary on that day in May 2009 a sea of pink all for Brandi Shipman Shortly after their visit I received a text from my friend Margie Massey My friends from the gym wore pink for me that day as well The support brought tears to my eyes I was so excited to come home and be comfortable in my own home I just wish the stupid drain that was attached could have stayed at the hospital The pain from that was worse than the pain from the mastectomy

the most

powerful picture

13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Recovery ndash May13 Once I got home I slept and watched a lot of TV Friends visited and brought yummy food and my favorites I am not supposed to eat I ate them all My friend and co-worker set up a cancer care calendar that alerted anyone who logged on when I was having a doctorrsquos appointment or when I was in need of anything I felt like royalty as everyone took care of me I think Brian secretly enjoyed the fact that he wouldnrsquot have to cook for me each night My recovery was quicker than I thought as I was doing my best to get better and get the stinkinrsquo drain out of my skin I was out walking within a week and running within 3 weeks I couldnrsquot believe my recovery I know it was from all the prayers love and good care from Brian and the loved ones around me Life was looking better each day

ldquoLife was looking

better each dayrdquo

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Part three and part

four of I am Survivor

will be published in

the next edition of

FitnessDigestus

Get the convenience of

digital-delivery

Sign-up or subscribe at

httpFitnessDigestus

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During the past 150 years we have witnessed many remarkable advances against cancer a disease known to humanity for thousands of years The advances highlighted below represent a sampling of what has been accomplished to date

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

1882 William Halsted performs the first radical mastectomy to treat breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast the lymph nodes under the arm (axillary lymph nodes) and the chest muscles behind the breast (pectoralis major and pectoralis minor muscles) are removed Radical mastectomy will remain the standard operation for breast cancer until latter half of the 20th century when the use of modified radical mastectomy becomes widely accepted

1932 David H Patey develops the modified radical mastectomy for breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast axillary lymph nodes and pectoralis minor muscle behind the breast are removed The modified radical mastectomy is less disfiguring than the radical mastectomy and will eventually replace the radical mastectomy as a standard treatment option for breast cancer

1953 James Watson and Francis Crick discover the molecular structure of DNA (the double helix)

1963 The Health Insurance Plan (HIP) of Greater New York Study begins HIP is the first randomized controlled trial of periodic breast cancer screening with mammography

1882

1932

1953

1963

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1976 The results of a randomized clinical trial show that women with early breast cancer who receive post-operative (adjuvant) combination chemotherapy with the drugs cyclophosphamide methotrexate and 5-FU have improved disease-free survival

1981 A randomized clinical trial in the United Kingdom shows for the first time that the rates of survival local recurrence and tumor metastasis among women whose breast cancer is treated with modified radical mastectomy are not substantially different from those of women who are treated with radical mastectomy

1993 An NCI-convened international workshop on screening for breast cancer reports that screening with mammography reduces breast cancer mortality among women ages 50-69 This conclusion is based on a review of published and unpublished data from eight randomized controlled trials

2004 Data from the Womens Health Initiative (WHI) study show that women who take estrogen in combination with the hormone progestin have a greater risk of developing breast cancer than women who take estrogen alone The results also show that menopausal hormone therapy with estrogen alone has no benefit in disease prevention specifically in reducing the risks of colorectal cancer coronary heart disease and dementia

1976

1981

1993

2004

Although we still have a long way to go to reduce the toll of cancer in the United States and worldwide our research and public health efforts are beginning to pay dividends

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

Volunteering vs Participating13 My girl friend and I are involved in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation The local chapter raises awareness for the cause with a fun-run each year We have volunteered to help with the race five years in a row This year we were stationed at a water table where the runners pick-up cups of water to drink Toward the end of the race there are very few runners There was a little time to chat about things We were talking about what we would wish for if we could have three wishes I told her I would wish for an end to Juvenile Diabetes and to lose 10 pounds Being nice I said ldquoyou can have my last wishrdquo She said I wish you would skip volunteering and just run this race next year

Admission Price Our aquatic center was having a promotion one night and advertised an elementary school night The kids could swim for free When we got to the pool we saw a promotional sign for the event In small lettering it read All swimmers must be accompanied by an adult We thought no big deal one of us can just stay and watch When we got to the front desk we found the lifeguard was enforcing the adult-admission price of $8

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CNFI Publishing - Products Books Chapbooks Bookmarks Plaques and Poetry Collector Cards Merchandising Products Coffee Mugs Mouse Pads Tiles 3x6 Coasters T - Shirts and Wall Plaques More info athttpliveadsFitnessDigestus

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

Featured PhotosFitnessDigestus feature

Chicago open water swim course at nighttop left

Kids race at Bicycle Blues and BBQtop right

Some team members volunteer at the local soup kitchenmiddle right

Ken Mauer loads the balls for hitting practice during a Twins baseball camp for

children 7-13 bottom right

Get your local event photos published in the next issue of FitnessDigestus E-mail

your photo to photoFitnessDigestus

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As he turned to go on he spat speculatively There was a sharp explosive crackle that startled him He spat again And again in the air before it could fall to the snow the spittle crackled He knew that at fifty below spittle crackled on the snow but this spittle had crackled in the air Undoubtedly it was colder than fifty below--how much colder he did not know But the temperature did not matter He was bound for the old claim on the left fork of Henderson Creek where the boys were already They had come over across the divide from the Indian Creek country while he had come the roundabout way to take a look at the possibilities of getting out logs in the spring from the islands in the Yukon He would be in to camp by six oclock a bit after dark it was true but the boys would be there a fire would be going and a hot supper would be ready As for lunch he pressed his hand against the protruding bundle under his jacket It was also under his shirt wrapped up in a handkerchief and lying against the naked skin It was the only way to keep the biscuits from freezing He smiled agreeably to himself as he thought of those biscuits each cut open and sopped in bacon grease and each enclosing a generous slice of fried bacon

He plunged in among the big spruce trees The trail was faint A foot of snow had fallen since the last sled had passed over and he was glad he was without a sled traveling light In fact he carried nothing but the lunch wrapped in the handkerchief He was surprised however at the cold It certainly was cold he concluded as he rubbed his numb nose and cheek-bones with his mittened hand He was a warm-whiskered man but the hair on his face did not protect the high cheek-bones and the eager nose that thrust itself aggressively into the frosty air

At the mans heels trotted a dog a big native husky the proper wolf-dog gray-coated and without any visible or temperamental difference from its brother the wild wolf The animal was depressed by the tremendous cold It knew that it was no time for

traveling Its instinct told it a truer tale than was told to the man by the mans judgment In reality it was not merely colder than fifty below zero it was colder than sixty below than seventy below It was seventy-five below zero Since the freezing point is thirty-two above zero it meant that one hundred and seven degrees of frost obtained The dog did not know anything about thermometers Possibly in its brain there was no sharp consciousness of a condition of very cold such as was in the mans brain But the brute had its instinct It experienced a vague but menacing apprehension that subdued it then made it slink along at the mans heels and that made it question eagerly every unwonted movement of the man as if expecting him to go into camp or to seek shelter somewhere and build a fire The dog had learned fire and it wanted fire or else to burrow under the snow and cuddle its warmth away from the air

The frozen moisture of its breathing had settled on its fur in a fine powder of frost and especially were its jowls muzzle and eyelashes whitened by its cry-stalled breath The mans red beard and mustache were likewise frosted but more solidly the deposit taking the form of ice and increasing with every warm moist breath he exhaled Also the man was chewing tobacco and the muzzle of ice held his lips so rigidly that he was unable to clear his chin when he expelled the juice The result was that a crystal beard of the color and solidity of amber was increasing its length on his chin If he fell down it would shatter itself like glass into brittle fragments But he did not mind the appendage It was the penalty all tobacco-chewers paid in that country and he had been out before in two cold snaps They had not been so cold as this he knew but by the spirit thermometer at Sixty Mile he knew they had been registered at fifty below and at fifty-five

He held on through the level stretch of woods for several miles crossed a wide flat of rigger-heads and dropped down a bank to the frozen bed of a

To Build a FireContinued

small stream This was Henderson Creek and he knew he was ten miles from the forks He looked at his watch It was ten oclock He was making four miles an hour and he calculated that he would arrive at the forks at half-past twelve He decided to celebrate that event by eating his lunch there

The dog dropped in again at his heels with a tail drooping discouragement as the man swung along the creek-bed The furrow of the old sled-trail was plainly visible but a dozen inches of snow covered the marks of the last runners In a month no man had come up or down that silent creek The man held steadily on He was not much given to thinking and just then particularly he had nothing to think about save that he would eat lunch at-the forks and that at six oclock he would be in camp with the boys There was nobody to talk to and had there been speech would have been impossible because of the ice-muzzle on his mouth So he continued monotonously to chew tobacco and to increase the length of his amber beard

Once in a while the thought reiterated itself that it was very cold and that he had never experienced such cold As he walked along he rubbed his cheek-bones and nose with the back of his mittened hand He did this automatically now and again changing hands But rub as he would the instant he stopped his cheek-bones went numb and the following instant the end of his nose went numb He was sure to frost his cheeks he knew that and experienced a pang of regret that he had not devised a nose-strap of the sort Bud wore in cold snaps Such a strap passed across the cheeks as well and saved them But it didnt matter much after all What were frosted cheeks A bit painful that was all they were never serious

Empty as the mans mind was of thoughts he was keenly observant and he noticed the changes in the creek the curves and bends and timber jams and always he sharply noted where he placed his feet Once coming around a bend he shied abruptly

like a startled horse curved away from the place where he had been walking and retreated several paces back along the trail The creek he knew was frozen clear to the bottom--no creek could contain water in that arctic winter--but he knew also that there were springs that bubbled out from the hillsides and ran along under the snow and on top the ice of the creek He knew that the coldest snaps never froze these springs and he knew likewise their danger They were traps They hid pools of water under the snow that might be three inches deep or three feet Sometimes a skin of ice half an inch thick covered them and in turn was covered by the snow Sometimes there were alternate layers of water and ice-skin so that when one broke through he kept on breaking through for a while sometimes wetting himself to the waist

That was why he had shied in such panic He had felt the give under his feet and heard the crackle of a snow-hidden ice-skin And to get his feet wet in such a temperature meant trouble and danger At the very least it meant delay for he would be forced to stop and build a fire and under its protection to bare his feet while he dried his socks and moccasins He stood and studied the creek-bed and its banks and decided that the flow of water came from the right He reflected a while rubbing his nose and cheeks then skirted to the left stepping gingerly and testing the footing for each step Once clear of the danger he took a fresh chew of tobacco and swung along at his four-mile gait

In the course of the next two hours he came upon several similar traps Usually the snow above the hidden pools had a sunken candied appearance that advertised the danger Once again however he had a close call and once suspecting danger he compelled the dog to go on in front The dog did not want to go It hung back until the man shoved it forward and then it went quickly across the white unbroken surface Suddenly it broke through floundered to one side and got away to firmer

To Build a FireContinued

To Build a FireContinued

footing It had wet its forefeet and legs and almost immediately the water that clung to it turned to ice It made quick efforts to lick the ice off its legs then dropped down in the snow and began to bite out the ice that had formed between the toes l his was a matter of instinct To permit the ice to remain would mean sore feet It did not know this It merely obeyed the mysterious prompting that arose from the deep crypts of its being But the man knew having achieved a judgment on the subject and he removed the mitten from his right hand and helped tear out the ice-particles He did not expose his fingers more than a minute and was astonished at the swift numbness that smote them It certainly was cold He pulled on the mitten hastily and beat the hand savagely across his chest

At twelve oclock the day was at its brightest Yet the sun was too far south an its winter journey to clear the horizon The bulge of the earth intervened between it arid Henderson Creek where the man walked under a clear sky at noon and cast no shadow At half-past twelve to the minute he arrived at the forks of the creek He was pleased at the speed he had made If he kept it up he would certainly be with the boys by six He unbuttoned his jacket and shirt and drew forth his lunch The action consumed no more than a quarter of a minute yet in that brief moment the numbness laid hold of the exposed fingers He did not put the mitten on but instead struck the fingers a dozen sharp smashes against his leg Then he sat down on a snow-covered log to eat The sting that followed upon the striking of his fingers against his leg ceased so quickly that he was startled He had had no chance to take a bite of biscuit He struck the fingers repeatedly and returned them to the mitten baring the other hand for the purpose of eating He tried to take a mouthful but the ice-muzzle prevented He had forgotten to build a fire and thaw out He chuckled at his foolishness and as he chuckled he noted the numbness creeping into the exposed fingers Also he noted that the stinging which had first come to his

toes when he sat down was already passing away He wandered whether the toes were warm or numb He moved them inside the moccasins and decided that they were numb

He pulled the mitten on hurriedly and stood up He was a bit frightened He stamped up and down until the stinging returned into the feet It certainly was cold was his thought That man from Sulphur Creek had spoken the truth when telling how cold it sometimes got in the country And he had laughed at him at the time That showed one must not be too sure of things There was no mistake about it it was cold He strode up and down stamping his feet and threshing his arms until reassured by the returning warmth Then he got out matches and proceeded to make a fire From the undergrowth where high water of the previous spring had lodged a supply of seasoned twigs he got his firewood Working carefully from a small beginning he soon had a roaring fire over which he thawed the ice from his face and in the protection of which he ate his biscuits For the moment the cold space was outwitted The dog took satisfaction in the fire stretching out close enough for warmth and far enough away to escape being singed

When the man had finished be filled his pipe and took his comfortable time over a smoke Then he pulled on his mittens settled the ear-flaps of his cap firmly about his ears and took the creek trail up the left fork The dog was disappointed and yearned back toward the fire This man did not know cold Possibly all the generations of his ancestry had been ignorant of cold of real cold of cold one hundred and seven degrees below freezing point But the dog knew all its ancestry knew and it had inherited the knowledge And it knew that it was not good to walk abroad in such fearful cold It was the time to lie snug in a hole in the snow and wait for a curtain of cloud to be drawn across the face of outer space whence this cold came On the other hand there was no keen intimacy between the dog and the man

The one was the toil-slave of the other and the only caresses it had ever received were the caresses of the whiplash and of harsh and menacing throat-sounds that threatened the whiplash So the dog made no effort to communicate its apprehension to the man It was not concerned in the welfare of the man it was for its own sake that it yearned back toward the fire But the man whistled and spoke to it with the sound of whiplashes and the dog swung in at the mans heel and followed after

The man took a chew of tobacco and proceeded to start a new amber beard Also his moist breath quickly powdered with white his mustache eyebrows and lashes There did not seem to be so many springs on the left fork of the Henderson and for half an hour the man saw no signs of any And then it happened At a place where there were no signs where the soft unbroken snow seemed to advertise solidity beneath tee man broke through It was not deep He wet himself halfway to the knees before he floundered out to the firm crust

He was angry and cursed his luck aloud He had hoped to get into camp with the boys at six oclock and this would delay him an hour for he would have to build a fire and dry out his foot-gear This was imperative at that low temperature--he knew that much and he turned aside to the bank which he climbed On top tangled in the underbrush about the trunks of several small spruce trees was a high-water deposit of dry firewood--sticks and twigs principally but also larger portions of seasoned branches and fine dry last-years grasses He threw down several large pieces on top of the snow This served for a foundation and prevented the young flame from drowning itself in the snow it otherwise would melt The flame he got by touching a match to a small shred of birch bark that he took from his pocket This burned even more readily than paper Placing it on the foundation he fed the young flame with wisps of dry grass and with the tiniest dry twigs

He worked slowly and carefully keenly aware of his danger Gradually as the flame grew stronger he increased the size of the twigs with which he fed it He squatted in the snow pulling the twigs out from their entanglement in the brush and feeding directly to the flame He knew there must be no failure When it is seventy-five below zero a man must not fail in his first attempt to build a fire--that is if his feet are wet If his feet are dry and he fails he can run along the trail for half a mile and restore his circulation But the circulation of wet and freezing feet cannot be restored by running when it is seventy-five below No matter how fast he runs the wet feet will freeze the harder

All this the man knew The old-timer on Sulphur Creek had told him about it the previous fall and now he was appreciating the advice Already all sensation had gone out of his feet To build the fire he had been forced to remove his mittens and the fingers had quickly gone numb His pace of four miles an hour had kept his heart pumping blood to the surface of his body and to all the extremities But the instant he stopped the action of the pump eased down The cold of space smote the unprotected tip of the planet and he being on that unprotected tip received the full force of the blow The blood of his body recoiled before it The blood was alive like the dog and like the dog it wanted to hide away and cover itself up from the fearful cold So long as he walked four miles an hour he pumped that blood willy-nilly to the surface but now it ebbed away and sank down into the recesses of his body The extremities were the first to feel its absence His wet feet froze the faster and his exposed fingers numbed the faster though they had not yet begun to freeze Nose and cheeks were already freezing while the skin of all his body chilled as it lost its blood

But he was safe Toes and nose and cheeks would be only touched by the frost for the fire was beginning to burn with strength He was feeding it

To Build a FireContinued

with twigs the size of his finger In another minute he would be able to feed it with branches the size of his wrier and then he could remove his wet toot-gear and while it dried he could keep his naked feet warm by the fire rubbing them at first of course with snow The fire was a success He was safe He remembered the advice of the old timer on Sulphur Creek and smiled The old-timer had been very serious in laying down the law that no man must travel alone in the Klondike after fifty below Well here he was he had had the accident he was alone and he had saved himself Those old-timers were rather womanish some of them he thought All a man had to do was to keep his head and he was all right Any man who was a man could travel alone But it was surprising the rapidity with which his cheeks and nose were freezing And he had not thought his fingers could go lifeless in so short a time Lifeless they were for he could scarcely make them move together to grip a twig and they seemed remote from his body and from him When he touched a twig he had to look and see whether or not he had hold of it The wires were pretty well down between him and his finger-ends

All of which counted for little There was the fire snapping and crackling and promising life with every dancing flame He started to untie his moccasins They were coated with ice the thick German socks were like sheaths of iron halfway to the knees and the moccasin strings were like rods of steel all twisted and knotted as by some conflagration For a moment he tugged with his numb fingers then realizing the folly of it he drew his sheath-knife

But before he could cut the strings it happened It was his own fault or rather his mistake He should not have built the fire under the spruce tree He should have built it in the open But it had been easier to pull the twigs from the brush and drop them directly on the fire Now the tree under which

he had done this carried a weight of snow on its boughs No wind had blown for weeks and each bough was fully freighted Each time he had pulled a twig he had communicated a slight agitation to the tree--an imperceptible agitation so far as he was concerned but an agitation sufficient to bring about the disaster High up in the tree one bough capsized its load of snow This fell on the boughs beneath capsizing them This process continued spreading out and involving the whole tree It grew like an avalanche and it descended without warning upon the man and the fire and the fire was blotted out Where it had burned was a mantle of fresh and disordered snow

The man was shocked It was as though he had just heard his own sentence of death For a moment he sat and stared at the spot where the fire had been Then he grew very calm Perhaps the old-timer on Sulphur Creek was right If he had only had a trail-mate he would have been in no danger now The trail-mate could have built the fire Well it was up to him to build the fire over again and this second time there must be no failure Even if he succeeded he would most likely lose some toes His feet must be badly frozen by now and there would be some time before the second fire Was ready

Such were his thoughts but he did not sit and think them He was busy all the time they were passing through his mind He made a new foundation for a fire this time in the open where no treacherous tree could blot it out Next he gathered dry grasses and tiny twigs from the high-water flotsam He could not bring his fingers together to pull them out but he was able to gather them by the handful In this way he got many rotten twigs and bits of green moss that were undesirable but it was the best he could do He worked methodically even collecting an armful of the larger branches to be used later when the fire gathered strength And all the while the dog sat and watched him a certain yearning wistfulness in its eyes for it looked upon

To Build a FireContinued

him as the fire-provider and the fire was slow in coming

When all was ready the man reached in his pocket for a second piece of birch bark He knew the bark was there and though he could not feel it with his fingers he could hear its crisp rustling as he fumbled for it Try as he would he could not clutch hold of it And all the time in his consciousness was the knowledge that each instant his feet were freezing This thought tended to put him in a panic but he fought against it and kept calm He pulled on his mittens with his teeth and threshed his arms back and forth beating his hands with all his might against his sides He did this sitting down and he stood up to do it and all the while the dog sat in the snow its wolf-brush of a tail curled around warmly over its forefeet its sharp wolf-ears pricked forward intently as it watched the man And the man as he beat and threshed with his arms and hands felt a great surge of envy as he regarded the creature that was warm ant secure in its natural covering

After a time he was aware of the first far-away signals of sensation in his beaten fingers The faint tingling grew stronger till it evolved into a stinging ache that was excruciating but which the man hailed with satisfaction He stripped the mitten from his right hand and fetched forth the birch bark The exposed fingers were quickly going numb again Next he brought out his bunch of sulphur matches But the tremendous cold had already driven the life out of his fingers In his effort to separate one match from the others the whole bunch fell in the snow He tried to pick it out of the snow but failed The dead fingers could neither touch nor clutch He was very careful He drove the thought of his freezing feet and nose and cheeks out of his mind devoting his whole soul to the matches He watched using the sense of vision in place of that of touch and when he saw his fingers on each side the bunch he dosed them--that is he willed to close them for the wires were down and the fingers did not obey He pulled

the mitten on the right hand and beat it fiercely against his knee Then with both mittened hands he scooped the bunch of matches along with much snow into his lap Yet he was no better off

After some manipulation he managed to get the bunch between the heels of his mittened hands In this fashion he carried it to his mouth The ice crackled and snapped when by a violent effort he opened his mouth He drew the lower jaw in curled the upper lip out of the way and scraped the bunch with his upper teeth in order to separate a match He succeeded in getting one which he dropped on his lap He was no better off He could not pick it up Then he devised a way He picked it up in his teeth and scratched it on his leg Twenty times he scratched before he succeeded in lighting it As it flamed he held it with his teeth to the birch bark But the burning brimstone went up his nostrils and into his lungs causing him to cough spasmodically The match fell into the snow and went out

The old-timer an Sulphur Creek was right he thought in the moment of controlled despair that ensued after fifty below a man should travel with a partner He beat his hands but failed in exciting any sensation Suddenly he bared both hands removing the mittens with his teeth He caught the whole bunch between the heels of his hands His arm muscles not being frozen enabled him to press the hand-heels tightly against the matches Then he scratched the bunch along his leg It flared into flame seventy sulphur matches at once There was no wind to blow them out He kept his head to one side to escape the strangling fumes and held the blazing bunch to the birth bark As he so held it he became aware of sensation in his hand His flesh was burning He could smell it Deep down below the surface he could feel it The sensation developed into pain that grew acute And still he endured it holding the flame of the matches clumsily to the bark that would not light readily because his own burning hands were in the way absorbing most of the flame

To Build a FireContinued

At last when he could endure no more he jerked his hands apart The blazing matches fell sizzling into the snow but the birch bark was alight He began laying dry grasses and the tiniest twigs on the flame He could not pick and choose for he had to lift the fuel between the heels of his hands Small pieces of rotten wood and green moss clung to the twigs and he bit them off as well as he could with his teeth He cherished the flame carefully and awkwardly It meant life and it must not perish The withdrawal of blood from the surface of his body now made him begin to shiver and he grew more awkward A large piece of green moss fell squarely on the little fire He tried to poke it out with his fingers but his shivering frame made him poke too far and he disrupted the nucleus of the little fire the burning grasses and tiny twigs separating and scattering He tried to poke them together again but in spite of the tenseness of the effort his shivering got away with him and the twigs were hopelessly scattered Each twig gushed a puff of smoke and went out The fire-provider had failed As he looked apathetically about him his eyes chanced on the dog sitting across the ruins of the fire from him in the snow making restless hunching movements slightly lifting one forefoot and then the other shifting its weight back and forth on them with wistful eagerness

The sight of the dog put a wild idea into his head He remembered the tale of the man caught in a blizzard who killed a steer and crawled inside the carcass and so was saved He would kill the dog and bury his hands in the warm body until the numbness went out of them Then he could build another fire He spoke to the dog calling it to him but in his voice was a strange note of fear that frightened the animal who had never known the man to speak in such way before Something was the matter and its suspicious nature sensed danger--it knew not what danger but somewhere somehow in its brain arose an apprehension of the man It flattened its ears down at the sound of the mans voice and its restless

hunching movements and the liftings and shiftings of its forefeet became more pronounced but it would not come to the man He got on his hands and knees and crawled toward the dog This unusual posture again excited suspicion and the animal sidled mincingly away

The man sat up in the snow for a moment and struggled for calmness Then he pulled on his mittens by means of his teeth and got upon his feet He glanced down at first in order to assure himself that he was really standing up for the absence of sensation in his feet left him unrelated to the earth His erect position in itself started to drive the webs of suspicion from the dogs mind and when he spoke peremptorily with the sound of whiplashes in his voice the dog rendered its customary allegiance and came to him As it came within reaching distance the man lost his control His arms flashed out to the dog and he experienced genuine surprise when he discovered that his hands could not clutch that there was neither bend nor feeling in the fingers He had forgotten for the moment that they were frozen and that they were freezing more and more All this happened quickly and before the animal could get away he encircled its body with his arms He sat down in the snow and in this fashion held the dog while it snarled and whined and struggled

But it was all he could do hold its body encircled in his arms and sit there He realized that he could not kill the dog There was no way to do it With his helpless hands he could neither draw nor hold his sheath knife nor throttle the animal He released it and it plunged wildly away with tail between its legs and still snarling It halted forty feet away and surveyed him curiously with ears sharply pricked forward The man looked down at his hands in order to locate them and found them hanging on the ends of his arms It struck him as curious that one should have to use his eyes in order to find out where his hands were He began threshing his arms back and forth beating the mittened hands against

To Build a FireContinued

his sides He did this for five minutes violently and his heart pumped enough blood up to the surface to put a stop to his shivering But no sensation was aroused in the hands He had an impression that they hung like weights on the ends of his arms but when he tried to run the impression down he could not find it

A certain fear of death dull and oppressive came to him This fear quickly became poignant as he realized that it was no longer a mere matter of freezing his fingers and toes or of losing his hands and feet but that it was a matter of life and death with the chances against him This threw him into a panic and he turned and ran up the creek-bed along the old dim trail The dog joined in behind and kept up with him He ran blindly without intention in fear such as he had never known in his life Slowly as he plowed and floundered through the snow he began to see things again the banks of the creek the old timber-jams the leafless aspens and the sky The running made him feel better He did not shiver Maybe if he ran on his feet would thaw out and anyway if he ran far enough he would reach camp and the boys Without doubt he would lose some fingers and toes and some of his face but the boys would take care of him and save the rest of him when he got there And at the same time there was another thought in his mind that said he would never get to the camp and the boys that it was too many miles away that the freezing had too great a start on him and that he would soon be stiff and dead This thought he kept in the background and refused to consider Sometimes it pushed itself forward and demanded to be heard but he thrust it back and strove to think of other things

It struck him as curious that he could run at all on feet so frozen that he could not feel them when they struck the earth and took the weigh of his body He seemed to himself to skim along above the surface and to have no connection with the earth Somewhere he had once seen a winged Mercury

and he wondered if Mercury felt as he felt when skimming over the earth

His theory of running until he reached camp and the boys had one flaw in it he lacked the endurance Several times he stumbled and finally he tottered crumpled up and fell When he tried to rise he failed He must sit and rest he decided and next time he would merely walk and keep on going As he sat and regained his breath he noted that he was feeling quite warm and comfortable He was not shivering and it even seemed that a warm glow had come to his chest and trunk And yet when he touched his nose or cheeks there was no sensation Running would not thaw them out Nor would it thaw out his hands and feet Then the thought came to him that the frozen portions of his body must be extending He tried to keep this thought down to forget it to think of something else he was aware of the panicky feeling that it caused and he was afraid of the panic But the thought asserted itself and persisted until it produced a vision of his body totally frozen This was too much and he made another wild run along the trail Once he slowed down to a walk but the thought of the freezing extending itself made him run again

And all the time the dog ran with him at his heels When he fell down a second time it curled its tad over its forefeet and sat in front of him facing him curiously eager and intent The warmth and security of the animal angered him and he cursed it till it flattened down its ears appealingly This time the shivering came more quickly upon the man He was losing in his battle with the frost It was creeping into his body from all sides The thought of it drove him on but he ran no more than a hundred feet when he staggered and pitched headlong It was his last panic When he had recovered his breath and control he sat up and entertained in his mind the conception of meeting death with dignity However the conception did not come to him in such terms His idea of it was that he had been making a fool of

To Build a FireContinued

himself running around like a chicken with its head cut off--such was the simile that occurred to him Well he was bound to freeze anyway and he might as well take it decently With this new-found peace of mind came the first glimmerings of drowsiness A good idea he thought to sleep off to death It was like salting an anesthetic Freezing was not so bad as people thought There were lots worse ways to die

He pictured the boys finding his body next day Suddenly he found himself with them coming along the trail and looking for himself And still with them he came around a turn in the trail and found himself lying in the snow He did not belong with himself any more for even then he was out of himself standing with the boys and looking at himself in the snow It certainly was cold was his thought When he got back to the States he could tell the folks what real cold was He drifted on from this to a vision of the old-timer on Sulphur Creek He could see him quite clearly warm and comfortable and smoking a pipe

You were right old boss you were right the man mumbled to the old-timer of Sulphur Creek

Then the man drowsed off into what seemed to him the most comfortable and satisfying sleep he had ever known The dog sat facing him and waiting The brief day drew to a close in a long slow twilight There were no signs of a fire to be made and besides never in the dogs experience had it known a man to sit like that in the snow and make no fire As the twilight drew on its eager yearning for the fire mastered it and with a great lifting and shifting of forefeet it whined softly then flattened its ears down in anticipation of being chidden by the man But the man remained silent Later the dog whined loudly And still later it crept close to the man and caught the scent of death This made the animal bristle and back away A little longer it delayed howling under the stars that leaped and danced and shone brightly in the cold sky Then it turned and trotted up the trail in the direction of the camp it knew where were the other food-providers and fire-providers

To Build a FireContinued

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Baseball Walking Stick13 My sons friend grabbed his baseball bat and said to me this is my walking stick I politely ask him why he calls it that He replied because my dad says if I hit a home run with it I donrsquot have to run the bases ndash I can walk

My Bike My mountain bike was stolen a while back and my kids were really upset Ive been riding my road bike in its place Since then Ive been careful to lock my bike up when we go to the park

13 On this occasion I did not lock-up my sonrsquos bike up with mine He looked at me quizzically and said sternly lock my bike up too I tried to explain that his bike was not as expensive and therefor didnt need to be locked up Boy that was a mistake He made me feel a little dumb when he said Dad I dont care how expensive it is Its the only bike Irsquove got

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It is better to be safe then to try to beat the heat There are many options to stay cool and run during a hot-summer day Staying inside and running on the treadmill is a good one Remember staying safe is a top priority

Most workouts can be modified to work indoors This issuersquos workout is to do your usual run or interval set just stay inside and run it on the treadmill Visualize the different landmarks to see during your outdoor run

Coach Millerrsquos Quarterly ChallengeStay safe in the heatBy Mark Miller mmillerFitnessDigestus

A few years back we had a hot-spell similar to this yearrsquos record heat

I remember training for a long run and having to stop at the local swimming hole to cool off I literally took off my

shoes and jumped in with my running clothes on I was so hot

FitnessDigestUSEntertainment amp Inspiration

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OPEN WATER SWIMMING BY THE NUMBERS

In kilometers The shortest open water race included in the Fina World Championships

10107 How many miles it

is to swim from Cuba to the USA

5

1000Number of swimming strokes in a mile for a typical swimmer

31800About the number of calories it takes to swim 100 miles

LOCATED IN ST ANSGAR IOWA

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andor design for you

The minimum open water distance in kilometers that is considered a swimming-

marathon

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Open water safety means swimming in shallow water where there is a lifeguard or using an escort

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24 Hoursa Day

WaynesSkiandCyclenet

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s w i m m i n g s h o r t s

Googles

13 Swimming fans can really appreciate a 200 IM when their goggles fill with water How about an Olympian Swimming a leg of the 400 Free Relay with his goggles across his opened mouth ndash and going 45rsquos A great team swimmer an Olympian wouldnrsquot let down his teammates by throwing them off or fixing them

500 Fly13 A world class butterflyer asked if he could swim butterfly in the 500 yard freestyle during a dual meet His goal was to break five minutes After considering the competition it seemed like a great way to make him really work a hard fly swim so we agreed Problem was he swam a 502 and the opposing coach complained to the officials because he embarrassed his swimmers Oh well you canrsquot win lsquoem all

Stories sent in by Robert Steele

No-No-No13 The other morning I was teaching front-streamlines to snotty nosed 8 year olds (some are literally snotty-nosed) One boy was taking a big gulp of air and holding his breath When he lifted his head he had to exhale and inhale before submerging again Swimmers will understand this does not work very well Kids need to learn to exhale underwater The first time he did it I told him to exhale underwater The second time I stopped him looked him in the eye and reminded him to exhale underwater The third and fourth times I started to get a little frustrated ldquoJohnny you need to exhale underwater so you can breath betterrdquo The fifth time as his head popped up for a breath I quickly asked ldquoJohnny Do you even know what exhale meansrdquo as he submerged his head below the water I could see him shake his head no-no-no

Favorite Potato Chips13We try to limit the junk food the kids eat at our house For lunch one day our son wanted some potato chips I gave him 3 large chips with his sandwich He started to cry and said he wanted one more chip ldquoI wanted four chipsrdquo he screamed I took the plate back When he wasnt looking I broke a chip in half and give it back to him with four chips

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

13 My cancer story is one of uniqueness Leave it to me to do something like cancer to its fullest It did not begin with a mammogram diagnosis or a lump My journey began about 4 years ago with some suspicious activity that turned into Pagetrsquos disease of the nipple which signaled the underlying cancer On April 1st I found out about my breast cancer through a biopsy that came back as positive for Pagetrsquos disease The onslaught of tests learning and decisions were dizzying I immediately went for an evaluation of the suspicious tissue and had to begin making decisions for my mastectomy I quickly learned there is a test called the BRAC Analysis which is a genetic test for breast and ovarian cancer Finally a piece of good news for me I did not have the gene

Decisions Now it was time to make decisions about my mastectomy and how I was going to handle reconstruction I discussed my options with my boyfriend Brian friends family members and even my principalboss I read books searched the Internet and contacted people I

Brandi ShipmanCancer Survivor and elite triathlete

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

know and knew from my past that had been directly affected and that I thought might have answers for me The outpouring of love encouragement and help during this process was overwhelming After meeting with four different doctors two surgeons and two plastic surgeons I decided to go with immediate reconstruction and was lucky enough to find two wonderful doctors They were willing to work together just because I wanted them to even though they had never done so before My surgery was scheduled for mid May

Mental Toughness13 My mental preparation at this point was very important I had to scrap any idea of competing in triathlons for the rest of the year and focus on a positive attitude of getting better I stopped thinking about what I wasnrsquot going to able to do and started thinking about what I could do that I was alive and kept my mind on the fact that so many others had made it before me

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links

Part 213 I was prepared by the doctors survivors and literature to be ldquodownrdquo for several weeks after my surgery I even took the rest of the school year off My surgery went well and I was out of the hospital the next day A few friends came to visit while I was in the hospital and my principal and vice principal brought the most wonderful picture of the faculty wearing pink for me I can only imagine what it looked like at Thornton Elementary on that day in May 2009 a sea of pink all for Brandi Shipman Shortly after their visit I received a text from my friend Margie Massey My friends from the gym wore pink for me that day as well The support brought tears to my eyes I was so excited to come home and be comfortable in my own home I just wish the stupid drain that was attached could have stayed at the hospital The pain from that was worse than the pain from the mastectomy

the most

powerful picture

13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Recovery ndash May13 Once I got home I slept and watched a lot of TV Friends visited and brought yummy food and my favorites I am not supposed to eat I ate them all My friend and co-worker set up a cancer care calendar that alerted anyone who logged on when I was having a doctorrsquos appointment or when I was in need of anything I felt like royalty as everyone took care of me I think Brian secretly enjoyed the fact that he wouldnrsquot have to cook for me each night My recovery was quicker than I thought as I was doing my best to get better and get the stinkinrsquo drain out of my skin I was out walking within a week and running within 3 weeks I couldnrsquot believe my recovery I know it was from all the prayers love and good care from Brian and the loved ones around me Life was looking better each day

ldquoLife was looking

better each dayrdquo

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Part three and part

four of I am Survivor

will be published in

the next edition of

FitnessDigestus

Get the convenience of

digital-delivery

Sign-up or subscribe at

httpFitnessDigestus

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During the past 150 years we have witnessed many remarkable advances against cancer a disease known to humanity for thousands of years The advances highlighted below represent a sampling of what has been accomplished to date

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

1882 William Halsted performs the first radical mastectomy to treat breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast the lymph nodes under the arm (axillary lymph nodes) and the chest muscles behind the breast (pectoralis major and pectoralis minor muscles) are removed Radical mastectomy will remain the standard operation for breast cancer until latter half of the 20th century when the use of modified radical mastectomy becomes widely accepted

1932 David H Patey develops the modified radical mastectomy for breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast axillary lymph nodes and pectoralis minor muscle behind the breast are removed The modified radical mastectomy is less disfiguring than the radical mastectomy and will eventually replace the radical mastectomy as a standard treatment option for breast cancer

1953 James Watson and Francis Crick discover the molecular structure of DNA (the double helix)

1963 The Health Insurance Plan (HIP) of Greater New York Study begins HIP is the first randomized controlled trial of periodic breast cancer screening with mammography

1882

1932

1953

1963

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1976 The results of a randomized clinical trial show that women with early breast cancer who receive post-operative (adjuvant) combination chemotherapy with the drugs cyclophosphamide methotrexate and 5-FU have improved disease-free survival

1981 A randomized clinical trial in the United Kingdom shows for the first time that the rates of survival local recurrence and tumor metastasis among women whose breast cancer is treated with modified radical mastectomy are not substantially different from those of women who are treated with radical mastectomy

1993 An NCI-convened international workshop on screening for breast cancer reports that screening with mammography reduces breast cancer mortality among women ages 50-69 This conclusion is based on a review of published and unpublished data from eight randomized controlled trials

2004 Data from the Womens Health Initiative (WHI) study show that women who take estrogen in combination with the hormone progestin have a greater risk of developing breast cancer than women who take estrogen alone The results also show that menopausal hormone therapy with estrogen alone has no benefit in disease prevention specifically in reducing the risks of colorectal cancer coronary heart disease and dementia

1976

1981

1993

2004

Although we still have a long way to go to reduce the toll of cancer in the United States and worldwide our research and public health efforts are beginning to pay dividends

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

Volunteering vs Participating13 My girl friend and I are involved in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation The local chapter raises awareness for the cause with a fun-run each year We have volunteered to help with the race five years in a row This year we were stationed at a water table where the runners pick-up cups of water to drink Toward the end of the race there are very few runners There was a little time to chat about things We were talking about what we would wish for if we could have three wishes I told her I would wish for an end to Juvenile Diabetes and to lose 10 pounds Being nice I said ldquoyou can have my last wishrdquo She said I wish you would skip volunteering and just run this race next year

Admission Price Our aquatic center was having a promotion one night and advertised an elementary school night The kids could swim for free When we got to the pool we saw a promotional sign for the event In small lettering it read All swimmers must be accompanied by an adult We thought no big deal one of us can just stay and watch When we got to the front desk we found the lifeguard was enforcing the adult-admission price of $8

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CNFI Publishing - Products Books Chapbooks Bookmarks Plaques and Poetry Collector Cards Merchandising Products Coffee Mugs Mouse Pads Tiles 3x6 Coasters T - Shirts and Wall Plaques More info athttpliveadsFitnessDigestus

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

Featured PhotosFitnessDigestus feature

Chicago open water swim course at nighttop left

Kids race at Bicycle Blues and BBQtop right

Some team members volunteer at the local soup kitchenmiddle right

Ken Mauer loads the balls for hitting practice during a Twins baseball camp for

children 7-13 bottom right

Get your local event photos published in the next issue of FitnessDigestus E-mail

your photo to photoFitnessDigestus

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As he turned to go on he spat speculatively There was a sharp explosive crackle that startled him He spat again And again in the air before it could fall to the snow the spittle crackled He knew that at fifty below spittle crackled on the snow but this spittle had crackled in the air Undoubtedly it was colder than fifty below--how much colder he did not know But the temperature did not matter He was bound for the old claim on the left fork of Henderson Creek where the boys were already They had come over across the divide from the Indian Creek country while he had come the roundabout way to take a look at the possibilities of getting out logs in the spring from the islands in the Yukon He would be in to camp by six oclock a bit after dark it was true but the boys would be there a fire would be going and a hot supper would be ready As for lunch he pressed his hand against the protruding bundle under his jacket It was also under his shirt wrapped up in a handkerchief and lying against the naked skin It was the only way to keep the biscuits from freezing He smiled agreeably to himself as he thought of those biscuits each cut open and sopped in bacon grease and each enclosing a generous slice of fried bacon

He plunged in among the big spruce trees The trail was faint A foot of snow had fallen since the last sled had passed over and he was glad he was without a sled traveling light In fact he carried nothing but the lunch wrapped in the handkerchief He was surprised however at the cold It certainly was cold he concluded as he rubbed his numb nose and cheek-bones with his mittened hand He was a warm-whiskered man but the hair on his face did not protect the high cheek-bones and the eager nose that thrust itself aggressively into the frosty air

At the mans heels trotted a dog a big native husky the proper wolf-dog gray-coated and without any visible or temperamental difference from its brother the wild wolf The animal was depressed by the tremendous cold It knew that it was no time for

traveling Its instinct told it a truer tale than was told to the man by the mans judgment In reality it was not merely colder than fifty below zero it was colder than sixty below than seventy below It was seventy-five below zero Since the freezing point is thirty-two above zero it meant that one hundred and seven degrees of frost obtained The dog did not know anything about thermometers Possibly in its brain there was no sharp consciousness of a condition of very cold such as was in the mans brain But the brute had its instinct It experienced a vague but menacing apprehension that subdued it then made it slink along at the mans heels and that made it question eagerly every unwonted movement of the man as if expecting him to go into camp or to seek shelter somewhere and build a fire The dog had learned fire and it wanted fire or else to burrow under the snow and cuddle its warmth away from the air

The frozen moisture of its breathing had settled on its fur in a fine powder of frost and especially were its jowls muzzle and eyelashes whitened by its cry-stalled breath The mans red beard and mustache were likewise frosted but more solidly the deposit taking the form of ice and increasing with every warm moist breath he exhaled Also the man was chewing tobacco and the muzzle of ice held his lips so rigidly that he was unable to clear his chin when he expelled the juice The result was that a crystal beard of the color and solidity of amber was increasing its length on his chin If he fell down it would shatter itself like glass into brittle fragments But he did not mind the appendage It was the penalty all tobacco-chewers paid in that country and he had been out before in two cold snaps They had not been so cold as this he knew but by the spirit thermometer at Sixty Mile he knew they had been registered at fifty below and at fifty-five

He held on through the level stretch of woods for several miles crossed a wide flat of rigger-heads and dropped down a bank to the frozen bed of a

To Build a FireContinued

small stream This was Henderson Creek and he knew he was ten miles from the forks He looked at his watch It was ten oclock He was making four miles an hour and he calculated that he would arrive at the forks at half-past twelve He decided to celebrate that event by eating his lunch there

The dog dropped in again at his heels with a tail drooping discouragement as the man swung along the creek-bed The furrow of the old sled-trail was plainly visible but a dozen inches of snow covered the marks of the last runners In a month no man had come up or down that silent creek The man held steadily on He was not much given to thinking and just then particularly he had nothing to think about save that he would eat lunch at-the forks and that at six oclock he would be in camp with the boys There was nobody to talk to and had there been speech would have been impossible because of the ice-muzzle on his mouth So he continued monotonously to chew tobacco and to increase the length of his amber beard

Once in a while the thought reiterated itself that it was very cold and that he had never experienced such cold As he walked along he rubbed his cheek-bones and nose with the back of his mittened hand He did this automatically now and again changing hands But rub as he would the instant he stopped his cheek-bones went numb and the following instant the end of his nose went numb He was sure to frost his cheeks he knew that and experienced a pang of regret that he had not devised a nose-strap of the sort Bud wore in cold snaps Such a strap passed across the cheeks as well and saved them But it didnt matter much after all What were frosted cheeks A bit painful that was all they were never serious

Empty as the mans mind was of thoughts he was keenly observant and he noticed the changes in the creek the curves and bends and timber jams and always he sharply noted where he placed his feet Once coming around a bend he shied abruptly

like a startled horse curved away from the place where he had been walking and retreated several paces back along the trail The creek he knew was frozen clear to the bottom--no creek could contain water in that arctic winter--but he knew also that there were springs that bubbled out from the hillsides and ran along under the snow and on top the ice of the creek He knew that the coldest snaps never froze these springs and he knew likewise their danger They were traps They hid pools of water under the snow that might be three inches deep or three feet Sometimes a skin of ice half an inch thick covered them and in turn was covered by the snow Sometimes there were alternate layers of water and ice-skin so that when one broke through he kept on breaking through for a while sometimes wetting himself to the waist

That was why he had shied in such panic He had felt the give under his feet and heard the crackle of a snow-hidden ice-skin And to get his feet wet in such a temperature meant trouble and danger At the very least it meant delay for he would be forced to stop and build a fire and under its protection to bare his feet while he dried his socks and moccasins He stood and studied the creek-bed and its banks and decided that the flow of water came from the right He reflected a while rubbing his nose and cheeks then skirted to the left stepping gingerly and testing the footing for each step Once clear of the danger he took a fresh chew of tobacco and swung along at his four-mile gait

In the course of the next two hours he came upon several similar traps Usually the snow above the hidden pools had a sunken candied appearance that advertised the danger Once again however he had a close call and once suspecting danger he compelled the dog to go on in front The dog did not want to go It hung back until the man shoved it forward and then it went quickly across the white unbroken surface Suddenly it broke through floundered to one side and got away to firmer

To Build a FireContinued

To Build a FireContinued

footing It had wet its forefeet and legs and almost immediately the water that clung to it turned to ice It made quick efforts to lick the ice off its legs then dropped down in the snow and began to bite out the ice that had formed between the toes l his was a matter of instinct To permit the ice to remain would mean sore feet It did not know this It merely obeyed the mysterious prompting that arose from the deep crypts of its being But the man knew having achieved a judgment on the subject and he removed the mitten from his right hand and helped tear out the ice-particles He did not expose his fingers more than a minute and was astonished at the swift numbness that smote them It certainly was cold He pulled on the mitten hastily and beat the hand savagely across his chest

At twelve oclock the day was at its brightest Yet the sun was too far south an its winter journey to clear the horizon The bulge of the earth intervened between it arid Henderson Creek where the man walked under a clear sky at noon and cast no shadow At half-past twelve to the minute he arrived at the forks of the creek He was pleased at the speed he had made If he kept it up he would certainly be with the boys by six He unbuttoned his jacket and shirt and drew forth his lunch The action consumed no more than a quarter of a minute yet in that brief moment the numbness laid hold of the exposed fingers He did not put the mitten on but instead struck the fingers a dozen sharp smashes against his leg Then he sat down on a snow-covered log to eat The sting that followed upon the striking of his fingers against his leg ceased so quickly that he was startled He had had no chance to take a bite of biscuit He struck the fingers repeatedly and returned them to the mitten baring the other hand for the purpose of eating He tried to take a mouthful but the ice-muzzle prevented He had forgotten to build a fire and thaw out He chuckled at his foolishness and as he chuckled he noted the numbness creeping into the exposed fingers Also he noted that the stinging which had first come to his

toes when he sat down was already passing away He wandered whether the toes were warm or numb He moved them inside the moccasins and decided that they were numb

He pulled the mitten on hurriedly and stood up He was a bit frightened He stamped up and down until the stinging returned into the feet It certainly was cold was his thought That man from Sulphur Creek had spoken the truth when telling how cold it sometimes got in the country And he had laughed at him at the time That showed one must not be too sure of things There was no mistake about it it was cold He strode up and down stamping his feet and threshing his arms until reassured by the returning warmth Then he got out matches and proceeded to make a fire From the undergrowth where high water of the previous spring had lodged a supply of seasoned twigs he got his firewood Working carefully from a small beginning he soon had a roaring fire over which he thawed the ice from his face and in the protection of which he ate his biscuits For the moment the cold space was outwitted The dog took satisfaction in the fire stretching out close enough for warmth and far enough away to escape being singed

When the man had finished be filled his pipe and took his comfortable time over a smoke Then he pulled on his mittens settled the ear-flaps of his cap firmly about his ears and took the creek trail up the left fork The dog was disappointed and yearned back toward the fire This man did not know cold Possibly all the generations of his ancestry had been ignorant of cold of real cold of cold one hundred and seven degrees below freezing point But the dog knew all its ancestry knew and it had inherited the knowledge And it knew that it was not good to walk abroad in such fearful cold It was the time to lie snug in a hole in the snow and wait for a curtain of cloud to be drawn across the face of outer space whence this cold came On the other hand there was no keen intimacy between the dog and the man

The one was the toil-slave of the other and the only caresses it had ever received were the caresses of the whiplash and of harsh and menacing throat-sounds that threatened the whiplash So the dog made no effort to communicate its apprehension to the man It was not concerned in the welfare of the man it was for its own sake that it yearned back toward the fire But the man whistled and spoke to it with the sound of whiplashes and the dog swung in at the mans heel and followed after

The man took a chew of tobacco and proceeded to start a new amber beard Also his moist breath quickly powdered with white his mustache eyebrows and lashes There did not seem to be so many springs on the left fork of the Henderson and for half an hour the man saw no signs of any And then it happened At a place where there were no signs where the soft unbroken snow seemed to advertise solidity beneath tee man broke through It was not deep He wet himself halfway to the knees before he floundered out to the firm crust

He was angry and cursed his luck aloud He had hoped to get into camp with the boys at six oclock and this would delay him an hour for he would have to build a fire and dry out his foot-gear This was imperative at that low temperature--he knew that much and he turned aside to the bank which he climbed On top tangled in the underbrush about the trunks of several small spruce trees was a high-water deposit of dry firewood--sticks and twigs principally but also larger portions of seasoned branches and fine dry last-years grasses He threw down several large pieces on top of the snow This served for a foundation and prevented the young flame from drowning itself in the snow it otherwise would melt The flame he got by touching a match to a small shred of birch bark that he took from his pocket This burned even more readily than paper Placing it on the foundation he fed the young flame with wisps of dry grass and with the tiniest dry twigs

He worked slowly and carefully keenly aware of his danger Gradually as the flame grew stronger he increased the size of the twigs with which he fed it He squatted in the snow pulling the twigs out from their entanglement in the brush and feeding directly to the flame He knew there must be no failure When it is seventy-five below zero a man must not fail in his first attempt to build a fire--that is if his feet are wet If his feet are dry and he fails he can run along the trail for half a mile and restore his circulation But the circulation of wet and freezing feet cannot be restored by running when it is seventy-five below No matter how fast he runs the wet feet will freeze the harder

All this the man knew The old-timer on Sulphur Creek had told him about it the previous fall and now he was appreciating the advice Already all sensation had gone out of his feet To build the fire he had been forced to remove his mittens and the fingers had quickly gone numb His pace of four miles an hour had kept his heart pumping blood to the surface of his body and to all the extremities But the instant he stopped the action of the pump eased down The cold of space smote the unprotected tip of the planet and he being on that unprotected tip received the full force of the blow The blood of his body recoiled before it The blood was alive like the dog and like the dog it wanted to hide away and cover itself up from the fearful cold So long as he walked four miles an hour he pumped that blood willy-nilly to the surface but now it ebbed away and sank down into the recesses of his body The extremities were the first to feel its absence His wet feet froze the faster and his exposed fingers numbed the faster though they had not yet begun to freeze Nose and cheeks were already freezing while the skin of all his body chilled as it lost its blood

But he was safe Toes and nose and cheeks would be only touched by the frost for the fire was beginning to burn with strength He was feeding it

To Build a FireContinued

with twigs the size of his finger In another minute he would be able to feed it with branches the size of his wrier and then he could remove his wet toot-gear and while it dried he could keep his naked feet warm by the fire rubbing them at first of course with snow The fire was a success He was safe He remembered the advice of the old timer on Sulphur Creek and smiled The old-timer had been very serious in laying down the law that no man must travel alone in the Klondike after fifty below Well here he was he had had the accident he was alone and he had saved himself Those old-timers were rather womanish some of them he thought All a man had to do was to keep his head and he was all right Any man who was a man could travel alone But it was surprising the rapidity with which his cheeks and nose were freezing And he had not thought his fingers could go lifeless in so short a time Lifeless they were for he could scarcely make them move together to grip a twig and they seemed remote from his body and from him When he touched a twig he had to look and see whether or not he had hold of it The wires were pretty well down between him and his finger-ends

All of which counted for little There was the fire snapping and crackling and promising life with every dancing flame He started to untie his moccasins They were coated with ice the thick German socks were like sheaths of iron halfway to the knees and the moccasin strings were like rods of steel all twisted and knotted as by some conflagration For a moment he tugged with his numb fingers then realizing the folly of it he drew his sheath-knife

But before he could cut the strings it happened It was his own fault or rather his mistake He should not have built the fire under the spruce tree He should have built it in the open But it had been easier to pull the twigs from the brush and drop them directly on the fire Now the tree under which

he had done this carried a weight of snow on its boughs No wind had blown for weeks and each bough was fully freighted Each time he had pulled a twig he had communicated a slight agitation to the tree--an imperceptible agitation so far as he was concerned but an agitation sufficient to bring about the disaster High up in the tree one bough capsized its load of snow This fell on the boughs beneath capsizing them This process continued spreading out and involving the whole tree It grew like an avalanche and it descended without warning upon the man and the fire and the fire was blotted out Where it had burned was a mantle of fresh and disordered snow

The man was shocked It was as though he had just heard his own sentence of death For a moment he sat and stared at the spot where the fire had been Then he grew very calm Perhaps the old-timer on Sulphur Creek was right If he had only had a trail-mate he would have been in no danger now The trail-mate could have built the fire Well it was up to him to build the fire over again and this second time there must be no failure Even if he succeeded he would most likely lose some toes His feet must be badly frozen by now and there would be some time before the second fire Was ready

Such were his thoughts but he did not sit and think them He was busy all the time they were passing through his mind He made a new foundation for a fire this time in the open where no treacherous tree could blot it out Next he gathered dry grasses and tiny twigs from the high-water flotsam He could not bring his fingers together to pull them out but he was able to gather them by the handful In this way he got many rotten twigs and bits of green moss that were undesirable but it was the best he could do He worked methodically even collecting an armful of the larger branches to be used later when the fire gathered strength And all the while the dog sat and watched him a certain yearning wistfulness in its eyes for it looked upon

To Build a FireContinued

him as the fire-provider and the fire was slow in coming

When all was ready the man reached in his pocket for a second piece of birch bark He knew the bark was there and though he could not feel it with his fingers he could hear its crisp rustling as he fumbled for it Try as he would he could not clutch hold of it And all the time in his consciousness was the knowledge that each instant his feet were freezing This thought tended to put him in a panic but he fought against it and kept calm He pulled on his mittens with his teeth and threshed his arms back and forth beating his hands with all his might against his sides He did this sitting down and he stood up to do it and all the while the dog sat in the snow its wolf-brush of a tail curled around warmly over its forefeet its sharp wolf-ears pricked forward intently as it watched the man And the man as he beat and threshed with his arms and hands felt a great surge of envy as he regarded the creature that was warm ant secure in its natural covering

After a time he was aware of the first far-away signals of sensation in his beaten fingers The faint tingling grew stronger till it evolved into a stinging ache that was excruciating but which the man hailed with satisfaction He stripped the mitten from his right hand and fetched forth the birch bark The exposed fingers were quickly going numb again Next he brought out his bunch of sulphur matches But the tremendous cold had already driven the life out of his fingers In his effort to separate one match from the others the whole bunch fell in the snow He tried to pick it out of the snow but failed The dead fingers could neither touch nor clutch He was very careful He drove the thought of his freezing feet and nose and cheeks out of his mind devoting his whole soul to the matches He watched using the sense of vision in place of that of touch and when he saw his fingers on each side the bunch he dosed them--that is he willed to close them for the wires were down and the fingers did not obey He pulled

the mitten on the right hand and beat it fiercely against his knee Then with both mittened hands he scooped the bunch of matches along with much snow into his lap Yet he was no better off

After some manipulation he managed to get the bunch between the heels of his mittened hands In this fashion he carried it to his mouth The ice crackled and snapped when by a violent effort he opened his mouth He drew the lower jaw in curled the upper lip out of the way and scraped the bunch with his upper teeth in order to separate a match He succeeded in getting one which he dropped on his lap He was no better off He could not pick it up Then he devised a way He picked it up in his teeth and scratched it on his leg Twenty times he scratched before he succeeded in lighting it As it flamed he held it with his teeth to the birch bark But the burning brimstone went up his nostrils and into his lungs causing him to cough spasmodically The match fell into the snow and went out

The old-timer an Sulphur Creek was right he thought in the moment of controlled despair that ensued after fifty below a man should travel with a partner He beat his hands but failed in exciting any sensation Suddenly he bared both hands removing the mittens with his teeth He caught the whole bunch between the heels of his hands His arm muscles not being frozen enabled him to press the hand-heels tightly against the matches Then he scratched the bunch along his leg It flared into flame seventy sulphur matches at once There was no wind to blow them out He kept his head to one side to escape the strangling fumes and held the blazing bunch to the birth bark As he so held it he became aware of sensation in his hand His flesh was burning He could smell it Deep down below the surface he could feel it The sensation developed into pain that grew acute And still he endured it holding the flame of the matches clumsily to the bark that would not light readily because his own burning hands were in the way absorbing most of the flame

To Build a FireContinued

At last when he could endure no more he jerked his hands apart The blazing matches fell sizzling into the snow but the birch bark was alight He began laying dry grasses and the tiniest twigs on the flame He could not pick and choose for he had to lift the fuel between the heels of his hands Small pieces of rotten wood and green moss clung to the twigs and he bit them off as well as he could with his teeth He cherished the flame carefully and awkwardly It meant life and it must not perish The withdrawal of blood from the surface of his body now made him begin to shiver and he grew more awkward A large piece of green moss fell squarely on the little fire He tried to poke it out with his fingers but his shivering frame made him poke too far and he disrupted the nucleus of the little fire the burning grasses and tiny twigs separating and scattering He tried to poke them together again but in spite of the tenseness of the effort his shivering got away with him and the twigs were hopelessly scattered Each twig gushed a puff of smoke and went out The fire-provider had failed As he looked apathetically about him his eyes chanced on the dog sitting across the ruins of the fire from him in the snow making restless hunching movements slightly lifting one forefoot and then the other shifting its weight back and forth on them with wistful eagerness

The sight of the dog put a wild idea into his head He remembered the tale of the man caught in a blizzard who killed a steer and crawled inside the carcass and so was saved He would kill the dog and bury his hands in the warm body until the numbness went out of them Then he could build another fire He spoke to the dog calling it to him but in his voice was a strange note of fear that frightened the animal who had never known the man to speak in such way before Something was the matter and its suspicious nature sensed danger--it knew not what danger but somewhere somehow in its brain arose an apprehension of the man It flattened its ears down at the sound of the mans voice and its restless

hunching movements and the liftings and shiftings of its forefeet became more pronounced but it would not come to the man He got on his hands and knees and crawled toward the dog This unusual posture again excited suspicion and the animal sidled mincingly away

The man sat up in the snow for a moment and struggled for calmness Then he pulled on his mittens by means of his teeth and got upon his feet He glanced down at first in order to assure himself that he was really standing up for the absence of sensation in his feet left him unrelated to the earth His erect position in itself started to drive the webs of suspicion from the dogs mind and when he spoke peremptorily with the sound of whiplashes in his voice the dog rendered its customary allegiance and came to him As it came within reaching distance the man lost his control His arms flashed out to the dog and he experienced genuine surprise when he discovered that his hands could not clutch that there was neither bend nor feeling in the fingers He had forgotten for the moment that they were frozen and that they were freezing more and more All this happened quickly and before the animal could get away he encircled its body with his arms He sat down in the snow and in this fashion held the dog while it snarled and whined and struggled

But it was all he could do hold its body encircled in his arms and sit there He realized that he could not kill the dog There was no way to do it With his helpless hands he could neither draw nor hold his sheath knife nor throttle the animal He released it and it plunged wildly away with tail between its legs and still snarling It halted forty feet away and surveyed him curiously with ears sharply pricked forward The man looked down at his hands in order to locate them and found them hanging on the ends of his arms It struck him as curious that one should have to use his eyes in order to find out where his hands were He began threshing his arms back and forth beating the mittened hands against

To Build a FireContinued

his sides He did this for five minutes violently and his heart pumped enough blood up to the surface to put a stop to his shivering But no sensation was aroused in the hands He had an impression that they hung like weights on the ends of his arms but when he tried to run the impression down he could not find it

A certain fear of death dull and oppressive came to him This fear quickly became poignant as he realized that it was no longer a mere matter of freezing his fingers and toes or of losing his hands and feet but that it was a matter of life and death with the chances against him This threw him into a panic and he turned and ran up the creek-bed along the old dim trail The dog joined in behind and kept up with him He ran blindly without intention in fear such as he had never known in his life Slowly as he plowed and floundered through the snow he began to see things again the banks of the creek the old timber-jams the leafless aspens and the sky The running made him feel better He did not shiver Maybe if he ran on his feet would thaw out and anyway if he ran far enough he would reach camp and the boys Without doubt he would lose some fingers and toes and some of his face but the boys would take care of him and save the rest of him when he got there And at the same time there was another thought in his mind that said he would never get to the camp and the boys that it was too many miles away that the freezing had too great a start on him and that he would soon be stiff and dead This thought he kept in the background and refused to consider Sometimes it pushed itself forward and demanded to be heard but he thrust it back and strove to think of other things

It struck him as curious that he could run at all on feet so frozen that he could not feel them when they struck the earth and took the weigh of his body He seemed to himself to skim along above the surface and to have no connection with the earth Somewhere he had once seen a winged Mercury

and he wondered if Mercury felt as he felt when skimming over the earth

His theory of running until he reached camp and the boys had one flaw in it he lacked the endurance Several times he stumbled and finally he tottered crumpled up and fell When he tried to rise he failed He must sit and rest he decided and next time he would merely walk and keep on going As he sat and regained his breath he noted that he was feeling quite warm and comfortable He was not shivering and it even seemed that a warm glow had come to his chest and trunk And yet when he touched his nose or cheeks there was no sensation Running would not thaw them out Nor would it thaw out his hands and feet Then the thought came to him that the frozen portions of his body must be extending He tried to keep this thought down to forget it to think of something else he was aware of the panicky feeling that it caused and he was afraid of the panic But the thought asserted itself and persisted until it produced a vision of his body totally frozen This was too much and he made another wild run along the trail Once he slowed down to a walk but the thought of the freezing extending itself made him run again

And all the time the dog ran with him at his heels When he fell down a second time it curled its tad over its forefeet and sat in front of him facing him curiously eager and intent The warmth and security of the animal angered him and he cursed it till it flattened down its ears appealingly This time the shivering came more quickly upon the man He was losing in his battle with the frost It was creeping into his body from all sides The thought of it drove him on but he ran no more than a hundred feet when he staggered and pitched headlong It was his last panic When he had recovered his breath and control he sat up and entertained in his mind the conception of meeting death with dignity However the conception did not come to him in such terms His idea of it was that he had been making a fool of

To Build a FireContinued

himself running around like a chicken with its head cut off--such was the simile that occurred to him Well he was bound to freeze anyway and he might as well take it decently With this new-found peace of mind came the first glimmerings of drowsiness A good idea he thought to sleep off to death It was like salting an anesthetic Freezing was not so bad as people thought There were lots worse ways to die

He pictured the boys finding his body next day Suddenly he found himself with them coming along the trail and looking for himself And still with them he came around a turn in the trail and found himself lying in the snow He did not belong with himself any more for even then he was out of himself standing with the boys and looking at himself in the snow It certainly was cold was his thought When he got back to the States he could tell the folks what real cold was He drifted on from this to a vision of the old-timer on Sulphur Creek He could see him quite clearly warm and comfortable and smoking a pipe

You were right old boss you were right the man mumbled to the old-timer of Sulphur Creek

Then the man drowsed off into what seemed to him the most comfortable and satisfying sleep he had ever known The dog sat facing him and waiting The brief day drew to a close in a long slow twilight There were no signs of a fire to be made and besides never in the dogs experience had it known a man to sit like that in the snow and make no fire As the twilight drew on its eager yearning for the fire mastered it and with a great lifting and shifting of forefeet it whined softly then flattened its ears down in anticipation of being chidden by the man But the man remained silent Later the dog whined loudly And still later it crept close to the man and caught the scent of death This made the animal bristle and back away A little longer it delayed howling under the stars that leaped and danced and shone brightly in the cold sky Then it turned and trotted up the trail in the direction of the camp it knew where were the other food-providers and fire-providers

To Build a FireContinued

Blogs can be a lot of work to maintainTwitter only gives you 140 characters

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Stories are published for ALL FitnessDigestus readers Archived professionally and digitally in thousands of libraries

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Page 46: FitnessDigest.us Vol. 4.3 Cover

It provides an outstanding aerobic workout in less than half the time we would spend in still water It has allowed us as swim coaches to observe swimmers stroke characteristics up close and to see the effects of fatigue on stroke mechanics ~ Larry L Chazy NY

Swimming is an excellent exercise and now I can swim every day because its so convenient and private I can swim when I want and how long I want Im able to have it at a temperature that is comfortable to me The small size of an Endless Pool enabled me to install a pool where I could not install a regular size one

As an aging baby boomer nutrition professional I have yearned for consistent exercise that doesnt stress joints and will enable me to attain physical fitness cardiovascular health and weight control I can eat what I want and still firm up and lose weight ~ John C Columbus OH

Endless Pools make for long swims in small places The 8x15 Endless Pool is less than regulation size but offers the same benefits as a very large pool ~ Noah H Connecticut Post

The Endless Pool is a great strength builder I am amazed at the strength of the current I now swim against I did not buy it for that reason but because of my arthritis so the strength gain is a wonderful surprise

Endless PoolsTestimonials For more information visit httpLIveAdsFitnessDigestus

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Baseball Walking Stick13 My sons friend grabbed his baseball bat and said to me this is my walking stick I politely ask him why he calls it that He replied because my dad says if I hit a home run with it I donrsquot have to run the bases ndash I can walk

My Bike My mountain bike was stolen a while back and my kids were really upset Ive been riding my road bike in its place Since then Ive been careful to lock my bike up when we go to the park

13 On this occasion I did not lock-up my sonrsquos bike up with mine He looked at me quizzically and said sternly lock my bike up too I tried to explain that his bike was not as expensive and therefor didnt need to be locked up Boy that was a mistake He made me feel a little dumb when he said Dad I dont care how expensive it is Its the only bike Irsquove got

North Iowa Roads

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A LEADER inSearch Engine Optimization

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Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

parent sports tipBy FitnessDigestus staff writer JGA

PAR

EN

T

TIP

Keeping Kids Focused13 Organize their thoughts Help them prioritize and make decisions based on value Even kids can understand the value of simple non-monetized choices Questions like ldquoShould I finish playing my gameboy game or pause it when they call my swimming eventrdquo

If kids are taught to make good decisions and not just find quick answers everyone wins

AugustGolf Month5th Friendship Day15th Relaxation Day25th Kiss and Make Up Day31st Trail Mix DaySeptemberLittle League Month12th Chocolate Milk Shake Day13th Positive Thinking Day16th Womenrsquos Friendship Day21st Miniature Golf DayOctoberBreast Cancer Awareness MonthNational Diabetes Month1st World Vegetarian Day4th Golf Day25th World Pasta Day

National Calendar

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Encourage friendships writing skills sharing thoughts and

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Stay in touch with your swimming or triathlon buddies

It is better to be safe then to try to beat the heat There are many options to stay cool and run during a hot-summer day Staying inside and running on the treadmill is a good one Remember staying safe is a top priority

Most workouts can be modified to work indoors This issuersquos workout is to do your usual run or interval set just stay inside and run it on the treadmill Visualize the different landmarks to see during your outdoor run

Coach Millerrsquos Quarterly ChallengeStay safe in the heatBy Mark Miller mmillerFitnessDigestus

A few years back we had a hot-spell similar to this yearrsquos record heat

I remember training for a long run and having to stop at the local swimming hole to cool off I literally took off my

shoes and jumped in with my running clothes on I was so hot

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In kilometers The shortest open water race included in the Fina World Championships

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The minimum open water distance in kilometers that is considered a swimming-

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Open water safety means swimming in shallow water where there is a lifeguard or using an escort

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Googles

13 Swimming fans can really appreciate a 200 IM when their goggles fill with water How about an Olympian Swimming a leg of the 400 Free Relay with his goggles across his opened mouth ndash and going 45rsquos A great team swimmer an Olympian wouldnrsquot let down his teammates by throwing them off or fixing them

500 Fly13 A world class butterflyer asked if he could swim butterfly in the 500 yard freestyle during a dual meet His goal was to break five minutes After considering the competition it seemed like a great way to make him really work a hard fly swim so we agreed Problem was he swam a 502 and the opposing coach complained to the officials because he embarrassed his swimmers Oh well you canrsquot win lsquoem all

Stories sent in by Robert Steele

No-No-No13 The other morning I was teaching front-streamlines to snotty nosed 8 year olds (some are literally snotty-nosed) One boy was taking a big gulp of air and holding his breath When he lifted his head he had to exhale and inhale before submerging again Swimmers will understand this does not work very well Kids need to learn to exhale underwater The first time he did it I told him to exhale underwater The second time I stopped him looked him in the eye and reminded him to exhale underwater The third and fourth times I started to get a little frustrated ldquoJohnny you need to exhale underwater so you can breath betterrdquo The fifth time as his head popped up for a breath I quickly asked ldquoJohnny Do you even know what exhale meansrdquo as he submerged his head below the water I could see him shake his head no-no-no

Favorite Potato Chips13We try to limit the junk food the kids eat at our house For lunch one day our son wanted some potato chips I gave him 3 large chips with his sandwich He started to cry and said he wanted one more chip ldquoI wanted four chipsrdquo he screamed I took the plate back When he wasnt looking I broke a chip in half and give it back to him with four chips

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

13 My cancer story is one of uniqueness Leave it to me to do something like cancer to its fullest It did not begin with a mammogram diagnosis or a lump My journey began about 4 years ago with some suspicious activity that turned into Pagetrsquos disease of the nipple which signaled the underlying cancer On April 1st I found out about my breast cancer through a biopsy that came back as positive for Pagetrsquos disease The onslaught of tests learning and decisions were dizzying I immediately went for an evaluation of the suspicious tissue and had to begin making decisions for my mastectomy I quickly learned there is a test called the BRAC Analysis which is a genetic test for breast and ovarian cancer Finally a piece of good news for me I did not have the gene

Decisions Now it was time to make decisions about my mastectomy and how I was going to handle reconstruction I discussed my options with my boyfriend Brian friends family members and even my principalboss I read books searched the Internet and contacted people I

Brandi ShipmanCancer Survivor and elite triathlete

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

know and knew from my past that had been directly affected and that I thought might have answers for me The outpouring of love encouragement and help during this process was overwhelming After meeting with four different doctors two surgeons and two plastic surgeons I decided to go with immediate reconstruction and was lucky enough to find two wonderful doctors They were willing to work together just because I wanted them to even though they had never done so before My surgery was scheduled for mid May

Mental Toughness13 My mental preparation at this point was very important I had to scrap any idea of competing in triathlons for the rest of the year and focus on a positive attitude of getting better I stopped thinking about what I wasnrsquot going to able to do and started thinking about what I could do that I was alive and kept my mind on the fact that so many others had made it before me

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links

Part 213 I was prepared by the doctors survivors and literature to be ldquodownrdquo for several weeks after my surgery I even took the rest of the school year off My surgery went well and I was out of the hospital the next day A few friends came to visit while I was in the hospital and my principal and vice principal brought the most wonderful picture of the faculty wearing pink for me I can only imagine what it looked like at Thornton Elementary on that day in May 2009 a sea of pink all for Brandi Shipman Shortly after their visit I received a text from my friend Margie Massey My friends from the gym wore pink for me that day as well The support brought tears to my eyes I was so excited to come home and be comfortable in my own home I just wish the stupid drain that was attached could have stayed at the hospital The pain from that was worse than the pain from the mastectomy

the most

powerful picture

13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Recovery ndash May13 Once I got home I slept and watched a lot of TV Friends visited and brought yummy food and my favorites I am not supposed to eat I ate them all My friend and co-worker set up a cancer care calendar that alerted anyone who logged on when I was having a doctorrsquos appointment or when I was in need of anything I felt like royalty as everyone took care of me I think Brian secretly enjoyed the fact that he wouldnrsquot have to cook for me each night My recovery was quicker than I thought as I was doing my best to get better and get the stinkinrsquo drain out of my skin I was out walking within a week and running within 3 weeks I couldnrsquot believe my recovery I know it was from all the prayers love and good care from Brian and the loved ones around me Life was looking better each day

ldquoLife was looking

better each dayrdquo

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Part three and part

four of I am Survivor

will be published in

the next edition of

FitnessDigestus

Get the convenience of

digital-delivery

Sign-up or subscribe at

httpFitnessDigestus

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During the past 150 years we have witnessed many remarkable advances against cancer a disease known to humanity for thousands of years The advances highlighted below represent a sampling of what has been accomplished to date

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

1882 William Halsted performs the first radical mastectomy to treat breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast the lymph nodes under the arm (axillary lymph nodes) and the chest muscles behind the breast (pectoralis major and pectoralis minor muscles) are removed Radical mastectomy will remain the standard operation for breast cancer until latter half of the 20th century when the use of modified radical mastectomy becomes widely accepted

1932 David H Patey develops the modified radical mastectomy for breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast axillary lymph nodes and pectoralis minor muscle behind the breast are removed The modified radical mastectomy is less disfiguring than the radical mastectomy and will eventually replace the radical mastectomy as a standard treatment option for breast cancer

1953 James Watson and Francis Crick discover the molecular structure of DNA (the double helix)

1963 The Health Insurance Plan (HIP) of Greater New York Study begins HIP is the first randomized controlled trial of periodic breast cancer screening with mammography

1882

1932

1953

1963

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1976 The results of a randomized clinical trial show that women with early breast cancer who receive post-operative (adjuvant) combination chemotherapy with the drugs cyclophosphamide methotrexate and 5-FU have improved disease-free survival

1981 A randomized clinical trial in the United Kingdom shows for the first time that the rates of survival local recurrence and tumor metastasis among women whose breast cancer is treated with modified radical mastectomy are not substantially different from those of women who are treated with radical mastectomy

1993 An NCI-convened international workshop on screening for breast cancer reports that screening with mammography reduces breast cancer mortality among women ages 50-69 This conclusion is based on a review of published and unpublished data from eight randomized controlled trials

2004 Data from the Womens Health Initiative (WHI) study show that women who take estrogen in combination with the hormone progestin have a greater risk of developing breast cancer than women who take estrogen alone The results also show that menopausal hormone therapy with estrogen alone has no benefit in disease prevention specifically in reducing the risks of colorectal cancer coronary heart disease and dementia

1976

1981

1993

2004

Although we still have a long way to go to reduce the toll of cancer in the United States and worldwide our research and public health efforts are beginning to pay dividends

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

Volunteering vs Participating13 My girl friend and I are involved in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation The local chapter raises awareness for the cause with a fun-run each year We have volunteered to help with the race five years in a row This year we were stationed at a water table where the runners pick-up cups of water to drink Toward the end of the race there are very few runners There was a little time to chat about things We were talking about what we would wish for if we could have three wishes I told her I would wish for an end to Juvenile Diabetes and to lose 10 pounds Being nice I said ldquoyou can have my last wishrdquo She said I wish you would skip volunteering and just run this race next year

Admission Price Our aquatic center was having a promotion one night and advertised an elementary school night The kids could swim for free When we got to the pool we saw a promotional sign for the event In small lettering it read All swimmers must be accompanied by an adult We thought no big deal one of us can just stay and watch When we got to the front desk we found the lifeguard was enforcing the adult-admission price of $8

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CNFI Publishing - Products Books Chapbooks Bookmarks Plaques and Poetry Collector Cards Merchandising Products Coffee Mugs Mouse Pads Tiles 3x6 Coasters T - Shirts and Wall Plaques More info athttpliveadsFitnessDigestus

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

Featured PhotosFitnessDigestus feature

Chicago open water swim course at nighttop left

Kids race at Bicycle Blues and BBQtop right

Some team members volunteer at the local soup kitchenmiddle right

Ken Mauer loads the balls for hitting practice during a Twins baseball camp for

children 7-13 bottom right

Get your local event photos published in the next issue of FitnessDigestus E-mail

your photo to photoFitnessDigestus

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As he turned to go on he spat speculatively There was a sharp explosive crackle that startled him He spat again And again in the air before it could fall to the snow the spittle crackled He knew that at fifty below spittle crackled on the snow but this spittle had crackled in the air Undoubtedly it was colder than fifty below--how much colder he did not know But the temperature did not matter He was bound for the old claim on the left fork of Henderson Creek where the boys were already They had come over across the divide from the Indian Creek country while he had come the roundabout way to take a look at the possibilities of getting out logs in the spring from the islands in the Yukon He would be in to camp by six oclock a bit after dark it was true but the boys would be there a fire would be going and a hot supper would be ready As for lunch he pressed his hand against the protruding bundle under his jacket It was also under his shirt wrapped up in a handkerchief and lying against the naked skin It was the only way to keep the biscuits from freezing He smiled agreeably to himself as he thought of those biscuits each cut open and sopped in bacon grease and each enclosing a generous slice of fried bacon

He plunged in among the big spruce trees The trail was faint A foot of snow had fallen since the last sled had passed over and he was glad he was without a sled traveling light In fact he carried nothing but the lunch wrapped in the handkerchief He was surprised however at the cold It certainly was cold he concluded as he rubbed his numb nose and cheek-bones with his mittened hand He was a warm-whiskered man but the hair on his face did not protect the high cheek-bones and the eager nose that thrust itself aggressively into the frosty air

At the mans heels trotted a dog a big native husky the proper wolf-dog gray-coated and without any visible or temperamental difference from its brother the wild wolf The animal was depressed by the tremendous cold It knew that it was no time for

traveling Its instinct told it a truer tale than was told to the man by the mans judgment In reality it was not merely colder than fifty below zero it was colder than sixty below than seventy below It was seventy-five below zero Since the freezing point is thirty-two above zero it meant that one hundred and seven degrees of frost obtained The dog did not know anything about thermometers Possibly in its brain there was no sharp consciousness of a condition of very cold such as was in the mans brain But the brute had its instinct It experienced a vague but menacing apprehension that subdued it then made it slink along at the mans heels and that made it question eagerly every unwonted movement of the man as if expecting him to go into camp or to seek shelter somewhere and build a fire The dog had learned fire and it wanted fire or else to burrow under the snow and cuddle its warmth away from the air

The frozen moisture of its breathing had settled on its fur in a fine powder of frost and especially were its jowls muzzle and eyelashes whitened by its cry-stalled breath The mans red beard and mustache were likewise frosted but more solidly the deposit taking the form of ice and increasing with every warm moist breath he exhaled Also the man was chewing tobacco and the muzzle of ice held his lips so rigidly that he was unable to clear his chin when he expelled the juice The result was that a crystal beard of the color and solidity of amber was increasing its length on his chin If he fell down it would shatter itself like glass into brittle fragments But he did not mind the appendage It was the penalty all tobacco-chewers paid in that country and he had been out before in two cold snaps They had not been so cold as this he knew but by the spirit thermometer at Sixty Mile he knew they had been registered at fifty below and at fifty-five

He held on through the level stretch of woods for several miles crossed a wide flat of rigger-heads and dropped down a bank to the frozen bed of a

To Build a FireContinued

small stream This was Henderson Creek and he knew he was ten miles from the forks He looked at his watch It was ten oclock He was making four miles an hour and he calculated that he would arrive at the forks at half-past twelve He decided to celebrate that event by eating his lunch there

The dog dropped in again at his heels with a tail drooping discouragement as the man swung along the creek-bed The furrow of the old sled-trail was plainly visible but a dozen inches of snow covered the marks of the last runners In a month no man had come up or down that silent creek The man held steadily on He was not much given to thinking and just then particularly he had nothing to think about save that he would eat lunch at-the forks and that at six oclock he would be in camp with the boys There was nobody to talk to and had there been speech would have been impossible because of the ice-muzzle on his mouth So he continued monotonously to chew tobacco and to increase the length of his amber beard

Once in a while the thought reiterated itself that it was very cold and that he had never experienced such cold As he walked along he rubbed his cheek-bones and nose with the back of his mittened hand He did this automatically now and again changing hands But rub as he would the instant he stopped his cheek-bones went numb and the following instant the end of his nose went numb He was sure to frost his cheeks he knew that and experienced a pang of regret that he had not devised a nose-strap of the sort Bud wore in cold snaps Such a strap passed across the cheeks as well and saved them But it didnt matter much after all What were frosted cheeks A bit painful that was all they were never serious

Empty as the mans mind was of thoughts he was keenly observant and he noticed the changes in the creek the curves and bends and timber jams and always he sharply noted where he placed his feet Once coming around a bend he shied abruptly

like a startled horse curved away from the place where he had been walking and retreated several paces back along the trail The creek he knew was frozen clear to the bottom--no creek could contain water in that arctic winter--but he knew also that there were springs that bubbled out from the hillsides and ran along under the snow and on top the ice of the creek He knew that the coldest snaps never froze these springs and he knew likewise their danger They were traps They hid pools of water under the snow that might be three inches deep or three feet Sometimes a skin of ice half an inch thick covered them and in turn was covered by the snow Sometimes there were alternate layers of water and ice-skin so that when one broke through he kept on breaking through for a while sometimes wetting himself to the waist

That was why he had shied in such panic He had felt the give under his feet and heard the crackle of a snow-hidden ice-skin And to get his feet wet in such a temperature meant trouble and danger At the very least it meant delay for he would be forced to stop and build a fire and under its protection to bare his feet while he dried his socks and moccasins He stood and studied the creek-bed and its banks and decided that the flow of water came from the right He reflected a while rubbing his nose and cheeks then skirted to the left stepping gingerly and testing the footing for each step Once clear of the danger he took a fresh chew of tobacco and swung along at his four-mile gait

In the course of the next two hours he came upon several similar traps Usually the snow above the hidden pools had a sunken candied appearance that advertised the danger Once again however he had a close call and once suspecting danger he compelled the dog to go on in front The dog did not want to go It hung back until the man shoved it forward and then it went quickly across the white unbroken surface Suddenly it broke through floundered to one side and got away to firmer

To Build a FireContinued

To Build a FireContinued

footing It had wet its forefeet and legs and almost immediately the water that clung to it turned to ice It made quick efforts to lick the ice off its legs then dropped down in the snow and began to bite out the ice that had formed between the toes l his was a matter of instinct To permit the ice to remain would mean sore feet It did not know this It merely obeyed the mysterious prompting that arose from the deep crypts of its being But the man knew having achieved a judgment on the subject and he removed the mitten from his right hand and helped tear out the ice-particles He did not expose his fingers more than a minute and was astonished at the swift numbness that smote them It certainly was cold He pulled on the mitten hastily and beat the hand savagely across his chest

At twelve oclock the day was at its brightest Yet the sun was too far south an its winter journey to clear the horizon The bulge of the earth intervened between it arid Henderson Creek where the man walked under a clear sky at noon and cast no shadow At half-past twelve to the minute he arrived at the forks of the creek He was pleased at the speed he had made If he kept it up he would certainly be with the boys by six He unbuttoned his jacket and shirt and drew forth his lunch The action consumed no more than a quarter of a minute yet in that brief moment the numbness laid hold of the exposed fingers He did not put the mitten on but instead struck the fingers a dozen sharp smashes against his leg Then he sat down on a snow-covered log to eat The sting that followed upon the striking of his fingers against his leg ceased so quickly that he was startled He had had no chance to take a bite of biscuit He struck the fingers repeatedly and returned them to the mitten baring the other hand for the purpose of eating He tried to take a mouthful but the ice-muzzle prevented He had forgotten to build a fire and thaw out He chuckled at his foolishness and as he chuckled he noted the numbness creeping into the exposed fingers Also he noted that the stinging which had first come to his

toes when he sat down was already passing away He wandered whether the toes were warm or numb He moved them inside the moccasins and decided that they were numb

He pulled the mitten on hurriedly and stood up He was a bit frightened He stamped up and down until the stinging returned into the feet It certainly was cold was his thought That man from Sulphur Creek had spoken the truth when telling how cold it sometimes got in the country And he had laughed at him at the time That showed one must not be too sure of things There was no mistake about it it was cold He strode up and down stamping his feet and threshing his arms until reassured by the returning warmth Then he got out matches and proceeded to make a fire From the undergrowth where high water of the previous spring had lodged a supply of seasoned twigs he got his firewood Working carefully from a small beginning he soon had a roaring fire over which he thawed the ice from his face and in the protection of which he ate his biscuits For the moment the cold space was outwitted The dog took satisfaction in the fire stretching out close enough for warmth and far enough away to escape being singed

When the man had finished be filled his pipe and took his comfortable time over a smoke Then he pulled on his mittens settled the ear-flaps of his cap firmly about his ears and took the creek trail up the left fork The dog was disappointed and yearned back toward the fire This man did not know cold Possibly all the generations of his ancestry had been ignorant of cold of real cold of cold one hundred and seven degrees below freezing point But the dog knew all its ancestry knew and it had inherited the knowledge And it knew that it was not good to walk abroad in such fearful cold It was the time to lie snug in a hole in the snow and wait for a curtain of cloud to be drawn across the face of outer space whence this cold came On the other hand there was no keen intimacy between the dog and the man

The one was the toil-slave of the other and the only caresses it had ever received were the caresses of the whiplash and of harsh and menacing throat-sounds that threatened the whiplash So the dog made no effort to communicate its apprehension to the man It was not concerned in the welfare of the man it was for its own sake that it yearned back toward the fire But the man whistled and spoke to it with the sound of whiplashes and the dog swung in at the mans heel and followed after

The man took a chew of tobacco and proceeded to start a new amber beard Also his moist breath quickly powdered with white his mustache eyebrows and lashes There did not seem to be so many springs on the left fork of the Henderson and for half an hour the man saw no signs of any And then it happened At a place where there were no signs where the soft unbroken snow seemed to advertise solidity beneath tee man broke through It was not deep He wet himself halfway to the knees before he floundered out to the firm crust

He was angry and cursed his luck aloud He had hoped to get into camp with the boys at six oclock and this would delay him an hour for he would have to build a fire and dry out his foot-gear This was imperative at that low temperature--he knew that much and he turned aside to the bank which he climbed On top tangled in the underbrush about the trunks of several small spruce trees was a high-water deposit of dry firewood--sticks and twigs principally but also larger portions of seasoned branches and fine dry last-years grasses He threw down several large pieces on top of the snow This served for a foundation and prevented the young flame from drowning itself in the snow it otherwise would melt The flame he got by touching a match to a small shred of birch bark that he took from his pocket This burned even more readily than paper Placing it on the foundation he fed the young flame with wisps of dry grass and with the tiniest dry twigs

He worked slowly and carefully keenly aware of his danger Gradually as the flame grew stronger he increased the size of the twigs with which he fed it He squatted in the snow pulling the twigs out from their entanglement in the brush and feeding directly to the flame He knew there must be no failure When it is seventy-five below zero a man must not fail in his first attempt to build a fire--that is if his feet are wet If his feet are dry and he fails he can run along the trail for half a mile and restore his circulation But the circulation of wet and freezing feet cannot be restored by running when it is seventy-five below No matter how fast he runs the wet feet will freeze the harder

All this the man knew The old-timer on Sulphur Creek had told him about it the previous fall and now he was appreciating the advice Already all sensation had gone out of his feet To build the fire he had been forced to remove his mittens and the fingers had quickly gone numb His pace of four miles an hour had kept his heart pumping blood to the surface of his body and to all the extremities But the instant he stopped the action of the pump eased down The cold of space smote the unprotected tip of the planet and he being on that unprotected tip received the full force of the blow The blood of his body recoiled before it The blood was alive like the dog and like the dog it wanted to hide away and cover itself up from the fearful cold So long as he walked four miles an hour he pumped that blood willy-nilly to the surface but now it ebbed away and sank down into the recesses of his body The extremities were the first to feel its absence His wet feet froze the faster and his exposed fingers numbed the faster though they had not yet begun to freeze Nose and cheeks were already freezing while the skin of all his body chilled as it lost its blood

But he was safe Toes and nose and cheeks would be only touched by the frost for the fire was beginning to burn with strength He was feeding it

To Build a FireContinued

with twigs the size of his finger In another minute he would be able to feed it with branches the size of his wrier and then he could remove his wet toot-gear and while it dried he could keep his naked feet warm by the fire rubbing them at first of course with snow The fire was a success He was safe He remembered the advice of the old timer on Sulphur Creek and smiled The old-timer had been very serious in laying down the law that no man must travel alone in the Klondike after fifty below Well here he was he had had the accident he was alone and he had saved himself Those old-timers were rather womanish some of them he thought All a man had to do was to keep his head and he was all right Any man who was a man could travel alone But it was surprising the rapidity with which his cheeks and nose were freezing And he had not thought his fingers could go lifeless in so short a time Lifeless they were for he could scarcely make them move together to grip a twig and they seemed remote from his body and from him When he touched a twig he had to look and see whether or not he had hold of it The wires were pretty well down between him and his finger-ends

All of which counted for little There was the fire snapping and crackling and promising life with every dancing flame He started to untie his moccasins They were coated with ice the thick German socks were like sheaths of iron halfway to the knees and the moccasin strings were like rods of steel all twisted and knotted as by some conflagration For a moment he tugged with his numb fingers then realizing the folly of it he drew his sheath-knife

But before he could cut the strings it happened It was his own fault or rather his mistake He should not have built the fire under the spruce tree He should have built it in the open But it had been easier to pull the twigs from the brush and drop them directly on the fire Now the tree under which

he had done this carried a weight of snow on its boughs No wind had blown for weeks and each bough was fully freighted Each time he had pulled a twig he had communicated a slight agitation to the tree--an imperceptible agitation so far as he was concerned but an agitation sufficient to bring about the disaster High up in the tree one bough capsized its load of snow This fell on the boughs beneath capsizing them This process continued spreading out and involving the whole tree It grew like an avalanche and it descended without warning upon the man and the fire and the fire was blotted out Where it had burned was a mantle of fresh and disordered snow

The man was shocked It was as though he had just heard his own sentence of death For a moment he sat and stared at the spot where the fire had been Then he grew very calm Perhaps the old-timer on Sulphur Creek was right If he had only had a trail-mate he would have been in no danger now The trail-mate could have built the fire Well it was up to him to build the fire over again and this second time there must be no failure Even if he succeeded he would most likely lose some toes His feet must be badly frozen by now and there would be some time before the second fire Was ready

Such were his thoughts but he did not sit and think them He was busy all the time they were passing through his mind He made a new foundation for a fire this time in the open where no treacherous tree could blot it out Next he gathered dry grasses and tiny twigs from the high-water flotsam He could not bring his fingers together to pull them out but he was able to gather them by the handful In this way he got many rotten twigs and bits of green moss that were undesirable but it was the best he could do He worked methodically even collecting an armful of the larger branches to be used later when the fire gathered strength And all the while the dog sat and watched him a certain yearning wistfulness in its eyes for it looked upon

To Build a FireContinued

him as the fire-provider and the fire was slow in coming

When all was ready the man reached in his pocket for a second piece of birch bark He knew the bark was there and though he could not feel it with his fingers he could hear its crisp rustling as he fumbled for it Try as he would he could not clutch hold of it And all the time in his consciousness was the knowledge that each instant his feet were freezing This thought tended to put him in a panic but he fought against it and kept calm He pulled on his mittens with his teeth and threshed his arms back and forth beating his hands with all his might against his sides He did this sitting down and he stood up to do it and all the while the dog sat in the snow its wolf-brush of a tail curled around warmly over its forefeet its sharp wolf-ears pricked forward intently as it watched the man And the man as he beat and threshed with his arms and hands felt a great surge of envy as he regarded the creature that was warm ant secure in its natural covering

After a time he was aware of the first far-away signals of sensation in his beaten fingers The faint tingling grew stronger till it evolved into a stinging ache that was excruciating but which the man hailed with satisfaction He stripped the mitten from his right hand and fetched forth the birch bark The exposed fingers were quickly going numb again Next he brought out his bunch of sulphur matches But the tremendous cold had already driven the life out of his fingers In his effort to separate one match from the others the whole bunch fell in the snow He tried to pick it out of the snow but failed The dead fingers could neither touch nor clutch He was very careful He drove the thought of his freezing feet and nose and cheeks out of his mind devoting his whole soul to the matches He watched using the sense of vision in place of that of touch and when he saw his fingers on each side the bunch he dosed them--that is he willed to close them for the wires were down and the fingers did not obey He pulled

the mitten on the right hand and beat it fiercely against his knee Then with both mittened hands he scooped the bunch of matches along with much snow into his lap Yet he was no better off

After some manipulation he managed to get the bunch between the heels of his mittened hands In this fashion he carried it to his mouth The ice crackled and snapped when by a violent effort he opened his mouth He drew the lower jaw in curled the upper lip out of the way and scraped the bunch with his upper teeth in order to separate a match He succeeded in getting one which he dropped on his lap He was no better off He could not pick it up Then he devised a way He picked it up in his teeth and scratched it on his leg Twenty times he scratched before he succeeded in lighting it As it flamed he held it with his teeth to the birch bark But the burning brimstone went up his nostrils and into his lungs causing him to cough spasmodically The match fell into the snow and went out

The old-timer an Sulphur Creek was right he thought in the moment of controlled despair that ensued after fifty below a man should travel with a partner He beat his hands but failed in exciting any sensation Suddenly he bared both hands removing the mittens with his teeth He caught the whole bunch between the heels of his hands His arm muscles not being frozen enabled him to press the hand-heels tightly against the matches Then he scratched the bunch along his leg It flared into flame seventy sulphur matches at once There was no wind to blow them out He kept his head to one side to escape the strangling fumes and held the blazing bunch to the birth bark As he so held it he became aware of sensation in his hand His flesh was burning He could smell it Deep down below the surface he could feel it The sensation developed into pain that grew acute And still he endured it holding the flame of the matches clumsily to the bark that would not light readily because his own burning hands were in the way absorbing most of the flame

To Build a FireContinued

At last when he could endure no more he jerked his hands apart The blazing matches fell sizzling into the snow but the birch bark was alight He began laying dry grasses and the tiniest twigs on the flame He could not pick and choose for he had to lift the fuel between the heels of his hands Small pieces of rotten wood and green moss clung to the twigs and he bit them off as well as he could with his teeth He cherished the flame carefully and awkwardly It meant life and it must not perish The withdrawal of blood from the surface of his body now made him begin to shiver and he grew more awkward A large piece of green moss fell squarely on the little fire He tried to poke it out with his fingers but his shivering frame made him poke too far and he disrupted the nucleus of the little fire the burning grasses and tiny twigs separating and scattering He tried to poke them together again but in spite of the tenseness of the effort his shivering got away with him and the twigs were hopelessly scattered Each twig gushed a puff of smoke and went out The fire-provider had failed As he looked apathetically about him his eyes chanced on the dog sitting across the ruins of the fire from him in the snow making restless hunching movements slightly lifting one forefoot and then the other shifting its weight back and forth on them with wistful eagerness

The sight of the dog put a wild idea into his head He remembered the tale of the man caught in a blizzard who killed a steer and crawled inside the carcass and so was saved He would kill the dog and bury his hands in the warm body until the numbness went out of them Then he could build another fire He spoke to the dog calling it to him but in his voice was a strange note of fear that frightened the animal who had never known the man to speak in such way before Something was the matter and its suspicious nature sensed danger--it knew not what danger but somewhere somehow in its brain arose an apprehension of the man It flattened its ears down at the sound of the mans voice and its restless

hunching movements and the liftings and shiftings of its forefeet became more pronounced but it would not come to the man He got on his hands and knees and crawled toward the dog This unusual posture again excited suspicion and the animal sidled mincingly away

The man sat up in the snow for a moment and struggled for calmness Then he pulled on his mittens by means of his teeth and got upon his feet He glanced down at first in order to assure himself that he was really standing up for the absence of sensation in his feet left him unrelated to the earth His erect position in itself started to drive the webs of suspicion from the dogs mind and when he spoke peremptorily with the sound of whiplashes in his voice the dog rendered its customary allegiance and came to him As it came within reaching distance the man lost his control His arms flashed out to the dog and he experienced genuine surprise when he discovered that his hands could not clutch that there was neither bend nor feeling in the fingers He had forgotten for the moment that they were frozen and that they were freezing more and more All this happened quickly and before the animal could get away he encircled its body with his arms He sat down in the snow and in this fashion held the dog while it snarled and whined and struggled

But it was all he could do hold its body encircled in his arms and sit there He realized that he could not kill the dog There was no way to do it With his helpless hands he could neither draw nor hold his sheath knife nor throttle the animal He released it and it plunged wildly away with tail between its legs and still snarling It halted forty feet away and surveyed him curiously with ears sharply pricked forward The man looked down at his hands in order to locate them and found them hanging on the ends of his arms It struck him as curious that one should have to use his eyes in order to find out where his hands were He began threshing his arms back and forth beating the mittened hands against

To Build a FireContinued

his sides He did this for five minutes violently and his heart pumped enough blood up to the surface to put a stop to his shivering But no sensation was aroused in the hands He had an impression that they hung like weights on the ends of his arms but when he tried to run the impression down he could not find it

A certain fear of death dull and oppressive came to him This fear quickly became poignant as he realized that it was no longer a mere matter of freezing his fingers and toes or of losing his hands and feet but that it was a matter of life and death with the chances against him This threw him into a panic and he turned and ran up the creek-bed along the old dim trail The dog joined in behind and kept up with him He ran blindly without intention in fear such as he had never known in his life Slowly as he plowed and floundered through the snow he began to see things again the banks of the creek the old timber-jams the leafless aspens and the sky The running made him feel better He did not shiver Maybe if he ran on his feet would thaw out and anyway if he ran far enough he would reach camp and the boys Without doubt he would lose some fingers and toes and some of his face but the boys would take care of him and save the rest of him when he got there And at the same time there was another thought in his mind that said he would never get to the camp and the boys that it was too many miles away that the freezing had too great a start on him and that he would soon be stiff and dead This thought he kept in the background and refused to consider Sometimes it pushed itself forward and demanded to be heard but he thrust it back and strove to think of other things

It struck him as curious that he could run at all on feet so frozen that he could not feel them when they struck the earth and took the weigh of his body He seemed to himself to skim along above the surface and to have no connection with the earth Somewhere he had once seen a winged Mercury

and he wondered if Mercury felt as he felt when skimming over the earth

His theory of running until he reached camp and the boys had one flaw in it he lacked the endurance Several times he stumbled and finally he tottered crumpled up and fell When he tried to rise he failed He must sit and rest he decided and next time he would merely walk and keep on going As he sat and regained his breath he noted that he was feeling quite warm and comfortable He was not shivering and it even seemed that a warm glow had come to his chest and trunk And yet when he touched his nose or cheeks there was no sensation Running would not thaw them out Nor would it thaw out his hands and feet Then the thought came to him that the frozen portions of his body must be extending He tried to keep this thought down to forget it to think of something else he was aware of the panicky feeling that it caused and he was afraid of the panic But the thought asserted itself and persisted until it produced a vision of his body totally frozen This was too much and he made another wild run along the trail Once he slowed down to a walk but the thought of the freezing extending itself made him run again

And all the time the dog ran with him at his heels When he fell down a second time it curled its tad over its forefeet and sat in front of him facing him curiously eager and intent The warmth and security of the animal angered him and he cursed it till it flattened down its ears appealingly This time the shivering came more quickly upon the man He was losing in his battle with the frost It was creeping into his body from all sides The thought of it drove him on but he ran no more than a hundred feet when he staggered and pitched headlong It was his last panic When he had recovered his breath and control he sat up and entertained in his mind the conception of meeting death with dignity However the conception did not come to him in such terms His idea of it was that he had been making a fool of

To Build a FireContinued

himself running around like a chicken with its head cut off--such was the simile that occurred to him Well he was bound to freeze anyway and he might as well take it decently With this new-found peace of mind came the first glimmerings of drowsiness A good idea he thought to sleep off to death It was like salting an anesthetic Freezing was not so bad as people thought There were lots worse ways to die

He pictured the boys finding his body next day Suddenly he found himself with them coming along the trail and looking for himself And still with them he came around a turn in the trail and found himself lying in the snow He did not belong with himself any more for even then he was out of himself standing with the boys and looking at himself in the snow It certainly was cold was his thought When he got back to the States he could tell the folks what real cold was He drifted on from this to a vision of the old-timer on Sulphur Creek He could see him quite clearly warm and comfortable and smoking a pipe

You were right old boss you were right the man mumbled to the old-timer of Sulphur Creek

Then the man drowsed off into what seemed to him the most comfortable and satisfying sleep he had ever known The dog sat facing him and waiting The brief day drew to a close in a long slow twilight There were no signs of a fire to be made and besides never in the dogs experience had it known a man to sit like that in the snow and make no fire As the twilight drew on its eager yearning for the fire mastered it and with a great lifting and shifting of forefeet it whined softly then flattened its ears down in anticipation of being chidden by the man But the man remained silent Later the dog whined loudly And still later it crept close to the man and caught the scent of death This made the animal bristle and back away A little longer it delayed howling under the stars that leaped and danced and shone brightly in the cold sky Then it turned and trotted up the trail in the direction of the camp it knew where were the other food-providers and fire-providers

To Build a FireContinued

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Page 47: FitnessDigest.us Vol. 4.3 Cover

Baseball Walking Stick13 My sons friend grabbed his baseball bat and said to me this is my walking stick I politely ask him why he calls it that He replied because my dad says if I hit a home run with it I donrsquot have to run the bases ndash I can walk

My Bike My mountain bike was stolen a while back and my kids were really upset Ive been riding my road bike in its place Since then Ive been careful to lock my bike up when we go to the park

13 On this occasion I did not lock-up my sonrsquos bike up with mine He looked at me quizzically and said sternly lock my bike up too I tried to explain that his bike was not as expensive and therefor didnt need to be locked up Boy that was a mistake He made me feel a little dumb when he said Dad I dont care how expensive it is Its the only bike Irsquove got

North Iowa Roads

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Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

parent sports tipBy FitnessDigestus staff writer JGA

PAR

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TIP

Keeping Kids Focused13 Organize their thoughts Help them prioritize and make decisions based on value Even kids can understand the value of simple non-monetized choices Questions like ldquoShould I finish playing my gameboy game or pause it when they call my swimming eventrdquo

If kids are taught to make good decisions and not just find quick answers everyone wins

AugustGolf Month5th Friendship Day15th Relaxation Day25th Kiss and Make Up Day31st Trail Mix DaySeptemberLittle League Month12th Chocolate Milk Shake Day13th Positive Thinking Day16th Womenrsquos Friendship Day21st Miniature Golf DayOctoberBreast Cancer Awareness MonthNational Diabetes Month1st World Vegetarian Day4th Golf Day25th World Pasta Day

National Calendar

Au

gu

stSe

pte

mb

er

Oc

tob

er

Encourage friendships writing skills sharing thoughts and

experiencesEight different cards

YAGOTTAWANNA

Variety of pricing From single orders to bulk orders of 24 notecards

Learn more online

Stay in touch with your swimming or triathlon buddies

It is better to be safe then to try to beat the heat There are many options to stay cool and run during a hot-summer day Staying inside and running on the treadmill is a good one Remember staying safe is a top priority

Most workouts can be modified to work indoors This issuersquos workout is to do your usual run or interval set just stay inside and run it on the treadmill Visualize the different landmarks to see during your outdoor run

Coach Millerrsquos Quarterly ChallengeStay safe in the heatBy Mark Miller mmillerFitnessDigestus

A few years back we had a hot-spell similar to this yearrsquos record heat

I remember training for a long run and having to stop at the local swimming hole to cool off I literally took off my

shoes and jumped in with my running clothes on I was so hot

FitnessDigestUSEntertainment amp Inspiration

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OPEN WATER SWIMMING BY THE NUMBERS

In kilometers The shortest open water race included in the Fina World Championships

10107 How many miles it

is to swim from Cuba to the USA

5

1000Number of swimming strokes in a mile for a typical swimmer

31800About the number of calories it takes to swim 100 miles

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andor design for you

The minimum open water distance in kilometers that is considered a swimming-

marathon

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Open water safety means swimming in shallow water where there is a lifeguard or using an escort

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s w i m m i n g s h o r t s

Googles

13 Swimming fans can really appreciate a 200 IM when their goggles fill with water How about an Olympian Swimming a leg of the 400 Free Relay with his goggles across his opened mouth ndash and going 45rsquos A great team swimmer an Olympian wouldnrsquot let down his teammates by throwing them off or fixing them

500 Fly13 A world class butterflyer asked if he could swim butterfly in the 500 yard freestyle during a dual meet His goal was to break five minutes After considering the competition it seemed like a great way to make him really work a hard fly swim so we agreed Problem was he swam a 502 and the opposing coach complained to the officials because he embarrassed his swimmers Oh well you canrsquot win lsquoem all

Stories sent in by Robert Steele

No-No-No13 The other morning I was teaching front-streamlines to snotty nosed 8 year olds (some are literally snotty-nosed) One boy was taking a big gulp of air and holding his breath When he lifted his head he had to exhale and inhale before submerging again Swimmers will understand this does not work very well Kids need to learn to exhale underwater The first time he did it I told him to exhale underwater The second time I stopped him looked him in the eye and reminded him to exhale underwater The third and fourth times I started to get a little frustrated ldquoJohnny you need to exhale underwater so you can breath betterrdquo The fifth time as his head popped up for a breath I quickly asked ldquoJohnny Do you even know what exhale meansrdquo as he submerged his head below the water I could see him shake his head no-no-no

Favorite Potato Chips13We try to limit the junk food the kids eat at our house For lunch one day our son wanted some potato chips I gave him 3 large chips with his sandwich He started to cry and said he wanted one more chip ldquoI wanted four chipsrdquo he screamed I took the plate back When he wasnt looking I broke a chip in half and give it back to him with four chips

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

13 My cancer story is one of uniqueness Leave it to me to do something like cancer to its fullest It did not begin with a mammogram diagnosis or a lump My journey began about 4 years ago with some suspicious activity that turned into Pagetrsquos disease of the nipple which signaled the underlying cancer On April 1st I found out about my breast cancer through a biopsy that came back as positive for Pagetrsquos disease The onslaught of tests learning and decisions were dizzying I immediately went for an evaluation of the suspicious tissue and had to begin making decisions for my mastectomy I quickly learned there is a test called the BRAC Analysis which is a genetic test for breast and ovarian cancer Finally a piece of good news for me I did not have the gene

Decisions Now it was time to make decisions about my mastectomy and how I was going to handle reconstruction I discussed my options with my boyfriend Brian friends family members and even my principalboss I read books searched the Internet and contacted people I

Brandi ShipmanCancer Survivor and elite triathlete

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

know and knew from my past that had been directly affected and that I thought might have answers for me The outpouring of love encouragement and help during this process was overwhelming After meeting with four different doctors two surgeons and two plastic surgeons I decided to go with immediate reconstruction and was lucky enough to find two wonderful doctors They were willing to work together just because I wanted them to even though they had never done so before My surgery was scheduled for mid May

Mental Toughness13 My mental preparation at this point was very important I had to scrap any idea of competing in triathlons for the rest of the year and focus on a positive attitude of getting better I stopped thinking about what I wasnrsquot going to able to do and started thinking about what I could do that I was alive and kept my mind on the fact that so many others had made it before me

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links

Part 213 I was prepared by the doctors survivors and literature to be ldquodownrdquo for several weeks after my surgery I even took the rest of the school year off My surgery went well and I was out of the hospital the next day A few friends came to visit while I was in the hospital and my principal and vice principal brought the most wonderful picture of the faculty wearing pink for me I can only imagine what it looked like at Thornton Elementary on that day in May 2009 a sea of pink all for Brandi Shipman Shortly after their visit I received a text from my friend Margie Massey My friends from the gym wore pink for me that day as well The support brought tears to my eyes I was so excited to come home and be comfortable in my own home I just wish the stupid drain that was attached could have stayed at the hospital The pain from that was worse than the pain from the mastectomy

the most

powerful picture

13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Recovery ndash May13 Once I got home I slept and watched a lot of TV Friends visited and brought yummy food and my favorites I am not supposed to eat I ate them all My friend and co-worker set up a cancer care calendar that alerted anyone who logged on when I was having a doctorrsquos appointment or when I was in need of anything I felt like royalty as everyone took care of me I think Brian secretly enjoyed the fact that he wouldnrsquot have to cook for me each night My recovery was quicker than I thought as I was doing my best to get better and get the stinkinrsquo drain out of my skin I was out walking within a week and running within 3 weeks I couldnrsquot believe my recovery I know it was from all the prayers love and good care from Brian and the loved ones around me Life was looking better each day

ldquoLife was looking

better each dayrdquo

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Part three and part

four of I am Survivor

will be published in

the next edition of

FitnessDigestus

Get the convenience of

digital-delivery

Sign-up or subscribe at

httpFitnessDigestus

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During the past 150 years we have witnessed many remarkable advances against cancer a disease known to humanity for thousands of years The advances highlighted below represent a sampling of what has been accomplished to date

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

1882 William Halsted performs the first radical mastectomy to treat breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast the lymph nodes under the arm (axillary lymph nodes) and the chest muscles behind the breast (pectoralis major and pectoralis minor muscles) are removed Radical mastectomy will remain the standard operation for breast cancer until latter half of the 20th century when the use of modified radical mastectomy becomes widely accepted

1932 David H Patey develops the modified radical mastectomy for breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast axillary lymph nodes and pectoralis minor muscle behind the breast are removed The modified radical mastectomy is less disfiguring than the radical mastectomy and will eventually replace the radical mastectomy as a standard treatment option for breast cancer

1953 James Watson and Francis Crick discover the molecular structure of DNA (the double helix)

1963 The Health Insurance Plan (HIP) of Greater New York Study begins HIP is the first randomized controlled trial of periodic breast cancer screening with mammography

1882

1932

1953

1963

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1976 The results of a randomized clinical trial show that women with early breast cancer who receive post-operative (adjuvant) combination chemotherapy with the drugs cyclophosphamide methotrexate and 5-FU have improved disease-free survival

1981 A randomized clinical trial in the United Kingdom shows for the first time that the rates of survival local recurrence and tumor metastasis among women whose breast cancer is treated with modified radical mastectomy are not substantially different from those of women who are treated with radical mastectomy

1993 An NCI-convened international workshop on screening for breast cancer reports that screening with mammography reduces breast cancer mortality among women ages 50-69 This conclusion is based on a review of published and unpublished data from eight randomized controlled trials

2004 Data from the Womens Health Initiative (WHI) study show that women who take estrogen in combination with the hormone progestin have a greater risk of developing breast cancer than women who take estrogen alone The results also show that menopausal hormone therapy with estrogen alone has no benefit in disease prevention specifically in reducing the risks of colorectal cancer coronary heart disease and dementia

1976

1981

1993

2004

Although we still have a long way to go to reduce the toll of cancer in the United States and worldwide our research and public health efforts are beginning to pay dividends

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

Volunteering vs Participating13 My girl friend and I are involved in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation The local chapter raises awareness for the cause with a fun-run each year We have volunteered to help with the race five years in a row This year we were stationed at a water table where the runners pick-up cups of water to drink Toward the end of the race there are very few runners There was a little time to chat about things We were talking about what we would wish for if we could have three wishes I told her I would wish for an end to Juvenile Diabetes and to lose 10 pounds Being nice I said ldquoyou can have my last wishrdquo She said I wish you would skip volunteering and just run this race next year

Admission Price Our aquatic center was having a promotion one night and advertised an elementary school night The kids could swim for free When we got to the pool we saw a promotional sign for the event In small lettering it read All swimmers must be accompanied by an adult We thought no big deal one of us can just stay and watch When we got to the front desk we found the lifeguard was enforcing the adult-admission price of $8

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CNFI Publishing - Products Books Chapbooks Bookmarks Plaques and Poetry Collector Cards Merchandising Products Coffee Mugs Mouse Pads Tiles 3x6 Coasters T - Shirts and Wall Plaques More info athttpliveadsFitnessDigestus

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

Featured PhotosFitnessDigestus feature

Chicago open water swim course at nighttop left

Kids race at Bicycle Blues and BBQtop right

Some team members volunteer at the local soup kitchenmiddle right

Ken Mauer loads the balls for hitting practice during a Twins baseball camp for

children 7-13 bottom right

Get your local event photos published in the next issue of FitnessDigestus E-mail

your photo to photoFitnessDigestus

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As he turned to go on he spat speculatively There was a sharp explosive crackle that startled him He spat again And again in the air before it could fall to the snow the spittle crackled He knew that at fifty below spittle crackled on the snow but this spittle had crackled in the air Undoubtedly it was colder than fifty below--how much colder he did not know But the temperature did not matter He was bound for the old claim on the left fork of Henderson Creek where the boys were already They had come over across the divide from the Indian Creek country while he had come the roundabout way to take a look at the possibilities of getting out logs in the spring from the islands in the Yukon He would be in to camp by six oclock a bit after dark it was true but the boys would be there a fire would be going and a hot supper would be ready As for lunch he pressed his hand against the protruding bundle under his jacket It was also under his shirt wrapped up in a handkerchief and lying against the naked skin It was the only way to keep the biscuits from freezing He smiled agreeably to himself as he thought of those biscuits each cut open and sopped in bacon grease and each enclosing a generous slice of fried bacon

He plunged in among the big spruce trees The trail was faint A foot of snow had fallen since the last sled had passed over and he was glad he was without a sled traveling light In fact he carried nothing but the lunch wrapped in the handkerchief He was surprised however at the cold It certainly was cold he concluded as he rubbed his numb nose and cheek-bones with his mittened hand He was a warm-whiskered man but the hair on his face did not protect the high cheek-bones and the eager nose that thrust itself aggressively into the frosty air

At the mans heels trotted a dog a big native husky the proper wolf-dog gray-coated and without any visible or temperamental difference from its brother the wild wolf The animal was depressed by the tremendous cold It knew that it was no time for

traveling Its instinct told it a truer tale than was told to the man by the mans judgment In reality it was not merely colder than fifty below zero it was colder than sixty below than seventy below It was seventy-five below zero Since the freezing point is thirty-two above zero it meant that one hundred and seven degrees of frost obtained The dog did not know anything about thermometers Possibly in its brain there was no sharp consciousness of a condition of very cold such as was in the mans brain But the brute had its instinct It experienced a vague but menacing apprehension that subdued it then made it slink along at the mans heels and that made it question eagerly every unwonted movement of the man as if expecting him to go into camp or to seek shelter somewhere and build a fire The dog had learned fire and it wanted fire or else to burrow under the snow and cuddle its warmth away from the air

The frozen moisture of its breathing had settled on its fur in a fine powder of frost and especially were its jowls muzzle and eyelashes whitened by its cry-stalled breath The mans red beard and mustache were likewise frosted but more solidly the deposit taking the form of ice and increasing with every warm moist breath he exhaled Also the man was chewing tobacco and the muzzle of ice held his lips so rigidly that he was unable to clear his chin when he expelled the juice The result was that a crystal beard of the color and solidity of amber was increasing its length on his chin If he fell down it would shatter itself like glass into brittle fragments But he did not mind the appendage It was the penalty all tobacco-chewers paid in that country and he had been out before in two cold snaps They had not been so cold as this he knew but by the spirit thermometer at Sixty Mile he knew they had been registered at fifty below and at fifty-five

He held on through the level stretch of woods for several miles crossed a wide flat of rigger-heads and dropped down a bank to the frozen bed of a

To Build a FireContinued

small stream This was Henderson Creek and he knew he was ten miles from the forks He looked at his watch It was ten oclock He was making four miles an hour and he calculated that he would arrive at the forks at half-past twelve He decided to celebrate that event by eating his lunch there

The dog dropped in again at his heels with a tail drooping discouragement as the man swung along the creek-bed The furrow of the old sled-trail was plainly visible but a dozen inches of snow covered the marks of the last runners In a month no man had come up or down that silent creek The man held steadily on He was not much given to thinking and just then particularly he had nothing to think about save that he would eat lunch at-the forks and that at six oclock he would be in camp with the boys There was nobody to talk to and had there been speech would have been impossible because of the ice-muzzle on his mouth So he continued monotonously to chew tobacco and to increase the length of his amber beard

Once in a while the thought reiterated itself that it was very cold and that he had never experienced such cold As he walked along he rubbed his cheek-bones and nose with the back of his mittened hand He did this automatically now and again changing hands But rub as he would the instant he stopped his cheek-bones went numb and the following instant the end of his nose went numb He was sure to frost his cheeks he knew that and experienced a pang of regret that he had not devised a nose-strap of the sort Bud wore in cold snaps Such a strap passed across the cheeks as well and saved them But it didnt matter much after all What were frosted cheeks A bit painful that was all they were never serious

Empty as the mans mind was of thoughts he was keenly observant and he noticed the changes in the creek the curves and bends and timber jams and always he sharply noted where he placed his feet Once coming around a bend he shied abruptly

like a startled horse curved away from the place where he had been walking and retreated several paces back along the trail The creek he knew was frozen clear to the bottom--no creek could contain water in that arctic winter--but he knew also that there were springs that bubbled out from the hillsides and ran along under the snow and on top the ice of the creek He knew that the coldest snaps never froze these springs and he knew likewise their danger They were traps They hid pools of water under the snow that might be three inches deep or three feet Sometimes a skin of ice half an inch thick covered them and in turn was covered by the snow Sometimes there were alternate layers of water and ice-skin so that when one broke through he kept on breaking through for a while sometimes wetting himself to the waist

That was why he had shied in such panic He had felt the give under his feet and heard the crackle of a snow-hidden ice-skin And to get his feet wet in such a temperature meant trouble and danger At the very least it meant delay for he would be forced to stop and build a fire and under its protection to bare his feet while he dried his socks and moccasins He stood and studied the creek-bed and its banks and decided that the flow of water came from the right He reflected a while rubbing his nose and cheeks then skirted to the left stepping gingerly and testing the footing for each step Once clear of the danger he took a fresh chew of tobacco and swung along at his four-mile gait

In the course of the next two hours he came upon several similar traps Usually the snow above the hidden pools had a sunken candied appearance that advertised the danger Once again however he had a close call and once suspecting danger he compelled the dog to go on in front The dog did not want to go It hung back until the man shoved it forward and then it went quickly across the white unbroken surface Suddenly it broke through floundered to one side and got away to firmer

To Build a FireContinued

To Build a FireContinued

footing It had wet its forefeet and legs and almost immediately the water that clung to it turned to ice It made quick efforts to lick the ice off its legs then dropped down in the snow and began to bite out the ice that had formed between the toes l his was a matter of instinct To permit the ice to remain would mean sore feet It did not know this It merely obeyed the mysterious prompting that arose from the deep crypts of its being But the man knew having achieved a judgment on the subject and he removed the mitten from his right hand and helped tear out the ice-particles He did not expose his fingers more than a minute and was astonished at the swift numbness that smote them It certainly was cold He pulled on the mitten hastily and beat the hand savagely across his chest

At twelve oclock the day was at its brightest Yet the sun was too far south an its winter journey to clear the horizon The bulge of the earth intervened between it arid Henderson Creek where the man walked under a clear sky at noon and cast no shadow At half-past twelve to the minute he arrived at the forks of the creek He was pleased at the speed he had made If he kept it up he would certainly be with the boys by six He unbuttoned his jacket and shirt and drew forth his lunch The action consumed no more than a quarter of a minute yet in that brief moment the numbness laid hold of the exposed fingers He did not put the mitten on but instead struck the fingers a dozen sharp smashes against his leg Then he sat down on a snow-covered log to eat The sting that followed upon the striking of his fingers against his leg ceased so quickly that he was startled He had had no chance to take a bite of biscuit He struck the fingers repeatedly and returned them to the mitten baring the other hand for the purpose of eating He tried to take a mouthful but the ice-muzzle prevented He had forgotten to build a fire and thaw out He chuckled at his foolishness and as he chuckled he noted the numbness creeping into the exposed fingers Also he noted that the stinging which had first come to his

toes when he sat down was already passing away He wandered whether the toes were warm or numb He moved them inside the moccasins and decided that they were numb

He pulled the mitten on hurriedly and stood up He was a bit frightened He stamped up and down until the stinging returned into the feet It certainly was cold was his thought That man from Sulphur Creek had spoken the truth when telling how cold it sometimes got in the country And he had laughed at him at the time That showed one must not be too sure of things There was no mistake about it it was cold He strode up and down stamping his feet and threshing his arms until reassured by the returning warmth Then he got out matches and proceeded to make a fire From the undergrowth where high water of the previous spring had lodged a supply of seasoned twigs he got his firewood Working carefully from a small beginning he soon had a roaring fire over which he thawed the ice from his face and in the protection of which he ate his biscuits For the moment the cold space was outwitted The dog took satisfaction in the fire stretching out close enough for warmth and far enough away to escape being singed

When the man had finished be filled his pipe and took his comfortable time over a smoke Then he pulled on his mittens settled the ear-flaps of his cap firmly about his ears and took the creek trail up the left fork The dog was disappointed and yearned back toward the fire This man did not know cold Possibly all the generations of his ancestry had been ignorant of cold of real cold of cold one hundred and seven degrees below freezing point But the dog knew all its ancestry knew and it had inherited the knowledge And it knew that it was not good to walk abroad in such fearful cold It was the time to lie snug in a hole in the snow and wait for a curtain of cloud to be drawn across the face of outer space whence this cold came On the other hand there was no keen intimacy between the dog and the man

The one was the toil-slave of the other and the only caresses it had ever received were the caresses of the whiplash and of harsh and menacing throat-sounds that threatened the whiplash So the dog made no effort to communicate its apprehension to the man It was not concerned in the welfare of the man it was for its own sake that it yearned back toward the fire But the man whistled and spoke to it with the sound of whiplashes and the dog swung in at the mans heel and followed after

The man took a chew of tobacco and proceeded to start a new amber beard Also his moist breath quickly powdered with white his mustache eyebrows and lashes There did not seem to be so many springs on the left fork of the Henderson and for half an hour the man saw no signs of any And then it happened At a place where there were no signs where the soft unbroken snow seemed to advertise solidity beneath tee man broke through It was not deep He wet himself halfway to the knees before he floundered out to the firm crust

He was angry and cursed his luck aloud He had hoped to get into camp with the boys at six oclock and this would delay him an hour for he would have to build a fire and dry out his foot-gear This was imperative at that low temperature--he knew that much and he turned aside to the bank which he climbed On top tangled in the underbrush about the trunks of several small spruce trees was a high-water deposit of dry firewood--sticks and twigs principally but also larger portions of seasoned branches and fine dry last-years grasses He threw down several large pieces on top of the snow This served for a foundation and prevented the young flame from drowning itself in the snow it otherwise would melt The flame he got by touching a match to a small shred of birch bark that he took from his pocket This burned even more readily than paper Placing it on the foundation he fed the young flame with wisps of dry grass and with the tiniest dry twigs

He worked slowly and carefully keenly aware of his danger Gradually as the flame grew stronger he increased the size of the twigs with which he fed it He squatted in the snow pulling the twigs out from their entanglement in the brush and feeding directly to the flame He knew there must be no failure When it is seventy-five below zero a man must not fail in his first attempt to build a fire--that is if his feet are wet If his feet are dry and he fails he can run along the trail for half a mile and restore his circulation But the circulation of wet and freezing feet cannot be restored by running when it is seventy-five below No matter how fast he runs the wet feet will freeze the harder

All this the man knew The old-timer on Sulphur Creek had told him about it the previous fall and now he was appreciating the advice Already all sensation had gone out of his feet To build the fire he had been forced to remove his mittens and the fingers had quickly gone numb His pace of four miles an hour had kept his heart pumping blood to the surface of his body and to all the extremities But the instant he stopped the action of the pump eased down The cold of space smote the unprotected tip of the planet and he being on that unprotected tip received the full force of the blow The blood of his body recoiled before it The blood was alive like the dog and like the dog it wanted to hide away and cover itself up from the fearful cold So long as he walked four miles an hour he pumped that blood willy-nilly to the surface but now it ebbed away and sank down into the recesses of his body The extremities were the first to feel its absence His wet feet froze the faster and his exposed fingers numbed the faster though they had not yet begun to freeze Nose and cheeks were already freezing while the skin of all his body chilled as it lost its blood

But he was safe Toes and nose and cheeks would be only touched by the frost for the fire was beginning to burn with strength He was feeding it

To Build a FireContinued

with twigs the size of his finger In another minute he would be able to feed it with branches the size of his wrier and then he could remove his wet toot-gear and while it dried he could keep his naked feet warm by the fire rubbing them at first of course with snow The fire was a success He was safe He remembered the advice of the old timer on Sulphur Creek and smiled The old-timer had been very serious in laying down the law that no man must travel alone in the Klondike after fifty below Well here he was he had had the accident he was alone and he had saved himself Those old-timers were rather womanish some of them he thought All a man had to do was to keep his head and he was all right Any man who was a man could travel alone But it was surprising the rapidity with which his cheeks and nose were freezing And he had not thought his fingers could go lifeless in so short a time Lifeless they were for he could scarcely make them move together to grip a twig and they seemed remote from his body and from him When he touched a twig he had to look and see whether or not he had hold of it The wires were pretty well down between him and his finger-ends

All of which counted for little There was the fire snapping and crackling and promising life with every dancing flame He started to untie his moccasins They were coated with ice the thick German socks were like sheaths of iron halfway to the knees and the moccasin strings were like rods of steel all twisted and knotted as by some conflagration For a moment he tugged with his numb fingers then realizing the folly of it he drew his sheath-knife

But before he could cut the strings it happened It was his own fault or rather his mistake He should not have built the fire under the spruce tree He should have built it in the open But it had been easier to pull the twigs from the brush and drop them directly on the fire Now the tree under which

he had done this carried a weight of snow on its boughs No wind had blown for weeks and each bough was fully freighted Each time he had pulled a twig he had communicated a slight agitation to the tree--an imperceptible agitation so far as he was concerned but an agitation sufficient to bring about the disaster High up in the tree one bough capsized its load of snow This fell on the boughs beneath capsizing them This process continued spreading out and involving the whole tree It grew like an avalanche and it descended without warning upon the man and the fire and the fire was blotted out Where it had burned was a mantle of fresh and disordered snow

The man was shocked It was as though he had just heard his own sentence of death For a moment he sat and stared at the spot where the fire had been Then he grew very calm Perhaps the old-timer on Sulphur Creek was right If he had only had a trail-mate he would have been in no danger now The trail-mate could have built the fire Well it was up to him to build the fire over again and this second time there must be no failure Even if he succeeded he would most likely lose some toes His feet must be badly frozen by now and there would be some time before the second fire Was ready

Such were his thoughts but he did not sit and think them He was busy all the time they were passing through his mind He made a new foundation for a fire this time in the open where no treacherous tree could blot it out Next he gathered dry grasses and tiny twigs from the high-water flotsam He could not bring his fingers together to pull them out but he was able to gather them by the handful In this way he got many rotten twigs and bits of green moss that were undesirable but it was the best he could do He worked methodically even collecting an armful of the larger branches to be used later when the fire gathered strength And all the while the dog sat and watched him a certain yearning wistfulness in its eyes for it looked upon

To Build a FireContinued

him as the fire-provider and the fire was slow in coming

When all was ready the man reached in his pocket for a second piece of birch bark He knew the bark was there and though he could not feel it with his fingers he could hear its crisp rustling as he fumbled for it Try as he would he could not clutch hold of it And all the time in his consciousness was the knowledge that each instant his feet were freezing This thought tended to put him in a panic but he fought against it and kept calm He pulled on his mittens with his teeth and threshed his arms back and forth beating his hands with all his might against his sides He did this sitting down and he stood up to do it and all the while the dog sat in the snow its wolf-brush of a tail curled around warmly over its forefeet its sharp wolf-ears pricked forward intently as it watched the man And the man as he beat and threshed with his arms and hands felt a great surge of envy as he regarded the creature that was warm ant secure in its natural covering

After a time he was aware of the first far-away signals of sensation in his beaten fingers The faint tingling grew stronger till it evolved into a stinging ache that was excruciating but which the man hailed with satisfaction He stripped the mitten from his right hand and fetched forth the birch bark The exposed fingers were quickly going numb again Next he brought out his bunch of sulphur matches But the tremendous cold had already driven the life out of his fingers In his effort to separate one match from the others the whole bunch fell in the snow He tried to pick it out of the snow but failed The dead fingers could neither touch nor clutch He was very careful He drove the thought of his freezing feet and nose and cheeks out of his mind devoting his whole soul to the matches He watched using the sense of vision in place of that of touch and when he saw his fingers on each side the bunch he dosed them--that is he willed to close them for the wires were down and the fingers did not obey He pulled

the mitten on the right hand and beat it fiercely against his knee Then with both mittened hands he scooped the bunch of matches along with much snow into his lap Yet he was no better off

After some manipulation he managed to get the bunch between the heels of his mittened hands In this fashion he carried it to his mouth The ice crackled and snapped when by a violent effort he opened his mouth He drew the lower jaw in curled the upper lip out of the way and scraped the bunch with his upper teeth in order to separate a match He succeeded in getting one which he dropped on his lap He was no better off He could not pick it up Then he devised a way He picked it up in his teeth and scratched it on his leg Twenty times he scratched before he succeeded in lighting it As it flamed he held it with his teeth to the birch bark But the burning brimstone went up his nostrils and into his lungs causing him to cough spasmodically The match fell into the snow and went out

The old-timer an Sulphur Creek was right he thought in the moment of controlled despair that ensued after fifty below a man should travel with a partner He beat his hands but failed in exciting any sensation Suddenly he bared both hands removing the mittens with his teeth He caught the whole bunch between the heels of his hands His arm muscles not being frozen enabled him to press the hand-heels tightly against the matches Then he scratched the bunch along his leg It flared into flame seventy sulphur matches at once There was no wind to blow them out He kept his head to one side to escape the strangling fumes and held the blazing bunch to the birth bark As he so held it he became aware of sensation in his hand His flesh was burning He could smell it Deep down below the surface he could feel it The sensation developed into pain that grew acute And still he endured it holding the flame of the matches clumsily to the bark that would not light readily because his own burning hands were in the way absorbing most of the flame

To Build a FireContinued

At last when he could endure no more he jerked his hands apart The blazing matches fell sizzling into the snow but the birch bark was alight He began laying dry grasses and the tiniest twigs on the flame He could not pick and choose for he had to lift the fuel between the heels of his hands Small pieces of rotten wood and green moss clung to the twigs and he bit them off as well as he could with his teeth He cherished the flame carefully and awkwardly It meant life and it must not perish The withdrawal of blood from the surface of his body now made him begin to shiver and he grew more awkward A large piece of green moss fell squarely on the little fire He tried to poke it out with his fingers but his shivering frame made him poke too far and he disrupted the nucleus of the little fire the burning grasses and tiny twigs separating and scattering He tried to poke them together again but in spite of the tenseness of the effort his shivering got away with him and the twigs were hopelessly scattered Each twig gushed a puff of smoke and went out The fire-provider had failed As he looked apathetically about him his eyes chanced on the dog sitting across the ruins of the fire from him in the snow making restless hunching movements slightly lifting one forefoot and then the other shifting its weight back and forth on them with wistful eagerness

The sight of the dog put a wild idea into his head He remembered the tale of the man caught in a blizzard who killed a steer and crawled inside the carcass and so was saved He would kill the dog and bury his hands in the warm body until the numbness went out of them Then he could build another fire He spoke to the dog calling it to him but in his voice was a strange note of fear that frightened the animal who had never known the man to speak in such way before Something was the matter and its suspicious nature sensed danger--it knew not what danger but somewhere somehow in its brain arose an apprehension of the man It flattened its ears down at the sound of the mans voice and its restless

hunching movements and the liftings and shiftings of its forefeet became more pronounced but it would not come to the man He got on his hands and knees and crawled toward the dog This unusual posture again excited suspicion and the animal sidled mincingly away

The man sat up in the snow for a moment and struggled for calmness Then he pulled on his mittens by means of his teeth and got upon his feet He glanced down at first in order to assure himself that he was really standing up for the absence of sensation in his feet left him unrelated to the earth His erect position in itself started to drive the webs of suspicion from the dogs mind and when he spoke peremptorily with the sound of whiplashes in his voice the dog rendered its customary allegiance and came to him As it came within reaching distance the man lost his control His arms flashed out to the dog and he experienced genuine surprise when he discovered that his hands could not clutch that there was neither bend nor feeling in the fingers He had forgotten for the moment that they were frozen and that they were freezing more and more All this happened quickly and before the animal could get away he encircled its body with his arms He sat down in the snow and in this fashion held the dog while it snarled and whined and struggled

But it was all he could do hold its body encircled in his arms and sit there He realized that he could not kill the dog There was no way to do it With his helpless hands he could neither draw nor hold his sheath knife nor throttle the animal He released it and it plunged wildly away with tail between its legs and still snarling It halted forty feet away and surveyed him curiously with ears sharply pricked forward The man looked down at his hands in order to locate them and found them hanging on the ends of his arms It struck him as curious that one should have to use his eyes in order to find out where his hands were He began threshing his arms back and forth beating the mittened hands against

To Build a FireContinued

his sides He did this for five minutes violently and his heart pumped enough blood up to the surface to put a stop to his shivering But no sensation was aroused in the hands He had an impression that they hung like weights on the ends of his arms but when he tried to run the impression down he could not find it

A certain fear of death dull and oppressive came to him This fear quickly became poignant as he realized that it was no longer a mere matter of freezing his fingers and toes or of losing his hands and feet but that it was a matter of life and death with the chances against him This threw him into a panic and he turned and ran up the creek-bed along the old dim trail The dog joined in behind and kept up with him He ran blindly without intention in fear such as he had never known in his life Slowly as he plowed and floundered through the snow he began to see things again the banks of the creek the old timber-jams the leafless aspens and the sky The running made him feel better He did not shiver Maybe if he ran on his feet would thaw out and anyway if he ran far enough he would reach camp and the boys Without doubt he would lose some fingers and toes and some of his face but the boys would take care of him and save the rest of him when he got there And at the same time there was another thought in his mind that said he would never get to the camp and the boys that it was too many miles away that the freezing had too great a start on him and that he would soon be stiff and dead This thought he kept in the background and refused to consider Sometimes it pushed itself forward and demanded to be heard but he thrust it back and strove to think of other things

It struck him as curious that he could run at all on feet so frozen that he could not feel them when they struck the earth and took the weigh of his body He seemed to himself to skim along above the surface and to have no connection with the earth Somewhere he had once seen a winged Mercury

and he wondered if Mercury felt as he felt when skimming over the earth

His theory of running until he reached camp and the boys had one flaw in it he lacked the endurance Several times he stumbled and finally he tottered crumpled up and fell When he tried to rise he failed He must sit and rest he decided and next time he would merely walk and keep on going As he sat and regained his breath he noted that he was feeling quite warm and comfortable He was not shivering and it even seemed that a warm glow had come to his chest and trunk And yet when he touched his nose or cheeks there was no sensation Running would not thaw them out Nor would it thaw out his hands and feet Then the thought came to him that the frozen portions of his body must be extending He tried to keep this thought down to forget it to think of something else he was aware of the panicky feeling that it caused and he was afraid of the panic But the thought asserted itself and persisted until it produced a vision of his body totally frozen This was too much and he made another wild run along the trail Once he slowed down to a walk but the thought of the freezing extending itself made him run again

And all the time the dog ran with him at his heels When he fell down a second time it curled its tad over its forefeet and sat in front of him facing him curiously eager and intent The warmth and security of the animal angered him and he cursed it till it flattened down its ears appealingly This time the shivering came more quickly upon the man He was losing in his battle with the frost It was creeping into his body from all sides The thought of it drove him on but he ran no more than a hundred feet when he staggered and pitched headlong It was his last panic When he had recovered his breath and control he sat up and entertained in his mind the conception of meeting death with dignity However the conception did not come to him in such terms His idea of it was that he had been making a fool of

To Build a FireContinued

himself running around like a chicken with its head cut off--such was the simile that occurred to him Well he was bound to freeze anyway and he might as well take it decently With this new-found peace of mind came the first glimmerings of drowsiness A good idea he thought to sleep off to death It was like salting an anesthetic Freezing was not so bad as people thought There were lots worse ways to die

He pictured the boys finding his body next day Suddenly he found himself with them coming along the trail and looking for himself And still with them he came around a turn in the trail and found himself lying in the snow He did not belong with himself any more for even then he was out of himself standing with the boys and looking at himself in the snow It certainly was cold was his thought When he got back to the States he could tell the folks what real cold was He drifted on from this to a vision of the old-timer on Sulphur Creek He could see him quite clearly warm and comfortable and smoking a pipe

You were right old boss you were right the man mumbled to the old-timer of Sulphur Creek

Then the man drowsed off into what seemed to him the most comfortable and satisfying sleep he had ever known The dog sat facing him and waiting The brief day drew to a close in a long slow twilight There were no signs of a fire to be made and besides never in the dogs experience had it known a man to sit like that in the snow and make no fire As the twilight drew on its eager yearning for the fire mastered it and with a great lifting and shifting of forefeet it whined softly then flattened its ears down in anticipation of being chidden by the man But the man remained silent Later the dog whined loudly And still later it crept close to the man and caught the scent of death This made the animal bristle and back away A little longer it delayed howling under the stars that leaped and danced and shone brightly in the cold sky Then it turned and trotted up the trail in the direction of the camp it knew where were the other food-providers and fire-providers

To Build a FireContinued

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Page 48: FitnessDigest.us Vol. 4.3 Cover

parent sports tipBy FitnessDigestus staff writer JGA

PAR

EN

T

TIP

Keeping Kids Focused13 Organize their thoughts Help them prioritize and make decisions based on value Even kids can understand the value of simple non-monetized choices Questions like ldquoShould I finish playing my gameboy game or pause it when they call my swimming eventrdquo

If kids are taught to make good decisions and not just find quick answers everyone wins

AugustGolf Month5th Friendship Day15th Relaxation Day25th Kiss and Make Up Day31st Trail Mix DaySeptemberLittle League Month12th Chocolate Milk Shake Day13th Positive Thinking Day16th Womenrsquos Friendship Day21st Miniature Golf DayOctoberBreast Cancer Awareness MonthNational Diabetes Month1st World Vegetarian Day4th Golf Day25th World Pasta Day

National Calendar

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Encourage friendships writing skills sharing thoughts and

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Stay in touch with your swimming or triathlon buddies

It is better to be safe then to try to beat the heat There are many options to stay cool and run during a hot-summer day Staying inside and running on the treadmill is a good one Remember staying safe is a top priority

Most workouts can be modified to work indoors This issuersquos workout is to do your usual run or interval set just stay inside and run it on the treadmill Visualize the different landmarks to see during your outdoor run

Coach Millerrsquos Quarterly ChallengeStay safe in the heatBy Mark Miller mmillerFitnessDigestus

A few years back we had a hot-spell similar to this yearrsquos record heat

I remember training for a long run and having to stop at the local swimming hole to cool off I literally took off my

shoes and jumped in with my running clothes on I was so hot

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OPEN WATER SWIMMING BY THE NUMBERS

In kilometers The shortest open water race included in the Fina World Championships

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31800About the number of calories it takes to swim 100 miles

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The minimum open water distance in kilometers that is considered a swimming-

marathon

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Open water safety means swimming in shallow water where there is a lifeguard or using an escort

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13 Swimming fans can really appreciate a 200 IM when their goggles fill with water How about an Olympian Swimming a leg of the 400 Free Relay with his goggles across his opened mouth ndash and going 45rsquos A great team swimmer an Olympian wouldnrsquot let down his teammates by throwing them off or fixing them

500 Fly13 A world class butterflyer asked if he could swim butterfly in the 500 yard freestyle during a dual meet His goal was to break five minutes After considering the competition it seemed like a great way to make him really work a hard fly swim so we agreed Problem was he swam a 502 and the opposing coach complained to the officials because he embarrassed his swimmers Oh well you canrsquot win lsquoem all

Stories sent in by Robert Steele

No-No-No13 The other morning I was teaching front-streamlines to snotty nosed 8 year olds (some are literally snotty-nosed) One boy was taking a big gulp of air and holding his breath When he lifted his head he had to exhale and inhale before submerging again Swimmers will understand this does not work very well Kids need to learn to exhale underwater The first time he did it I told him to exhale underwater The second time I stopped him looked him in the eye and reminded him to exhale underwater The third and fourth times I started to get a little frustrated ldquoJohnny you need to exhale underwater so you can breath betterrdquo The fifth time as his head popped up for a breath I quickly asked ldquoJohnny Do you even know what exhale meansrdquo as he submerged his head below the water I could see him shake his head no-no-no

Favorite Potato Chips13We try to limit the junk food the kids eat at our house For lunch one day our son wanted some potato chips I gave him 3 large chips with his sandwich He started to cry and said he wanted one more chip ldquoI wanted four chipsrdquo he screamed I took the plate back When he wasnt looking I broke a chip in half and give it back to him with four chips

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

13 My cancer story is one of uniqueness Leave it to me to do something like cancer to its fullest It did not begin with a mammogram diagnosis or a lump My journey began about 4 years ago with some suspicious activity that turned into Pagetrsquos disease of the nipple which signaled the underlying cancer On April 1st I found out about my breast cancer through a biopsy that came back as positive for Pagetrsquos disease The onslaught of tests learning and decisions were dizzying I immediately went for an evaluation of the suspicious tissue and had to begin making decisions for my mastectomy I quickly learned there is a test called the BRAC Analysis which is a genetic test for breast and ovarian cancer Finally a piece of good news for me I did not have the gene

Decisions Now it was time to make decisions about my mastectomy and how I was going to handle reconstruction I discussed my options with my boyfriend Brian friends family members and even my principalboss I read books searched the Internet and contacted people I

Brandi ShipmanCancer Survivor and elite triathlete

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

know and knew from my past that had been directly affected and that I thought might have answers for me The outpouring of love encouragement and help during this process was overwhelming After meeting with four different doctors two surgeons and two plastic surgeons I decided to go with immediate reconstruction and was lucky enough to find two wonderful doctors They were willing to work together just because I wanted them to even though they had never done so before My surgery was scheduled for mid May

Mental Toughness13 My mental preparation at this point was very important I had to scrap any idea of competing in triathlons for the rest of the year and focus on a positive attitude of getting better I stopped thinking about what I wasnrsquot going to able to do and started thinking about what I could do that I was alive and kept my mind on the fact that so many others had made it before me

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links

Part 213 I was prepared by the doctors survivors and literature to be ldquodownrdquo for several weeks after my surgery I even took the rest of the school year off My surgery went well and I was out of the hospital the next day A few friends came to visit while I was in the hospital and my principal and vice principal brought the most wonderful picture of the faculty wearing pink for me I can only imagine what it looked like at Thornton Elementary on that day in May 2009 a sea of pink all for Brandi Shipman Shortly after their visit I received a text from my friend Margie Massey My friends from the gym wore pink for me that day as well The support brought tears to my eyes I was so excited to come home and be comfortable in my own home I just wish the stupid drain that was attached could have stayed at the hospital The pain from that was worse than the pain from the mastectomy

the most

powerful picture

13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Recovery ndash May13 Once I got home I slept and watched a lot of TV Friends visited and brought yummy food and my favorites I am not supposed to eat I ate them all My friend and co-worker set up a cancer care calendar that alerted anyone who logged on when I was having a doctorrsquos appointment or when I was in need of anything I felt like royalty as everyone took care of me I think Brian secretly enjoyed the fact that he wouldnrsquot have to cook for me each night My recovery was quicker than I thought as I was doing my best to get better and get the stinkinrsquo drain out of my skin I was out walking within a week and running within 3 weeks I couldnrsquot believe my recovery I know it was from all the prayers love and good care from Brian and the loved ones around me Life was looking better each day

ldquoLife was looking

better each dayrdquo

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Part three and part

four of I am Survivor

will be published in

the next edition of

FitnessDigestus

Get the convenience of

digital-delivery

Sign-up or subscribe at

httpFitnessDigestus

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During the past 150 years we have witnessed many remarkable advances against cancer a disease known to humanity for thousands of years The advances highlighted below represent a sampling of what has been accomplished to date

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

1882 William Halsted performs the first radical mastectomy to treat breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast the lymph nodes under the arm (axillary lymph nodes) and the chest muscles behind the breast (pectoralis major and pectoralis minor muscles) are removed Radical mastectomy will remain the standard operation for breast cancer until latter half of the 20th century when the use of modified radical mastectomy becomes widely accepted

1932 David H Patey develops the modified radical mastectomy for breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast axillary lymph nodes and pectoralis minor muscle behind the breast are removed The modified radical mastectomy is less disfiguring than the radical mastectomy and will eventually replace the radical mastectomy as a standard treatment option for breast cancer

1953 James Watson and Francis Crick discover the molecular structure of DNA (the double helix)

1963 The Health Insurance Plan (HIP) of Greater New York Study begins HIP is the first randomized controlled trial of periodic breast cancer screening with mammography

1882

1932

1953

1963

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1976 The results of a randomized clinical trial show that women with early breast cancer who receive post-operative (adjuvant) combination chemotherapy with the drugs cyclophosphamide methotrexate and 5-FU have improved disease-free survival

1981 A randomized clinical trial in the United Kingdom shows for the first time that the rates of survival local recurrence and tumor metastasis among women whose breast cancer is treated with modified radical mastectomy are not substantially different from those of women who are treated with radical mastectomy

1993 An NCI-convened international workshop on screening for breast cancer reports that screening with mammography reduces breast cancer mortality among women ages 50-69 This conclusion is based on a review of published and unpublished data from eight randomized controlled trials

2004 Data from the Womens Health Initiative (WHI) study show that women who take estrogen in combination with the hormone progestin have a greater risk of developing breast cancer than women who take estrogen alone The results also show that menopausal hormone therapy with estrogen alone has no benefit in disease prevention specifically in reducing the risks of colorectal cancer coronary heart disease and dementia

1976

1981

1993

2004

Although we still have a long way to go to reduce the toll of cancer in the United States and worldwide our research and public health efforts are beginning to pay dividends

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

Volunteering vs Participating13 My girl friend and I are involved in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation The local chapter raises awareness for the cause with a fun-run each year We have volunteered to help with the race five years in a row This year we were stationed at a water table where the runners pick-up cups of water to drink Toward the end of the race there are very few runners There was a little time to chat about things We were talking about what we would wish for if we could have three wishes I told her I would wish for an end to Juvenile Diabetes and to lose 10 pounds Being nice I said ldquoyou can have my last wishrdquo She said I wish you would skip volunteering and just run this race next year

Admission Price Our aquatic center was having a promotion one night and advertised an elementary school night The kids could swim for free When we got to the pool we saw a promotional sign for the event In small lettering it read All swimmers must be accompanied by an adult We thought no big deal one of us can just stay and watch When we got to the front desk we found the lifeguard was enforcing the adult-admission price of $8

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CNFI Publishing - Products Books Chapbooks Bookmarks Plaques and Poetry Collector Cards Merchandising Products Coffee Mugs Mouse Pads Tiles 3x6 Coasters T - Shirts and Wall Plaques More info athttpliveadsFitnessDigestus

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

Featured PhotosFitnessDigestus feature

Chicago open water swim course at nighttop left

Kids race at Bicycle Blues and BBQtop right

Some team members volunteer at the local soup kitchenmiddle right

Ken Mauer loads the balls for hitting practice during a Twins baseball camp for

children 7-13 bottom right

Get your local event photos published in the next issue of FitnessDigestus E-mail

your photo to photoFitnessDigestus

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As he turned to go on he spat speculatively There was a sharp explosive crackle that startled him He spat again And again in the air before it could fall to the snow the spittle crackled He knew that at fifty below spittle crackled on the snow but this spittle had crackled in the air Undoubtedly it was colder than fifty below--how much colder he did not know But the temperature did not matter He was bound for the old claim on the left fork of Henderson Creek where the boys were already They had come over across the divide from the Indian Creek country while he had come the roundabout way to take a look at the possibilities of getting out logs in the spring from the islands in the Yukon He would be in to camp by six oclock a bit after dark it was true but the boys would be there a fire would be going and a hot supper would be ready As for lunch he pressed his hand against the protruding bundle under his jacket It was also under his shirt wrapped up in a handkerchief and lying against the naked skin It was the only way to keep the biscuits from freezing He smiled agreeably to himself as he thought of those biscuits each cut open and sopped in bacon grease and each enclosing a generous slice of fried bacon

He plunged in among the big spruce trees The trail was faint A foot of snow had fallen since the last sled had passed over and he was glad he was without a sled traveling light In fact he carried nothing but the lunch wrapped in the handkerchief He was surprised however at the cold It certainly was cold he concluded as he rubbed his numb nose and cheek-bones with his mittened hand He was a warm-whiskered man but the hair on his face did not protect the high cheek-bones and the eager nose that thrust itself aggressively into the frosty air

At the mans heels trotted a dog a big native husky the proper wolf-dog gray-coated and without any visible or temperamental difference from its brother the wild wolf The animal was depressed by the tremendous cold It knew that it was no time for

traveling Its instinct told it a truer tale than was told to the man by the mans judgment In reality it was not merely colder than fifty below zero it was colder than sixty below than seventy below It was seventy-five below zero Since the freezing point is thirty-two above zero it meant that one hundred and seven degrees of frost obtained The dog did not know anything about thermometers Possibly in its brain there was no sharp consciousness of a condition of very cold such as was in the mans brain But the brute had its instinct It experienced a vague but menacing apprehension that subdued it then made it slink along at the mans heels and that made it question eagerly every unwonted movement of the man as if expecting him to go into camp or to seek shelter somewhere and build a fire The dog had learned fire and it wanted fire or else to burrow under the snow and cuddle its warmth away from the air

The frozen moisture of its breathing had settled on its fur in a fine powder of frost and especially were its jowls muzzle and eyelashes whitened by its cry-stalled breath The mans red beard and mustache were likewise frosted but more solidly the deposit taking the form of ice and increasing with every warm moist breath he exhaled Also the man was chewing tobacco and the muzzle of ice held his lips so rigidly that he was unable to clear his chin when he expelled the juice The result was that a crystal beard of the color and solidity of amber was increasing its length on his chin If he fell down it would shatter itself like glass into brittle fragments But he did not mind the appendage It was the penalty all tobacco-chewers paid in that country and he had been out before in two cold snaps They had not been so cold as this he knew but by the spirit thermometer at Sixty Mile he knew they had been registered at fifty below and at fifty-five

He held on through the level stretch of woods for several miles crossed a wide flat of rigger-heads and dropped down a bank to the frozen bed of a

To Build a FireContinued

small stream This was Henderson Creek and he knew he was ten miles from the forks He looked at his watch It was ten oclock He was making four miles an hour and he calculated that he would arrive at the forks at half-past twelve He decided to celebrate that event by eating his lunch there

The dog dropped in again at his heels with a tail drooping discouragement as the man swung along the creek-bed The furrow of the old sled-trail was plainly visible but a dozen inches of snow covered the marks of the last runners In a month no man had come up or down that silent creek The man held steadily on He was not much given to thinking and just then particularly he had nothing to think about save that he would eat lunch at-the forks and that at six oclock he would be in camp with the boys There was nobody to talk to and had there been speech would have been impossible because of the ice-muzzle on his mouth So he continued monotonously to chew tobacco and to increase the length of his amber beard

Once in a while the thought reiterated itself that it was very cold and that he had never experienced such cold As he walked along he rubbed his cheek-bones and nose with the back of his mittened hand He did this automatically now and again changing hands But rub as he would the instant he stopped his cheek-bones went numb and the following instant the end of his nose went numb He was sure to frost his cheeks he knew that and experienced a pang of regret that he had not devised a nose-strap of the sort Bud wore in cold snaps Such a strap passed across the cheeks as well and saved them But it didnt matter much after all What were frosted cheeks A bit painful that was all they were never serious

Empty as the mans mind was of thoughts he was keenly observant and he noticed the changes in the creek the curves and bends and timber jams and always he sharply noted where he placed his feet Once coming around a bend he shied abruptly

like a startled horse curved away from the place where he had been walking and retreated several paces back along the trail The creek he knew was frozen clear to the bottom--no creek could contain water in that arctic winter--but he knew also that there were springs that bubbled out from the hillsides and ran along under the snow and on top the ice of the creek He knew that the coldest snaps never froze these springs and he knew likewise their danger They were traps They hid pools of water under the snow that might be three inches deep or three feet Sometimes a skin of ice half an inch thick covered them and in turn was covered by the snow Sometimes there were alternate layers of water and ice-skin so that when one broke through he kept on breaking through for a while sometimes wetting himself to the waist

That was why he had shied in such panic He had felt the give under his feet and heard the crackle of a snow-hidden ice-skin And to get his feet wet in such a temperature meant trouble and danger At the very least it meant delay for he would be forced to stop and build a fire and under its protection to bare his feet while he dried his socks and moccasins He stood and studied the creek-bed and its banks and decided that the flow of water came from the right He reflected a while rubbing his nose and cheeks then skirted to the left stepping gingerly and testing the footing for each step Once clear of the danger he took a fresh chew of tobacco and swung along at his four-mile gait

In the course of the next two hours he came upon several similar traps Usually the snow above the hidden pools had a sunken candied appearance that advertised the danger Once again however he had a close call and once suspecting danger he compelled the dog to go on in front The dog did not want to go It hung back until the man shoved it forward and then it went quickly across the white unbroken surface Suddenly it broke through floundered to one side and got away to firmer

To Build a FireContinued

To Build a FireContinued

footing It had wet its forefeet and legs and almost immediately the water that clung to it turned to ice It made quick efforts to lick the ice off its legs then dropped down in the snow and began to bite out the ice that had formed between the toes l his was a matter of instinct To permit the ice to remain would mean sore feet It did not know this It merely obeyed the mysterious prompting that arose from the deep crypts of its being But the man knew having achieved a judgment on the subject and he removed the mitten from his right hand and helped tear out the ice-particles He did not expose his fingers more than a minute and was astonished at the swift numbness that smote them It certainly was cold He pulled on the mitten hastily and beat the hand savagely across his chest

At twelve oclock the day was at its brightest Yet the sun was too far south an its winter journey to clear the horizon The bulge of the earth intervened between it arid Henderson Creek where the man walked under a clear sky at noon and cast no shadow At half-past twelve to the minute he arrived at the forks of the creek He was pleased at the speed he had made If he kept it up he would certainly be with the boys by six He unbuttoned his jacket and shirt and drew forth his lunch The action consumed no more than a quarter of a minute yet in that brief moment the numbness laid hold of the exposed fingers He did not put the mitten on but instead struck the fingers a dozen sharp smashes against his leg Then he sat down on a snow-covered log to eat The sting that followed upon the striking of his fingers against his leg ceased so quickly that he was startled He had had no chance to take a bite of biscuit He struck the fingers repeatedly and returned them to the mitten baring the other hand for the purpose of eating He tried to take a mouthful but the ice-muzzle prevented He had forgotten to build a fire and thaw out He chuckled at his foolishness and as he chuckled he noted the numbness creeping into the exposed fingers Also he noted that the stinging which had first come to his

toes when he sat down was already passing away He wandered whether the toes were warm or numb He moved them inside the moccasins and decided that they were numb

He pulled the mitten on hurriedly and stood up He was a bit frightened He stamped up and down until the stinging returned into the feet It certainly was cold was his thought That man from Sulphur Creek had spoken the truth when telling how cold it sometimes got in the country And he had laughed at him at the time That showed one must not be too sure of things There was no mistake about it it was cold He strode up and down stamping his feet and threshing his arms until reassured by the returning warmth Then he got out matches and proceeded to make a fire From the undergrowth where high water of the previous spring had lodged a supply of seasoned twigs he got his firewood Working carefully from a small beginning he soon had a roaring fire over which he thawed the ice from his face and in the protection of which he ate his biscuits For the moment the cold space was outwitted The dog took satisfaction in the fire stretching out close enough for warmth and far enough away to escape being singed

When the man had finished be filled his pipe and took his comfortable time over a smoke Then he pulled on his mittens settled the ear-flaps of his cap firmly about his ears and took the creek trail up the left fork The dog was disappointed and yearned back toward the fire This man did not know cold Possibly all the generations of his ancestry had been ignorant of cold of real cold of cold one hundred and seven degrees below freezing point But the dog knew all its ancestry knew and it had inherited the knowledge And it knew that it was not good to walk abroad in such fearful cold It was the time to lie snug in a hole in the snow and wait for a curtain of cloud to be drawn across the face of outer space whence this cold came On the other hand there was no keen intimacy between the dog and the man

The one was the toil-slave of the other and the only caresses it had ever received were the caresses of the whiplash and of harsh and menacing throat-sounds that threatened the whiplash So the dog made no effort to communicate its apprehension to the man It was not concerned in the welfare of the man it was for its own sake that it yearned back toward the fire But the man whistled and spoke to it with the sound of whiplashes and the dog swung in at the mans heel and followed after

The man took a chew of tobacco and proceeded to start a new amber beard Also his moist breath quickly powdered with white his mustache eyebrows and lashes There did not seem to be so many springs on the left fork of the Henderson and for half an hour the man saw no signs of any And then it happened At a place where there were no signs where the soft unbroken snow seemed to advertise solidity beneath tee man broke through It was not deep He wet himself halfway to the knees before he floundered out to the firm crust

He was angry and cursed his luck aloud He had hoped to get into camp with the boys at six oclock and this would delay him an hour for he would have to build a fire and dry out his foot-gear This was imperative at that low temperature--he knew that much and he turned aside to the bank which he climbed On top tangled in the underbrush about the trunks of several small spruce trees was a high-water deposit of dry firewood--sticks and twigs principally but also larger portions of seasoned branches and fine dry last-years grasses He threw down several large pieces on top of the snow This served for a foundation and prevented the young flame from drowning itself in the snow it otherwise would melt The flame he got by touching a match to a small shred of birch bark that he took from his pocket This burned even more readily than paper Placing it on the foundation he fed the young flame with wisps of dry grass and with the tiniest dry twigs

He worked slowly and carefully keenly aware of his danger Gradually as the flame grew stronger he increased the size of the twigs with which he fed it He squatted in the snow pulling the twigs out from their entanglement in the brush and feeding directly to the flame He knew there must be no failure When it is seventy-five below zero a man must not fail in his first attempt to build a fire--that is if his feet are wet If his feet are dry and he fails he can run along the trail for half a mile and restore his circulation But the circulation of wet and freezing feet cannot be restored by running when it is seventy-five below No matter how fast he runs the wet feet will freeze the harder

All this the man knew The old-timer on Sulphur Creek had told him about it the previous fall and now he was appreciating the advice Already all sensation had gone out of his feet To build the fire he had been forced to remove his mittens and the fingers had quickly gone numb His pace of four miles an hour had kept his heart pumping blood to the surface of his body and to all the extremities But the instant he stopped the action of the pump eased down The cold of space smote the unprotected tip of the planet and he being on that unprotected tip received the full force of the blow The blood of his body recoiled before it The blood was alive like the dog and like the dog it wanted to hide away and cover itself up from the fearful cold So long as he walked four miles an hour he pumped that blood willy-nilly to the surface but now it ebbed away and sank down into the recesses of his body The extremities were the first to feel its absence His wet feet froze the faster and his exposed fingers numbed the faster though they had not yet begun to freeze Nose and cheeks were already freezing while the skin of all his body chilled as it lost its blood

But he was safe Toes and nose and cheeks would be only touched by the frost for the fire was beginning to burn with strength He was feeding it

To Build a FireContinued

with twigs the size of his finger In another minute he would be able to feed it with branches the size of his wrier and then he could remove his wet toot-gear and while it dried he could keep his naked feet warm by the fire rubbing them at first of course with snow The fire was a success He was safe He remembered the advice of the old timer on Sulphur Creek and smiled The old-timer had been very serious in laying down the law that no man must travel alone in the Klondike after fifty below Well here he was he had had the accident he was alone and he had saved himself Those old-timers were rather womanish some of them he thought All a man had to do was to keep his head and he was all right Any man who was a man could travel alone But it was surprising the rapidity with which his cheeks and nose were freezing And he had not thought his fingers could go lifeless in so short a time Lifeless they were for he could scarcely make them move together to grip a twig and they seemed remote from his body and from him When he touched a twig he had to look and see whether or not he had hold of it The wires were pretty well down between him and his finger-ends

All of which counted for little There was the fire snapping and crackling and promising life with every dancing flame He started to untie his moccasins They were coated with ice the thick German socks were like sheaths of iron halfway to the knees and the moccasin strings were like rods of steel all twisted and knotted as by some conflagration For a moment he tugged with his numb fingers then realizing the folly of it he drew his sheath-knife

But before he could cut the strings it happened It was his own fault or rather his mistake He should not have built the fire under the spruce tree He should have built it in the open But it had been easier to pull the twigs from the brush and drop them directly on the fire Now the tree under which

he had done this carried a weight of snow on its boughs No wind had blown for weeks and each bough was fully freighted Each time he had pulled a twig he had communicated a slight agitation to the tree--an imperceptible agitation so far as he was concerned but an agitation sufficient to bring about the disaster High up in the tree one bough capsized its load of snow This fell on the boughs beneath capsizing them This process continued spreading out and involving the whole tree It grew like an avalanche and it descended without warning upon the man and the fire and the fire was blotted out Where it had burned was a mantle of fresh and disordered snow

The man was shocked It was as though he had just heard his own sentence of death For a moment he sat and stared at the spot where the fire had been Then he grew very calm Perhaps the old-timer on Sulphur Creek was right If he had only had a trail-mate he would have been in no danger now The trail-mate could have built the fire Well it was up to him to build the fire over again and this second time there must be no failure Even if he succeeded he would most likely lose some toes His feet must be badly frozen by now and there would be some time before the second fire Was ready

Such were his thoughts but he did not sit and think them He was busy all the time they were passing through his mind He made a new foundation for a fire this time in the open where no treacherous tree could blot it out Next he gathered dry grasses and tiny twigs from the high-water flotsam He could not bring his fingers together to pull them out but he was able to gather them by the handful In this way he got many rotten twigs and bits of green moss that were undesirable but it was the best he could do He worked methodically even collecting an armful of the larger branches to be used later when the fire gathered strength And all the while the dog sat and watched him a certain yearning wistfulness in its eyes for it looked upon

To Build a FireContinued

him as the fire-provider and the fire was slow in coming

When all was ready the man reached in his pocket for a second piece of birch bark He knew the bark was there and though he could not feel it with his fingers he could hear its crisp rustling as he fumbled for it Try as he would he could not clutch hold of it And all the time in his consciousness was the knowledge that each instant his feet were freezing This thought tended to put him in a panic but he fought against it and kept calm He pulled on his mittens with his teeth and threshed his arms back and forth beating his hands with all his might against his sides He did this sitting down and he stood up to do it and all the while the dog sat in the snow its wolf-brush of a tail curled around warmly over its forefeet its sharp wolf-ears pricked forward intently as it watched the man And the man as he beat and threshed with his arms and hands felt a great surge of envy as he regarded the creature that was warm ant secure in its natural covering

After a time he was aware of the first far-away signals of sensation in his beaten fingers The faint tingling grew stronger till it evolved into a stinging ache that was excruciating but which the man hailed with satisfaction He stripped the mitten from his right hand and fetched forth the birch bark The exposed fingers were quickly going numb again Next he brought out his bunch of sulphur matches But the tremendous cold had already driven the life out of his fingers In his effort to separate one match from the others the whole bunch fell in the snow He tried to pick it out of the snow but failed The dead fingers could neither touch nor clutch He was very careful He drove the thought of his freezing feet and nose and cheeks out of his mind devoting his whole soul to the matches He watched using the sense of vision in place of that of touch and when he saw his fingers on each side the bunch he dosed them--that is he willed to close them for the wires were down and the fingers did not obey He pulled

the mitten on the right hand and beat it fiercely against his knee Then with both mittened hands he scooped the bunch of matches along with much snow into his lap Yet he was no better off

After some manipulation he managed to get the bunch between the heels of his mittened hands In this fashion he carried it to his mouth The ice crackled and snapped when by a violent effort he opened his mouth He drew the lower jaw in curled the upper lip out of the way and scraped the bunch with his upper teeth in order to separate a match He succeeded in getting one which he dropped on his lap He was no better off He could not pick it up Then he devised a way He picked it up in his teeth and scratched it on his leg Twenty times he scratched before he succeeded in lighting it As it flamed he held it with his teeth to the birch bark But the burning brimstone went up his nostrils and into his lungs causing him to cough spasmodically The match fell into the snow and went out

The old-timer an Sulphur Creek was right he thought in the moment of controlled despair that ensued after fifty below a man should travel with a partner He beat his hands but failed in exciting any sensation Suddenly he bared both hands removing the mittens with his teeth He caught the whole bunch between the heels of his hands His arm muscles not being frozen enabled him to press the hand-heels tightly against the matches Then he scratched the bunch along his leg It flared into flame seventy sulphur matches at once There was no wind to blow them out He kept his head to one side to escape the strangling fumes and held the blazing bunch to the birth bark As he so held it he became aware of sensation in his hand His flesh was burning He could smell it Deep down below the surface he could feel it The sensation developed into pain that grew acute And still he endured it holding the flame of the matches clumsily to the bark that would not light readily because his own burning hands were in the way absorbing most of the flame

To Build a FireContinued

At last when he could endure no more he jerked his hands apart The blazing matches fell sizzling into the snow but the birch bark was alight He began laying dry grasses and the tiniest twigs on the flame He could not pick and choose for he had to lift the fuel between the heels of his hands Small pieces of rotten wood and green moss clung to the twigs and he bit them off as well as he could with his teeth He cherished the flame carefully and awkwardly It meant life and it must not perish The withdrawal of blood from the surface of his body now made him begin to shiver and he grew more awkward A large piece of green moss fell squarely on the little fire He tried to poke it out with his fingers but his shivering frame made him poke too far and he disrupted the nucleus of the little fire the burning grasses and tiny twigs separating and scattering He tried to poke them together again but in spite of the tenseness of the effort his shivering got away with him and the twigs were hopelessly scattered Each twig gushed a puff of smoke and went out The fire-provider had failed As he looked apathetically about him his eyes chanced on the dog sitting across the ruins of the fire from him in the snow making restless hunching movements slightly lifting one forefoot and then the other shifting its weight back and forth on them with wistful eagerness

The sight of the dog put a wild idea into his head He remembered the tale of the man caught in a blizzard who killed a steer and crawled inside the carcass and so was saved He would kill the dog and bury his hands in the warm body until the numbness went out of them Then he could build another fire He spoke to the dog calling it to him but in his voice was a strange note of fear that frightened the animal who had never known the man to speak in such way before Something was the matter and its suspicious nature sensed danger--it knew not what danger but somewhere somehow in its brain arose an apprehension of the man It flattened its ears down at the sound of the mans voice and its restless

hunching movements and the liftings and shiftings of its forefeet became more pronounced but it would not come to the man He got on his hands and knees and crawled toward the dog This unusual posture again excited suspicion and the animal sidled mincingly away

The man sat up in the snow for a moment and struggled for calmness Then he pulled on his mittens by means of his teeth and got upon his feet He glanced down at first in order to assure himself that he was really standing up for the absence of sensation in his feet left him unrelated to the earth His erect position in itself started to drive the webs of suspicion from the dogs mind and when he spoke peremptorily with the sound of whiplashes in his voice the dog rendered its customary allegiance and came to him As it came within reaching distance the man lost his control His arms flashed out to the dog and he experienced genuine surprise when he discovered that his hands could not clutch that there was neither bend nor feeling in the fingers He had forgotten for the moment that they were frozen and that they were freezing more and more All this happened quickly and before the animal could get away he encircled its body with his arms He sat down in the snow and in this fashion held the dog while it snarled and whined and struggled

But it was all he could do hold its body encircled in his arms and sit there He realized that he could not kill the dog There was no way to do it With his helpless hands he could neither draw nor hold his sheath knife nor throttle the animal He released it and it plunged wildly away with tail between its legs and still snarling It halted forty feet away and surveyed him curiously with ears sharply pricked forward The man looked down at his hands in order to locate them and found them hanging on the ends of his arms It struck him as curious that one should have to use his eyes in order to find out where his hands were He began threshing his arms back and forth beating the mittened hands against

To Build a FireContinued

his sides He did this for five minutes violently and his heart pumped enough blood up to the surface to put a stop to his shivering But no sensation was aroused in the hands He had an impression that they hung like weights on the ends of his arms but when he tried to run the impression down he could not find it

A certain fear of death dull and oppressive came to him This fear quickly became poignant as he realized that it was no longer a mere matter of freezing his fingers and toes or of losing his hands and feet but that it was a matter of life and death with the chances against him This threw him into a panic and he turned and ran up the creek-bed along the old dim trail The dog joined in behind and kept up with him He ran blindly without intention in fear such as he had never known in his life Slowly as he plowed and floundered through the snow he began to see things again the banks of the creek the old timber-jams the leafless aspens and the sky The running made him feel better He did not shiver Maybe if he ran on his feet would thaw out and anyway if he ran far enough he would reach camp and the boys Without doubt he would lose some fingers and toes and some of his face but the boys would take care of him and save the rest of him when he got there And at the same time there was another thought in his mind that said he would never get to the camp and the boys that it was too many miles away that the freezing had too great a start on him and that he would soon be stiff and dead This thought he kept in the background and refused to consider Sometimes it pushed itself forward and demanded to be heard but he thrust it back and strove to think of other things

It struck him as curious that he could run at all on feet so frozen that he could not feel them when they struck the earth and took the weigh of his body He seemed to himself to skim along above the surface and to have no connection with the earth Somewhere he had once seen a winged Mercury

and he wondered if Mercury felt as he felt when skimming over the earth

His theory of running until he reached camp and the boys had one flaw in it he lacked the endurance Several times he stumbled and finally he tottered crumpled up and fell When he tried to rise he failed He must sit and rest he decided and next time he would merely walk and keep on going As he sat and regained his breath he noted that he was feeling quite warm and comfortable He was not shivering and it even seemed that a warm glow had come to his chest and trunk And yet when he touched his nose or cheeks there was no sensation Running would not thaw them out Nor would it thaw out his hands and feet Then the thought came to him that the frozen portions of his body must be extending He tried to keep this thought down to forget it to think of something else he was aware of the panicky feeling that it caused and he was afraid of the panic But the thought asserted itself and persisted until it produced a vision of his body totally frozen This was too much and he made another wild run along the trail Once he slowed down to a walk but the thought of the freezing extending itself made him run again

And all the time the dog ran with him at his heels When he fell down a second time it curled its tad over its forefeet and sat in front of him facing him curiously eager and intent The warmth and security of the animal angered him and he cursed it till it flattened down its ears appealingly This time the shivering came more quickly upon the man He was losing in his battle with the frost It was creeping into his body from all sides The thought of it drove him on but he ran no more than a hundred feet when he staggered and pitched headlong It was his last panic When he had recovered his breath and control he sat up and entertained in his mind the conception of meeting death with dignity However the conception did not come to him in such terms His idea of it was that he had been making a fool of

To Build a FireContinued

himself running around like a chicken with its head cut off--such was the simile that occurred to him Well he was bound to freeze anyway and he might as well take it decently With this new-found peace of mind came the first glimmerings of drowsiness A good idea he thought to sleep off to death It was like salting an anesthetic Freezing was not so bad as people thought There were lots worse ways to die

He pictured the boys finding his body next day Suddenly he found himself with them coming along the trail and looking for himself And still with them he came around a turn in the trail and found himself lying in the snow He did not belong with himself any more for even then he was out of himself standing with the boys and looking at himself in the snow It certainly was cold was his thought When he got back to the States he could tell the folks what real cold was He drifted on from this to a vision of the old-timer on Sulphur Creek He could see him quite clearly warm and comfortable and smoking a pipe

You were right old boss you were right the man mumbled to the old-timer of Sulphur Creek

Then the man drowsed off into what seemed to him the most comfortable and satisfying sleep he had ever known The dog sat facing him and waiting The brief day drew to a close in a long slow twilight There were no signs of a fire to be made and besides never in the dogs experience had it known a man to sit like that in the snow and make no fire As the twilight drew on its eager yearning for the fire mastered it and with a great lifting and shifting of forefeet it whined softly then flattened its ears down in anticipation of being chidden by the man But the man remained silent Later the dog whined loudly And still later it crept close to the man and caught the scent of death This made the animal bristle and back away A little longer it delayed howling under the stars that leaped and danced and shone brightly in the cold sky Then it turned and trotted up the trail in the direction of the camp it knew where were the other food-providers and fire-providers

To Build a FireContinued

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Page 49: FitnessDigest.us Vol. 4.3 Cover

It is better to be safe then to try to beat the heat There are many options to stay cool and run during a hot-summer day Staying inside and running on the treadmill is a good one Remember staying safe is a top priority

Most workouts can be modified to work indoors This issuersquos workout is to do your usual run or interval set just stay inside and run it on the treadmill Visualize the different landmarks to see during your outdoor run

Coach Millerrsquos Quarterly ChallengeStay safe in the heatBy Mark Miller mmillerFitnessDigestus

A few years back we had a hot-spell similar to this yearrsquos record heat

I remember training for a long run and having to stop at the local swimming hole to cool off I literally took off my

shoes and jumped in with my running clothes on I was so hot

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OPEN WATER SWIMMING BY THE NUMBERS

In kilometers The shortest open water race included in the Fina World Championships

10107 How many miles it

is to swim from Cuba to the USA

5

1000Number of swimming strokes in a mile for a typical swimmer

31800About the number of calories it takes to swim 100 miles

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The minimum open water distance in kilometers that is considered a swimming-

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Open water safety means swimming in shallow water where there is a lifeguard or using an escort

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s w i m m i n g s h o r t s

Googles

13 Swimming fans can really appreciate a 200 IM when their goggles fill with water How about an Olympian Swimming a leg of the 400 Free Relay with his goggles across his opened mouth ndash and going 45rsquos A great team swimmer an Olympian wouldnrsquot let down his teammates by throwing them off or fixing them

500 Fly13 A world class butterflyer asked if he could swim butterfly in the 500 yard freestyle during a dual meet His goal was to break five minutes After considering the competition it seemed like a great way to make him really work a hard fly swim so we agreed Problem was he swam a 502 and the opposing coach complained to the officials because he embarrassed his swimmers Oh well you canrsquot win lsquoem all

Stories sent in by Robert Steele

No-No-No13 The other morning I was teaching front-streamlines to snotty nosed 8 year olds (some are literally snotty-nosed) One boy was taking a big gulp of air and holding his breath When he lifted his head he had to exhale and inhale before submerging again Swimmers will understand this does not work very well Kids need to learn to exhale underwater The first time he did it I told him to exhale underwater The second time I stopped him looked him in the eye and reminded him to exhale underwater The third and fourth times I started to get a little frustrated ldquoJohnny you need to exhale underwater so you can breath betterrdquo The fifth time as his head popped up for a breath I quickly asked ldquoJohnny Do you even know what exhale meansrdquo as he submerged his head below the water I could see him shake his head no-no-no

Favorite Potato Chips13We try to limit the junk food the kids eat at our house For lunch one day our son wanted some potato chips I gave him 3 large chips with his sandwich He started to cry and said he wanted one more chip ldquoI wanted four chipsrdquo he screamed I took the plate back When he wasnt looking I broke a chip in half and give it back to him with four chips

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

13 My cancer story is one of uniqueness Leave it to me to do something like cancer to its fullest It did not begin with a mammogram diagnosis or a lump My journey began about 4 years ago with some suspicious activity that turned into Pagetrsquos disease of the nipple which signaled the underlying cancer On April 1st I found out about my breast cancer through a biopsy that came back as positive for Pagetrsquos disease The onslaught of tests learning and decisions were dizzying I immediately went for an evaluation of the suspicious tissue and had to begin making decisions for my mastectomy I quickly learned there is a test called the BRAC Analysis which is a genetic test for breast and ovarian cancer Finally a piece of good news for me I did not have the gene

Decisions Now it was time to make decisions about my mastectomy and how I was going to handle reconstruction I discussed my options with my boyfriend Brian friends family members and even my principalboss I read books searched the Internet and contacted people I

Brandi ShipmanCancer Survivor and elite triathlete

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

know and knew from my past that had been directly affected and that I thought might have answers for me The outpouring of love encouragement and help during this process was overwhelming After meeting with four different doctors two surgeons and two plastic surgeons I decided to go with immediate reconstruction and was lucky enough to find two wonderful doctors They were willing to work together just because I wanted them to even though they had never done so before My surgery was scheduled for mid May

Mental Toughness13 My mental preparation at this point was very important I had to scrap any idea of competing in triathlons for the rest of the year and focus on a positive attitude of getting better I stopped thinking about what I wasnrsquot going to able to do and started thinking about what I could do that I was alive and kept my mind on the fact that so many others had made it before me

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links

Part 213 I was prepared by the doctors survivors and literature to be ldquodownrdquo for several weeks after my surgery I even took the rest of the school year off My surgery went well and I was out of the hospital the next day A few friends came to visit while I was in the hospital and my principal and vice principal brought the most wonderful picture of the faculty wearing pink for me I can only imagine what it looked like at Thornton Elementary on that day in May 2009 a sea of pink all for Brandi Shipman Shortly after their visit I received a text from my friend Margie Massey My friends from the gym wore pink for me that day as well The support brought tears to my eyes I was so excited to come home and be comfortable in my own home I just wish the stupid drain that was attached could have stayed at the hospital The pain from that was worse than the pain from the mastectomy

the most

powerful picture

13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Recovery ndash May13 Once I got home I slept and watched a lot of TV Friends visited and brought yummy food and my favorites I am not supposed to eat I ate them all My friend and co-worker set up a cancer care calendar that alerted anyone who logged on when I was having a doctorrsquos appointment or when I was in need of anything I felt like royalty as everyone took care of me I think Brian secretly enjoyed the fact that he wouldnrsquot have to cook for me each night My recovery was quicker than I thought as I was doing my best to get better and get the stinkinrsquo drain out of my skin I was out walking within a week and running within 3 weeks I couldnrsquot believe my recovery I know it was from all the prayers love and good care from Brian and the loved ones around me Life was looking better each day

ldquoLife was looking

better each dayrdquo

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Part three and part

four of I am Survivor

will be published in

the next edition of

FitnessDigestus

Get the convenience of

digital-delivery

Sign-up or subscribe at

httpFitnessDigestus

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During the past 150 years we have witnessed many remarkable advances against cancer a disease known to humanity for thousands of years The advances highlighted below represent a sampling of what has been accomplished to date

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

1882 William Halsted performs the first radical mastectomy to treat breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast the lymph nodes under the arm (axillary lymph nodes) and the chest muscles behind the breast (pectoralis major and pectoralis minor muscles) are removed Radical mastectomy will remain the standard operation for breast cancer until latter half of the 20th century when the use of modified radical mastectomy becomes widely accepted

1932 David H Patey develops the modified radical mastectomy for breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast axillary lymph nodes and pectoralis minor muscle behind the breast are removed The modified radical mastectomy is less disfiguring than the radical mastectomy and will eventually replace the radical mastectomy as a standard treatment option for breast cancer

1953 James Watson and Francis Crick discover the molecular structure of DNA (the double helix)

1963 The Health Insurance Plan (HIP) of Greater New York Study begins HIP is the first randomized controlled trial of periodic breast cancer screening with mammography

1882

1932

1953

1963

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1976 The results of a randomized clinical trial show that women with early breast cancer who receive post-operative (adjuvant) combination chemotherapy with the drugs cyclophosphamide methotrexate and 5-FU have improved disease-free survival

1981 A randomized clinical trial in the United Kingdom shows for the first time that the rates of survival local recurrence and tumor metastasis among women whose breast cancer is treated with modified radical mastectomy are not substantially different from those of women who are treated with radical mastectomy

1993 An NCI-convened international workshop on screening for breast cancer reports that screening with mammography reduces breast cancer mortality among women ages 50-69 This conclusion is based on a review of published and unpublished data from eight randomized controlled trials

2004 Data from the Womens Health Initiative (WHI) study show that women who take estrogen in combination with the hormone progestin have a greater risk of developing breast cancer than women who take estrogen alone The results also show that menopausal hormone therapy with estrogen alone has no benefit in disease prevention specifically in reducing the risks of colorectal cancer coronary heart disease and dementia

1976

1981

1993

2004

Although we still have a long way to go to reduce the toll of cancer in the United States and worldwide our research and public health efforts are beginning to pay dividends

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

Volunteering vs Participating13 My girl friend and I are involved in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation The local chapter raises awareness for the cause with a fun-run each year We have volunteered to help with the race five years in a row This year we were stationed at a water table where the runners pick-up cups of water to drink Toward the end of the race there are very few runners There was a little time to chat about things We were talking about what we would wish for if we could have three wishes I told her I would wish for an end to Juvenile Diabetes and to lose 10 pounds Being nice I said ldquoyou can have my last wishrdquo She said I wish you would skip volunteering and just run this race next year

Admission Price Our aquatic center was having a promotion one night and advertised an elementary school night The kids could swim for free When we got to the pool we saw a promotional sign for the event In small lettering it read All swimmers must be accompanied by an adult We thought no big deal one of us can just stay and watch When we got to the front desk we found the lifeguard was enforcing the adult-admission price of $8

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CNFI Publishing - Products Books Chapbooks Bookmarks Plaques and Poetry Collector Cards Merchandising Products Coffee Mugs Mouse Pads Tiles 3x6 Coasters T - Shirts and Wall Plaques More info athttpliveadsFitnessDigestus

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

Featured PhotosFitnessDigestus feature

Chicago open water swim course at nighttop left

Kids race at Bicycle Blues and BBQtop right

Some team members volunteer at the local soup kitchenmiddle right

Ken Mauer loads the balls for hitting practice during a Twins baseball camp for

children 7-13 bottom right

Get your local event photos published in the next issue of FitnessDigestus E-mail

your photo to photoFitnessDigestus

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As he turned to go on he spat speculatively There was a sharp explosive crackle that startled him He spat again And again in the air before it could fall to the snow the spittle crackled He knew that at fifty below spittle crackled on the snow but this spittle had crackled in the air Undoubtedly it was colder than fifty below--how much colder he did not know But the temperature did not matter He was bound for the old claim on the left fork of Henderson Creek where the boys were already They had come over across the divide from the Indian Creek country while he had come the roundabout way to take a look at the possibilities of getting out logs in the spring from the islands in the Yukon He would be in to camp by six oclock a bit after dark it was true but the boys would be there a fire would be going and a hot supper would be ready As for lunch he pressed his hand against the protruding bundle under his jacket It was also under his shirt wrapped up in a handkerchief and lying against the naked skin It was the only way to keep the biscuits from freezing He smiled agreeably to himself as he thought of those biscuits each cut open and sopped in bacon grease and each enclosing a generous slice of fried bacon

He plunged in among the big spruce trees The trail was faint A foot of snow had fallen since the last sled had passed over and he was glad he was without a sled traveling light In fact he carried nothing but the lunch wrapped in the handkerchief He was surprised however at the cold It certainly was cold he concluded as he rubbed his numb nose and cheek-bones with his mittened hand He was a warm-whiskered man but the hair on his face did not protect the high cheek-bones and the eager nose that thrust itself aggressively into the frosty air

At the mans heels trotted a dog a big native husky the proper wolf-dog gray-coated and without any visible or temperamental difference from its brother the wild wolf The animal was depressed by the tremendous cold It knew that it was no time for

traveling Its instinct told it a truer tale than was told to the man by the mans judgment In reality it was not merely colder than fifty below zero it was colder than sixty below than seventy below It was seventy-five below zero Since the freezing point is thirty-two above zero it meant that one hundred and seven degrees of frost obtained The dog did not know anything about thermometers Possibly in its brain there was no sharp consciousness of a condition of very cold such as was in the mans brain But the brute had its instinct It experienced a vague but menacing apprehension that subdued it then made it slink along at the mans heels and that made it question eagerly every unwonted movement of the man as if expecting him to go into camp or to seek shelter somewhere and build a fire The dog had learned fire and it wanted fire or else to burrow under the snow and cuddle its warmth away from the air

The frozen moisture of its breathing had settled on its fur in a fine powder of frost and especially were its jowls muzzle and eyelashes whitened by its cry-stalled breath The mans red beard and mustache were likewise frosted but more solidly the deposit taking the form of ice and increasing with every warm moist breath he exhaled Also the man was chewing tobacco and the muzzle of ice held his lips so rigidly that he was unable to clear his chin when he expelled the juice The result was that a crystal beard of the color and solidity of amber was increasing its length on his chin If he fell down it would shatter itself like glass into brittle fragments But he did not mind the appendage It was the penalty all tobacco-chewers paid in that country and he had been out before in two cold snaps They had not been so cold as this he knew but by the spirit thermometer at Sixty Mile he knew they had been registered at fifty below and at fifty-five

He held on through the level stretch of woods for several miles crossed a wide flat of rigger-heads and dropped down a bank to the frozen bed of a

To Build a FireContinued

small stream This was Henderson Creek and he knew he was ten miles from the forks He looked at his watch It was ten oclock He was making four miles an hour and he calculated that he would arrive at the forks at half-past twelve He decided to celebrate that event by eating his lunch there

The dog dropped in again at his heels with a tail drooping discouragement as the man swung along the creek-bed The furrow of the old sled-trail was plainly visible but a dozen inches of snow covered the marks of the last runners In a month no man had come up or down that silent creek The man held steadily on He was not much given to thinking and just then particularly he had nothing to think about save that he would eat lunch at-the forks and that at six oclock he would be in camp with the boys There was nobody to talk to and had there been speech would have been impossible because of the ice-muzzle on his mouth So he continued monotonously to chew tobacco and to increase the length of his amber beard

Once in a while the thought reiterated itself that it was very cold and that he had never experienced such cold As he walked along he rubbed his cheek-bones and nose with the back of his mittened hand He did this automatically now and again changing hands But rub as he would the instant he stopped his cheek-bones went numb and the following instant the end of his nose went numb He was sure to frost his cheeks he knew that and experienced a pang of regret that he had not devised a nose-strap of the sort Bud wore in cold snaps Such a strap passed across the cheeks as well and saved them But it didnt matter much after all What were frosted cheeks A bit painful that was all they were never serious

Empty as the mans mind was of thoughts he was keenly observant and he noticed the changes in the creek the curves and bends and timber jams and always he sharply noted where he placed his feet Once coming around a bend he shied abruptly

like a startled horse curved away from the place where he had been walking and retreated several paces back along the trail The creek he knew was frozen clear to the bottom--no creek could contain water in that arctic winter--but he knew also that there were springs that bubbled out from the hillsides and ran along under the snow and on top the ice of the creek He knew that the coldest snaps never froze these springs and he knew likewise their danger They were traps They hid pools of water under the snow that might be three inches deep or three feet Sometimes a skin of ice half an inch thick covered them and in turn was covered by the snow Sometimes there were alternate layers of water and ice-skin so that when one broke through he kept on breaking through for a while sometimes wetting himself to the waist

That was why he had shied in such panic He had felt the give under his feet and heard the crackle of a snow-hidden ice-skin And to get his feet wet in such a temperature meant trouble and danger At the very least it meant delay for he would be forced to stop and build a fire and under its protection to bare his feet while he dried his socks and moccasins He stood and studied the creek-bed and its banks and decided that the flow of water came from the right He reflected a while rubbing his nose and cheeks then skirted to the left stepping gingerly and testing the footing for each step Once clear of the danger he took a fresh chew of tobacco and swung along at his four-mile gait

In the course of the next two hours he came upon several similar traps Usually the snow above the hidden pools had a sunken candied appearance that advertised the danger Once again however he had a close call and once suspecting danger he compelled the dog to go on in front The dog did not want to go It hung back until the man shoved it forward and then it went quickly across the white unbroken surface Suddenly it broke through floundered to one side and got away to firmer

To Build a FireContinued

To Build a FireContinued

footing It had wet its forefeet and legs and almost immediately the water that clung to it turned to ice It made quick efforts to lick the ice off its legs then dropped down in the snow and began to bite out the ice that had formed between the toes l his was a matter of instinct To permit the ice to remain would mean sore feet It did not know this It merely obeyed the mysterious prompting that arose from the deep crypts of its being But the man knew having achieved a judgment on the subject and he removed the mitten from his right hand and helped tear out the ice-particles He did not expose his fingers more than a minute and was astonished at the swift numbness that smote them It certainly was cold He pulled on the mitten hastily and beat the hand savagely across his chest

At twelve oclock the day was at its brightest Yet the sun was too far south an its winter journey to clear the horizon The bulge of the earth intervened between it arid Henderson Creek where the man walked under a clear sky at noon and cast no shadow At half-past twelve to the minute he arrived at the forks of the creek He was pleased at the speed he had made If he kept it up he would certainly be with the boys by six He unbuttoned his jacket and shirt and drew forth his lunch The action consumed no more than a quarter of a minute yet in that brief moment the numbness laid hold of the exposed fingers He did not put the mitten on but instead struck the fingers a dozen sharp smashes against his leg Then he sat down on a snow-covered log to eat The sting that followed upon the striking of his fingers against his leg ceased so quickly that he was startled He had had no chance to take a bite of biscuit He struck the fingers repeatedly and returned them to the mitten baring the other hand for the purpose of eating He tried to take a mouthful but the ice-muzzle prevented He had forgotten to build a fire and thaw out He chuckled at his foolishness and as he chuckled he noted the numbness creeping into the exposed fingers Also he noted that the stinging which had first come to his

toes when he sat down was already passing away He wandered whether the toes were warm or numb He moved them inside the moccasins and decided that they were numb

He pulled the mitten on hurriedly and stood up He was a bit frightened He stamped up and down until the stinging returned into the feet It certainly was cold was his thought That man from Sulphur Creek had spoken the truth when telling how cold it sometimes got in the country And he had laughed at him at the time That showed one must not be too sure of things There was no mistake about it it was cold He strode up and down stamping his feet and threshing his arms until reassured by the returning warmth Then he got out matches and proceeded to make a fire From the undergrowth where high water of the previous spring had lodged a supply of seasoned twigs he got his firewood Working carefully from a small beginning he soon had a roaring fire over which he thawed the ice from his face and in the protection of which he ate his biscuits For the moment the cold space was outwitted The dog took satisfaction in the fire stretching out close enough for warmth and far enough away to escape being singed

When the man had finished be filled his pipe and took his comfortable time over a smoke Then he pulled on his mittens settled the ear-flaps of his cap firmly about his ears and took the creek trail up the left fork The dog was disappointed and yearned back toward the fire This man did not know cold Possibly all the generations of his ancestry had been ignorant of cold of real cold of cold one hundred and seven degrees below freezing point But the dog knew all its ancestry knew and it had inherited the knowledge And it knew that it was not good to walk abroad in such fearful cold It was the time to lie snug in a hole in the snow and wait for a curtain of cloud to be drawn across the face of outer space whence this cold came On the other hand there was no keen intimacy between the dog and the man

The one was the toil-slave of the other and the only caresses it had ever received were the caresses of the whiplash and of harsh and menacing throat-sounds that threatened the whiplash So the dog made no effort to communicate its apprehension to the man It was not concerned in the welfare of the man it was for its own sake that it yearned back toward the fire But the man whistled and spoke to it with the sound of whiplashes and the dog swung in at the mans heel and followed after

The man took a chew of tobacco and proceeded to start a new amber beard Also his moist breath quickly powdered with white his mustache eyebrows and lashes There did not seem to be so many springs on the left fork of the Henderson and for half an hour the man saw no signs of any And then it happened At a place where there were no signs where the soft unbroken snow seemed to advertise solidity beneath tee man broke through It was not deep He wet himself halfway to the knees before he floundered out to the firm crust

He was angry and cursed his luck aloud He had hoped to get into camp with the boys at six oclock and this would delay him an hour for he would have to build a fire and dry out his foot-gear This was imperative at that low temperature--he knew that much and he turned aside to the bank which he climbed On top tangled in the underbrush about the trunks of several small spruce trees was a high-water deposit of dry firewood--sticks and twigs principally but also larger portions of seasoned branches and fine dry last-years grasses He threw down several large pieces on top of the snow This served for a foundation and prevented the young flame from drowning itself in the snow it otherwise would melt The flame he got by touching a match to a small shred of birch bark that he took from his pocket This burned even more readily than paper Placing it on the foundation he fed the young flame with wisps of dry grass and with the tiniest dry twigs

He worked slowly and carefully keenly aware of his danger Gradually as the flame grew stronger he increased the size of the twigs with which he fed it He squatted in the snow pulling the twigs out from their entanglement in the brush and feeding directly to the flame He knew there must be no failure When it is seventy-five below zero a man must not fail in his first attempt to build a fire--that is if his feet are wet If his feet are dry and he fails he can run along the trail for half a mile and restore his circulation But the circulation of wet and freezing feet cannot be restored by running when it is seventy-five below No matter how fast he runs the wet feet will freeze the harder

All this the man knew The old-timer on Sulphur Creek had told him about it the previous fall and now he was appreciating the advice Already all sensation had gone out of his feet To build the fire he had been forced to remove his mittens and the fingers had quickly gone numb His pace of four miles an hour had kept his heart pumping blood to the surface of his body and to all the extremities But the instant he stopped the action of the pump eased down The cold of space smote the unprotected tip of the planet and he being on that unprotected tip received the full force of the blow The blood of his body recoiled before it The blood was alive like the dog and like the dog it wanted to hide away and cover itself up from the fearful cold So long as he walked four miles an hour he pumped that blood willy-nilly to the surface but now it ebbed away and sank down into the recesses of his body The extremities were the first to feel its absence His wet feet froze the faster and his exposed fingers numbed the faster though they had not yet begun to freeze Nose and cheeks were already freezing while the skin of all his body chilled as it lost its blood

But he was safe Toes and nose and cheeks would be only touched by the frost for the fire was beginning to burn with strength He was feeding it

To Build a FireContinued

with twigs the size of his finger In another minute he would be able to feed it with branches the size of his wrier and then he could remove his wet toot-gear and while it dried he could keep his naked feet warm by the fire rubbing them at first of course with snow The fire was a success He was safe He remembered the advice of the old timer on Sulphur Creek and smiled The old-timer had been very serious in laying down the law that no man must travel alone in the Klondike after fifty below Well here he was he had had the accident he was alone and he had saved himself Those old-timers were rather womanish some of them he thought All a man had to do was to keep his head and he was all right Any man who was a man could travel alone But it was surprising the rapidity with which his cheeks and nose were freezing And he had not thought his fingers could go lifeless in so short a time Lifeless they were for he could scarcely make them move together to grip a twig and they seemed remote from his body and from him When he touched a twig he had to look and see whether or not he had hold of it The wires were pretty well down between him and his finger-ends

All of which counted for little There was the fire snapping and crackling and promising life with every dancing flame He started to untie his moccasins They were coated with ice the thick German socks were like sheaths of iron halfway to the knees and the moccasin strings were like rods of steel all twisted and knotted as by some conflagration For a moment he tugged with his numb fingers then realizing the folly of it he drew his sheath-knife

But before he could cut the strings it happened It was his own fault or rather his mistake He should not have built the fire under the spruce tree He should have built it in the open But it had been easier to pull the twigs from the brush and drop them directly on the fire Now the tree under which

he had done this carried a weight of snow on its boughs No wind had blown for weeks and each bough was fully freighted Each time he had pulled a twig he had communicated a slight agitation to the tree--an imperceptible agitation so far as he was concerned but an agitation sufficient to bring about the disaster High up in the tree one bough capsized its load of snow This fell on the boughs beneath capsizing them This process continued spreading out and involving the whole tree It grew like an avalanche and it descended without warning upon the man and the fire and the fire was blotted out Where it had burned was a mantle of fresh and disordered snow

The man was shocked It was as though he had just heard his own sentence of death For a moment he sat and stared at the spot where the fire had been Then he grew very calm Perhaps the old-timer on Sulphur Creek was right If he had only had a trail-mate he would have been in no danger now The trail-mate could have built the fire Well it was up to him to build the fire over again and this second time there must be no failure Even if he succeeded he would most likely lose some toes His feet must be badly frozen by now and there would be some time before the second fire Was ready

Such were his thoughts but he did not sit and think them He was busy all the time they were passing through his mind He made a new foundation for a fire this time in the open where no treacherous tree could blot it out Next he gathered dry grasses and tiny twigs from the high-water flotsam He could not bring his fingers together to pull them out but he was able to gather them by the handful In this way he got many rotten twigs and bits of green moss that were undesirable but it was the best he could do He worked methodically even collecting an armful of the larger branches to be used later when the fire gathered strength And all the while the dog sat and watched him a certain yearning wistfulness in its eyes for it looked upon

To Build a FireContinued

him as the fire-provider and the fire was slow in coming

When all was ready the man reached in his pocket for a second piece of birch bark He knew the bark was there and though he could not feel it with his fingers he could hear its crisp rustling as he fumbled for it Try as he would he could not clutch hold of it And all the time in his consciousness was the knowledge that each instant his feet were freezing This thought tended to put him in a panic but he fought against it and kept calm He pulled on his mittens with his teeth and threshed his arms back and forth beating his hands with all his might against his sides He did this sitting down and he stood up to do it and all the while the dog sat in the snow its wolf-brush of a tail curled around warmly over its forefeet its sharp wolf-ears pricked forward intently as it watched the man And the man as he beat and threshed with his arms and hands felt a great surge of envy as he regarded the creature that was warm ant secure in its natural covering

After a time he was aware of the first far-away signals of sensation in his beaten fingers The faint tingling grew stronger till it evolved into a stinging ache that was excruciating but which the man hailed with satisfaction He stripped the mitten from his right hand and fetched forth the birch bark The exposed fingers were quickly going numb again Next he brought out his bunch of sulphur matches But the tremendous cold had already driven the life out of his fingers In his effort to separate one match from the others the whole bunch fell in the snow He tried to pick it out of the snow but failed The dead fingers could neither touch nor clutch He was very careful He drove the thought of his freezing feet and nose and cheeks out of his mind devoting his whole soul to the matches He watched using the sense of vision in place of that of touch and when he saw his fingers on each side the bunch he dosed them--that is he willed to close them for the wires were down and the fingers did not obey He pulled

the mitten on the right hand and beat it fiercely against his knee Then with both mittened hands he scooped the bunch of matches along with much snow into his lap Yet he was no better off

After some manipulation he managed to get the bunch between the heels of his mittened hands In this fashion he carried it to his mouth The ice crackled and snapped when by a violent effort he opened his mouth He drew the lower jaw in curled the upper lip out of the way and scraped the bunch with his upper teeth in order to separate a match He succeeded in getting one which he dropped on his lap He was no better off He could not pick it up Then he devised a way He picked it up in his teeth and scratched it on his leg Twenty times he scratched before he succeeded in lighting it As it flamed he held it with his teeth to the birch bark But the burning brimstone went up his nostrils and into his lungs causing him to cough spasmodically The match fell into the snow and went out

The old-timer an Sulphur Creek was right he thought in the moment of controlled despair that ensued after fifty below a man should travel with a partner He beat his hands but failed in exciting any sensation Suddenly he bared both hands removing the mittens with his teeth He caught the whole bunch between the heels of his hands His arm muscles not being frozen enabled him to press the hand-heels tightly against the matches Then he scratched the bunch along his leg It flared into flame seventy sulphur matches at once There was no wind to blow them out He kept his head to one side to escape the strangling fumes and held the blazing bunch to the birth bark As he so held it he became aware of sensation in his hand His flesh was burning He could smell it Deep down below the surface he could feel it The sensation developed into pain that grew acute And still he endured it holding the flame of the matches clumsily to the bark that would not light readily because his own burning hands were in the way absorbing most of the flame

To Build a FireContinued

At last when he could endure no more he jerked his hands apart The blazing matches fell sizzling into the snow but the birch bark was alight He began laying dry grasses and the tiniest twigs on the flame He could not pick and choose for he had to lift the fuel between the heels of his hands Small pieces of rotten wood and green moss clung to the twigs and he bit them off as well as he could with his teeth He cherished the flame carefully and awkwardly It meant life and it must not perish The withdrawal of blood from the surface of his body now made him begin to shiver and he grew more awkward A large piece of green moss fell squarely on the little fire He tried to poke it out with his fingers but his shivering frame made him poke too far and he disrupted the nucleus of the little fire the burning grasses and tiny twigs separating and scattering He tried to poke them together again but in spite of the tenseness of the effort his shivering got away with him and the twigs were hopelessly scattered Each twig gushed a puff of smoke and went out The fire-provider had failed As he looked apathetically about him his eyes chanced on the dog sitting across the ruins of the fire from him in the snow making restless hunching movements slightly lifting one forefoot and then the other shifting its weight back and forth on them with wistful eagerness

The sight of the dog put a wild idea into his head He remembered the tale of the man caught in a blizzard who killed a steer and crawled inside the carcass and so was saved He would kill the dog and bury his hands in the warm body until the numbness went out of them Then he could build another fire He spoke to the dog calling it to him but in his voice was a strange note of fear that frightened the animal who had never known the man to speak in such way before Something was the matter and its suspicious nature sensed danger--it knew not what danger but somewhere somehow in its brain arose an apprehension of the man It flattened its ears down at the sound of the mans voice and its restless

hunching movements and the liftings and shiftings of its forefeet became more pronounced but it would not come to the man He got on his hands and knees and crawled toward the dog This unusual posture again excited suspicion and the animal sidled mincingly away

The man sat up in the snow for a moment and struggled for calmness Then he pulled on his mittens by means of his teeth and got upon his feet He glanced down at first in order to assure himself that he was really standing up for the absence of sensation in his feet left him unrelated to the earth His erect position in itself started to drive the webs of suspicion from the dogs mind and when he spoke peremptorily with the sound of whiplashes in his voice the dog rendered its customary allegiance and came to him As it came within reaching distance the man lost his control His arms flashed out to the dog and he experienced genuine surprise when he discovered that his hands could not clutch that there was neither bend nor feeling in the fingers He had forgotten for the moment that they were frozen and that they were freezing more and more All this happened quickly and before the animal could get away he encircled its body with his arms He sat down in the snow and in this fashion held the dog while it snarled and whined and struggled

But it was all he could do hold its body encircled in his arms and sit there He realized that he could not kill the dog There was no way to do it With his helpless hands he could neither draw nor hold his sheath knife nor throttle the animal He released it and it plunged wildly away with tail between its legs and still snarling It halted forty feet away and surveyed him curiously with ears sharply pricked forward The man looked down at his hands in order to locate them and found them hanging on the ends of his arms It struck him as curious that one should have to use his eyes in order to find out where his hands were He began threshing his arms back and forth beating the mittened hands against

To Build a FireContinued

his sides He did this for five minutes violently and his heart pumped enough blood up to the surface to put a stop to his shivering But no sensation was aroused in the hands He had an impression that they hung like weights on the ends of his arms but when he tried to run the impression down he could not find it

A certain fear of death dull and oppressive came to him This fear quickly became poignant as he realized that it was no longer a mere matter of freezing his fingers and toes or of losing his hands and feet but that it was a matter of life and death with the chances against him This threw him into a panic and he turned and ran up the creek-bed along the old dim trail The dog joined in behind and kept up with him He ran blindly without intention in fear such as he had never known in his life Slowly as he plowed and floundered through the snow he began to see things again the banks of the creek the old timber-jams the leafless aspens and the sky The running made him feel better He did not shiver Maybe if he ran on his feet would thaw out and anyway if he ran far enough he would reach camp and the boys Without doubt he would lose some fingers and toes and some of his face but the boys would take care of him and save the rest of him when he got there And at the same time there was another thought in his mind that said he would never get to the camp and the boys that it was too many miles away that the freezing had too great a start on him and that he would soon be stiff and dead This thought he kept in the background and refused to consider Sometimes it pushed itself forward and demanded to be heard but he thrust it back and strove to think of other things

It struck him as curious that he could run at all on feet so frozen that he could not feel them when they struck the earth and took the weigh of his body He seemed to himself to skim along above the surface and to have no connection with the earth Somewhere he had once seen a winged Mercury

and he wondered if Mercury felt as he felt when skimming over the earth

His theory of running until he reached camp and the boys had one flaw in it he lacked the endurance Several times he stumbled and finally he tottered crumpled up and fell When he tried to rise he failed He must sit and rest he decided and next time he would merely walk and keep on going As he sat and regained his breath he noted that he was feeling quite warm and comfortable He was not shivering and it even seemed that a warm glow had come to his chest and trunk And yet when he touched his nose or cheeks there was no sensation Running would not thaw them out Nor would it thaw out his hands and feet Then the thought came to him that the frozen portions of his body must be extending He tried to keep this thought down to forget it to think of something else he was aware of the panicky feeling that it caused and he was afraid of the panic But the thought asserted itself and persisted until it produced a vision of his body totally frozen This was too much and he made another wild run along the trail Once he slowed down to a walk but the thought of the freezing extending itself made him run again

And all the time the dog ran with him at his heels When he fell down a second time it curled its tad over its forefeet and sat in front of him facing him curiously eager and intent The warmth and security of the animal angered him and he cursed it till it flattened down its ears appealingly This time the shivering came more quickly upon the man He was losing in his battle with the frost It was creeping into his body from all sides The thought of it drove him on but he ran no more than a hundred feet when he staggered and pitched headlong It was his last panic When he had recovered his breath and control he sat up and entertained in his mind the conception of meeting death with dignity However the conception did not come to him in such terms His idea of it was that he had been making a fool of

To Build a FireContinued

himself running around like a chicken with its head cut off--such was the simile that occurred to him Well he was bound to freeze anyway and he might as well take it decently With this new-found peace of mind came the first glimmerings of drowsiness A good idea he thought to sleep off to death It was like salting an anesthetic Freezing was not so bad as people thought There were lots worse ways to die

He pictured the boys finding his body next day Suddenly he found himself with them coming along the trail and looking for himself And still with them he came around a turn in the trail and found himself lying in the snow He did not belong with himself any more for even then he was out of himself standing with the boys and looking at himself in the snow It certainly was cold was his thought When he got back to the States he could tell the folks what real cold was He drifted on from this to a vision of the old-timer on Sulphur Creek He could see him quite clearly warm and comfortable and smoking a pipe

You were right old boss you were right the man mumbled to the old-timer of Sulphur Creek

Then the man drowsed off into what seemed to him the most comfortable and satisfying sleep he had ever known The dog sat facing him and waiting The brief day drew to a close in a long slow twilight There were no signs of a fire to be made and besides never in the dogs experience had it known a man to sit like that in the snow and make no fire As the twilight drew on its eager yearning for the fire mastered it and with a great lifting and shifting of forefeet it whined softly then flattened its ears down in anticipation of being chidden by the man But the man remained silent Later the dog whined loudly And still later it crept close to the man and caught the scent of death This made the animal bristle and back away A little longer it delayed howling under the stars that leaped and danced and shone brightly in the cold sky Then it turned and trotted up the trail in the direction of the camp it knew where were the other food-providers and fire-providers

To Build a FireContinued

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Page 50: FitnessDigest.us Vol. 4.3 Cover

OPEN WATER SWIMMING BY THE NUMBERS

In kilometers The shortest open water race included in the Fina World Championships

10107 How many miles it

is to swim from Cuba to the USA

5

1000Number of swimming strokes in a mile for a typical swimmer

31800About the number of calories it takes to swim 100 miles

LOCATED IN ST ANSGAR IOWA

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Bridgette Beyer DesignerOwner

Bring your ideas in andVisual Aspect Designs can print

andor design for you

The minimum open water distance in kilometers that is considered a swimming-

marathon

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Open water safety means swimming in shallow water where there is a lifeguard or using an escort

Shop for Name BrandGear

24 Hoursa Day

WaynesSkiandCyclenet

For links to Waynersquos visit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

s w i m m i n g s h o r t s

Googles

13 Swimming fans can really appreciate a 200 IM when their goggles fill with water How about an Olympian Swimming a leg of the 400 Free Relay with his goggles across his opened mouth ndash and going 45rsquos A great team swimmer an Olympian wouldnrsquot let down his teammates by throwing them off or fixing them

500 Fly13 A world class butterflyer asked if he could swim butterfly in the 500 yard freestyle during a dual meet His goal was to break five minutes After considering the competition it seemed like a great way to make him really work a hard fly swim so we agreed Problem was he swam a 502 and the opposing coach complained to the officials because he embarrassed his swimmers Oh well you canrsquot win lsquoem all

Stories sent in by Robert Steele

No-No-No13 The other morning I was teaching front-streamlines to snotty nosed 8 year olds (some are literally snotty-nosed) One boy was taking a big gulp of air and holding his breath When he lifted his head he had to exhale and inhale before submerging again Swimmers will understand this does not work very well Kids need to learn to exhale underwater The first time he did it I told him to exhale underwater The second time I stopped him looked him in the eye and reminded him to exhale underwater The third and fourth times I started to get a little frustrated ldquoJohnny you need to exhale underwater so you can breath betterrdquo The fifth time as his head popped up for a breath I quickly asked ldquoJohnny Do you even know what exhale meansrdquo as he submerged his head below the water I could see him shake his head no-no-no

Favorite Potato Chips13We try to limit the junk food the kids eat at our house For lunch one day our son wanted some potato chips I gave him 3 large chips with his sandwich He started to cry and said he wanted one more chip ldquoI wanted four chipsrdquo he screamed I took the plate back When he wasnt looking I broke a chip in half and give it back to him with four chips

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

13 My cancer story is one of uniqueness Leave it to me to do something like cancer to its fullest It did not begin with a mammogram diagnosis or a lump My journey began about 4 years ago with some suspicious activity that turned into Pagetrsquos disease of the nipple which signaled the underlying cancer On April 1st I found out about my breast cancer through a biopsy that came back as positive for Pagetrsquos disease The onslaught of tests learning and decisions were dizzying I immediately went for an evaluation of the suspicious tissue and had to begin making decisions for my mastectomy I quickly learned there is a test called the BRAC Analysis which is a genetic test for breast and ovarian cancer Finally a piece of good news for me I did not have the gene

Decisions Now it was time to make decisions about my mastectomy and how I was going to handle reconstruction I discussed my options with my boyfriend Brian friends family members and even my principalboss I read books searched the Internet and contacted people I

Brandi ShipmanCancer Survivor and elite triathlete

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

know and knew from my past that had been directly affected and that I thought might have answers for me The outpouring of love encouragement and help during this process was overwhelming After meeting with four different doctors two surgeons and two plastic surgeons I decided to go with immediate reconstruction and was lucky enough to find two wonderful doctors They were willing to work together just because I wanted them to even though they had never done so before My surgery was scheduled for mid May

Mental Toughness13 My mental preparation at this point was very important I had to scrap any idea of competing in triathlons for the rest of the year and focus on a positive attitude of getting better I stopped thinking about what I wasnrsquot going to able to do and started thinking about what I could do that I was alive and kept my mind on the fact that so many others had made it before me

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links

Part 213 I was prepared by the doctors survivors and literature to be ldquodownrdquo for several weeks after my surgery I even took the rest of the school year off My surgery went well and I was out of the hospital the next day A few friends came to visit while I was in the hospital and my principal and vice principal brought the most wonderful picture of the faculty wearing pink for me I can only imagine what it looked like at Thornton Elementary on that day in May 2009 a sea of pink all for Brandi Shipman Shortly after their visit I received a text from my friend Margie Massey My friends from the gym wore pink for me that day as well The support brought tears to my eyes I was so excited to come home and be comfortable in my own home I just wish the stupid drain that was attached could have stayed at the hospital The pain from that was worse than the pain from the mastectomy

the most

powerful picture

13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Recovery ndash May13 Once I got home I slept and watched a lot of TV Friends visited and brought yummy food and my favorites I am not supposed to eat I ate them all My friend and co-worker set up a cancer care calendar that alerted anyone who logged on when I was having a doctorrsquos appointment or when I was in need of anything I felt like royalty as everyone took care of me I think Brian secretly enjoyed the fact that he wouldnrsquot have to cook for me each night My recovery was quicker than I thought as I was doing my best to get better and get the stinkinrsquo drain out of my skin I was out walking within a week and running within 3 weeks I couldnrsquot believe my recovery I know it was from all the prayers love and good care from Brian and the loved ones around me Life was looking better each day

ldquoLife was looking

better each dayrdquo

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Part three and part

four of I am Survivor

will be published in

the next edition of

FitnessDigestus

Get the convenience of

digital-delivery

Sign-up or subscribe at

httpFitnessDigestus

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During the past 150 years we have witnessed many remarkable advances against cancer a disease known to humanity for thousands of years The advances highlighted below represent a sampling of what has been accomplished to date

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

1882 William Halsted performs the first radical mastectomy to treat breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast the lymph nodes under the arm (axillary lymph nodes) and the chest muscles behind the breast (pectoralis major and pectoralis minor muscles) are removed Radical mastectomy will remain the standard operation for breast cancer until latter half of the 20th century when the use of modified radical mastectomy becomes widely accepted

1932 David H Patey develops the modified radical mastectomy for breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast axillary lymph nodes and pectoralis minor muscle behind the breast are removed The modified radical mastectomy is less disfiguring than the radical mastectomy and will eventually replace the radical mastectomy as a standard treatment option for breast cancer

1953 James Watson and Francis Crick discover the molecular structure of DNA (the double helix)

1963 The Health Insurance Plan (HIP) of Greater New York Study begins HIP is the first randomized controlled trial of periodic breast cancer screening with mammography

1882

1932

1953

1963

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1976 The results of a randomized clinical trial show that women with early breast cancer who receive post-operative (adjuvant) combination chemotherapy with the drugs cyclophosphamide methotrexate and 5-FU have improved disease-free survival

1981 A randomized clinical trial in the United Kingdom shows for the first time that the rates of survival local recurrence and tumor metastasis among women whose breast cancer is treated with modified radical mastectomy are not substantially different from those of women who are treated with radical mastectomy

1993 An NCI-convened international workshop on screening for breast cancer reports that screening with mammography reduces breast cancer mortality among women ages 50-69 This conclusion is based on a review of published and unpublished data from eight randomized controlled trials

2004 Data from the Womens Health Initiative (WHI) study show that women who take estrogen in combination with the hormone progestin have a greater risk of developing breast cancer than women who take estrogen alone The results also show that menopausal hormone therapy with estrogen alone has no benefit in disease prevention specifically in reducing the risks of colorectal cancer coronary heart disease and dementia

1976

1981

1993

2004

Although we still have a long way to go to reduce the toll of cancer in the United States and worldwide our research and public health efforts are beginning to pay dividends

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

Volunteering vs Participating13 My girl friend and I are involved in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation The local chapter raises awareness for the cause with a fun-run each year We have volunteered to help with the race five years in a row This year we were stationed at a water table where the runners pick-up cups of water to drink Toward the end of the race there are very few runners There was a little time to chat about things We were talking about what we would wish for if we could have three wishes I told her I would wish for an end to Juvenile Diabetes and to lose 10 pounds Being nice I said ldquoyou can have my last wishrdquo She said I wish you would skip volunteering and just run this race next year

Admission Price Our aquatic center was having a promotion one night and advertised an elementary school night The kids could swim for free When we got to the pool we saw a promotional sign for the event In small lettering it read All swimmers must be accompanied by an adult We thought no big deal one of us can just stay and watch When we got to the front desk we found the lifeguard was enforcing the adult-admission price of $8

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CNFI Publishing - Products Books Chapbooks Bookmarks Plaques and Poetry Collector Cards Merchandising Products Coffee Mugs Mouse Pads Tiles 3x6 Coasters T - Shirts and Wall Plaques More info athttpliveadsFitnessDigestus

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

Featured PhotosFitnessDigestus feature

Chicago open water swim course at nighttop left

Kids race at Bicycle Blues and BBQtop right

Some team members volunteer at the local soup kitchenmiddle right

Ken Mauer loads the balls for hitting practice during a Twins baseball camp for

children 7-13 bottom right

Get your local event photos published in the next issue of FitnessDigestus E-mail

your photo to photoFitnessDigestus

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As he turned to go on he spat speculatively There was a sharp explosive crackle that startled him He spat again And again in the air before it could fall to the snow the spittle crackled He knew that at fifty below spittle crackled on the snow but this spittle had crackled in the air Undoubtedly it was colder than fifty below--how much colder he did not know But the temperature did not matter He was bound for the old claim on the left fork of Henderson Creek where the boys were already They had come over across the divide from the Indian Creek country while he had come the roundabout way to take a look at the possibilities of getting out logs in the spring from the islands in the Yukon He would be in to camp by six oclock a bit after dark it was true but the boys would be there a fire would be going and a hot supper would be ready As for lunch he pressed his hand against the protruding bundle under his jacket It was also under his shirt wrapped up in a handkerchief and lying against the naked skin It was the only way to keep the biscuits from freezing He smiled agreeably to himself as he thought of those biscuits each cut open and sopped in bacon grease and each enclosing a generous slice of fried bacon

He plunged in among the big spruce trees The trail was faint A foot of snow had fallen since the last sled had passed over and he was glad he was without a sled traveling light In fact he carried nothing but the lunch wrapped in the handkerchief He was surprised however at the cold It certainly was cold he concluded as he rubbed his numb nose and cheek-bones with his mittened hand He was a warm-whiskered man but the hair on his face did not protect the high cheek-bones and the eager nose that thrust itself aggressively into the frosty air

At the mans heels trotted a dog a big native husky the proper wolf-dog gray-coated and without any visible or temperamental difference from its brother the wild wolf The animal was depressed by the tremendous cold It knew that it was no time for

traveling Its instinct told it a truer tale than was told to the man by the mans judgment In reality it was not merely colder than fifty below zero it was colder than sixty below than seventy below It was seventy-five below zero Since the freezing point is thirty-two above zero it meant that one hundred and seven degrees of frost obtained The dog did not know anything about thermometers Possibly in its brain there was no sharp consciousness of a condition of very cold such as was in the mans brain But the brute had its instinct It experienced a vague but menacing apprehension that subdued it then made it slink along at the mans heels and that made it question eagerly every unwonted movement of the man as if expecting him to go into camp or to seek shelter somewhere and build a fire The dog had learned fire and it wanted fire or else to burrow under the snow and cuddle its warmth away from the air

The frozen moisture of its breathing had settled on its fur in a fine powder of frost and especially were its jowls muzzle and eyelashes whitened by its cry-stalled breath The mans red beard and mustache were likewise frosted but more solidly the deposit taking the form of ice and increasing with every warm moist breath he exhaled Also the man was chewing tobacco and the muzzle of ice held his lips so rigidly that he was unable to clear his chin when he expelled the juice The result was that a crystal beard of the color and solidity of amber was increasing its length on his chin If he fell down it would shatter itself like glass into brittle fragments But he did not mind the appendage It was the penalty all tobacco-chewers paid in that country and he had been out before in two cold snaps They had not been so cold as this he knew but by the spirit thermometer at Sixty Mile he knew they had been registered at fifty below and at fifty-five

He held on through the level stretch of woods for several miles crossed a wide flat of rigger-heads and dropped down a bank to the frozen bed of a

To Build a FireContinued

small stream This was Henderson Creek and he knew he was ten miles from the forks He looked at his watch It was ten oclock He was making four miles an hour and he calculated that he would arrive at the forks at half-past twelve He decided to celebrate that event by eating his lunch there

The dog dropped in again at his heels with a tail drooping discouragement as the man swung along the creek-bed The furrow of the old sled-trail was plainly visible but a dozen inches of snow covered the marks of the last runners In a month no man had come up or down that silent creek The man held steadily on He was not much given to thinking and just then particularly he had nothing to think about save that he would eat lunch at-the forks and that at six oclock he would be in camp with the boys There was nobody to talk to and had there been speech would have been impossible because of the ice-muzzle on his mouth So he continued monotonously to chew tobacco and to increase the length of his amber beard

Once in a while the thought reiterated itself that it was very cold and that he had never experienced such cold As he walked along he rubbed his cheek-bones and nose with the back of his mittened hand He did this automatically now and again changing hands But rub as he would the instant he stopped his cheek-bones went numb and the following instant the end of his nose went numb He was sure to frost his cheeks he knew that and experienced a pang of regret that he had not devised a nose-strap of the sort Bud wore in cold snaps Such a strap passed across the cheeks as well and saved them But it didnt matter much after all What were frosted cheeks A bit painful that was all they were never serious

Empty as the mans mind was of thoughts he was keenly observant and he noticed the changes in the creek the curves and bends and timber jams and always he sharply noted where he placed his feet Once coming around a bend he shied abruptly

like a startled horse curved away from the place where he had been walking and retreated several paces back along the trail The creek he knew was frozen clear to the bottom--no creek could contain water in that arctic winter--but he knew also that there were springs that bubbled out from the hillsides and ran along under the snow and on top the ice of the creek He knew that the coldest snaps never froze these springs and he knew likewise their danger They were traps They hid pools of water under the snow that might be three inches deep or three feet Sometimes a skin of ice half an inch thick covered them and in turn was covered by the snow Sometimes there were alternate layers of water and ice-skin so that when one broke through he kept on breaking through for a while sometimes wetting himself to the waist

That was why he had shied in such panic He had felt the give under his feet and heard the crackle of a snow-hidden ice-skin And to get his feet wet in such a temperature meant trouble and danger At the very least it meant delay for he would be forced to stop and build a fire and under its protection to bare his feet while he dried his socks and moccasins He stood and studied the creek-bed and its banks and decided that the flow of water came from the right He reflected a while rubbing his nose and cheeks then skirted to the left stepping gingerly and testing the footing for each step Once clear of the danger he took a fresh chew of tobacco and swung along at his four-mile gait

In the course of the next two hours he came upon several similar traps Usually the snow above the hidden pools had a sunken candied appearance that advertised the danger Once again however he had a close call and once suspecting danger he compelled the dog to go on in front The dog did not want to go It hung back until the man shoved it forward and then it went quickly across the white unbroken surface Suddenly it broke through floundered to one side and got away to firmer

To Build a FireContinued

To Build a FireContinued

footing It had wet its forefeet and legs and almost immediately the water that clung to it turned to ice It made quick efforts to lick the ice off its legs then dropped down in the snow and began to bite out the ice that had formed between the toes l his was a matter of instinct To permit the ice to remain would mean sore feet It did not know this It merely obeyed the mysterious prompting that arose from the deep crypts of its being But the man knew having achieved a judgment on the subject and he removed the mitten from his right hand and helped tear out the ice-particles He did not expose his fingers more than a minute and was astonished at the swift numbness that smote them It certainly was cold He pulled on the mitten hastily and beat the hand savagely across his chest

At twelve oclock the day was at its brightest Yet the sun was too far south an its winter journey to clear the horizon The bulge of the earth intervened between it arid Henderson Creek where the man walked under a clear sky at noon and cast no shadow At half-past twelve to the minute he arrived at the forks of the creek He was pleased at the speed he had made If he kept it up he would certainly be with the boys by six He unbuttoned his jacket and shirt and drew forth his lunch The action consumed no more than a quarter of a minute yet in that brief moment the numbness laid hold of the exposed fingers He did not put the mitten on but instead struck the fingers a dozen sharp smashes against his leg Then he sat down on a snow-covered log to eat The sting that followed upon the striking of his fingers against his leg ceased so quickly that he was startled He had had no chance to take a bite of biscuit He struck the fingers repeatedly and returned them to the mitten baring the other hand for the purpose of eating He tried to take a mouthful but the ice-muzzle prevented He had forgotten to build a fire and thaw out He chuckled at his foolishness and as he chuckled he noted the numbness creeping into the exposed fingers Also he noted that the stinging which had first come to his

toes when he sat down was already passing away He wandered whether the toes were warm or numb He moved them inside the moccasins and decided that they were numb

He pulled the mitten on hurriedly and stood up He was a bit frightened He stamped up and down until the stinging returned into the feet It certainly was cold was his thought That man from Sulphur Creek had spoken the truth when telling how cold it sometimes got in the country And he had laughed at him at the time That showed one must not be too sure of things There was no mistake about it it was cold He strode up and down stamping his feet and threshing his arms until reassured by the returning warmth Then he got out matches and proceeded to make a fire From the undergrowth where high water of the previous spring had lodged a supply of seasoned twigs he got his firewood Working carefully from a small beginning he soon had a roaring fire over which he thawed the ice from his face and in the protection of which he ate his biscuits For the moment the cold space was outwitted The dog took satisfaction in the fire stretching out close enough for warmth and far enough away to escape being singed

When the man had finished be filled his pipe and took his comfortable time over a smoke Then he pulled on his mittens settled the ear-flaps of his cap firmly about his ears and took the creek trail up the left fork The dog was disappointed and yearned back toward the fire This man did not know cold Possibly all the generations of his ancestry had been ignorant of cold of real cold of cold one hundred and seven degrees below freezing point But the dog knew all its ancestry knew and it had inherited the knowledge And it knew that it was not good to walk abroad in such fearful cold It was the time to lie snug in a hole in the snow and wait for a curtain of cloud to be drawn across the face of outer space whence this cold came On the other hand there was no keen intimacy between the dog and the man

The one was the toil-slave of the other and the only caresses it had ever received were the caresses of the whiplash and of harsh and menacing throat-sounds that threatened the whiplash So the dog made no effort to communicate its apprehension to the man It was not concerned in the welfare of the man it was for its own sake that it yearned back toward the fire But the man whistled and spoke to it with the sound of whiplashes and the dog swung in at the mans heel and followed after

The man took a chew of tobacco and proceeded to start a new amber beard Also his moist breath quickly powdered with white his mustache eyebrows and lashes There did not seem to be so many springs on the left fork of the Henderson and for half an hour the man saw no signs of any And then it happened At a place where there were no signs where the soft unbroken snow seemed to advertise solidity beneath tee man broke through It was not deep He wet himself halfway to the knees before he floundered out to the firm crust

He was angry and cursed his luck aloud He had hoped to get into camp with the boys at six oclock and this would delay him an hour for he would have to build a fire and dry out his foot-gear This was imperative at that low temperature--he knew that much and he turned aside to the bank which he climbed On top tangled in the underbrush about the trunks of several small spruce trees was a high-water deposit of dry firewood--sticks and twigs principally but also larger portions of seasoned branches and fine dry last-years grasses He threw down several large pieces on top of the snow This served for a foundation and prevented the young flame from drowning itself in the snow it otherwise would melt The flame he got by touching a match to a small shred of birch bark that he took from his pocket This burned even more readily than paper Placing it on the foundation he fed the young flame with wisps of dry grass and with the tiniest dry twigs

He worked slowly and carefully keenly aware of his danger Gradually as the flame grew stronger he increased the size of the twigs with which he fed it He squatted in the snow pulling the twigs out from their entanglement in the brush and feeding directly to the flame He knew there must be no failure When it is seventy-five below zero a man must not fail in his first attempt to build a fire--that is if his feet are wet If his feet are dry and he fails he can run along the trail for half a mile and restore his circulation But the circulation of wet and freezing feet cannot be restored by running when it is seventy-five below No matter how fast he runs the wet feet will freeze the harder

All this the man knew The old-timer on Sulphur Creek had told him about it the previous fall and now he was appreciating the advice Already all sensation had gone out of his feet To build the fire he had been forced to remove his mittens and the fingers had quickly gone numb His pace of four miles an hour had kept his heart pumping blood to the surface of his body and to all the extremities But the instant he stopped the action of the pump eased down The cold of space smote the unprotected tip of the planet and he being on that unprotected tip received the full force of the blow The blood of his body recoiled before it The blood was alive like the dog and like the dog it wanted to hide away and cover itself up from the fearful cold So long as he walked four miles an hour he pumped that blood willy-nilly to the surface but now it ebbed away and sank down into the recesses of his body The extremities were the first to feel its absence His wet feet froze the faster and his exposed fingers numbed the faster though they had not yet begun to freeze Nose and cheeks were already freezing while the skin of all his body chilled as it lost its blood

But he was safe Toes and nose and cheeks would be only touched by the frost for the fire was beginning to burn with strength He was feeding it

To Build a FireContinued

with twigs the size of his finger In another minute he would be able to feed it with branches the size of his wrier and then he could remove his wet toot-gear and while it dried he could keep his naked feet warm by the fire rubbing them at first of course with snow The fire was a success He was safe He remembered the advice of the old timer on Sulphur Creek and smiled The old-timer had been very serious in laying down the law that no man must travel alone in the Klondike after fifty below Well here he was he had had the accident he was alone and he had saved himself Those old-timers were rather womanish some of them he thought All a man had to do was to keep his head and he was all right Any man who was a man could travel alone But it was surprising the rapidity with which his cheeks and nose were freezing And he had not thought his fingers could go lifeless in so short a time Lifeless they were for he could scarcely make them move together to grip a twig and they seemed remote from his body and from him When he touched a twig he had to look and see whether or not he had hold of it The wires were pretty well down between him and his finger-ends

All of which counted for little There was the fire snapping and crackling and promising life with every dancing flame He started to untie his moccasins They were coated with ice the thick German socks were like sheaths of iron halfway to the knees and the moccasin strings were like rods of steel all twisted and knotted as by some conflagration For a moment he tugged with his numb fingers then realizing the folly of it he drew his sheath-knife

But before he could cut the strings it happened It was his own fault or rather his mistake He should not have built the fire under the spruce tree He should have built it in the open But it had been easier to pull the twigs from the brush and drop them directly on the fire Now the tree under which

he had done this carried a weight of snow on its boughs No wind had blown for weeks and each bough was fully freighted Each time he had pulled a twig he had communicated a slight agitation to the tree--an imperceptible agitation so far as he was concerned but an agitation sufficient to bring about the disaster High up in the tree one bough capsized its load of snow This fell on the boughs beneath capsizing them This process continued spreading out and involving the whole tree It grew like an avalanche and it descended without warning upon the man and the fire and the fire was blotted out Where it had burned was a mantle of fresh and disordered snow

The man was shocked It was as though he had just heard his own sentence of death For a moment he sat and stared at the spot where the fire had been Then he grew very calm Perhaps the old-timer on Sulphur Creek was right If he had only had a trail-mate he would have been in no danger now The trail-mate could have built the fire Well it was up to him to build the fire over again and this second time there must be no failure Even if he succeeded he would most likely lose some toes His feet must be badly frozen by now and there would be some time before the second fire Was ready

Such were his thoughts but he did not sit and think them He was busy all the time they were passing through his mind He made a new foundation for a fire this time in the open where no treacherous tree could blot it out Next he gathered dry grasses and tiny twigs from the high-water flotsam He could not bring his fingers together to pull them out but he was able to gather them by the handful In this way he got many rotten twigs and bits of green moss that were undesirable but it was the best he could do He worked methodically even collecting an armful of the larger branches to be used later when the fire gathered strength And all the while the dog sat and watched him a certain yearning wistfulness in its eyes for it looked upon

To Build a FireContinued

him as the fire-provider and the fire was slow in coming

When all was ready the man reached in his pocket for a second piece of birch bark He knew the bark was there and though he could not feel it with his fingers he could hear its crisp rustling as he fumbled for it Try as he would he could not clutch hold of it And all the time in his consciousness was the knowledge that each instant his feet were freezing This thought tended to put him in a panic but he fought against it and kept calm He pulled on his mittens with his teeth and threshed his arms back and forth beating his hands with all his might against his sides He did this sitting down and he stood up to do it and all the while the dog sat in the snow its wolf-brush of a tail curled around warmly over its forefeet its sharp wolf-ears pricked forward intently as it watched the man And the man as he beat and threshed with his arms and hands felt a great surge of envy as he regarded the creature that was warm ant secure in its natural covering

After a time he was aware of the first far-away signals of sensation in his beaten fingers The faint tingling grew stronger till it evolved into a stinging ache that was excruciating but which the man hailed with satisfaction He stripped the mitten from his right hand and fetched forth the birch bark The exposed fingers were quickly going numb again Next he brought out his bunch of sulphur matches But the tremendous cold had already driven the life out of his fingers In his effort to separate one match from the others the whole bunch fell in the snow He tried to pick it out of the snow but failed The dead fingers could neither touch nor clutch He was very careful He drove the thought of his freezing feet and nose and cheeks out of his mind devoting his whole soul to the matches He watched using the sense of vision in place of that of touch and when he saw his fingers on each side the bunch he dosed them--that is he willed to close them for the wires were down and the fingers did not obey He pulled

the mitten on the right hand and beat it fiercely against his knee Then with both mittened hands he scooped the bunch of matches along with much snow into his lap Yet he was no better off

After some manipulation he managed to get the bunch between the heels of his mittened hands In this fashion he carried it to his mouth The ice crackled and snapped when by a violent effort he opened his mouth He drew the lower jaw in curled the upper lip out of the way and scraped the bunch with his upper teeth in order to separate a match He succeeded in getting one which he dropped on his lap He was no better off He could not pick it up Then he devised a way He picked it up in his teeth and scratched it on his leg Twenty times he scratched before he succeeded in lighting it As it flamed he held it with his teeth to the birch bark But the burning brimstone went up his nostrils and into his lungs causing him to cough spasmodically The match fell into the snow and went out

The old-timer an Sulphur Creek was right he thought in the moment of controlled despair that ensued after fifty below a man should travel with a partner He beat his hands but failed in exciting any sensation Suddenly he bared both hands removing the mittens with his teeth He caught the whole bunch between the heels of his hands His arm muscles not being frozen enabled him to press the hand-heels tightly against the matches Then he scratched the bunch along his leg It flared into flame seventy sulphur matches at once There was no wind to blow them out He kept his head to one side to escape the strangling fumes and held the blazing bunch to the birth bark As he so held it he became aware of sensation in his hand His flesh was burning He could smell it Deep down below the surface he could feel it The sensation developed into pain that grew acute And still he endured it holding the flame of the matches clumsily to the bark that would not light readily because his own burning hands were in the way absorbing most of the flame

To Build a FireContinued

At last when he could endure no more he jerked his hands apart The blazing matches fell sizzling into the snow but the birch bark was alight He began laying dry grasses and the tiniest twigs on the flame He could not pick and choose for he had to lift the fuel between the heels of his hands Small pieces of rotten wood and green moss clung to the twigs and he bit them off as well as he could with his teeth He cherished the flame carefully and awkwardly It meant life and it must not perish The withdrawal of blood from the surface of his body now made him begin to shiver and he grew more awkward A large piece of green moss fell squarely on the little fire He tried to poke it out with his fingers but his shivering frame made him poke too far and he disrupted the nucleus of the little fire the burning grasses and tiny twigs separating and scattering He tried to poke them together again but in spite of the tenseness of the effort his shivering got away with him and the twigs were hopelessly scattered Each twig gushed a puff of smoke and went out The fire-provider had failed As he looked apathetically about him his eyes chanced on the dog sitting across the ruins of the fire from him in the snow making restless hunching movements slightly lifting one forefoot and then the other shifting its weight back and forth on them with wistful eagerness

The sight of the dog put a wild idea into his head He remembered the tale of the man caught in a blizzard who killed a steer and crawled inside the carcass and so was saved He would kill the dog and bury his hands in the warm body until the numbness went out of them Then he could build another fire He spoke to the dog calling it to him but in his voice was a strange note of fear that frightened the animal who had never known the man to speak in such way before Something was the matter and its suspicious nature sensed danger--it knew not what danger but somewhere somehow in its brain arose an apprehension of the man It flattened its ears down at the sound of the mans voice and its restless

hunching movements and the liftings and shiftings of its forefeet became more pronounced but it would not come to the man He got on his hands and knees and crawled toward the dog This unusual posture again excited suspicion and the animal sidled mincingly away

The man sat up in the snow for a moment and struggled for calmness Then he pulled on his mittens by means of his teeth and got upon his feet He glanced down at first in order to assure himself that he was really standing up for the absence of sensation in his feet left him unrelated to the earth His erect position in itself started to drive the webs of suspicion from the dogs mind and when he spoke peremptorily with the sound of whiplashes in his voice the dog rendered its customary allegiance and came to him As it came within reaching distance the man lost his control His arms flashed out to the dog and he experienced genuine surprise when he discovered that his hands could not clutch that there was neither bend nor feeling in the fingers He had forgotten for the moment that they were frozen and that they were freezing more and more All this happened quickly and before the animal could get away he encircled its body with his arms He sat down in the snow and in this fashion held the dog while it snarled and whined and struggled

But it was all he could do hold its body encircled in his arms and sit there He realized that he could not kill the dog There was no way to do it With his helpless hands he could neither draw nor hold his sheath knife nor throttle the animal He released it and it plunged wildly away with tail between its legs and still snarling It halted forty feet away and surveyed him curiously with ears sharply pricked forward The man looked down at his hands in order to locate them and found them hanging on the ends of his arms It struck him as curious that one should have to use his eyes in order to find out where his hands were He began threshing his arms back and forth beating the mittened hands against

To Build a FireContinued

his sides He did this for five minutes violently and his heart pumped enough blood up to the surface to put a stop to his shivering But no sensation was aroused in the hands He had an impression that they hung like weights on the ends of his arms but when he tried to run the impression down he could not find it

A certain fear of death dull and oppressive came to him This fear quickly became poignant as he realized that it was no longer a mere matter of freezing his fingers and toes or of losing his hands and feet but that it was a matter of life and death with the chances against him This threw him into a panic and he turned and ran up the creek-bed along the old dim trail The dog joined in behind and kept up with him He ran blindly without intention in fear such as he had never known in his life Slowly as he plowed and floundered through the snow he began to see things again the banks of the creek the old timber-jams the leafless aspens and the sky The running made him feel better He did not shiver Maybe if he ran on his feet would thaw out and anyway if he ran far enough he would reach camp and the boys Without doubt he would lose some fingers and toes and some of his face but the boys would take care of him and save the rest of him when he got there And at the same time there was another thought in his mind that said he would never get to the camp and the boys that it was too many miles away that the freezing had too great a start on him and that he would soon be stiff and dead This thought he kept in the background and refused to consider Sometimes it pushed itself forward and demanded to be heard but he thrust it back and strove to think of other things

It struck him as curious that he could run at all on feet so frozen that he could not feel them when they struck the earth and took the weigh of his body He seemed to himself to skim along above the surface and to have no connection with the earth Somewhere he had once seen a winged Mercury

and he wondered if Mercury felt as he felt when skimming over the earth

His theory of running until he reached camp and the boys had one flaw in it he lacked the endurance Several times he stumbled and finally he tottered crumpled up and fell When he tried to rise he failed He must sit and rest he decided and next time he would merely walk and keep on going As he sat and regained his breath he noted that he was feeling quite warm and comfortable He was not shivering and it even seemed that a warm glow had come to his chest and trunk And yet when he touched his nose or cheeks there was no sensation Running would not thaw them out Nor would it thaw out his hands and feet Then the thought came to him that the frozen portions of his body must be extending He tried to keep this thought down to forget it to think of something else he was aware of the panicky feeling that it caused and he was afraid of the panic But the thought asserted itself and persisted until it produced a vision of his body totally frozen This was too much and he made another wild run along the trail Once he slowed down to a walk but the thought of the freezing extending itself made him run again

And all the time the dog ran with him at his heels When he fell down a second time it curled its tad over its forefeet and sat in front of him facing him curiously eager and intent The warmth and security of the animal angered him and he cursed it till it flattened down its ears appealingly This time the shivering came more quickly upon the man He was losing in his battle with the frost It was creeping into his body from all sides The thought of it drove him on but he ran no more than a hundred feet when he staggered and pitched headlong It was his last panic When he had recovered his breath and control he sat up and entertained in his mind the conception of meeting death with dignity However the conception did not come to him in such terms His idea of it was that he had been making a fool of

To Build a FireContinued

himself running around like a chicken with its head cut off--such was the simile that occurred to him Well he was bound to freeze anyway and he might as well take it decently With this new-found peace of mind came the first glimmerings of drowsiness A good idea he thought to sleep off to death It was like salting an anesthetic Freezing was not so bad as people thought There were lots worse ways to die

He pictured the boys finding his body next day Suddenly he found himself with them coming along the trail and looking for himself And still with them he came around a turn in the trail and found himself lying in the snow He did not belong with himself any more for even then he was out of himself standing with the boys and looking at himself in the snow It certainly was cold was his thought When he got back to the States he could tell the folks what real cold was He drifted on from this to a vision of the old-timer on Sulphur Creek He could see him quite clearly warm and comfortable and smoking a pipe

You were right old boss you were right the man mumbled to the old-timer of Sulphur Creek

Then the man drowsed off into what seemed to him the most comfortable and satisfying sleep he had ever known The dog sat facing him and waiting The brief day drew to a close in a long slow twilight There were no signs of a fire to be made and besides never in the dogs experience had it known a man to sit like that in the snow and make no fire As the twilight drew on its eager yearning for the fire mastered it and with a great lifting and shifting of forefeet it whined softly then flattened its ears down in anticipation of being chidden by the man But the man remained silent Later the dog whined loudly And still later it crept close to the man and caught the scent of death This made the animal bristle and back away A little longer it delayed howling under the stars that leaped and danced and shone brightly in the cold sky Then it turned and trotted up the trail in the direction of the camp it knew where were the other food-providers and fire-providers

To Build a FireContinued

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Page 51: FitnessDigest.us Vol. 4.3 Cover

Shop for Name BrandGear

24 Hoursa Day

WaynesSkiandCyclenet

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s w i m m i n g s h o r t s

Googles

13 Swimming fans can really appreciate a 200 IM when their goggles fill with water How about an Olympian Swimming a leg of the 400 Free Relay with his goggles across his opened mouth ndash and going 45rsquos A great team swimmer an Olympian wouldnrsquot let down his teammates by throwing them off or fixing them

500 Fly13 A world class butterflyer asked if he could swim butterfly in the 500 yard freestyle during a dual meet His goal was to break five minutes After considering the competition it seemed like a great way to make him really work a hard fly swim so we agreed Problem was he swam a 502 and the opposing coach complained to the officials because he embarrassed his swimmers Oh well you canrsquot win lsquoem all

Stories sent in by Robert Steele

No-No-No13 The other morning I was teaching front-streamlines to snotty nosed 8 year olds (some are literally snotty-nosed) One boy was taking a big gulp of air and holding his breath When he lifted his head he had to exhale and inhale before submerging again Swimmers will understand this does not work very well Kids need to learn to exhale underwater The first time he did it I told him to exhale underwater The second time I stopped him looked him in the eye and reminded him to exhale underwater The third and fourth times I started to get a little frustrated ldquoJohnny you need to exhale underwater so you can breath betterrdquo The fifth time as his head popped up for a breath I quickly asked ldquoJohnny Do you even know what exhale meansrdquo as he submerged his head below the water I could see him shake his head no-no-no

Favorite Potato Chips13We try to limit the junk food the kids eat at our house For lunch one day our son wanted some potato chips I gave him 3 large chips with his sandwich He started to cry and said he wanted one more chip ldquoI wanted four chipsrdquo he screamed I took the plate back When he wasnt looking I broke a chip in half and give it back to him with four chips

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

13 My cancer story is one of uniqueness Leave it to me to do something like cancer to its fullest It did not begin with a mammogram diagnosis or a lump My journey began about 4 years ago with some suspicious activity that turned into Pagetrsquos disease of the nipple which signaled the underlying cancer On April 1st I found out about my breast cancer through a biopsy that came back as positive for Pagetrsquos disease The onslaught of tests learning and decisions were dizzying I immediately went for an evaluation of the suspicious tissue and had to begin making decisions for my mastectomy I quickly learned there is a test called the BRAC Analysis which is a genetic test for breast and ovarian cancer Finally a piece of good news for me I did not have the gene

Decisions Now it was time to make decisions about my mastectomy and how I was going to handle reconstruction I discussed my options with my boyfriend Brian friends family members and even my principalboss I read books searched the Internet and contacted people I

Brandi ShipmanCancer Survivor and elite triathlete

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

know and knew from my past that had been directly affected and that I thought might have answers for me The outpouring of love encouragement and help during this process was overwhelming After meeting with four different doctors two surgeons and two plastic surgeons I decided to go with immediate reconstruction and was lucky enough to find two wonderful doctors They were willing to work together just because I wanted them to even though they had never done so before My surgery was scheduled for mid May

Mental Toughness13 My mental preparation at this point was very important I had to scrap any idea of competing in triathlons for the rest of the year and focus on a positive attitude of getting better I stopped thinking about what I wasnrsquot going to able to do and started thinking about what I could do that I was alive and kept my mind on the fact that so many others had made it before me

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links

Part 213 I was prepared by the doctors survivors and literature to be ldquodownrdquo for several weeks after my surgery I even took the rest of the school year off My surgery went well and I was out of the hospital the next day A few friends came to visit while I was in the hospital and my principal and vice principal brought the most wonderful picture of the faculty wearing pink for me I can only imagine what it looked like at Thornton Elementary on that day in May 2009 a sea of pink all for Brandi Shipman Shortly after their visit I received a text from my friend Margie Massey My friends from the gym wore pink for me that day as well The support brought tears to my eyes I was so excited to come home and be comfortable in my own home I just wish the stupid drain that was attached could have stayed at the hospital The pain from that was worse than the pain from the mastectomy

the most

powerful picture

13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Recovery ndash May13 Once I got home I slept and watched a lot of TV Friends visited and brought yummy food and my favorites I am not supposed to eat I ate them all My friend and co-worker set up a cancer care calendar that alerted anyone who logged on when I was having a doctorrsquos appointment or when I was in need of anything I felt like royalty as everyone took care of me I think Brian secretly enjoyed the fact that he wouldnrsquot have to cook for me each night My recovery was quicker than I thought as I was doing my best to get better and get the stinkinrsquo drain out of my skin I was out walking within a week and running within 3 weeks I couldnrsquot believe my recovery I know it was from all the prayers love and good care from Brian and the loved ones around me Life was looking better each day

ldquoLife was looking

better each dayrdquo

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Part three and part

four of I am Survivor

will be published in

the next edition of

FitnessDigestus

Get the convenience of

digital-delivery

Sign-up or subscribe at

httpFitnessDigestus

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During the past 150 years we have witnessed many remarkable advances against cancer a disease known to humanity for thousands of years The advances highlighted below represent a sampling of what has been accomplished to date

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

1882 William Halsted performs the first radical mastectomy to treat breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast the lymph nodes under the arm (axillary lymph nodes) and the chest muscles behind the breast (pectoralis major and pectoralis minor muscles) are removed Radical mastectomy will remain the standard operation for breast cancer until latter half of the 20th century when the use of modified radical mastectomy becomes widely accepted

1932 David H Patey develops the modified radical mastectomy for breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast axillary lymph nodes and pectoralis minor muscle behind the breast are removed The modified radical mastectomy is less disfiguring than the radical mastectomy and will eventually replace the radical mastectomy as a standard treatment option for breast cancer

1953 James Watson and Francis Crick discover the molecular structure of DNA (the double helix)

1963 The Health Insurance Plan (HIP) of Greater New York Study begins HIP is the first randomized controlled trial of periodic breast cancer screening with mammography

1882

1932

1953

1963

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1976 The results of a randomized clinical trial show that women with early breast cancer who receive post-operative (adjuvant) combination chemotherapy with the drugs cyclophosphamide methotrexate and 5-FU have improved disease-free survival

1981 A randomized clinical trial in the United Kingdom shows for the first time that the rates of survival local recurrence and tumor metastasis among women whose breast cancer is treated with modified radical mastectomy are not substantially different from those of women who are treated with radical mastectomy

1993 An NCI-convened international workshop on screening for breast cancer reports that screening with mammography reduces breast cancer mortality among women ages 50-69 This conclusion is based on a review of published and unpublished data from eight randomized controlled trials

2004 Data from the Womens Health Initiative (WHI) study show that women who take estrogen in combination with the hormone progestin have a greater risk of developing breast cancer than women who take estrogen alone The results also show that menopausal hormone therapy with estrogen alone has no benefit in disease prevention specifically in reducing the risks of colorectal cancer coronary heart disease and dementia

1976

1981

1993

2004

Although we still have a long way to go to reduce the toll of cancer in the United States and worldwide our research and public health efforts are beginning to pay dividends

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

Volunteering vs Participating13 My girl friend and I are involved in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation The local chapter raises awareness for the cause with a fun-run each year We have volunteered to help with the race five years in a row This year we were stationed at a water table where the runners pick-up cups of water to drink Toward the end of the race there are very few runners There was a little time to chat about things We were talking about what we would wish for if we could have three wishes I told her I would wish for an end to Juvenile Diabetes and to lose 10 pounds Being nice I said ldquoyou can have my last wishrdquo She said I wish you would skip volunteering and just run this race next year

Admission Price Our aquatic center was having a promotion one night and advertised an elementary school night The kids could swim for free When we got to the pool we saw a promotional sign for the event In small lettering it read All swimmers must be accompanied by an adult We thought no big deal one of us can just stay and watch When we got to the front desk we found the lifeguard was enforcing the adult-admission price of $8

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Chicago open water swim course at nighttop left

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As he turned to go on he spat speculatively There was a sharp explosive crackle that startled him He spat again And again in the air before it could fall to the snow the spittle crackled He knew that at fifty below spittle crackled on the snow but this spittle had crackled in the air Undoubtedly it was colder than fifty below--how much colder he did not know But the temperature did not matter He was bound for the old claim on the left fork of Henderson Creek where the boys were already They had come over across the divide from the Indian Creek country while he had come the roundabout way to take a look at the possibilities of getting out logs in the spring from the islands in the Yukon He would be in to camp by six oclock a bit after dark it was true but the boys would be there a fire would be going and a hot supper would be ready As for lunch he pressed his hand against the protruding bundle under his jacket It was also under his shirt wrapped up in a handkerchief and lying against the naked skin It was the only way to keep the biscuits from freezing He smiled agreeably to himself as he thought of those biscuits each cut open and sopped in bacon grease and each enclosing a generous slice of fried bacon

He plunged in among the big spruce trees The trail was faint A foot of snow had fallen since the last sled had passed over and he was glad he was without a sled traveling light In fact he carried nothing but the lunch wrapped in the handkerchief He was surprised however at the cold It certainly was cold he concluded as he rubbed his numb nose and cheek-bones with his mittened hand He was a warm-whiskered man but the hair on his face did not protect the high cheek-bones and the eager nose that thrust itself aggressively into the frosty air

At the mans heels trotted a dog a big native husky the proper wolf-dog gray-coated and without any visible or temperamental difference from its brother the wild wolf The animal was depressed by the tremendous cold It knew that it was no time for

traveling Its instinct told it a truer tale than was told to the man by the mans judgment In reality it was not merely colder than fifty below zero it was colder than sixty below than seventy below It was seventy-five below zero Since the freezing point is thirty-two above zero it meant that one hundred and seven degrees of frost obtained The dog did not know anything about thermometers Possibly in its brain there was no sharp consciousness of a condition of very cold such as was in the mans brain But the brute had its instinct It experienced a vague but menacing apprehension that subdued it then made it slink along at the mans heels and that made it question eagerly every unwonted movement of the man as if expecting him to go into camp or to seek shelter somewhere and build a fire The dog had learned fire and it wanted fire or else to burrow under the snow and cuddle its warmth away from the air

The frozen moisture of its breathing had settled on its fur in a fine powder of frost and especially were its jowls muzzle and eyelashes whitened by its cry-stalled breath The mans red beard and mustache were likewise frosted but more solidly the deposit taking the form of ice and increasing with every warm moist breath he exhaled Also the man was chewing tobacco and the muzzle of ice held his lips so rigidly that he was unable to clear his chin when he expelled the juice The result was that a crystal beard of the color and solidity of amber was increasing its length on his chin If he fell down it would shatter itself like glass into brittle fragments But he did not mind the appendage It was the penalty all tobacco-chewers paid in that country and he had been out before in two cold snaps They had not been so cold as this he knew but by the spirit thermometer at Sixty Mile he knew they had been registered at fifty below and at fifty-five

He held on through the level stretch of woods for several miles crossed a wide flat of rigger-heads and dropped down a bank to the frozen bed of a

To Build a FireContinued

small stream This was Henderson Creek and he knew he was ten miles from the forks He looked at his watch It was ten oclock He was making four miles an hour and he calculated that he would arrive at the forks at half-past twelve He decided to celebrate that event by eating his lunch there

The dog dropped in again at his heels with a tail drooping discouragement as the man swung along the creek-bed The furrow of the old sled-trail was plainly visible but a dozen inches of snow covered the marks of the last runners In a month no man had come up or down that silent creek The man held steadily on He was not much given to thinking and just then particularly he had nothing to think about save that he would eat lunch at-the forks and that at six oclock he would be in camp with the boys There was nobody to talk to and had there been speech would have been impossible because of the ice-muzzle on his mouth So he continued monotonously to chew tobacco and to increase the length of his amber beard

Once in a while the thought reiterated itself that it was very cold and that he had never experienced such cold As he walked along he rubbed his cheek-bones and nose with the back of his mittened hand He did this automatically now and again changing hands But rub as he would the instant he stopped his cheek-bones went numb and the following instant the end of his nose went numb He was sure to frost his cheeks he knew that and experienced a pang of regret that he had not devised a nose-strap of the sort Bud wore in cold snaps Such a strap passed across the cheeks as well and saved them But it didnt matter much after all What were frosted cheeks A bit painful that was all they were never serious

Empty as the mans mind was of thoughts he was keenly observant and he noticed the changes in the creek the curves and bends and timber jams and always he sharply noted where he placed his feet Once coming around a bend he shied abruptly

like a startled horse curved away from the place where he had been walking and retreated several paces back along the trail The creek he knew was frozen clear to the bottom--no creek could contain water in that arctic winter--but he knew also that there were springs that bubbled out from the hillsides and ran along under the snow and on top the ice of the creek He knew that the coldest snaps never froze these springs and he knew likewise their danger They were traps They hid pools of water under the snow that might be three inches deep or three feet Sometimes a skin of ice half an inch thick covered them and in turn was covered by the snow Sometimes there were alternate layers of water and ice-skin so that when one broke through he kept on breaking through for a while sometimes wetting himself to the waist

That was why he had shied in such panic He had felt the give under his feet and heard the crackle of a snow-hidden ice-skin And to get his feet wet in such a temperature meant trouble and danger At the very least it meant delay for he would be forced to stop and build a fire and under its protection to bare his feet while he dried his socks and moccasins He stood and studied the creek-bed and its banks and decided that the flow of water came from the right He reflected a while rubbing his nose and cheeks then skirted to the left stepping gingerly and testing the footing for each step Once clear of the danger he took a fresh chew of tobacco and swung along at his four-mile gait

In the course of the next two hours he came upon several similar traps Usually the snow above the hidden pools had a sunken candied appearance that advertised the danger Once again however he had a close call and once suspecting danger he compelled the dog to go on in front The dog did not want to go It hung back until the man shoved it forward and then it went quickly across the white unbroken surface Suddenly it broke through floundered to one side and got away to firmer

To Build a FireContinued

To Build a FireContinued

footing It had wet its forefeet and legs and almost immediately the water that clung to it turned to ice It made quick efforts to lick the ice off its legs then dropped down in the snow and began to bite out the ice that had formed between the toes l his was a matter of instinct To permit the ice to remain would mean sore feet It did not know this It merely obeyed the mysterious prompting that arose from the deep crypts of its being But the man knew having achieved a judgment on the subject and he removed the mitten from his right hand and helped tear out the ice-particles He did not expose his fingers more than a minute and was astonished at the swift numbness that smote them It certainly was cold He pulled on the mitten hastily and beat the hand savagely across his chest

At twelve oclock the day was at its brightest Yet the sun was too far south an its winter journey to clear the horizon The bulge of the earth intervened between it arid Henderson Creek where the man walked under a clear sky at noon and cast no shadow At half-past twelve to the minute he arrived at the forks of the creek He was pleased at the speed he had made If he kept it up he would certainly be with the boys by six He unbuttoned his jacket and shirt and drew forth his lunch The action consumed no more than a quarter of a minute yet in that brief moment the numbness laid hold of the exposed fingers He did not put the mitten on but instead struck the fingers a dozen sharp smashes against his leg Then he sat down on a snow-covered log to eat The sting that followed upon the striking of his fingers against his leg ceased so quickly that he was startled He had had no chance to take a bite of biscuit He struck the fingers repeatedly and returned them to the mitten baring the other hand for the purpose of eating He tried to take a mouthful but the ice-muzzle prevented He had forgotten to build a fire and thaw out He chuckled at his foolishness and as he chuckled he noted the numbness creeping into the exposed fingers Also he noted that the stinging which had first come to his

toes when he sat down was already passing away He wandered whether the toes were warm or numb He moved them inside the moccasins and decided that they were numb

He pulled the mitten on hurriedly and stood up He was a bit frightened He stamped up and down until the stinging returned into the feet It certainly was cold was his thought That man from Sulphur Creek had spoken the truth when telling how cold it sometimes got in the country And he had laughed at him at the time That showed one must not be too sure of things There was no mistake about it it was cold He strode up and down stamping his feet and threshing his arms until reassured by the returning warmth Then he got out matches and proceeded to make a fire From the undergrowth where high water of the previous spring had lodged a supply of seasoned twigs he got his firewood Working carefully from a small beginning he soon had a roaring fire over which he thawed the ice from his face and in the protection of which he ate his biscuits For the moment the cold space was outwitted The dog took satisfaction in the fire stretching out close enough for warmth and far enough away to escape being singed

When the man had finished be filled his pipe and took his comfortable time over a smoke Then he pulled on his mittens settled the ear-flaps of his cap firmly about his ears and took the creek trail up the left fork The dog was disappointed and yearned back toward the fire This man did not know cold Possibly all the generations of his ancestry had been ignorant of cold of real cold of cold one hundred and seven degrees below freezing point But the dog knew all its ancestry knew and it had inherited the knowledge And it knew that it was not good to walk abroad in such fearful cold It was the time to lie snug in a hole in the snow and wait for a curtain of cloud to be drawn across the face of outer space whence this cold came On the other hand there was no keen intimacy between the dog and the man

The one was the toil-slave of the other and the only caresses it had ever received were the caresses of the whiplash and of harsh and menacing throat-sounds that threatened the whiplash So the dog made no effort to communicate its apprehension to the man It was not concerned in the welfare of the man it was for its own sake that it yearned back toward the fire But the man whistled and spoke to it with the sound of whiplashes and the dog swung in at the mans heel and followed after

The man took a chew of tobacco and proceeded to start a new amber beard Also his moist breath quickly powdered with white his mustache eyebrows and lashes There did not seem to be so many springs on the left fork of the Henderson and for half an hour the man saw no signs of any And then it happened At a place where there were no signs where the soft unbroken snow seemed to advertise solidity beneath tee man broke through It was not deep He wet himself halfway to the knees before he floundered out to the firm crust

He was angry and cursed his luck aloud He had hoped to get into camp with the boys at six oclock and this would delay him an hour for he would have to build a fire and dry out his foot-gear This was imperative at that low temperature--he knew that much and he turned aside to the bank which he climbed On top tangled in the underbrush about the trunks of several small spruce trees was a high-water deposit of dry firewood--sticks and twigs principally but also larger portions of seasoned branches and fine dry last-years grasses He threw down several large pieces on top of the snow This served for a foundation and prevented the young flame from drowning itself in the snow it otherwise would melt The flame he got by touching a match to a small shred of birch bark that he took from his pocket This burned even more readily than paper Placing it on the foundation he fed the young flame with wisps of dry grass and with the tiniest dry twigs

He worked slowly and carefully keenly aware of his danger Gradually as the flame grew stronger he increased the size of the twigs with which he fed it He squatted in the snow pulling the twigs out from their entanglement in the brush and feeding directly to the flame He knew there must be no failure When it is seventy-five below zero a man must not fail in his first attempt to build a fire--that is if his feet are wet If his feet are dry and he fails he can run along the trail for half a mile and restore his circulation But the circulation of wet and freezing feet cannot be restored by running when it is seventy-five below No matter how fast he runs the wet feet will freeze the harder

All this the man knew The old-timer on Sulphur Creek had told him about it the previous fall and now he was appreciating the advice Already all sensation had gone out of his feet To build the fire he had been forced to remove his mittens and the fingers had quickly gone numb His pace of four miles an hour had kept his heart pumping blood to the surface of his body and to all the extremities But the instant he stopped the action of the pump eased down The cold of space smote the unprotected tip of the planet and he being on that unprotected tip received the full force of the blow The blood of his body recoiled before it The blood was alive like the dog and like the dog it wanted to hide away and cover itself up from the fearful cold So long as he walked four miles an hour he pumped that blood willy-nilly to the surface but now it ebbed away and sank down into the recesses of his body The extremities were the first to feel its absence His wet feet froze the faster and his exposed fingers numbed the faster though they had not yet begun to freeze Nose and cheeks were already freezing while the skin of all his body chilled as it lost its blood

But he was safe Toes and nose and cheeks would be only touched by the frost for the fire was beginning to burn with strength He was feeding it

To Build a FireContinued

with twigs the size of his finger In another minute he would be able to feed it with branches the size of his wrier and then he could remove his wet toot-gear and while it dried he could keep his naked feet warm by the fire rubbing them at first of course with snow The fire was a success He was safe He remembered the advice of the old timer on Sulphur Creek and smiled The old-timer had been very serious in laying down the law that no man must travel alone in the Klondike after fifty below Well here he was he had had the accident he was alone and he had saved himself Those old-timers were rather womanish some of them he thought All a man had to do was to keep his head and he was all right Any man who was a man could travel alone But it was surprising the rapidity with which his cheeks and nose were freezing And he had not thought his fingers could go lifeless in so short a time Lifeless they were for he could scarcely make them move together to grip a twig and they seemed remote from his body and from him When he touched a twig he had to look and see whether or not he had hold of it The wires were pretty well down between him and his finger-ends

All of which counted for little There was the fire snapping and crackling and promising life with every dancing flame He started to untie his moccasins They were coated with ice the thick German socks were like sheaths of iron halfway to the knees and the moccasin strings were like rods of steel all twisted and knotted as by some conflagration For a moment he tugged with his numb fingers then realizing the folly of it he drew his sheath-knife

But before he could cut the strings it happened It was his own fault or rather his mistake He should not have built the fire under the spruce tree He should have built it in the open But it had been easier to pull the twigs from the brush and drop them directly on the fire Now the tree under which

he had done this carried a weight of snow on its boughs No wind had blown for weeks and each bough was fully freighted Each time he had pulled a twig he had communicated a slight agitation to the tree--an imperceptible agitation so far as he was concerned but an agitation sufficient to bring about the disaster High up in the tree one bough capsized its load of snow This fell on the boughs beneath capsizing them This process continued spreading out and involving the whole tree It grew like an avalanche and it descended without warning upon the man and the fire and the fire was blotted out Where it had burned was a mantle of fresh and disordered snow

The man was shocked It was as though he had just heard his own sentence of death For a moment he sat and stared at the spot where the fire had been Then he grew very calm Perhaps the old-timer on Sulphur Creek was right If he had only had a trail-mate he would have been in no danger now The trail-mate could have built the fire Well it was up to him to build the fire over again and this second time there must be no failure Even if he succeeded he would most likely lose some toes His feet must be badly frozen by now and there would be some time before the second fire Was ready

Such were his thoughts but he did not sit and think them He was busy all the time they were passing through his mind He made a new foundation for a fire this time in the open where no treacherous tree could blot it out Next he gathered dry grasses and tiny twigs from the high-water flotsam He could not bring his fingers together to pull them out but he was able to gather them by the handful In this way he got many rotten twigs and bits of green moss that were undesirable but it was the best he could do He worked methodically even collecting an armful of the larger branches to be used later when the fire gathered strength And all the while the dog sat and watched him a certain yearning wistfulness in its eyes for it looked upon

To Build a FireContinued

him as the fire-provider and the fire was slow in coming

When all was ready the man reached in his pocket for a second piece of birch bark He knew the bark was there and though he could not feel it with his fingers he could hear its crisp rustling as he fumbled for it Try as he would he could not clutch hold of it And all the time in his consciousness was the knowledge that each instant his feet were freezing This thought tended to put him in a panic but he fought against it and kept calm He pulled on his mittens with his teeth and threshed his arms back and forth beating his hands with all his might against his sides He did this sitting down and he stood up to do it and all the while the dog sat in the snow its wolf-brush of a tail curled around warmly over its forefeet its sharp wolf-ears pricked forward intently as it watched the man And the man as he beat and threshed with his arms and hands felt a great surge of envy as he regarded the creature that was warm ant secure in its natural covering

After a time he was aware of the first far-away signals of sensation in his beaten fingers The faint tingling grew stronger till it evolved into a stinging ache that was excruciating but which the man hailed with satisfaction He stripped the mitten from his right hand and fetched forth the birch bark The exposed fingers were quickly going numb again Next he brought out his bunch of sulphur matches But the tremendous cold had already driven the life out of his fingers In his effort to separate one match from the others the whole bunch fell in the snow He tried to pick it out of the snow but failed The dead fingers could neither touch nor clutch He was very careful He drove the thought of his freezing feet and nose and cheeks out of his mind devoting his whole soul to the matches He watched using the sense of vision in place of that of touch and when he saw his fingers on each side the bunch he dosed them--that is he willed to close them for the wires were down and the fingers did not obey He pulled

the mitten on the right hand and beat it fiercely against his knee Then with both mittened hands he scooped the bunch of matches along with much snow into his lap Yet he was no better off

After some manipulation he managed to get the bunch between the heels of his mittened hands In this fashion he carried it to his mouth The ice crackled and snapped when by a violent effort he opened his mouth He drew the lower jaw in curled the upper lip out of the way and scraped the bunch with his upper teeth in order to separate a match He succeeded in getting one which he dropped on his lap He was no better off He could not pick it up Then he devised a way He picked it up in his teeth and scratched it on his leg Twenty times he scratched before he succeeded in lighting it As it flamed he held it with his teeth to the birch bark But the burning brimstone went up his nostrils and into his lungs causing him to cough spasmodically The match fell into the snow and went out

The old-timer an Sulphur Creek was right he thought in the moment of controlled despair that ensued after fifty below a man should travel with a partner He beat his hands but failed in exciting any sensation Suddenly he bared both hands removing the mittens with his teeth He caught the whole bunch between the heels of his hands His arm muscles not being frozen enabled him to press the hand-heels tightly against the matches Then he scratched the bunch along his leg It flared into flame seventy sulphur matches at once There was no wind to blow them out He kept his head to one side to escape the strangling fumes and held the blazing bunch to the birth bark As he so held it he became aware of sensation in his hand His flesh was burning He could smell it Deep down below the surface he could feel it The sensation developed into pain that grew acute And still he endured it holding the flame of the matches clumsily to the bark that would not light readily because his own burning hands were in the way absorbing most of the flame

To Build a FireContinued

At last when he could endure no more he jerked his hands apart The blazing matches fell sizzling into the snow but the birch bark was alight He began laying dry grasses and the tiniest twigs on the flame He could not pick and choose for he had to lift the fuel between the heels of his hands Small pieces of rotten wood and green moss clung to the twigs and he bit them off as well as he could with his teeth He cherished the flame carefully and awkwardly It meant life and it must not perish The withdrawal of blood from the surface of his body now made him begin to shiver and he grew more awkward A large piece of green moss fell squarely on the little fire He tried to poke it out with his fingers but his shivering frame made him poke too far and he disrupted the nucleus of the little fire the burning grasses and tiny twigs separating and scattering He tried to poke them together again but in spite of the tenseness of the effort his shivering got away with him and the twigs were hopelessly scattered Each twig gushed a puff of smoke and went out The fire-provider had failed As he looked apathetically about him his eyes chanced on the dog sitting across the ruins of the fire from him in the snow making restless hunching movements slightly lifting one forefoot and then the other shifting its weight back and forth on them with wistful eagerness

The sight of the dog put a wild idea into his head He remembered the tale of the man caught in a blizzard who killed a steer and crawled inside the carcass and so was saved He would kill the dog and bury his hands in the warm body until the numbness went out of them Then he could build another fire He spoke to the dog calling it to him but in his voice was a strange note of fear that frightened the animal who had never known the man to speak in such way before Something was the matter and its suspicious nature sensed danger--it knew not what danger but somewhere somehow in its brain arose an apprehension of the man It flattened its ears down at the sound of the mans voice and its restless

hunching movements and the liftings and shiftings of its forefeet became more pronounced but it would not come to the man He got on his hands and knees and crawled toward the dog This unusual posture again excited suspicion and the animal sidled mincingly away

The man sat up in the snow for a moment and struggled for calmness Then he pulled on his mittens by means of his teeth and got upon his feet He glanced down at first in order to assure himself that he was really standing up for the absence of sensation in his feet left him unrelated to the earth His erect position in itself started to drive the webs of suspicion from the dogs mind and when he spoke peremptorily with the sound of whiplashes in his voice the dog rendered its customary allegiance and came to him As it came within reaching distance the man lost his control His arms flashed out to the dog and he experienced genuine surprise when he discovered that his hands could not clutch that there was neither bend nor feeling in the fingers He had forgotten for the moment that they were frozen and that they were freezing more and more All this happened quickly and before the animal could get away he encircled its body with his arms He sat down in the snow and in this fashion held the dog while it snarled and whined and struggled

But it was all he could do hold its body encircled in his arms and sit there He realized that he could not kill the dog There was no way to do it With his helpless hands he could neither draw nor hold his sheath knife nor throttle the animal He released it and it plunged wildly away with tail between its legs and still snarling It halted forty feet away and surveyed him curiously with ears sharply pricked forward The man looked down at his hands in order to locate them and found them hanging on the ends of his arms It struck him as curious that one should have to use his eyes in order to find out where his hands were He began threshing his arms back and forth beating the mittened hands against

To Build a FireContinued

his sides He did this for five minutes violently and his heart pumped enough blood up to the surface to put a stop to his shivering But no sensation was aroused in the hands He had an impression that they hung like weights on the ends of his arms but when he tried to run the impression down he could not find it

A certain fear of death dull and oppressive came to him This fear quickly became poignant as he realized that it was no longer a mere matter of freezing his fingers and toes or of losing his hands and feet but that it was a matter of life and death with the chances against him This threw him into a panic and he turned and ran up the creek-bed along the old dim trail The dog joined in behind and kept up with him He ran blindly without intention in fear such as he had never known in his life Slowly as he plowed and floundered through the snow he began to see things again the banks of the creek the old timber-jams the leafless aspens and the sky The running made him feel better He did not shiver Maybe if he ran on his feet would thaw out and anyway if he ran far enough he would reach camp and the boys Without doubt he would lose some fingers and toes and some of his face but the boys would take care of him and save the rest of him when he got there And at the same time there was another thought in his mind that said he would never get to the camp and the boys that it was too many miles away that the freezing had too great a start on him and that he would soon be stiff and dead This thought he kept in the background and refused to consider Sometimes it pushed itself forward and demanded to be heard but he thrust it back and strove to think of other things

It struck him as curious that he could run at all on feet so frozen that he could not feel them when they struck the earth and took the weigh of his body He seemed to himself to skim along above the surface and to have no connection with the earth Somewhere he had once seen a winged Mercury

and he wondered if Mercury felt as he felt when skimming over the earth

His theory of running until he reached camp and the boys had one flaw in it he lacked the endurance Several times he stumbled and finally he tottered crumpled up and fell When he tried to rise he failed He must sit and rest he decided and next time he would merely walk and keep on going As he sat and regained his breath he noted that he was feeling quite warm and comfortable He was not shivering and it even seemed that a warm glow had come to his chest and trunk And yet when he touched his nose or cheeks there was no sensation Running would not thaw them out Nor would it thaw out his hands and feet Then the thought came to him that the frozen portions of his body must be extending He tried to keep this thought down to forget it to think of something else he was aware of the panicky feeling that it caused and he was afraid of the panic But the thought asserted itself and persisted until it produced a vision of his body totally frozen This was too much and he made another wild run along the trail Once he slowed down to a walk but the thought of the freezing extending itself made him run again

And all the time the dog ran with him at his heels When he fell down a second time it curled its tad over its forefeet and sat in front of him facing him curiously eager and intent The warmth and security of the animal angered him and he cursed it till it flattened down its ears appealingly This time the shivering came more quickly upon the man He was losing in his battle with the frost It was creeping into his body from all sides The thought of it drove him on but he ran no more than a hundred feet when he staggered and pitched headlong It was his last panic When he had recovered his breath and control he sat up and entertained in his mind the conception of meeting death with dignity However the conception did not come to him in such terms His idea of it was that he had been making a fool of

To Build a FireContinued

himself running around like a chicken with its head cut off--such was the simile that occurred to him Well he was bound to freeze anyway and he might as well take it decently With this new-found peace of mind came the first glimmerings of drowsiness A good idea he thought to sleep off to death It was like salting an anesthetic Freezing was not so bad as people thought There were lots worse ways to die

He pictured the boys finding his body next day Suddenly he found himself with them coming along the trail and looking for himself And still with them he came around a turn in the trail and found himself lying in the snow He did not belong with himself any more for even then he was out of himself standing with the boys and looking at himself in the snow It certainly was cold was his thought When he got back to the States he could tell the folks what real cold was He drifted on from this to a vision of the old-timer on Sulphur Creek He could see him quite clearly warm and comfortable and smoking a pipe

You were right old boss you were right the man mumbled to the old-timer of Sulphur Creek

Then the man drowsed off into what seemed to him the most comfortable and satisfying sleep he had ever known The dog sat facing him and waiting The brief day drew to a close in a long slow twilight There were no signs of a fire to be made and besides never in the dogs experience had it known a man to sit like that in the snow and make no fire As the twilight drew on its eager yearning for the fire mastered it and with a great lifting and shifting of forefeet it whined softly then flattened its ears down in anticipation of being chidden by the man But the man remained silent Later the dog whined loudly And still later it crept close to the man and caught the scent of death This made the animal bristle and back away A little longer it delayed howling under the stars that leaped and danced and shone brightly in the cold sky Then it turned and trotted up the trail in the direction of the camp it knew where were the other food-providers and fire-providers

To Build a FireContinued

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Nutritional Performance Sports Drinks with Protein

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Page 52: FitnessDigest.us Vol. 4.3 Cover

s w i m m i n g s h o r t s

Googles

13 Swimming fans can really appreciate a 200 IM when their goggles fill with water How about an Olympian Swimming a leg of the 400 Free Relay with his goggles across his opened mouth ndash and going 45rsquos A great team swimmer an Olympian wouldnrsquot let down his teammates by throwing them off or fixing them

500 Fly13 A world class butterflyer asked if he could swim butterfly in the 500 yard freestyle during a dual meet His goal was to break five minutes After considering the competition it seemed like a great way to make him really work a hard fly swim so we agreed Problem was he swam a 502 and the opposing coach complained to the officials because he embarrassed his swimmers Oh well you canrsquot win lsquoem all

Stories sent in by Robert Steele

No-No-No13 The other morning I was teaching front-streamlines to snotty nosed 8 year olds (some are literally snotty-nosed) One boy was taking a big gulp of air and holding his breath When he lifted his head he had to exhale and inhale before submerging again Swimmers will understand this does not work very well Kids need to learn to exhale underwater The first time he did it I told him to exhale underwater The second time I stopped him looked him in the eye and reminded him to exhale underwater The third and fourth times I started to get a little frustrated ldquoJohnny you need to exhale underwater so you can breath betterrdquo The fifth time as his head popped up for a breath I quickly asked ldquoJohnny Do you even know what exhale meansrdquo as he submerged his head below the water I could see him shake his head no-no-no

Favorite Potato Chips13We try to limit the junk food the kids eat at our house For lunch one day our son wanted some potato chips I gave him 3 large chips with his sandwich He started to cry and said he wanted one more chip ldquoI wanted four chipsrdquo he screamed I took the plate back When he wasnt looking I broke a chip in half and give it back to him with four chips

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

13 My cancer story is one of uniqueness Leave it to me to do something like cancer to its fullest It did not begin with a mammogram diagnosis or a lump My journey began about 4 years ago with some suspicious activity that turned into Pagetrsquos disease of the nipple which signaled the underlying cancer On April 1st I found out about my breast cancer through a biopsy that came back as positive for Pagetrsquos disease The onslaught of tests learning and decisions were dizzying I immediately went for an evaluation of the suspicious tissue and had to begin making decisions for my mastectomy I quickly learned there is a test called the BRAC Analysis which is a genetic test for breast and ovarian cancer Finally a piece of good news for me I did not have the gene

Decisions Now it was time to make decisions about my mastectomy and how I was going to handle reconstruction I discussed my options with my boyfriend Brian friends family members and even my principalboss I read books searched the Internet and contacted people I

Brandi ShipmanCancer Survivor and elite triathlete

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

know and knew from my past that had been directly affected and that I thought might have answers for me The outpouring of love encouragement and help during this process was overwhelming After meeting with four different doctors two surgeons and two plastic surgeons I decided to go with immediate reconstruction and was lucky enough to find two wonderful doctors They were willing to work together just because I wanted them to even though they had never done so before My surgery was scheduled for mid May

Mental Toughness13 My mental preparation at this point was very important I had to scrap any idea of competing in triathlons for the rest of the year and focus on a positive attitude of getting better I stopped thinking about what I wasnrsquot going to able to do and started thinking about what I could do that I was alive and kept my mind on the fact that so many others had made it before me

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links

Part 213 I was prepared by the doctors survivors and literature to be ldquodownrdquo for several weeks after my surgery I even took the rest of the school year off My surgery went well and I was out of the hospital the next day A few friends came to visit while I was in the hospital and my principal and vice principal brought the most wonderful picture of the faculty wearing pink for me I can only imagine what it looked like at Thornton Elementary on that day in May 2009 a sea of pink all for Brandi Shipman Shortly after their visit I received a text from my friend Margie Massey My friends from the gym wore pink for me that day as well The support brought tears to my eyes I was so excited to come home and be comfortable in my own home I just wish the stupid drain that was attached could have stayed at the hospital The pain from that was worse than the pain from the mastectomy

the most

powerful picture

13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Recovery ndash May13 Once I got home I slept and watched a lot of TV Friends visited and brought yummy food and my favorites I am not supposed to eat I ate them all My friend and co-worker set up a cancer care calendar that alerted anyone who logged on when I was having a doctorrsquos appointment or when I was in need of anything I felt like royalty as everyone took care of me I think Brian secretly enjoyed the fact that he wouldnrsquot have to cook for me each night My recovery was quicker than I thought as I was doing my best to get better and get the stinkinrsquo drain out of my skin I was out walking within a week and running within 3 weeks I couldnrsquot believe my recovery I know it was from all the prayers love and good care from Brian and the loved ones around me Life was looking better each day

ldquoLife was looking

better each dayrdquo

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Part three and part

four of I am Survivor

will be published in

the next edition of

FitnessDigestus

Get the convenience of

digital-delivery

Sign-up or subscribe at

httpFitnessDigestus

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During the past 150 years we have witnessed many remarkable advances against cancer a disease known to humanity for thousands of years The advances highlighted below represent a sampling of what has been accomplished to date

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

1882 William Halsted performs the first radical mastectomy to treat breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast the lymph nodes under the arm (axillary lymph nodes) and the chest muscles behind the breast (pectoralis major and pectoralis minor muscles) are removed Radical mastectomy will remain the standard operation for breast cancer until latter half of the 20th century when the use of modified radical mastectomy becomes widely accepted

1932 David H Patey develops the modified radical mastectomy for breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast axillary lymph nodes and pectoralis minor muscle behind the breast are removed The modified radical mastectomy is less disfiguring than the radical mastectomy and will eventually replace the radical mastectomy as a standard treatment option for breast cancer

1953 James Watson and Francis Crick discover the molecular structure of DNA (the double helix)

1963 The Health Insurance Plan (HIP) of Greater New York Study begins HIP is the first randomized controlled trial of periodic breast cancer screening with mammography

1882

1932

1953

1963

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1976 The results of a randomized clinical trial show that women with early breast cancer who receive post-operative (adjuvant) combination chemotherapy with the drugs cyclophosphamide methotrexate and 5-FU have improved disease-free survival

1981 A randomized clinical trial in the United Kingdom shows for the first time that the rates of survival local recurrence and tumor metastasis among women whose breast cancer is treated with modified radical mastectomy are not substantially different from those of women who are treated with radical mastectomy

1993 An NCI-convened international workshop on screening for breast cancer reports that screening with mammography reduces breast cancer mortality among women ages 50-69 This conclusion is based on a review of published and unpublished data from eight randomized controlled trials

2004 Data from the Womens Health Initiative (WHI) study show that women who take estrogen in combination with the hormone progestin have a greater risk of developing breast cancer than women who take estrogen alone The results also show that menopausal hormone therapy with estrogen alone has no benefit in disease prevention specifically in reducing the risks of colorectal cancer coronary heart disease and dementia

1976

1981

1993

2004

Although we still have a long way to go to reduce the toll of cancer in the United States and worldwide our research and public health efforts are beginning to pay dividends

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

Volunteering vs Participating13 My girl friend and I are involved in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation The local chapter raises awareness for the cause with a fun-run each year We have volunteered to help with the race five years in a row This year we were stationed at a water table where the runners pick-up cups of water to drink Toward the end of the race there are very few runners There was a little time to chat about things We were talking about what we would wish for if we could have three wishes I told her I would wish for an end to Juvenile Diabetes and to lose 10 pounds Being nice I said ldquoyou can have my last wishrdquo She said I wish you would skip volunteering and just run this race next year

Admission Price Our aquatic center was having a promotion one night and advertised an elementary school night The kids could swim for free When we got to the pool we saw a promotional sign for the event In small lettering it read All swimmers must be accompanied by an adult We thought no big deal one of us can just stay and watch When we got to the front desk we found the lifeguard was enforcing the adult-admission price of $8

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CNFI Publishing - Products Books Chapbooks Bookmarks Plaques and Poetry Collector Cards Merchandising Products Coffee Mugs Mouse Pads Tiles 3x6 Coasters T - Shirts and Wall Plaques More info athttpliveadsFitnessDigestus

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

Featured PhotosFitnessDigestus feature

Chicago open water swim course at nighttop left

Kids race at Bicycle Blues and BBQtop right

Some team members volunteer at the local soup kitchenmiddle right

Ken Mauer loads the balls for hitting practice during a Twins baseball camp for

children 7-13 bottom right

Get your local event photos published in the next issue of FitnessDigestus E-mail

your photo to photoFitnessDigestus

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As he turned to go on he spat speculatively There was a sharp explosive crackle that startled him He spat again And again in the air before it could fall to the snow the spittle crackled He knew that at fifty below spittle crackled on the snow but this spittle had crackled in the air Undoubtedly it was colder than fifty below--how much colder he did not know But the temperature did not matter He was bound for the old claim on the left fork of Henderson Creek where the boys were already They had come over across the divide from the Indian Creek country while he had come the roundabout way to take a look at the possibilities of getting out logs in the spring from the islands in the Yukon He would be in to camp by six oclock a bit after dark it was true but the boys would be there a fire would be going and a hot supper would be ready As for lunch he pressed his hand against the protruding bundle under his jacket It was also under his shirt wrapped up in a handkerchief and lying against the naked skin It was the only way to keep the biscuits from freezing He smiled agreeably to himself as he thought of those biscuits each cut open and sopped in bacon grease and each enclosing a generous slice of fried bacon

He plunged in among the big spruce trees The trail was faint A foot of snow had fallen since the last sled had passed over and he was glad he was without a sled traveling light In fact he carried nothing but the lunch wrapped in the handkerchief He was surprised however at the cold It certainly was cold he concluded as he rubbed his numb nose and cheek-bones with his mittened hand He was a warm-whiskered man but the hair on his face did not protect the high cheek-bones and the eager nose that thrust itself aggressively into the frosty air

At the mans heels trotted a dog a big native husky the proper wolf-dog gray-coated and without any visible or temperamental difference from its brother the wild wolf The animal was depressed by the tremendous cold It knew that it was no time for

traveling Its instinct told it a truer tale than was told to the man by the mans judgment In reality it was not merely colder than fifty below zero it was colder than sixty below than seventy below It was seventy-five below zero Since the freezing point is thirty-two above zero it meant that one hundred and seven degrees of frost obtained The dog did not know anything about thermometers Possibly in its brain there was no sharp consciousness of a condition of very cold such as was in the mans brain But the brute had its instinct It experienced a vague but menacing apprehension that subdued it then made it slink along at the mans heels and that made it question eagerly every unwonted movement of the man as if expecting him to go into camp or to seek shelter somewhere and build a fire The dog had learned fire and it wanted fire or else to burrow under the snow and cuddle its warmth away from the air

The frozen moisture of its breathing had settled on its fur in a fine powder of frost and especially were its jowls muzzle and eyelashes whitened by its cry-stalled breath The mans red beard and mustache were likewise frosted but more solidly the deposit taking the form of ice and increasing with every warm moist breath he exhaled Also the man was chewing tobacco and the muzzle of ice held his lips so rigidly that he was unable to clear his chin when he expelled the juice The result was that a crystal beard of the color and solidity of amber was increasing its length on his chin If he fell down it would shatter itself like glass into brittle fragments But he did not mind the appendage It was the penalty all tobacco-chewers paid in that country and he had been out before in two cold snaps They had not been so cold as this he knew but by the spirit thermometer at Sixty Mile he knew they had been registered at fifty below and at fifty-five

He held on through the level stretch of woods for several miles crossed a wide flat of rigger-heads and dropped down a bank to the frozen bed of a

To Build a FireContinued

small stream This was Henderson Creek and he knew he was ten miles from the forks He looked at his watch It was ten oclock He was making four miles an hour and he calculated that he would arrive at the forks at half-past twelve He decided to celebrate that event by eating his lunch there

The dog dropped in again at his heels with a tail drooping discouragement as the man swung along the creek-bed The furrow of the old sled-trail was plainly visible but a dozen inches of snow covered the marks of the last runners In a month no man had come up or down that silent creek The man held steadily on He was not much given to thinking and just then particularly he had nothing to think about save that he would eat lunch at-the forks and that at six oclock he would be in camp with the boys There was nobody to talk to and had there been speech would have been impossible because of the ice-muzzle on his mouth So he continued monotonously to chew tobacco and to increase the length of his amber beard

Once in a while the thought reiterated itself that it was very cold and that he had never experienced such cold As he walked along he rubbed his cheek-bones and nose with the back of his mittened hand He did this automatically now and again changing hands But rub as he would the instant he stopped his cheek-bones went numb and the following instant the end of his nose went numb He was sure to frost his cheeks he knew that and experienced a pang of regret that he had not devised a nose-strap of the sort Bud wore in cold snaps Such a strap passed across the cheeks as well and saved them But it didnt matter much after all What were frosted cheeks A bit painful that was all they were never serious

Empty as the mans mind was of thoughts he was keenly observant and he noticed the changes in the creek the curves and bends and timber jams and always he sharply noted where he placed his feet Once coming around a bend he shied abruptly

like a startled horse curved away from the place where he had been walking and retreated several paces back along the trail The creek he knew was frozen clear to the bottom--no creek could contain water in that arctic winter--but he knew also that there were springs that bubbled out from the hillsides and ran along under the snow and on top the ice of the creek He knew that the coldest snaps never froze these springs and he knew likewise their danger They were traps They hid pools of water under the snow that might be three inches deep or three feet Sometimes a skin of ice half an inch thick covered them and in turn was covered by the snow Sometimes there were alternate layers of water and ice-skin so that when one broke through he kept on breaking through for a while sometimes wetting himself to the waist

That was why he had shied in such panic He had felt the give under his feet and heard the crackle of a snow-hidden ice-skin And to get his feet wet in such a temperature meant trouble and danger At the very least it meant delay for he would be forced to stop and build a fire and under its protection to bare his feet while he dried his socks and moccasins He stood and studied the creek-bed and its banks and decided that the flow of water came from the right He reflected a while rubbing his nose and cheeks then skirted to the left stepping gingerly and testing the footing for each step Once clear of the danger he took a fresh chew of tobacco and swung along at his four-mile gait

In the course of the next two hours he came upon several similar traps Usually the snow above the hidden pools had a sunken candied appearance that advertised the danger Once again however he had a close call and once suspecting danger he compelled the dog to go on in front The dog did not want to go It hung back until the man shoved it forward and then it went quickly across the white unbroken surface Suddenly it broke through floundered to one side and got away to firmer

To Build a FireContinued

To Build a FireContinued

footing It had wet its forefeet and legs and almost immediately the water that clung to it turned to ice It made quick efforts to lick the ice off its legs then dropped down in the snow and began to bite out the ice that had formed between the toes l his was a matter of instinct To permit the ice to remain would mean sore feet It did not know this It merely obeyed the mysterious prompting that arose from the deep crypts of its being But the man knew having achieved a judgment on the subject and he removed the mitten from his right hand and helped tear out the ice-particles He did not expose his fingers more than a minute and was astonished at the swift numbness that smote them It certainly was cold He pulled on the mitten hastily and beat the hand savagely across his chest

At twelve oclock the day was at its brightest Yet the sun was too far south an its winter journey to clear the horizon The bulge of the earth intervened between it arid Henderson Creek where the man walked under a clear sky at noon and cast no shadow At half-past twelve to the minute he arrived at the forks of the creek He was pleased at the speed he had made If he kept it up he would certainly be with the boys by six He unbuttoned his jacket and shirt and drew forth his lunch The action consumed no more than a quarter of a minute yet in that brief moment the numbness laid hold of the exposed fingers He did not put the mitten on but instead struck the fingers a dozen sharp smashes against his leg Then he sat down on a snow-covered log to eat The sting that followed upon the striking of his fingers against his leg ceased so quickly that he was startled He had had no chance to take a bite of biscuit He struck the fingers repeatedly and returned them to the mitten baring the other hand for the purpose of eating He tried to take a mouthful but the ice-muzzle prevented He had forgotten to build a fire and thaw out He chuckled at his foolishness and as he chuckled he noted the numbness creeping into the exposed fingers Also he noted that the stinging which had first come to his

toes when he sat down was already passing away He wandered whether the toes were warm or numb He moved them inside the moccasins and decided that they were numb

He pulled the mitten on hurriedly and stood up He was a bit frightened He stamped up and down until the stinging returned into the feet It certainly was cold was his thought That man from Sulphur Creek had spoken the truth when telling how cold it sometimes got in the country And he had laughed at him at the time That showed one must not be too sure of things There was no mistake about it it was cold He strode up and down stamping his feet and threshing his arms until reassured by the returning warmth Then he got out matches and proceeded to make a fire From the undergrowth where high water of the previous spring had lodged a supply of seasoned twigs he got his firewood Working carefully from a small beginning he soon had a roaring fire over which he thawed the ice from his face and in the protection of which he ate his biscuits For the moment the cold space was outwitted The dog took satisfaction in the fire stretching out close enough for warmth and far enough away to escape being singed

When the man had finished be filled his pipe and took his comfortable time over a smoke Then he pulled on his mittens settled the ear-flaps of his cap firmly about his ears and took the creek trail up the left fork The dog was disappointed and yearned back toward the fire This man did not know cold Possibly all the generations of his ancestry had been ignorant of cold of real cold of cold one hundred and seven degrees below freezing point But the dog knew all its ancestry knew and it had inherited the knowledge And it knew that it was not good to walk abroad in such fearful cold It was the time to lie snug in a hole in the snow and wait for a curtain of cloud to be drawn across the face of outer space whence this cold came On the other hand there was no keen intimacy between the dog and the man

The one was the toil-slave of the other and the only caresses it had ever received were the caresses of the whiplash and of harsh and menacing throat-sounds that threatened the whiplash So the dog made no effort to communicate its apprehension to the man It was not concerned in the welfare of the man it was for its own sake that it yearned back toward the fire But the man whistled and spoke to it with the sound of whiplashes and the dog swung in at the mans heel and followed after

The man took a chew of tobacco and proceeded to start a new amber beard Also his moist breath quickly powdered with white his mustache eyebrows and lashes There did not seem to be so many springs on the left fork of the Henderson and for half an hour the man saw no signs of any And then it happened At a place where there were no signs where the soft unbroken snow seemed to advertise solidity beneath tee man broke through It was not deep He wet himself halfway to the knees before he floundered out to the firm crust

He was angry and cursed his luck aloud He had hoped to get into camp with the boys at six oclock and this would delay him an hour for he would have to build a fire and dry out his foot-gear This was imperative at that low temperature--he knew that much and he turned aside to the bank which he climbed On top tangled in the underbrush about the trunks of several small spruce trees was a high-water deposit of dry firewood--sticks and twigs principally but also larger portions of seasoned branches and fine dry last-years grasses He threw down several large pieces on top of the snow This served for a foundation and prevented the young flame from drowning itself in the snow it otherwise would melt The flame he got by touching a match to a small shred of birch bark that he took from his pocket This burned even more readily than paper Placing it on the foundation he fed the young flame with wisps of dry grass and with the tiniest dry twigs

He worked slowly and carefully keenly aware of his danger Gradually as the flame grew stronger he increased the size of the twigs with which he fed it He squatted in the snow pulling the twigs out from their entanglement in the brush and feeding directly to the flame He knew there must be no failure When it is seventy-five below zero a man must not fail in his first attempt to build a fire--that is if his feet are wet If his feet are dry and he fails he can run along the trail for half a mile and restore his circulation But the circulation of wet and freezing feet cannot be restored by running when it is seventy-five below No matter how fast he runs the wet feet will freeze the harder

All this the man knew The old-timer on Sulphur Creek had told him about it the previous fall and now he was appreciating the advice Already all sensation had gone out of his feet To build the fire he had been forced to remove his mittens and the fingers had quickly gone numb His pace of four miles an hour had kept his heart pumping blood to the surface of his body and to all the extremities But the instant he stopped the action of the pump eased down The cold of space smote the unprotected tip of the planet and he being on that unprotected tip received the full force of the blow The blood of his body recoiled before it The blood was alive like the dog and like the dog it wanted to hide away and cover itself up from the fearful cold So long as he walked four miles an hour he pumped that blood willy-nilly to the surface but now it ebbed away and sank down into the recesses of his body The extremities were the first to feel its absence His wet feet froze the faster and his exposed fingers numbed the faster though they had not yet begun to freeze Nose and cheeks were already freezing while the skin of all his body chilled as it lost its blood

But he was safe Toes and nose and cheeks would be only touched by the frost for the fire was beginning to burn with strength He was feeding it

To Build a FireContinued

with twigs the size of his finger In another minute he would be able to feed it with branches the size of his wrier and then he could remove his wet toot-gear and while it dried he could keep his naked feet warm by the fire rubbing them at first of course with snow The fire was a success He was safe He remembered the advice of the old timer on Sulphur Creek and smiled The old-timer had been very serious in laying down the law that no man must travel alone in the Klondike after fifty below Well here he was he had had the accident he was alone and he had saved himself Those old-timers were rather womanish some of them he thought All a man had to do was to keep his head and he was all right Any man who was a man could travel alone But it was surprising the rapidity with which his cheeks and nose were freezing And he had not thought his fingers could go lifeless in so short a time Lifeless they were for he could scarcely make them move together to grip a twig and they seemed remote from his body and from him When he touched a twig he had to look and see whether or not he had hold of it The wires were pretty well down between him and his finger-ends

All of which counted for little There was the fire snapping and crackling and promising life with every dancing flame He started to untie his moccasins They were coated with ice the thick German socks were like sheaths of iron halfway to the knees and the moccasin strings were like rods of steel all twisted and knotted as by some conflagration For a moment he tugged with his numb fingers then realizing the folly of it he drew his sheath-knife

But before he could cut the strings it happened It was his own fault or rather his mistake He should not have built the fire under the spruce tree He should have built it in the open But it had been easier to pull the twigs from the brush and drop them directly on the fire Now the tree under which

he had done this carried a weight of snow on its boughs No wind had blown for weeks and each bough was fully freighted Each time he had pulled a twig he had communicated a slight agitation to the tree--an imperceptible agitation so far as he was concerned but an agitation sufficient to bring about the disaster High up in the tree one bough capsized its load of snow This fell on the boughs beneath capsizing them This process continued spreading out and involving the whole tree It grew like an avalanche and it descended without warning upon the man and the fire and the fire was blotted out Where it had burned was a mantle of fresh and disordered snow

The man was shocked It was as though he had just heard his own sentence of death For a moment he sat and stared at the spot where the fire had been Then he grew very calm Perhaps the old-timer on Sulphur Creek was right If he had only had a trail-mate he would have been in no danger now The trail-mate could have built the fire Well it was up to him to build the fire over again and this second time there must be no failure Even if he succeeded he would most likely lose some toes His feet must be badly frozen by now and there would be some time before the second fire Was ready

Such were his thoughts but he did not sit and think them He was busy all the time they were passing through his mind He made a new foundation for a fire this time in the open where no treacherous tree could blot it out Next he gathered dry grasses and tiny twigs from the high-water flotsam He could not bring his fingers together to pull them out but he was able to gather them by the handful In this way he got many rotten twigs and bits of green moss that were undesirable but it was the best he could do He worked methodically even collecting an armful of the larger branches to be used later when the fire gathered strength And all the while the dog sat and watched him a certain yearning wistfulness in its eyes for it looked upon

To Build a FireContinued

him as the fire-provider and the fire was slow in coming

When all was ready the man reached in his pocket for a second piece of birch bark He knew the bark was there and though he could not feel it with his fingers he could hear its crisp rustling as he fumbled for it Try as he would he could not clutch hold of it And all the time in his consciousness was the knowledge that each instant his feet were freezing This thought tended to put him in a panic but he fought against it and kept calm He pulled on his mittens with his teeth and threshed his arms back and forth beating his hands with all his might against his sides He did this sitting down and he stood up to do it and all the while the dog sat in the snow its wolf-brush of a tail curled around warmly over its forefeet its sharp wolf-ears pricked forward intently as it watched the man And the man as he beat and threshed with his arms and hands felt a great surge of envy as he regarded the creature that was warm ant secure in its natural covering

After a time he was aware of the first far-away signals of sensation in his beaten fingers The faint tingling grew stronger till it evolved into a stinging ache that was excruciating but which the man hailed with satisfaction He stripped the mitten from his right hand and fetched forth the birch bark The exposed fingers were quickly going numb again Next he brought out his bunch of sulphur matches But the tremendous cold had already driven the life out of his fingers In his effort to separate one match from the others the whole bunch fell in the snow He tried to pick it out of the snow but failed The dead fingers could neither touch nor clutch He was very careful He drove the thought of his freezing feet and nose and cheeks out of his mind devoting his whole soul to the matches He watched using the sense of vision in place of that of touch and when he saw his fingers on each side the bunch he dosed them--that is he willed to close them for the wires were down and the fingers did not obey He pulled

the mitten on the right hand and beat it fiercely against his knee Then with both mittened hands he scooped the bunch of matches along with much snow into his lap Yet he was no better off

After some manipulation he managed to get the bunch between the heels of his mittened hands In this fashion he carried it to his mouth The ice crackled and snapped when by a violent effort he opened his mouth He drew the lower jaw in curled the upper lip out of the way and scraped the bunch with his upper teeth in order to separate a match He succeeded in getting one which he dropped on his lap He was no better off He could not pick it up Then he devised a way He picked it up in his teeth and scratched it on his leg Twenty times he scratched before he succeeded in lighting it As it flamed he held it with his teeth to the birch bark But the burning brimstone went up his nostrils and into his lungs causing him to cough spasmodically The match fell into the snow and went out

The old-timer an Sulphur Creek was right he thought in the moment of controlled despair that ensued after fifty below a man should travel with a partner He beat his hands but failed in exciting any sensation Suddenly he bared both hands removing the mittens with his teeth He caught the whole bunch between the heels of his hands His arm muscles not being frozen enabled him to press the hand-heels tightly against the matches Then he scratched the bunch along his leg It flared into flame seventy sulphur matches at once There was no wind to blow them out He kept his head to one side to escape the strangling fumes and held the blazing bunch to the birth bark As he so held it he became aware of sensation in his hand His flesh was burning He could smell it Deep down below the surface he could feel it The sensation developed into pain that grew acute And still he endured it holding the flame of the matches clumsily to the bark that would not light readily because his own burning hands were in the way absorbing most of the flame

To Build a FireContinued

At last when he could endure no more he jerked his hands apart The blazing matches fell sizzling into the snow but the birch bark was alight He began laying dry grasses and the tiniest twigs on the flame He could not pick and choose for he had to lift the fuel between the heels of his hands Small pieces of rotten wood and green moss clung to the twigs and he bit them off as well as he could with his teeth He cherished the flame carefully and awkwardly It meant life and it must not perish The withdrawal of blood from the surface of his body now made him begin to shiver and he grew more awkward A large piece of green moss fell squarely on the little fire He tried to poke it out with his fingers but his shivering frame made him poke too far and he disrupted the nucleus of the little fire the burning grasses and tiny twigs separating and scattering He tried to poke them together again but in spite of the tenseness of the effort his shivering got away with him and the twigs were hopelessly scattered Each twig gushed a puff of smoke and went out The fire-provider had failed As he looked apathetically about him his eyes chanced on the dog sitting across the ruins of the fire from him in the snow making restless hunching movements slightly lifting one forefoot and then the other shifting its weight back and forth on them with wistful eagerness

The sight of the dog put a wild idea into his head He remembered the tale of the man caught in a blizzard who killed a steer and crawled inside the carcass and so was saved He would kill the dog and bury his hands in the warm body until the numbness went out of them Then he could build another fire He spoke to the dog calling it to him but in his voice was a strange note of fear that frightened the animal who had never known the man to speak in such way before Something was the matter and its suspicious nature sensed danger--it knew not what danger but somewhere somehow in its brain arose an apprehension of the man It flattened its ears down at the sound of the mans voice and its restless

hunching movements and the liftings and shiftings of its forefeet became more pronounced but it would not come to the man He got on his hands and knees and crawled toward the dog This unusual posture again excited suspicion and the animal sidled mincingly away

The man sat up in the snow for a moment and struggled for calmness Then he pulled on his mittens by means of his teeth and got upon his feet He glanced down at first in order to assure himself that he was really standing up for the absence of sensation in his feet left him unrelated to the earth His erect position in itself started to drive the webs of suspicion from the dogs mind and when he spoke peremptorily with the sound of whiplashes in his voice the dog rendered its customary allegiance and came to him As it came within reaching distance the man lost his control His arms flashed out to the dog and he experienced genuine surprise when he discovered that his hands could not clutch that there was neither bend nor feeling in the fingers He had forgotten for the moment that they were frozen and that they were freezing more and more All this happened quickly and before the animal could get away he encircled its body with his arms He sat down in the snow and in this fashion held the dog while it snarled and whined and struggled

But it was all he could do hold its body encircled in his arms and sit there He realized that he could not kill the dog There was no way to do it With his helpless hands he could neither draw nor hold his sheath knife nor throttle the animal He released it and it plunged wildly away with tail between its legs and still snarling It halted forty feet away and surveyed him curiously with ears sharply pricked forward The man looked down at his hands in order to locate them and found them hanging on the ends of his arms It struck him as curious that one should have to use his eyes in order to find out where his hands were He began threshing his arms back and forth beating the mittened hands against

To Build a FireContinued

his sides He did this for five minutes violently and his heart pumped enough blood up to the surface to put a stop to his shivering But no sensation was aroused in the hands He had an impression that they hung like weights on the ends of his arms but when he tried to run the impression down he could not find it

A certain fear of death dull and oppressive came to him This fear quickly became poignant as he realized that it was no longer a mere matter of freezing his fingers and toes or of losing his hands and feet but that it was a matter of life and death with the chances against him This threw him into a panic and he turned and ran up the creek-bed along the old dim trail The dog joined in behind and kept up with him He ran blindly without intention in fear such as he had never known in his life Slowly as he plowed and floundered through the snow he began to see things again the banks of the creek the old timber-jams the leafless aspens and the sky The running made him feel better He did not shiver Maybe if he ran on his feet would thaw out and anyway if he ran far enough he would reach camp and the boys Without doubt he would lose some fingers and toes and some of his face but the boys would take care of him and save the rest of him when he got there And at the same time there was another thought in his mind that said he would never get to the camp and the boys that it was too many miles away that the freezing had too great a start on him and that he would soon be stiff and dead This thought he kept in the background and refused to consider Sometimes it pushed itself forward and demanded to be heard but he thrust it back and strove to think of other things

It struck him as curious that he could run at all on feet so frozen that he could not feel them when they struck the earth and took the weigh of his body He seemed to himself to skim along above the surface and to have no connection with the earth Somewhere he had once seen a winged Mercury

and he wondered if Mercury felt as he felt when skimming over the earth

His theory of running until he reached camp and the boys had one flaw in it he lacked the endurance Several times he stumbled and finally he tottered crumpled up and fell When he tried to rise he failed He must sit and rest he decided and next time he would merely walk and keep on going As he sat and regained his breath he noted that he was feeling quite warm and comfortable He was not shivering and it even seemed that a warm glow had come to his chest and trunk And yet when he touched his nose or cheeks there was no sensation Running would not thaw them out Nor would it thaw out his hands and feet Then the thought came to him that the frozen portions of his body must be extending He tried to keep this thought down to forget it to think of something else he was aware of the panicky feeling that it caused and he was afraid of the panic But the thought asserted itself and persisted until it produced a vision of his body totally frozen This was too much and he made another wild run along the trail Once he slowed down to a walk but the thought of the freezing extending itself made him run again

And all the time the dog ran with him at his heels When he fell down a second time it curled its tad over its forefeet and sat in front of him facing him curiously eager and intent The warmth and security of the animal angered him and he cursed it till it flattened down its ears appealingly This time the shivering came more quickly upon the man He was losing in his battle with the frost It was creeping into his body from all sides The thought of it drove him on but he ran no more than a hundred feet when he staggered and pitched headlong It was his last panic When he had recovered his breath and control he sat up and entertained in his mind the conception of meeting death with dignity However the conception did not come to him in such terms His idea of it was that he had been making a fool of

To Build a FireContinued

himself running around like a chicken with its head cut off--such was the simile that occurred to him Well he was bound to freeze anyway and he might as well take it decently With this new-found peace of mind came the first glimmerings of drowsiness A good idea he thought to sleep off to death It was like salting an anesthetic Freezing was not so bad as people thought There were lots worse ways to die

He pictured the boys finding his body next day Suddenly he found himself with them coming along the trail and looking for himself And still with them he came around a turn in the trail and found himself lying in the snow He did not belong with himself any more for even then he was out of himself standing with the boys and looking at himself in the snow It certainly was cold was his thought When he got back to the States he could tell the folks what real cold was He drifted on from this to a vision of the old-timer on Sulphur Creek He could see him quite clearly warm and comfortable and smoking a pipe

You were right old boss you were right the man mumbled to the old-timer of Sulphur Creek

Then the man drowsed off into what seemed to him the most comfortable and satisfying sleep he had ever known The dog sat facing him and waiting The brief day drew to a close in a long slow twilight There were no signs of a fire to be made and besides never in the dogs experience had it known a man to sit like that in the snow and make no fire As the twilight drew on its eager yearning for the fire mastered it and with a great lifting and shifting of forefeet it whined softly then flattened its ears down in anticipation of being chidden by the man But the man remained silent Later the dog whined loudly And still later it crept close to the man and caught the scent of death This made the animal bristle and back away A little longer it delayed howling under the stars that leaped and danced and shone brightly in the cold sky Then it turned and trotted up the trail in the direction of the camp it knew where were the other food-providers and fire-providers

To Build a FireContinued

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Page 53: FitnessDigest.us Vol. 4.3 Cover

No-No-No13 The other morning I was teaching front-streamlines to snotty nosed 8 year olds (some are literally snotty-nosed) One boy was taking a big gulp of air and holding his breath When he lifted his head he had to exhale and inhale before submerging again Swimmers will understand this does not work very well Kids need to learn to exhale underwater The first time he did it I told him to exhale underwater The second time I stopped him looked him in the eye and reminded him to exhale underwater The third and fourth times I started to get a little frustrated ldquoJohnny you need to exhale underwater so you can breath betterrdquo The fifth time as his head popped up for a breath I quickly asked ldquoJohnny Do you even know what exhale meansrdquo as he submerged his head below the water I could see him shake his head no-no-no

Favorite Potato Chips13We try to limit the junk food the kids eat at our house For lunch one day our son wanted some potato chips I gave him 3 large chips with his sandwich He started to cry and said he wanted one more chip ldquoI wanted four chipsrdquo he screamed I took the plate back When he wasnt looking I broke a chip in half and give it back to him with four chips

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

13 My cancer story is one of uniqueness Leave it to me to do something like cancer to its fullest It did not begin with a mammogram diagnosis or a lump My journey began about 4 years ago with some suspicious activity that turned into Pagetrsquos disease of the nipple which signaled the underlying cancer On April 1st I found out about my breast cancer through a biopsy that came back as positive for Pagetrsquos disease The onslaught of tests learning and decisions were dizzying I immediately went for an evaluation of the suspicious tissue and had to begin making decisions for my mastectomy I quickly learned there is a test called the BRAC Analysis which is a genetic test for breast and ovarian cancer Finally a piece of good news for me I did not have the gene

Decisions Now it was time to make decisions about my mastectomy and how I was going to handle reconstruction I discussed my options with my boyfriend Brian friends family members and even my principalboss I read books searched the Internet and contacted people I

Brandi ShipmanCancer Survivor and elite triathlete

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

know and knew from my past that had been directly affected and that I thought might have answers for me The outpouring of love encouragement and help during this process was overwhelming After meeting with four different doctors two surgeons and two plastic surgeons I decided to go with immediate reconstruction and was lucky enough to find two wonderful doctors They were willing to work together just because I wanted them to even though they had never done so before My surgery was scheduled for mid May

Mental Toughness13 My mental preparation at this point was very important I had to scrap any idea of competing in triathlons for the rest of the year and focus on a positive attitude of getting better I stopped thinking about what I wasnrsquot going to able to do and started thinking about what I could do that I was alive and kept my mind on the fact that so many others had made it before me

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links

Part 213 I was prepared by the doctors survivors and literature to be ldquodownrdquo for several weeks after my surgery I even took the rest of the school year off My surgery went well and I was out of the hospital the next day A few friends came to visit while I was in the hospital and my principal and vice principal brought the most wonderful picture of the faculty wearing pink for me I can only imagine what it looked like at Thornton Elementary on that day in May 2009 a sea of pink all for Brandi Shipman Shortly after their visit I received a text from my friend Margie Massey My friends from the gym wore pink for me that day as well The support brought tears to my eyes I was so excited to come home and be comfortable in my own home I just wish the stupid drain that was attached could have stayed at the hospital The pain from that was worse than the pain from the mastectomy

the most

powerful picture

13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Recovery ndash May13 Once I got home I slept and watched a lot of TV Friends visited and brought yummy food and my favorites I am not supposed to eat I ate them all My friend and co-worker set up a cancer care calendar that alerted anyone who logged on when I was having a doctorrsquos appointment or when I was in need of anything I felt like royalty as everyone took care of me I think Brian secretly enjoyed the fact that he wouldnrsquot have to cook for me each night My recovery was quicker than I thought as I was doing my best to get better and get the stinkinrsquo drain out of my skin I was out walking within a week and running within 3 weeks I couldnrsquot believe my recovery I know it was from all the prayers love and good care from Brian and the loved ones around me Life was looking better each day

ldquoLife was looking

better each dayrdquo

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Part three and part

four of I am Survivor

will be published in

the next edition of

FitnessDigestus

Get the convenience of

digital-delivery

Sign-up or subscribe at

httpFitnessDigestus

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During the past 150 years we have witnessed many remarkable advances against cancer a disease known to humanity for thousands of years The advances highlighted below represent a sampling of what has been accomplished to date

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

1882 William Halsted performs the first radical mastectomy to treat breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast the lymph nodes under the arm (axillary lymph nodes) and the chest muscles behind the breast (pectoralis major and pectoralis minor muscles) are removed Radical mastectomy will remain the standard operation for breast cancer until latter half of the 20th century when the use of modified radical mastectomy becomes widely accepted

1932 David H Patey develops the modified radical mastectomy for breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast axillary lymph nodes and pectoralis minor muscle behind the breast are removed The modified radical mastectomy is less disfiguring than the radical mastectomy and will eventually replace the radical mastectomy as a standard treatment option for breast cancer

1953 James Watson and Francis Crick discover the molecular structure of DNA (the double helix)

1963 The Health Insurance Plan (HIP) of Greater New York Study begins HIP is the first randomized controlled trial of periodic breast cancer screening with mammography

1882

1932

1953

1963

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1976 The results of a randomized clinical trial show that women with early breast cancer who receive post-operative (adjuvant) combination chemotherapy with the drugs cyclophosphamide methotrexate and 5-FU have improved disease-free survival

1981 A randomized clinical trial in the United Kingdom shows for the first time that the rates of survival local recurrence and tumor metastasis among women whose breast cancer is treated with modified radical mastectomy are not substantially different from those of women who are treated with radical mastectomy

1993 An NCI-convened international workshop on screening for breast cancer reports that screening with mammography reduces breast cancer mortality among women ages 50-69 This conclusion is based on a review of published and unpublished data from eight randomized controlled trials

2004 Data from the Womens Health Initiative (WHI) study show that women who take estrogen in combination with the hormone progestin have a greater risk of developing breast cancer than women who take estrogen alone The results also show that menopausal hormone therapy with estrogen alone has no benefit in disease prevention specifically in reducing the risks of colorectal cancer coronary heart disease and dementia

1976

1981

1993

2004

Although we still have a long way to go to reduce the toll of cancer in the United States and worldwide our research and public health efforts are beginning to pay dividends

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

Volunteering vs Participating13 My girl friend and I are involved in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation The local chapter raises awareness for the cause with a fun-run each year We have volunteered to help with the race five years in a row This year we were stationed at a water table where the runners pick-up cups of water to drink Toward the end of the race there are very few runners There was a little time to chat about things We were talking about what we would wish for if we could have three wishes I told her I would wish for an end to Juvenile Diabetes and to lose 10 pounds Being nice I said ldquoyou can have my last wishrdquo She said I wish you would skip volunteering and just run this race next year

Admission Price Our aquatic center was having a promotion one night and advertised an elementary school night The kids could swim for free When we got to the pool we saw a promotional sign for the event In small lettering it read All swimmers must be accompanied by an adult We thought no big deal one of us can just stay and watch When we got to the front desk we found the lifeguard was enforcing the adult-admission price of $8

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CNFI Publishing - Products Books Chapbooks Bookmarks Plaques and Poetry Collector Cards Merchandising Products Coffee Mugs Mouse Pads Tiles 3x6 Coasters T - Shirts and Wall Plaques More info athttpliveadsFitnessDigestus

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

Featured PhotosFitnessDigestus feature

Chicago open water swim course at nighttop left

Kids race at Bicycle Blues and BBQtop right

Some team members volunteer at the local soup kitchenmiddle right

Ken Mauer loads the balls for hitting practice during a Twins baseball camp for

children 7-13 bottom right

Get your local event photos published in the next issue of FitnessDigestus E-mail

your photo to photoFitnessDigestus

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As he turned to go on he spat speculatively There was a sharp explosive crackle that startled him He spat again And again in the air before it could fall to the snow the spittle crackled He knew that at fifty below spittle crackled on the snow but this spittle had crackled in the air Undoubtedly it was colder than fifty below--how much colder he did not know But the temperature did not matter He was bound for the old claim on the left fork of Henderson Creek where the boys were already They had come over across the divide from the Indian Creek country while he had come the roundabout way to take a look at the possibilities of getting out logs in the spring from the islands in the Yukon He would be in to camp by six oclock a bit after dark it was true but the boys would be there a fire would be going and a hot supper would be ready As for lunch he pressed his hand against the protruding bundle under his jacket It was also under his shirt wrapped up in a handkerchief and lying against the naked skin It was the only way to keep the biscuits from freezing He smiled agreeably to himself as he thought of those biscuits each cut open and sopped in bacon grease and each enclosing a generous slice of fried bacon

He plunged in among the big spruce trees The trail was faint A foot of snow had fallen since the last sled had passed over and he was glad he was without a sled traveling light In fact he carried nothing but the lunch wrapped in the handkerchief He was surprised however at the cold It certainly was cold he concluded as he rubbed his numb nose and cheek-bones with his mittened hand He was a warm-whiskered man but the hair on his face did not protect the high cheek-bones and the eager nose that thrust itself aggressively into the frosty air

At the mans heels trotted a dog a big native husky the proper wolf-dog gray-coated and without any visible or temperamental difference from its brother the wild wolf The animal was depressed by the tremendous cold It knew that it was no time for

traveling Its instinct told it a truer tale than was told to the man by the mans judgment In reality it was not merely colder than fifty below zero it was colder than sixty below than seventy below It was seventy-five below zero Since the freezing point is thirty-two above zero it meant that one hundred and seven degrees of frost obtained The dog did not know anything about thermometers Possibly in its brain there was no sharp consciousness of a condition of very cold such as was in the mans brain But the brute had its instinct It experienced a vague but menacing apprehension that subdued it then made it slink along at the mans heels and that made it question eagerly every unwonted movement of the man as if expecting him to go into camp or to seek shelter somewhere and build a fire The dog had learned fire and it wanted fire or else to burrow under the snow and cuddle its warmth away from the air

The frozen moisture of its breathing had settled on its fur in a fine powder of frost and especially were its jowls muzzle and eyelashes whitened by its cry-stalled breath The mans red beard and mustache were likewise frosted but more solidly the deposit taking the form of ice and increasing with every warm moist breath he exhaled Also the man was chewing tobacco and the muzzle of ice held his lips so rigidly that he was unable to clear his chin when he expelled the juice The result was that a crystal beard of the color and solidity of amber was increasing its length on his chin If he fell down it would shatter itself like glass into brittle fragments But he did not mind the appendage It was the penalty all tobacco-chewers paid in that country and he had been out before in two cold snaps They had not been so cold as this he knew but by the spirit thermometer at Sixty Mile he knew they had been registered at fifty below and at fifty-five

He held on through the level stretch of woods for several miles crossed a wide flat of rigger-heads and dropped down a bank to the frozen bed of a

To Build a FireContinued

small stream This was Henderson Creek and he knew he was ten miles from the forks He looked at his watch It was ten oclock He was making four miles an hour and he calculated that he would arrive at the forks at half-past twelve He decided to celebrate that event by eating his lunch there

The dog dropped in again at his heels with a tail drooping discouragement as the man swung along the creek-bed The furrow of the old sled-trail was plainly visible but a dozen inches of snow covered the marks of the last runners In a month no man had come up or down that silent creek The man held steadily on He was not much given to thinking and just then particularly he had nothing to think about save that he would eat lunch at-the forks and that at six oclock he would be in camp with the boys There was nobody to talk to and had there been speech would have been impossible because of the ice-muzzle on his mouth So he continued monotonously to chew tobacco and to increase the length of his amber beard

Once in a while the thought reiterated itself that it was very cold and that he had never experienced such cold As he walked along he rubbed his cheek-bones and nose with the back of his mittened hand He did this automatically now and again changing hands But rub as he would the instant he stopped his cheek-bones went numb and the following instant the end of his nose went numb He was sure to frost his cheeks he knew that and experienced a pang of regret that he had not devised a nose-strap of the sort Bud wore in cold snaps Such a strap passed across the cheeks as well and saved them But it didnt matter much after all What were frosted cheeks A bit painful that was all they were never serious

Empty as the mans mind was of thoughts he was keenly observant and he noticed the changes in the creek the curves and bends and timber jams and always he sharply noted where he placed his feet Once coming around a bend he shied abruptly

like a startled horse curved away from the place where he had been walking and retreated several paces back along the trail The creek he knew was frozen clear to the bottom--no creek could contain water in that arctic winter--but he knew also that there were springs that bubbled out from the hillsides and ran along under the snow and on top the ice of the creek He knew that the coldest snaps never froze these springs and he knew likewise their danger They were traps They hid pools of water under the snow that might be three inches deep or three feet Sometimes a skin of ice half an inch thick covered them and in turn was covered by the snow Sometimes there were alternate layers of water and ice-skin so that when one broke through he kept on breaking through for a while sometimes wetting himself to the waist

That was why he had shied in such panic He had felt the give under his feet and heard the crackle of a snow-hidden ice-skin And to get his feet wet in such a temperature meant trouble and danger At the very least it meant delay for he would be forced to stop and build a fire and under its protection to bare his feet while he dried his socks and moccasins He stood and studied the creek-bed and its banks and decided that the flow of water came from the right He reflected a while rubbing his nose and cheeks then skirted to the left stepping gingerly and testing the footing for each step Once clear of the danger he took a fresh chew of tobacco and swung along at his four-mile gait

In the course of the next two hours he came upon several similar traps Usually the snow above the hidden pools had a sunken candied appearance that advertised the danger Once again however he had a close call and once suspecting danger he compelled the dog to go on in front The dog did not want to go It hung back until the man shoved it forward and then it went quickly across the white unbroken surface Suddenly it broke through floundered to one side and got away to firmer

To Build a FireContinued

To Build a FireContinued

footing It had wet its forefeet and legs and almost immediately the water that clung to it turned to ice It made quick efforts to lick the ice off its legs then dropped down in the snow and began to bite out the ice that had formed between the toes l his was a matter of instinct To permit the ice to remain would mean sore feet It did not know this It merely obeyed the mysterious prompting that arose from the deep crypts of its being But the man knew having achieved a judgment on the subject and he removed the mitten from his right hand and helped tear out the ice-particles He did not expose his fingers more than a minute and was astonished at the swift numbness that smote them It certainly was cold He pulled on the mitten hastily and beat the hand savagely across his chest

At twelve oclock the day was at its brightest Yet the sun was too far south an its winter journey to clear the horizon The bulge of the earth intervened between it arid Henderson Creek where the man walked under a clear sky at noon and cast no shadow At half-past twelve to the minute he arrived at the forks of the creek He was pleased at the speed he had made If he kept it up he would certainly be with the boys by six He unbuttoned his jacket and shirt and drew forth his lunch The action consumed no more than a quarter of a minute yet in that brief moment the numbness laid hold of the exposed fingers He did not put the mitten on but instead struck the fingers a dozen sharp smashes against his leg Then he sat down on a snow-covered log to eat The sting that followed upon the striking of his fingers against his leg ceased so quickly that he was startled He had had no chance to take a bite of biscuit He struck the fingers repeatedly and returned them to the mitten baring the other hand for the purpose of eating He tried to take a mouthful but the ice-muzzle prevented He had forgotten to build a fire and thaw out He chuckled at his foolishness and as he chuckled he noted the numbness creeping into the exposed fingers Also he noted that the stinging which had first come to his

toes when he sat down was already passing away He wandered whether the toes were warm or numb He moved them inside the moccasins and decided that they were numb

He pulled the mitten on hurriedly and stood up He was a bit frightened He stamped up and down until the stinging returned into the feet It certainly was cold was his thought That man from Sulphur Creek had spoken the truth when telling how cold it sometimes got in the country And he had laughed at him at the time That showed one must not be too sure of things There was no mistake about it it was cold He strode up and down stamping his feet and threshing his arms until reassured by the returning warmth Then he got out matches and proceeded to make a fire From the undergrowth where high water of the previous spring had lodged a supply of seasoned twigs he got his firewood Working carefully from a small beginning he soon had a roaring fire over which he thawed the ice from his face and in the protection of which he ate his biscuits For the moment the cold space was outwitted The dog took satisfaction in the fire stretching out close enough for warmth and far enough away to escape being singed

When the man had finished be filled his pipe and took his comfortable time over a smoke Then he pulled on his mittens settled the ear-flaps of his cap firmly about his ears and took the creek trail up the left fork The dog was disappointed and yearned back toward the fire This man did not know cold Possibly all the generations of his ancestry had been ignorant of cold of real cold of cold one hundred and seven degrees below freezing point But the dog knew all its ancestry knew and it had inherited the knowledge And it knew that it was not good to walk abroad in such fearful cold It was the time to lie snug in a hole in the snow and wait for a curtain of cloud to be drawn across the face of outer space whence this cold came On the other hand there was no keen intimacy between the dog and the man

The one was the toil-slave of the other and the only caresses it had ever received were the caresses of the whiplash and of harsh and menacing throat-sounds that threatened the whiplash So the dog made no effort to communicate its apprehension to the man It was not concerned in the welfare of the man it was for its own sake that it yearned back toward the fire But the man whistled and spoke to it with the sound of whiplashes and the dog swung in at the mans heel and followed after

The man took a chew of tobacco and proceeded to start a new amber beard Also his moist breath quickly powdered with white his mustache eyebrows and lashes There did not seem to be so many springs on the left fork of the Henderson and for half an hour the man saw no signs of any And then it happened At a place where there were no signs where the soft unbroken snow seemed to advertise solidity beneath tee man broke through It was not deep He wet himself halfway to the knees before he floundered out to the firm crust

He was angry and cursed his luck aloud He had hoped to get into camp with the boys at six oclock and this would delay him an hour for he would have to build a fire and dry out his foot-gear This was imperative at that low temperature--he knew that much and he turned aside to the bank which he climbed On top tangled in the underbrush about the trunks of several small spruce trees was a high-water deposit of dry firewood--sticks and twigs principally but also larger portions of seasoned branches and fine dry last-years grasses He threw down several large pieces on top of the snow This served for a foundation and prevented the young flame from drowning itself in the snow it otherwise would melt The flame he got by touching a match to a small shred of birch bark that he took from his pocket This burned even more readily than paper Placing it on the foundation he fed the young flame with wisps of dry grass and with the tiniest dry twigs

He worked slowly and carefully keenly aware of his danger Gradually as the flame grew stronger he increased the size of the twigs with which he fed it He squatted in the snow pulling the twigs out from their entanglement in the brush and feeding directly to the flame He knew there must be no failure When it is seventy-five below zero a man must not fail in his first attempt to build a fire--that is if his feet are wet If his feet are dry and he fails he can run along the trail for half a mile and restore his circulation But the circulation of wet and freezing feet cannot be restored by running when it is seventy-five below No matter how fast he runs the wet feet will freeze the harder

All this the man knew The old-timer on Sulphur Creek had told him about it the previous fall and now he was appreciating the advice Already all sensation had gone out of his feet To build the fire he had been forced to remove his mittens and the fingers had quickly gone numb His pace of four miles an hour had kept his heart pumping blood to the surface of his body and to all the extremities But the instant he stopped the action of the pump eased down The cold of space smote the unprotected tip of the planet and he being on that unprotected tip received the full force of the blow The blood of his body recoiled before it The blood was alive like the dog and like the dog it wanted to hide away and cover itself up from the fearful cold So long as he walked four miles an hour he pumped that blood willy-nilly to the surface but now it ebbed away and sank down into the recesses of his body The extremities were the first to feel its absence His wet feet froze the faster and his exposed fingers numbed the faster though they had not yet begun to freeze Nose and cheeks were already freezing while the skin of all his body chilled as it lost its blood

But he was safe Toes and nose and cheeks would be only touched by the frost for the fire was beginning to burn with strength He was feeding it

To Build a FireContinued

with twigs the size of his finger In another minute he would be able to feed it with branches the size of his wrier and then he could remove his wet toot-gear and while it dried he could keep his naked feet warm by the fire rubbing them at first of course with snow The fire was a success He was safe He remembered the advice of the old timer on Sulphur Creek and smiled The old-timer had been very serious in laying down the law that no man must travel alone in the Klondike after fifty below Well here he was he had had the accident he was alone and he had saved himself Those old-timers were rather womanish some of them he thought All a man had to do was to keep his head and he was all right Any man who was a man could travel alone But it was surprising the rapidity with which his cheeks and nose were freezing And he had not thought his fingers could go lifeless in so short a time Lifeless they were for he could scarcely make them move together to grip a twig and they seemed remote from his body and from him When he touched a twig he had to look and see whether or not he had hold of it The wires were pretty well down between him and his finger-ends

All of which counted for little There was the fire snapping and crackling and promising life with every dancing flame He started to untie his moccasins They were coated with ice the thick German socks were like sheaths of iron halfway to the knees and the moccasin strings were like rods of steel all twisted and knotted as by some conflagration For a moment he tugged with his numb fingers then realizing the folly of it he drew his sheath-knife

But before he could cut the strings it happened It was his own fault or rather his mistake He should not have built the fire under the spruce tree He should have built it in the open But it had been easier to pull the twigs from the brush and drop them directly on the fire Now the tree under which

he had done this carried a weight of snow on its boughs No wind had blown for weeks and each bough was fully freighted Each time he had pulled a twig he had communicated a slight agitation to the tree--an imperceptible agitation so far as he was concerned but an agitation sufficient to bring about the disaster High up in the tree one bough capsized its load of snow This fell on the boughs beneath capsizing them This process continued spreading out and involving the whole tree It grew like an avalanche and it descended without warning upon the man and the fire and the fire was blotted out Where it had burned was a mantle of fresh and disordered snow

The man was shocked It was as though he had just heard his own sentence of death For a moment he sat and stared at the spot where the fire had been Then he grew very calm Perhaps the old-timer on Sulphur Creek was right If he had only had a trail-mate he would have been in no danger now The trail-mate could have built the fire Well it was up to him to build the fire over again and this second time there must be no failure Even if he succeeded he would most likely lose some toes His feet must be badly frozen by now and there would be some time before the second fire Was ready

Such were his thoughts but he did not sit and think them He was busy all the time they were passing through his mind He made a new foundation for a fire this time in the open where no treacherous tree could blot it out Next he gathered dry grasses and tiny twigs from the high-water flotsam He could not bring his fingers together to pull them out but he was able to gather them by the handful In this way he got many rotten twigs and bits of green moss that were undesirable but it was the best he could do He worked methodically even collecting an armful of the larger branches to be used later when the fire gathered strength And all the while the dog sat and watched him a certain yearning wistfulness in its eyes for it looked upon

To Build a FireContinued

him as the fire-provider and the fire was slow in coming

When all was ready the man reached in his pocket for a second piece of birch bark He knew the bark was there and though he could not feel it with his fingers he could hear its crisp rustling as he fumbled for it Try as he would he could not clutch hold of it And all the time in his consciousness was the knowledge that each instant his feet were freezing This thought tended to put him in a panic but he fought against it and kept calm He pulled on his mittens with his teeth and threshed his arms back and forth beating his hands with all his might against his sides He did this sitting down and he stood up to do it and all the while the dog sat in the snow its wolf-brush of a tail curled around warmly over its forefeet its sharp wolf-ears pricked forward intently as it watched the man And the man as he beat and threshed with his arms and hands felt a great surge of envy as he regarded the creature that was warm ant secure in its natural covering

After a time he was aware of the first far-away signals of sensation in his beaten fingers The faint tingling grew stronger till it evolved into a stinging ache that was excruciating but which the man hailed with satisfaction He stripped the mitten from his right hand and fetched forth the birch bark The exposed fingers were quickly going numb again Next he brought out his bunch of sulphur matches But the tremendous cold had already driven the life out of his fingers In his effort to separate one match from the others the whole bunch fell in the snow He tried to pick it out of the snow but failed The dead fingers could neither touch nor clutch He was very careful He drove the thought of his freezing feet and nose and cheeks out of his mind devoting his whole soul to the matches He watched using the sense of vision in place of that of touch and when he saw his fingers on each side the bunch he dosed them--that is he willed to close them for the wires were down and the fingers did not obey He pulled

the mitten on the right hand and beat it fiercely against his knee Then with both mittened hands he scooped the bunch of matches along with much snow into his lap Yet he was no better off

After some manipulation he managed to get the bunch between the heels of his mittened hands In this fashion he carried it to his mouth The ice crackled and snapped when by a violent effort he opened his mouth He drew the lower jaw in curled the upper lip out of the way and scraped the bunch with his upper teeth in order to separate a match He succeeded in getting one which he dropped on his lap He was no better off He could not pick it up Then he devised a way He picked it up in his teeth and scratched it on his leg Twenty times he scratched before he succeeded in lighting it As it flamed he held it with his teeth to the birch bark But the burning brimstone went up his nostrils and into his lungs causing him to cough spasmodically The match fell into the snow and went out

The old-timer an Sulphur Creek was right he thought in the moment of controlled despair that ensued after fifty below a man should travel with a partner He beat his hands but failed in exciting any sensation Suddenly he bared both hands removing the mittens with his teeth He caught the whole bunch between the heels of his hands His arm muscles not being frozen enabled him to press the hand-heels tightly against the matches Then he scratched the bunch along his leg It flared into flame seventy sulphur matches at once There was no wind to blow them out He kept his head to one side to escape the strangling fumes and held the blazing bunch to the birth bark As he so held it he became aware of sensation in his hand His flesh was burning He could smell it Deep down below the surface he could feel it The sensation developed into pain that grew acute And still he endured it holding the flame of the matches clumsily to the bark that would not light readily because his own burning hands were in the way absorbing most of the flame

To Build a FireContinued

At last when he could endure no more he jerked his hands apart The blazing matches fell sizzling into the snow but the birch bark was alight He began laying dry grasses and the tiniest twigs on the flame He could not pick and choose for he had to lift the fuel between the heels of his hands Small pieces of rotten wood and green moss clung to the twigs and he bit them off as well as he could with his teeth He cherished the flame carefully and awkwardly It meant life and it must not perish The withdrawal of blood from the surface of his body now made him begin to shiver and he grew more awkward A large piece of green moss fell squarely on the little fire He tried to poke it out with his fingers but his shivering frame made him poke too far and he disrupted the nucleus of the little fire the burning grasses and tiny twigs separating and scattering He tried to poke them together again but in spite of the tenseness of the effort his shivering got away with him and the twigs were hopelessly scattered Each twig gushed a puff of smoke and went out The fire-provider had failed As he looked apathetically about him his eyes chanced on the dog sitting across the ruins of the fire from him in the snow making restless hunching movements slightly lifting one forefoot and then the other shifting its weight back and forth on them with wistful eagerness

The sight of the dog put a wild idea into his head He remembered the tale of the man caught in a blizzard who killed a steer and crawled inside the carcass and so was saved He would kill the dog and bury his hands in the warm body until the numbness went out of them Then he could build another fire He spoke to the dog calling it to him but in his voice was a strange note of fear that frightened the animal who had never known the man to speak in such way before Something was the matter and its suspicious nature sensed danger--it knew not what danger but somewhere somehow in its brain arose an apprehension of the man It flattened its ears down at the sound of the mans voice and its restless

hunching movements and the liftings and shiftings of its forefeet became more pronounced but it would not come to the man He got on his hands and knees and crawled toward the dog This unusual posture again excited suspicion and the animal sidled mincingly away

The man sat up in the snow for a moment and struggled for calmness Then he pulled on his mittens by means of his teeth and got upon his feet He glanced down at first in order to assure himself that he was really standing up for the absence of sensation in his feet left him unrelated to the earth His erect position in itself started to drive the webs of suspicion from the dogs mind and when he spoke peremptorily with the sound of whiplashes in his voice the dog rendered its customary allegiance and came to him As it came within reaching distance the man lost his control His arms flashed out to the dog and he experienced genuine surprise when he discovered that his hands could not clutch that there was neither bend nor feeling in the fingers He had forgotten for the moment that they were frozen and that they were freezing more and more All this happened quickly and before the animal could get away he encircled its body with his arms He sat down in the snow and in this fashion held the dog while it snarled and whined and struggled

But it was all he could do hold its body encircled in his arms and sit there He realized that he could not kill the dog There was no way to do it With his helpless hands he could neither draw nor hold his sheath knife nor throttle the animal He released it and it plunged wildly away with tail between its legs and still snarling It halted forty feet away and surveyed him curiously with ears sharply pricked forward The man looked down at his hands in order to locate them and found them hanging on the ends of his arms It struck him as curious that one should have to use his eyes in order to find out where his hands were He began threshing his arms back and forth beating the mittened hands against

To Build a FireContinued

his sides He did this for five minutes violently and his heart pumped enough blood up to the surface to put a stop to his shivering But no sensation was aroused in the hands He had an impression that they hung like weights on the ends of his arms but when he tried to run the impression down he could not find it

A certain fear of death dull and oppressive came to him This fear quickly became poignant as he realized that it was no longer a mere matter of freezing his fingers and toes or of losing his hands and feet but that it was a matter of life and death with the chances against him This threw him into a panic and he turned and ran up the creek-bed along the old dim trail The dog joined in behind and kept up with him He ran blindly without intention in fear such as he had never known in his life Slowly as he plowed and floundered through the snow he began to see things again the banks of the creek the old timber-jams the leafless aspens and the sky The running made him feel better He did not shiver Maybe if he ran on his feet would thaw out and anyway if he ran far enough he would reach camp and the boys Without doubt he would lose some fingers and toes and some of his face but the boys would take care of him and save the rest of him when he got there And at the same time there was another thought in his mind that said he would never get to the camp and the boys that it was too many miles away that the freezing had too great a start on him and that he would soon be stiff and dead This thought he kept in the background and refused to consider Sometimes it pushed itself forward and demanded to be heard but he thrust it back and strove to think of other things

It struck him as curious that he could run at all on feet so frozen that he could not feel them when they struck the earth and took the weigh of his body He seemed to himself to skim along above the surface and to have no connection with the earth Somewhere he had once seen a winged Mercury

and he wondered if Mercury felt as he felt when skimming over the earth

His theory of running until he reached camp and the boys had one flaw in it he lacked the endurance Several times he stumbled and finally he tottered crumpled up and fell When he tried to rise he failed He must sit and rest he decided and next time he would merely walk and keep on going As he sat and regained his breath he noted that he was feeling quite warm and comfortable He was not shivering and it even seemed that a warm glow had come to his chest and trunk And yet when he touched his nose or cheeks there was no sensation Running would not thaw them out Nor would it thaw out his hands and feet Then the thought came to him that the frozen portions of his body must be extending He tried to keep this thought down to forget it to think of something else he was aware of the panicky feeling that it caused and he was afraid of the panic But the thought asserted itself and persisted until it produced a vision of his body totally frozen This was too much and he made another wild run along the trail Once he slowed down to a walk but the thought of the freezing extending itself made him run again

And all the time the dog ran with him at his heels When he fell down a second time it curled its tad over its forefeet and sat in front of him facing him curiously eager and intent The warmth and security of the animal angered him and he cursed it till it flattened down its ears appealingly This time the shivering came more quickly upon the man He was losing in his battle with the frost It was creeping into his body from all sides The thought of it drove him on but he ran no more than a hundred feet when he staggered and pitched headlong It was his last panic When he had recovered his breath and control he sat up and entertained in his mind the conception of meeting death with dignity However the conception did not come to him in such terms His idea of it was that he had been making a fool of

To Build a FireContinued

himself running around like a chicken with its head cut off--such was the simile that occurred to him Well he was bound to freeze anyway and he might as well take it decently With this new-found peace of mind came the first glimmerings of drowsiness A good idea he thought to sleep off to death It was like salting an anesthetic Freezing was not so bad as people thought There were lots worse ways to die

He pictured the boys finding his body next day Suddenly he found himself with them coming along the trail and looking for himself And still with them he came around a turn in the trail and found himself lying in the snow He did not belong with himself any more for even then he was out of himself standing with the boys and looking at himself in the snow It certainly was cold was his thought When he got back to the States he could tell the folks what real cold was He drifted on from this to a vision of the old-timer on Sulphur Creek He could see him quite clearly warm and comfortable and smoking a pipe

You were right old boss you were right the man mumbled to the old-timer of Sulphur Creek

Then the man drowsed off into what seemed to him the most comfortable and satisfying sleep he had ever known The dog sat facing him and waiting The brief day drew to a close in a long slow twilight There were no signs of a fire to be made and besides never in the dogs experience had it known a man to sit like that in the snow and make no fire As the twilight drew on its eager yearning for the fire mastered it and with a great lifting and shifting of forefeet it whined softly then flattened its ears down in anticipation of being chidden by the man But the man remained silent Later the dog whined loudly And still later it crept close to the man and caught the scent of death This made the animal bristle and back away A little longer it delayed howling under the stars that leaped and danced and shone brightly in the cold sky Then it turned and trotted up the trail in the direction of the camp it knew where were the other food-providers and fire-providers

To Build a FireContinued

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Page 54: FitnessDigest.us Vol. 4.3 Cover

13 My cancer story is one of uniqueness Leave it to me to do something like cancer to its fullest It did not begin with a mammogram diagnosis or a lump My journey began about 4 years ago with some suspicious activity that turned into Pagetrsquos disease of the nipple which signaled the underlying cancer On April 1st I found out about my breast cancer through a biopsy that came back as positive for Pagetrsquos disease The onslaught of tests learning and decisions were dizzying I immediately went for an evaluation of the suspicious tissue and had to begin making decisions for my mastectomy I quickly learned there is a test called the BRAC Analysis which is a genetic test for breast and ovarian cancer Finally a piece of good news for me I did not have the gene

Decisions Now it was time to make decisions about my mastectomy and how I was going to handle reconstruction I discussed my options with my boyfriend Brian friends family members and even my principalboss I read books searched the Internet and contacted people I

Brandi ShipmanCancer Survivor and elite triathlete

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

know and knew from my past that had been directly affected and that I thought might have answers for me The outpouring of love encouragement and help during this process was overwhelming After meeting with four different doctors two surgeons and two plastic surgeons I decided to go with immediate reconstruction and was lucky enough to find two wonderful doctors They were willing to work together just because I wanted them to even though they had never done so before My surgery was scheduled for mid May

Mental Toughness13 My mental preparation at this point was very important I had to scrap any idea of competing in triathlons for the rest of the year and focus on a positive attitude of getting better I stopped thinking about what I wasnrsquot going to able to do and started thinking about what I could do that I was alive and kept my mind on the fact that so many others had made it before me

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links

Part 213 I was prepared by the doctors survivors and literature to be ldquodownrdquo for several weeks after my surgery I even took the rest of the school year off My surgery went well and I was out of the hospital the next day A few friends came to visit while I was in the hospital and my principal and vice principal brought the most wonderful picture of the faculty wearing pink for me I can only imagine what it looked like at Thornton Elementary on that day in May 2009 a sea of pink all for Brandi Shipman Shortly after their visit I received a text from my friend Margie Massey My friends from the gym wore pink for me that day as well The support brought tears to my eyes I was so excited to come home and be comfortable in my own home I just wish the stupid drain that was attached could have stayed at the hospital The pain from that was worse than the pain from the mastectomy

the most

powerful picture

13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Recovery ndash May13 Once I got home I slept and watched a lot of TV Friends visited and brought yummy food and my favorites I am not supposed to eat I ate them all My friend and co-worker set up a cancer care calendar that alerted anyone who logged on when I was having a doctorrsquos appointment or when I was in need of anything I felt like royalty as everyone took care of me I think Brian secretly enjoyed the fact that he wouldnrsquot have to cook for me each night My recovery was quicker than I thought as I was doing my best to get better and get the stinkinrsquo drain out of my skin I was out walking within a week and running within 3 weeks I couldnrsquot believe my recovery I know it was from all the prayers love and good care from Brian and the loved ones around me Life was looking better each day

ldquoLife was looking

better each dayrdquo

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Part three and part

four of I am Survivor

will be published in

the next edition of

FitnessDigestus

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digital-delivery

Sign-up or subscribe at

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During the past 150 years we have witnessed many remarkable advances against cancer a disease known to humanity for thousands of years The advances highlighted below represent a sampling of what has been accomplished to date

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

1882 William Halsted performs the first radical mastectomy to treat breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast the lymph nodes under the arm (axillary lymph nodes) and the chest muscles behind the breast (pectoralis major and pectoralis minor muscles) are removed Radical mastectomy will remain the standard operation for breast cancer until latter half of the 20th century when the use of modified radical mastectomy becomes widely accepted

1932 David H Patey develops the modified radical mastectomy for breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast axillary lymph nodes and pectoralis minor muscle behind the breast are removed The modified radical mastectomy is less disfiguring than the radical mastectomy and will eventually replace the radical mastectomy as a standard treatment option for breast cancer

1953 James Watson and Francis Crick discover the molecular structure of DNA (the double helix)

1963 The Health Insurance Plan (HIP) of Greater New York Study begins HIP is the first randomized controlled trial of periodic breast cancer screening with mammography

1882

1932

1953

1963

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1976 The results of a randomized clinical trial show that women with early breast cancer who receive post-operative (adjuvant) combination chemotherapy with the drugs cyclophosphamide methotrexate and 5-FU have improved disease-free survival

1981 A randomized clinical trial in the United Kingdom shows for the first time that the rates of survival local recurrence and tumor metastasis among women whose breast cancer is treated with modified radical mastectomy are not substantially different from those of women who are treated with radical mastectomy

1993 An NCI-convened international workshop on screening for breast cancer reports that screening with mammography reduces breast cancer mortality among women ages 50-69 This conclusion is based on a review of published and unpublished data from eight randomized controlled trials

2004 Data from the Womens Health Initiative (WHI) study show that women who take estrogen in combination with the hormone progestin have a greater risk of developing breast cancer than women who take estrogen alone The results also show that menopausal hormone therapy with estrogen alone has no benefit in disease prevention specifically in reducing the risks of colorectal cancer coronary heart disease and dementia

1976

1981

1993

2004

Although we still have a long way to go to reduce the toll of cancer in the United States and worldwide our research and public health efforts are beginning to pay dividends

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

Volunteering vs Participating13 My girl friend and I are involved in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation The local chapter raises awareness for the cause with a fun-run each year We have volunteered to help with the race five years in a row This year we were stationed at a water table where the runners pick-up cups of water to drink Toward the end of the race there are very few runners There was a little time to chat about things We were talking about what we would wish for if we could have three wishes I told her I would wish for an end to Juvenile Diabetes and to lose 10 pounds Being nice I said ldquoyou can have my last wishrdquo She said I wish you would skip volunteering and just run this race next year

Admission Price Our aquatic center was having a promotion one night and advertised an elementary school night The kids could swim for free When we got to the pool we saw a promotional sign for the event In small lettering it read All swimmers must be accompanied by an adult We thought no big deal one of us can just stay and watch When we got to the front desk we found the lifeguard was enforcing the adult-admission price of $8

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Chicago open water swim course at nighttop left

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Ken Mauer loads the balls for hitting practice during a Twins baseball camp for

children 7-13 bottom right

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As he turned to go on he spat speculatively There was a sharp explosive crackle that startled him He spat again And again in the air before it could fall to the snow the spittle crackled He knew that at fifty below spittle crackled on the snow but this spittle had crackled in the air Undoubtedly it was colder than fifty below--how much colder he did not know But the temperature did not matter He was bound for the old claim on the left fork of Henderson Creek where the boys were already They had come over across the divide from the Indian Creek country while he had come the roundabout way to take a look at the possibilities of getting out logs in the spring from the islands in the Yukon He would be in to camp by six oclock a bit after dark it was true but the boys would be there a fire would be going and a hot supper would be ready As for lunch he pressed his hand against the protruding bundle under his jacket It was also under his shirt wrapped up in a handkerchief and lying against the naked skin It was the only way to keep the biscuits from freezing He smiled agreeably to himself as he thought of those biscuits each cut open and sopped in bacon grease and each enclosing a generous slice of fried bacon

He plunged in among the big spruce trees The trail was faint A foot of snow had fallen since the last sled had passed over and he was glad he was without a sled traveling light In fact he carried nothing but the lunch wrapped in the handkerchief He was surprised however at the cold It certainly was cold he concluded as he rubbed his numb nose and cheek-bones with his mittened hand He was a warm-whiskered man but the hair on his face did not protect the high cheek-bones and the eager nose that thrust itself aggressively into the frosty air

At the mans heels trotted a dog a big native husky the proper wolf-dog gray-coated and without any visible or temperamental difference from its brother the wild wolf The animal was depressed by the tremendous cold It knew that it was no time for

traveling Its instinct told it a truer tale than was told to the man by the mans judgment In reality it was not merely colder than fifty below zero it was colder than sixty below than seventy below It was seventy-five below zero Since the freezing point is thirty-two above zero it meant that one hundred and seven degrees of frost obtained The dog did not know anything about thermometers Possibly in its brain there was no sharp consciousness of a condition of very cold such as was in the mans brain But the brute had its instinct It experienced a vague but menacing apprehension that subdued it then made it slink along at the mans heels and that made it question eagerly every unwonted movement of the man as if expecting him to go into camp or to seek shelter somewhere and build a fire The dog had learned fire and it wanted fire or else to burrow under the snow and cuddle its warmth away from the air

The frozen moisture of its breathing had settled on its fur in a fine powder of frost and especially were its jowls muzzle and eyelashes whitened by its cry-stalled breath The mans red beard and mustache were likewise frosted but more solidly the deposit taking the form of ice and increasing with every warm moist breath he exhaled Also the man was chewing tobacco and the muzzle of ice held his lips so rigidly that he was unable to clear his chin when he expelled the juice The result was that a crystal beard of the color and solidity of amber was increasing its length on his chin If he fell down it would shatter itself like glass into brittle fragments But he did not mind the appendage It was the penalty all tobacco-chewers paid in that country and he had been out before in two cold snaps They had not been so cold as this he knew but by the spirit thermometer at Sixty Mile he knew they had been registered at fifty below and at fifty-five

He held on through the level stretch of woods for several miles crossed a wide flat of rigger-heads and dropped down a bank to the frozen bed of a

To Build a FireContinued

small stream This was Henderson Creek and he knew he was ten miles from the forks He looked at his watch It was ten oclock He was making four miles an hour and he calculated that he would arrive at the forks at half-past twelve He decided to celebrate that event by eating his lunch there

The dog dropped in again at his heels with a tail drooping discouragement as the man swung along the creek-bed The furrow of the old sled-trail was plainly visible but a dozen inches of snow covered the marks of the last runners In a month no man had come up or down that silent creek The man held steadily on He was not much given to thinking and just then particularly he had nothing to think about save that he would eat lunch at-the forks and that at six oclock he would be in camp with the boys There was nobody to talk to and had there been speech would have been impossible because of the ice-muzzle on his mouth So he continued monotonously to chew tobacco and to increase the length of his amber beard

Once in a while the thought reiterated itself that it was very cold and that he had never experienced such cold As he walked along he rubbed his cheek-bones and nose with the back of his mittened hand He did this automatically now and again changing hands But rub as he would the instant he stopped his cheek-bones went numb and the following instant the end of his nose went numb He was sure to frost his cheeks he knew that and experienced a pang of regret that he had not devised a nose-strap of the sort Bud wore in cold snaps Such a strap passed across the cheeks as well and saved them But it didnt matter much after all What were frosted cheeks A bit painful that was all they were never serious

Empty as the mans mind was of thoughts he was keenly observant and he noticed the changes in the creek the curves and bends and timber jams and always he sharply noted where he placed his feet Once coming around a bend he shied abruptly

like a startled horse curved away from the place where he had been walking and retreated several paces back along the trail The creek he knew was frozen clear to the bottom--no creek could contain water in that arctic winter--but he knew also that there were springs that bubbled out from the hillsides and ran along under the snow and on top the ice of the creek He knew that the coldest snaps never froze these springs and he knew likewise their danger They were traps They hid pools of water under the snow that might be three inches deep or three feet Sometimes a skin of ice half an inch thick covered them and in turn was covered by the snow Sometimes there were alternate layers of water and ice-skin so that when one broke through he kept on breaking through for a while sometimes wetting himself to the waist

That was why he had shied in such panic He had felt the give under his feet and heard the crackle of a snow-hidden ice-skin And to get his feet wet in such a temperature meant trouble and danger At the very least it meant delay for he would be forced to stop and build a fire and under its protection to bare his feet while he dried his socks and moccasins He stood and studied the creek-bed and its banks and decided that the flow of water came from the right He reflected a while rubbing his nose and cheeks then skirted to the left stepping gingerly and testing the footing for each step Once clear of the danger he took a fresh chew of tobacco and swung along at his four-mile gait

In the course of the next two hours he came upon several similar traps Usually the snow above the hidden pools had a sunken candied appearance that advertised the danger Once again however he had a close call and once suspecting danger he compelled the dog to go on in front The dog did not want to go It hung back until the man shoved it forward and then it went quickly across the white unbroken surface Suddenly it broke through floundered to one side and got away to firmer

To Build a FireContinued

To Build a FireContinued

footing It had wet its forefeet and legs and almost immediately the water that clung to it turned to ice It made quick efforts to lick the ice off its legs then dropped down in the snow and began to bite out the ice that had formed between the toes l his was a matter of instinct To permit the ice to remain would mean sore feet It did not know this It merely obeyed the mysterious prompting that arose from the deep crypts of its being But the man knew having achieved a judgment on the subject and he removed the mitten from his right hand and helped tear out the ice-particles He did not expose his fingers more than a minute and was astonished at the swift numbness that smote them It certainly was cold He pulled on the mitten hastily and beat the hand savagely across his chest

At twelve oclock the day was at its brightest Yet the sun was too far south an its winter journey to clear the horizon The bulge of the earth intervened between it arid Henderson Creek where the man walked under a clear sky at noon and cast no shadow At half-past twelve to the minute he arrived at the forks of the creek He was pleased at the speed he had made If he kept it up he would certainly be with the boys by six He unbuttoned his jacket and shirt and drew forth his lunch The action consumed no more than a quarter of a minute yet in that brief moment the numbness laid hold of the exposed fingers He did not put the mitten on but instead struck the fingers a dozen sharp smashes against his leg Then he sat down on a snow-covered log to eat The sting that followed upon the striking of his fingers against his leg ceased so quickly that he was startled He had had no chance to take a bite of biscuit He struck the fingers repeatedly and returned them to the mitten baring the other hand for the purpose of eating He tried to take a mouthful but the ice-muzzle prevented He had forgotten to build a fire and thaw out He chuckled at his foolishness and as he chuckled he noted the numbness creeping into the exposed fingers Also he noted that the stinging which had first come to his

toes when he sat down was already passing away He wandered whether the toes were warm or numb He moved them inside the moccasins and decided that they were numb

He pulled the mitten on hurriedly and stood up He was a bit frightened He stamped up and down until the stinging returned into the feet It certainly was cold was his thought That man from Sulphur Creek had spoken the truth when telling how cold it sometimes got in the country And he had laughed at him at the time That showed one must not be too sure of things There was no mistake about it it was cold He strode up and down stamping his feet and threshing his arms until reassured by the returning warmth Then he got out matches and proceeded to make a fire From the undergrowth where high water of the previous spring had lodged a supply of seasoned twigs he got his firewood Working carefully from a small beginning he soon had a roaring fire over which he thawed the ice from his face and in the protection of which he ate his biscuits For the moment the cold space was outwitted The dog took satisfaction in the fire stretching out close enough for warmth and far enough away to escape being singed

When the man had finished be filled his pipe and took his comfortable time over a smoke Then he pulled on his mittens settled the ear-flaps of his cap firmly about his ears and took the creek trail up the left fork The dog was disappointed and yearned back toward the fire This man did not know cold Possibly all the generations of his ancestry had been ignorant of cold of real cold of cold one hundred and seven degrees below freezing point But the dog knew all its ancestry knew and it had inherited the knowledge And it knew that it was not good to walk abroad in such fearful cold It was the time to lie snug in a hole in the snow and wait for a curtain of cloud to be drawn across the face of outer space whence this cold came On the other hand there was no keen intimacy between the dog and the man

The one was the toil-slave of the other and the only caresses it had ever received were the caresses of the whiplash and of harsh and menacing throat-sounds that threatened the whiplash So the dog made no effort to communicate its apprehension to the man It was not concerned in the welfare of the man it was for its own sake that it yearned back toward the fire But the man whistled and spoke to it with the sound of whiplashes and the dog swung in at the mans heel and followed after

The man took a chew of tobacco and proceeded to start a new amber beard Also his moist breath quickly powdered with white his mustache eyebrows and lashes There did not seem to be so many springs on the left fork of the Henderson and for half an hour the man saw no signs of any And then it happened At a place where there were no signs where the soft unbroken snow seemed to advertise solidity beneath tee man broke through It was not deep He wet himself halfway to the knees before he floundered out to the firm crust

He was angry and cursed his luck aloud He had hoped to get into camp with the boys at six oclock and this would delay him an hour for he would have to build a fire and dry out his foot-gear This was imperative at that low temperature--he knew that much and he turned aside to the bank which he climbed On top tangled in the underbrush about the trunks of several small spruce trees was a high-water deposit of dry firewood--sticks and twigs principally but also larger portions of seasoned branches and fine dry last-years grasses He threw down several large pieces on top of the snow This served for a foundation and prevented the young flame from drowning itself in the snow it otherwise would melt The flame he got by touching a match to a small shred of birch bark that he took from his pocket This burned even more readily than paper Placing it on the foundation he fed the young flame with wisps of dry grass and with the tiniest dry twigs

He worked slowly and carefully keenly aware of his danger Gradually as the flame grew stronger he increased the size of the twigs with which he fed it He squatted in the snow pulling the twigs out from their entanglement in the brush and feeding directly to the flame He knew there must be no failure When it is seventy-five below zero a man must not fail in his first attempt to build a fire--that is if his feet are wet If his feet are dry and he fails he can run along the trail for half a mile and restore his circulation But the circulation of wet and freezing feet cannot be restored by running when it is seventy-five below No matter how fast he runs the wet feet will freeze the harder

All this the man knew The old-timer on Sulphur Creek had told him about it the previous fall and now he was appreciating the advice Already all sensation had gone out of his feet To build the fire he had been forced to remove his mittens and the fingers had quickly gone numb His pace of four miles an hour had kept his heart pumping blood to the surface of his body and to all the extremities But the instant he stopped the action of the pump eased down The cold of space smote the unprotected tip of the planet and he being on that unprotected tip received the full force of the blow The blood of his body recoiled before it The blood was alive like the dog and like the dog it wanted to hide away and cover itself up from the fearful cold So long as he walked four miles an hour he pumped that blood willy-nilly to the surface but now it ebbed away and sank down into the recesses of his body The extremities were the first to feel its absence His wet feet froze the faster and his exposed fingers numbed the faster though they had not yet begun to freeze Nose and cheeks were already freezing while the skin of all his body chilled as it lost its blood

But he was safe Toes and nose and cheeks would be only touched by the frost for the fire was beginning to burn with strength He was feeding it

To Build a FireContinued

with twigs the size of his finger In another minute he would be able to feed it with branches the size of his wrier and then he could remove his wet toot-gear and while it dried he could keep his naked feet warm by the fire rubbing them at first of course with snow The fire was a success He was safe He remembered the advice of the old timer on Sulphur Creek and smiled The old-timer had been very serious in laying down the law that no man must travel alone in the Klondike after fifty below Well here he was he had had the accident he was alone and he had saved himself Those old-timers were rather womanish some of them he thought All a man had to do was to keep his head and he was all right Any man who was a man could travel alone But it was surprising the rapidity with which his cheeks and nose were freezing And he had not thought his fingers could go lifeless in so short a time Lifeless they were for he could scarcely make them move together to grip a twig and they seemed remote from his body and from him When he touched a twig he had to look and see whether or not he had hold of it The wires were pretty well down between him and his finger-ends

All of which counted for little There was the fire snapping and crackling and promising life with every dancing flame He started to untie his moccasins They were coated with ice the thick German socks were like sheaths of iron halfway to the knees and the moccasin strings were like rods of steel all twisted and knotted as by some conflagration For a moment he tugged with his numb fingers then realizing the folly of it he drew his sheath-knife

But before he could cut the strings it happened It was his own fault or rather his mistake He should not have built the fire under the spruce tree He should have built it in the open But it had been easier to pull the twigs from the brush and drop them directly on the fire Now the tree under which

he had done this carried a weight of snow on its boughs No wind had blown for weeks and each bough was fully freighted Each time he had pulled a twig he had communicated a slight agitation to the tree--an imperceptible agitation so far as he was concerned but an agitation sufficient to bring about the disaster High up in the tree one bough capsized its load of snow This fell on the boughs beneath capsizing them This process continued spreading out and involving the whole tree It grew like an avalanche and it descended without warning upon the man and the fire and the fire was blotted out Where it had burned was a mantle of fresh and disordered snow

The man was shocked It was as though he had just heard his own sentence of death For a moment he sat and stared at the spot where the fire had been Then he grew very calm Perhaps the old-timer on Sulphur Creek was right If he had only had a trail-mate he would have been in no danger now The trail-mate could have built the fire Well it was up to him to build the fire over again and this second time there must be no failure Even if he succeeded he would most likely lose some toes His feet must be badly frozen by now and there would be some time before the second fire Was ready

Such were his thoughts but he did not sit and think them He was busy all the time they were passing through his mind He made a new foundation for a fire this time in the open where no treacherous tree could blot it out Next he gathered dry grasses and tiny twigs from the high-water flotsam He could not bring his fingers together to pull them out but he was able to gather them by the handful In this way he got many rotten twigs and bits of green moss that were undesirable but it was the best he could do He worked methodically even collecting an armful of the larger branches to be used later when the fire gathered strength And all the while the dog sat and watched him a certain yearning wistfulness in its eyes for it looked upon

To Build a FireContinued

him as the fire-provider and the fire was slow in coming

When all was ready the man reached in his pocket for a second piece of birch bark He knew the bark was there and though he could not feel it with his fingers he could hear its crisp rustling as he fumbled for it Try as he would he could not clutch hold of it And all the time in his consciousness was the knowledge that each instant his feet were freezing This thought tended to put him in a panic but he fought against it and kept calm He pulled on his mittens with his teeth and threshed his arms back and forth beating his hands with all his might against his sides He did this sitting down and he stood up to do it and all the while the dog sat in the snow its wolf-brush of a tail curled around warmly over its forefeet its sharp wolf-ears pricked forward intently as it watched the man And the man as he beat and threshed with his arms and hands felt a great surge of envy as he regarded the creature that was warm ant secure in its natural covering

After a time he was aware of the first far-away signals of sensation in his beaten fingers The faint tingling grew stronger till it evolved into a stinging ache that was excruciating but which the man hailed with satisfaction He stripped the mitten from his right hand and fetched forth the birch bark The exposed fingers were quickly going numb again Next he brought out his bunch of sulphur matches But the tremendous cold had already driven the life out of his fingers In his effort to separate one match from the others the whole bunch fell in the snow He tried to pick it out of the snow but failed The dead fingers could neither touch nor clutch He was very careful He drove the thought of his freezing feet and nose and cheeks out of his mind devoting his whole soul to the matches He watched using the sense of vision in place of that of touch and when he saw his fingers on each side the bunch he dosed them--that is he willed to close them for the wires were down and the fingers did not obey He pulled

the mitten on the right hand and beat it fiercely against his knee Then with both mittened hands he scooped the bunch of matches along with much snow into his lap Yet he was no better off

After some manipulation he managed to get the bunch between the heels of his mittened hands In this fashion he carried it to his mouth The ice crackled and snapped when by a violent effort he opened his mouth He drew the lower jaw in curled the upper lip out of the way and scraped the bunch with his upper teeth in order to separate a match He succeeded in getting one which he dropped on his lap He was no better off He could not pick it up Then he devised a way He picked it up in his teeth and scratched it on his leg Twenty times he scratched before he succeeded in lighting it As it flamed he held it with his teeth to the birch bark But the burning brimstone went up his nostrils and into his lungs causing him to cough spasmodically The match fell into the snow and went out

The old-timer an Sulphur Creek was right he thought in the moment of controlled despair that ensued after fifty below a man should travel with a partner He beat his hands but failed in exciting any sensation Suddenly he bared both hands removing the mittens with his teeth He caught the whole bunch between the heels of his hands His arm muscles not being frozen enabled him to press the hand-heels tightly against the matches Then he scratched the bunch along his leg It flared into flame seventy sulphur matches at once There was no wind to blow them out He kept his head to one side to escape the strangling fumes and held the blazing bunch to the birth bark As he so held it he became aware of sensation in his hand His flesh was burning He could smell it Deep down below the surface he could feel it The sensation developed into pain that grew acute And still he endured it holding the flame of the matches clumsily to the bark that would not light readily because his own burning hands were in the way absorbing most of the flame

To Build a FireContinued

At last when he could endure no more he jerked his hands apart The blazing matches fell sizzling into the snow but the birch bark was alight He began laying dry grasses and the tiniest twigs on the flame He could not pick and choose for he had to lift the fuel between the heels of his hands Small pieces of rotten wood and green moss clung to the twigs and he bit them off as well as he could with his teeth He cherished the flame carefully and awkwardly It meant life and it must not perish The withdrawal of blood from the surface of his body now made him begin to shiver and he grew more awkward A large piece of green moss fell squarely on the little fire He tried to poke it out with his fingers but his shivering frame made him poke too far and he disrupted the nucleus of the little fire the burning grasses and tiny twigs separating and scattering He tried to poke them together again but in spite of the tenseness of the effort his shivering got away with him and the twigs were hopelessly scattered Each twig gushed a puff of smoke and went out The fire-provider had failed As he looked apathetically about him his eyes chanced on the dog sitting across the ruins of the fire from him in the snow making restless hunching movements slightly lifting one forefoot and then the other shifting its weight back and forth on them with wistful eagerness

The sight of the dog put a wild idea into his head He remembered the tale of the man caught in a blizzard who killed a steer and crawled inside the carcass and so was saved He would kill the dog and bury his hands in the warm body until the numbness went out of them Then he could build another fire He spoke to the dog calling it to him but in his voice was a strange note of fear that frightened the animal who had never known the man to speak in such way before Something was the matter and its suspicious nature sensed danger--it knew not what danger but somewhere somehow in its brain arose an apprehension of the man It flattened its ears down at the sound of the mans voice and its restless

hunching movements and the liftings and shiftings of its forefeet became more pronounced but it would not come to the man He got on his hands and knees and crawled toward the dog This unusual posture again excited suspicion and the animal sidled mincingly away

The man sat up in the snow for a moment and struggled for calmness Then he pulled on his mittens by means of his teeth and got upon his feet He glanced down at first in order to assure himself that he was really standing up for the absence of sensation in his feet left him unrelated to the earth His erect position in itself started to drive the webs of suspicion from the dogs mind and when he spoke peremptorily with the sound of whiplashes in his voice the dog rendered its customary allegiance and came to him As it came within reaching distance the man lost his control His arms flashed out to the dog and he experienced genuine surprise when he discovered that his hands could not clutch that there was neither bend nor feeling in the fingers He had forgotten for the moment that they were frozen and that they were freezing more and more All this happened quickly and before the animal could get away he encircled its body with his arms He sat down in the snow and in this fashion held the dog while it snarled and whined and struggled

But it was all he could do hold its body encircled in his arms and sit there He realized that he could not kill the dog There was no way to do it With his helpless hands he could neither draw nor hold his sheath knife nor throttle the animal He released it and it plunged wildly away with tail between its legs and still snarling It halted forty feet away and surveyed him curiously with ears sharply pricked forward The man looked down at his hands in order to locate them and found them hanging on the ends of his arms It struck him as curious that one should have to use his eyes in order to find out where his hands were He began threshing his arms back and forth beating the mittened hands against

To Build a FireContinued

his sides He did this for five minutes violently and his heart pumped enough blood up to the surface to put a stop to his shivering But no sensation was aroused in the hands He had an impression that they hung like weights on the ends of his arms but when he tried to run the impression down he could not find it

A certain fear of death dull and oppressive came to him This fear quickly became poignant as he realized that it was no longer a mere matter of freezing his fingers and toes or of losing his hands and feet but that it was a matter of life and death with the chances against him This threw him into a panic and he turned and ran up the creek-bed along the old dim trail The dog joined in behind and kept up with him He ran blindly without intention in fear such as he had never known in his life Slowly as he plowed and floundered through the snow he began to see things again the banks of the creek the old timber-jams the leafless aspens and the sky The running made him feel better He did not shiver Maybe if he ran on his feet would thaw out and anyway if he ran far enough he would reach camp and the boys Without doubt he would lose some fingers and toes and some of his face but the boys would take care of him and save the rest of him when he got there And at the same time there was another thought in his mind that said he would never get to the camp and the boys that it was too many miles away that the freezing had too great a start on him and that he would soon be stiff and dead This thought he kept in the background and refused to consider Sometimes it pushed itself forward and demanded to be heard but he thrust it back and strove to think of other things

It struck him as curious that he could run at all on feet so frozen that he could not feel them when they struck the earth and took the weigh of his body He seemed to himself to skim along above the surface and to have no connection with the earth Somewhere he had once seen a winged Mercury

and he wondered if Mercury felt as he felt when skimming over the earth

His theory of running until he reached camp and the boys had one flaw in it he lacked the endurance Several times he stumbled and finally he tottered crumpled up and fell When he tried to rise he failed He must sit and rest he decided and next time he would merely walk and keep on going As he sat and regained his breath he noted that he was feeling quite warm and comfortable He was not shivering and it even seemed that a warm glow had come to his chest and trunk And yet when he touched his nose or cheeks there was no sensation Running would not thaw them out Nor would it thaw out his hands and feet Then the thought came to him that the frozen portions of his body must be extending He tried to keep this thought down to forget it to think of something else he was aware of the panicky feeling that it caused and he was afraid of the panic But the thought asserted itself and persisted until it produced a vision of his body totally frozen This was too much and he made another wild run along the trail Once he slowed down to a walk but the thought of the freezing extending itself made him run again

And all the time the dog ran with him at his heels When he fell down a second time it curled its tad over its forefeet and sat in front of him facing him curiously eager and intent The warmth and security of the animal angered him and he cursed it till it flattened down its ears appealingly This time the shivering came more quickly upon the man He was losing in his battle with the frost It was creeping into his body from all sides The thought of it drove him on but he ran no more than a hundred feet when he staggered and pitched headlong It was his last panic When he had recovered his breath and control he sat up and entertained in his mind the conception of meeting death with dignity However the conception did not come to him in such terms His idea of it was that he had been making a fool of

To Build a FireContinued

himself running around like a chicken with its head cut off--such was the simile that occurred to him Well he was bound to freeze anyway and he might as well take it decently With this new-found peace of mind came the first glimmerings of drowsiness A good idea he thought to sleep off to death It was like salting an anesthetic Freezing was not so bad as people thought There were lots worse ways to die

He pictured the boys finding his body next day Suddenly he found himself with them coming along the trail and looking for himself And still with them he came around a turn in the trail and found himself lying in the snow He did not belong with himself any more for even then he was out of himself standing with the boys and looking at himself in the snow It certainly was cold was his thought When he got back to the States he could tell the folks what real cold was He drifted on from this to a vision of the old-timer on Sulphur Creek He could see him quite clearly warm and comfortable and smoking a pipe

You were right old boss you were right the man mumbled to the old-timer of Sulphur Creek

Then the man drowsed off into what seemed to him the most comfortable and satisfying sleep he had ever known The dog sat facing him and waiting The brief day drew to a close in a long slow twilight There were no signs of a fire to be made and besides never in the dogs experience had it known a man to sit like that in the snow and make no fire As the twilight drew on its eager yearning for the fire mastered it and with a great lifting and shifting of forefeet it whined softly then flattened its ears down in anticipation of being chidden by the man But the man remained silent Later the dog whined loudly And still later it crept close to the man and caught the scent of death This made the animal bristle and back away A little longer it delayed howling under the stars that leaped and danced and shone brightly in the cold sky Then it turned and trotted up the trail in the direction of the camp it knew where were the other food-providers and fire-providers

To Build a FireContinued

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Page 55: FitnessDigest.us Vol. 4.3 Cover

know and knew from my past that had been directly affected and that I thought might have answers for me The outpouring of love encouragement and help during this process was overwhelming After meeting with four different doctors two surgeons and two plastic surgeons I decided to go with immediate reconstruction and was lucky enough to find two wonderful doctors They were willing to work together just because I wanted them to even though they had never done so before My surgery was scheduled for mid May

Mental Toughness13 My mental preparation at this point was very important I had to scrap any idea of competing in triathlons for the rest of the year and focus on a positive attitude of getting better I stopped thinking about what I wasnrsquot going to able to do and started thinking about what I could do that I was alive and kept my mind on the fact that so many others had made it before me

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links

Part 213 I was prepared by the doctors survivors and literature to be ldquodownrdquo for several weeks after my surgery I even took the rest of the school year off My surgery went well and I was out of the hospital the next day A few friends came to visit while I was in the hospital and my principal and vice principal brought the most wonderful picture of the faculty wearing pink for me I can only imagine what it looked like at Thornton Elementary on that day in May 2009 a sea of pink all for Brandi Shipman Shortly after their visit I received a text from my friend Margie Massey My friends from the gym wore pink for me that day as well The support brought tears to my eyes I was so excited to come home and be comfortable in my own home I just wish the stupid drain that was attached could have stayed at the hospital The pain from that was worse than the pain from the mastectomy

the most

powerful picture

13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Recovery ndash May13 Once I got home I slept and watched a lot of TV Friends visited and brought yummy food and my favorites I am not supposed to eat I ate them all My friend and co-worker set up a cancer care calendar that alerted anyone who logged on when I was having a doctorrsquos appointment or when I was in need of anything I felt like royalty as everyone took care of me I think Brian secretly enjoyed the fact that he wouldnrsquot have to cook for me each night My recovery was quicker than I thought as I was doing my best to get better and get the stinkinrsquo drain out of my skin I was out walking within a week and running within 3 weeks I couldnrsquot believe my recovery I know it was from all the prayers love and good care from Brian and the loved ones around me Life was looking better each day

ldquoLife was looking

better each dayrdquo

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Part three and part

four of I am Survivor

will be published in

the next edition of

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During the past 150 years we have witnessed many remarkable advances against cancer a disease known to humanity for thousands of years The advances highlighted below represent a sampling of what has been accomplished to date

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

1882 William Halsted performs the first radical mastectomy to treat breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast the lymph nodes under the arm (axillary lymph nodes) and the chest muscles behind the breast (pectoralis major and pectoralis minor muscles) are removed Radical mastectomy will remain the standard operation for breast cancer until latter half of the 20th century when the use of modified radical mastectomy becomes widely accepted

1932 David H Patey develops the modified radical mastectomy for breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast axillary lymph nodes and pectoralis minor muscle behind the breast are removed The modified radical mastectomy is less disfiguring than the radical mastectomy and will eventually replace the radical mastectomy as a standard treatment option for breast cancer

1953 James Watson and Francis Crick discover the molecular structure of DNA (the double helix)

1963 The Health Insurance Plan (HIP) of Greater New York Study begins HIP is the first randomized controlled trial of periodic breast cancer screening with mammography

1882

1932

1953

1963

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1976 The results of a randomized clinical trial show that women with early breast cancer who receive post-operative (adjuvant) combination chemotherapy with the drugs cyclophosphamide methotrexate and 5-FU have improved disease-free survival

1981 A randomized clinical trial in the United Kingdom shows for the first time that the rates of survival local recurrence and tumor metastasis among women whose breast cancer is treated with modified radical mastectomy are not substantially different from those of women who are treated with radical mastectomy

1993 An NCI-convened international workshop on screening for breast cancer reports that screening with mammography reduces breast cancer mortality among women ages 50-69 This conclusion is based on a review of published and unpublished data from eight randomized controlled trials

2004 Data from the Womens Health Initiative (WHI) study show that women who take estrogen in combination with the hormone progestin have a greater risk of developing breast cancer than women who take estrogen alone The results also show that menopausal hormone therapy with estrogen alone has no benefit in disease prevention specifically in reducing the risks of colorectal cancer coronary heart disease and dementia

1976

1981

1993

2004

Although we still have a long way to go to reduce the toll of cancer in the United States and worldwide our research and public health efforts are beginning to pay dividends

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

Volunteering vs Participating13 My girl friend and I are involved in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation The local chapter raises awareness for the cause with a fun-run each year We have volunteered to help with the race five years in a row This year we were stationed at a water table where the runners pick-up cups of water to drink Toward the end of the race there are very few runners There was a little time to chat about things We were talking about what we would wish for if we could have three wishes I told her I would wish for an end to Juvenile Diabetes and to lose 10 pounds Being nice I said ldquoyou can have my last wishrdquo She said I wish you would skip volunteering and just run this race next year

Admission Price Our aquatic center was having a promotion one night and advertised an elementary school night The kids could swim for free When we got to the pool we saw a promotional sign for the event In small lettering it read All swimmers must be accompanied by an adult We thought no big deal one of us can just stay and watch When we got to the front desk we found the lifeguard was enforcing the adult-admission price of $8

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CNFI Publishing - Products Books Chapbooks Bookmarks Plaques and Poetry Collector Cards Merchandising Products Coffee Mugs Mouse Pads Tiles 3x6 Coasters T - Shirts and Wall Plaques More info athttpliveadsFitnessDigestus

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

Featured PhotosFitnessDigestus feature

Chicago open water swim course at nighttop left

Kids race at Bicycle Blues and BBQtop right

Some team members volunteer at the local soup kitchenmiddle right

Ken Mauer loads the balls for hitting practice during a Twins baseball camp for

children 7-13 bottom right

Get your local event photos published in the next issue of FitnessDigestus E-mail

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As he turned to go on he spat speculatively There was a sharp explosive crackle that startled him He spat again And again in the air before it could fall to the snow the spittle crackled He knew that at fifty below spittle crackled on the snow but this spittle had crackled in the air Undoubtedly it was colder than fifty below--how much colder he did not know But the temperature did not matter He was bound for the old claim on the left fork of Henderson Creek where the boys were already They had come over across the divide from the Indian Creek country while he had come the roundabout way to take a look at the possibilities of getting out logs in the spring from the islands in the Yukon He would be in to camp by six oclock a bit after dark it was true but the boys would be there a fire would be going and a hot supper would be ready As for lunch he pressed his hand against the protruding bundle under his jacket It was also under his shirt wrapped up in a handkerchief and lying against the naked skin It was the only way to keep the biscuits from freezing He smiled agreeably to himself as he thought of those biscuits each cut open and sopped in bacon grease and each enclosing a generous slice of fried bacon

He plunged in among the big spruce trees The trail was faint A foot of snow had fallen since the last sled had passed over and he was glad he was without a sled traveling light In fact he carried nothing but the lunch wrapped in the handkerchief He was surprised however at the cold It certainly was cold he concluded as he rubbed his numb nose and cheek-bones with his mittened hand He was a warm-whiskered man but the hair on his face did not protect the high cheek-bones and the eager nose that thrust itself aggressively into the frosty air

At the mans heels trotted a dog a big native husky the proper wolf-dog gray-coated and without any visible or temperamental difference from its brother the wild wolf The animal was depressed by the tremendous cold It knew that it was no time for

traveling Its instinct told it a truer tale than was told to the man by the mans judgment In reality it was not merely colder than fifty below zero it was colder than sixty below than seventy below It was seventy-five below zero Since the freezing point is thirty-two above zero it meant that one hundred and seven degrees of frost obtained The dog did not know anything about thermometers Possibly in its brain there was no sharp consciousness of a condition of very cold such as was in the mans brain But the brute had its instinct It experienced a vague but menacing apprehension that subdued it then made it slink along at the mans heels and that made it question eagerly every unwonted movement of the man as if expecting him to go into camp or to seek shelter somewhere and build a fire The dog had learned fire and it wanted fire or else to burrow under the snow and cuddle its warmth away from the air

The frozen moisture of its breathing had settled on its fur in a fine powder of frost and especially were its jowls muzzle and eyelashes whitened by its cry-stalled breath The mans red beard and mustache were likewise frosted but more solidly the deposit taking the form of ice and increasing with every warm moist breath he exhaled Also the man was chewing tobacco and the muzzle of ice held his lips so rigidly that he was unable to clear his chin when he expelled the juice The result was that a crystal beard of the color and solidity of amber was increasing its length on his chin If he fell down it would shatter itself like glass into brittle fragments But he did not mind the appendage It was the penalty all tobacco-chewers paid in that country and he had been out before in two cold snaps They had not been so cold as this he knew but by the spirit thermometer at Sixty Mile he knew they had been registered at fifty below and at fifty-five

He held on through the level stretch of woods for several miles crossed a wide flat of rigger-heads and dropped down a bank to the frozen bed of a

To Build a FireContinued

small stream This was Henderson Creek and he knew he was ten miles from the forks He looked at his watch It was ten oclock He was making four miles an hour and he calculated that he would arrive at the forks at half-past twelve He decided to celebrate that event by eating his lunch there

The dog dropped in again at his heels with a tail drooping discouragement as the man swung along the creek-bed The furrow of the old sled-trail was plainly visible but a dozen inches of snow covered the marks of the last runners In a month no man had come up or down that silent creek The man held steadily on He was not much given to thinking and just then particularly he had nothing to think about save that he would eat lunch at-the forks and that at six oclock he would be in camp with the boys There was nobody to talk to and had there been speech would have been impossible because of the ice-muzzle on his mouth So he continued monotonously to chew tobacco and to increase the length of his amber beard

Once in a while the thought reiterated itself that it was very cold and that he had never experienced such cold As he walked along he rubbed his cheek-bones and nose with the back of his mittened hand He did this automatically now and again changing hands But rub as he would the instant he stopped his cheek-bones went numb and the following instant the end of his nose went numb He was sure to frost his cheeks he knew that and experienced a pang of regret that he had not devised a nose-strap of the sort Bud wore in cold snaps Such a strap passed across the cheeks as well and saved them But it didnt matter much after all What were frosted cheeks A bit painful that was all they were never serious

Empty as the mans mind was of thoughts he was keenly observant and he noticed the changes in the creek the curves and bends and timber jams and always he sharply noted where he placed his feet Once coming around a bend he shied abruptly

like a startled horse curved away from the place where he had been walking and retreated several paces back along the trail The creek he knew was frozen clear to the bottom--no creek could contain water in that arctic winter--but he knew also that there were springs that bubbled out from the hillsides and ran along under the snow and on top the ice of the creek He knew that the coldest snaps never froze these springs and he knew likewise their danger They were traps They hid pools of water under the snow that might be three inches deep or three feet Sometimes a skin of ice half an inch thick covered them and in turn was covered by the snow Sometimes there were alternate layers of water and ice-skin so that when one broke through he kept on breaking through for a while sometimes wetting himself to the waist

That was why he had shied in such panic He had felt the give under his feet and heard the crackle of a snow-hidden ice-skin And to get his feet wet in such a temperature meant trouble and danger At the very least it meant delay for he would be forced to stop and build a fire and under its protection to bare his feet while he dried his socks and moccasins He stood and studied the creek-bed and its banks and decided that the flow of water came from the right He reflected a while rubbing his nose and cheeks then skirted to the left stepping gingerly and testing the footing for each step Once clear of the danger he took a fresh chew of tobacco and swung along at his four-mile gait

In the course of the next two hours he came upon several similar traps Usually the snow above the hidden pools had a sunken candied appearance that advertised the danger Once again however he had a close call and once suspecting danger he compelled the dog to go on in front The dog did not want to go It hung back until the man shoved it forward and then it went quickly across the white unbroken surface Suddenly it broke through floundered to one side and got away to firmer

To Build a FireContinued

To Build a FireContinued

footing It had wet its forefeet and legs and almost immediately the water that clung to it turned to ice It made quick efforts to lick the ice off its legs then dropped down in the snow and began to bite out the ice that had formed between the toes l his was a matter of instinct To permit the ice to remain would mean sore feet It did not know this It merely obeyed the mysterious prompting that arose from the deep crypts of its being But the man knew having achieved a judgment on the subject and he removed the mitten from his right hand and helped tear out the ice-particles He did not expose his fingers more than a minute and was astonished at the swift numbness that smote them It certainly was cold He pulled on the mitten hastily and beat the hand savagely across his chest

At twelve oclock the day was at its brightest Yet the sun was too far south an its winter journey to clear the horizon The bulge of the earth intervened between it arid Henderson Creek where the man walked under a clear sky at noon and cast no shadow At half-past twelve to the minute he arrived at the forks of the creek He was pleased at the speed he had made If he kept it up he would certainly be with the boys by six He unbuttoned his jacket and shirt and drew forth his lunch The action consumed no more than a quarter of a minute yet in that brief moment the numbness laid hold of the exposed fingers He did not put the mitten on but instead struck the fingers a dozen sharp smashes against his leg Then he sat down on a snow-covered log to eat The sting that followed upon the striking of his fingers against his leg ceased so quickly that he was startled He had had no chance to take a bite of biscuit He struck the fingers repeatedly and returned them to the mitten baring the other hand for the purpose of eating He tried to take a mouthful but the ice-muzzle prevented He had forgotten to build a fire and thaw out He chuckled at his foolishness and as he chuckled he noted the numbness creeping into the exposed fingers Also he noted that the stinging which had first come to his

toes when he sat down was already passing away He wandered whether the toes were warm or numb He moved them inside the moccasins and decided that they were numb

He pulled the mitten on hurriedly and stood up He was a bit frightened He stamped up and down until the stinging returned into the feet It certainly was cold was his thought That man from Sulphur Creek had spoken the truth when telling how cold it sometimes got in the country And he had laughed at him at the time That showed one must not be too sure of things There was no mistake about it it was cold He strode up and down stamping his feet and threshing his arms until reassured by the returning warmth Then he got out matches and proceeded to make a fire From the undergrowth where high water of the previous spring had lodged a supply of seasoned twigs he got his firewood Working carefully from a small beginning he soon had a roaring fire over which he thawed the ice from his face and in the protection of which he ate his biscuits For the moment the cold space was outwitted The dog took satisfaction in the fire stretching out close enough for warmth and far enough away to escape being singed

When the man had finished be filled his pipe and took his comfortable time over a smoke Then he pulled on his mittens settled the ear-flaps of his cap firmly about his ears and took the creek trail up the left fork The dog was disappointed and yearned back toward the fire This man did not know cold Possibly all the generations of his ancestry had been ignorant of cold of real cold of cold one hundred and seven degrees below freezing point But the dog knew all its ancestry knew and it had inherited the knowledge And it knew that it was not good to walk abroad in such fearful cold It was the time to lie snug in a hole in the snow and wait for a curtain of cloud to be drawn across the face of outer space whence this cold came On the other hand there was no keen intimacy between the dog and the man

The one was the toil-slave of the other and the only caresses it had ever received were the caresses of the whiplash and of harsh and menacing throat-sounds that threatened the whiplash So the dog made no effort to communicate its apprehension to the man It was not concerned in the welfare of the man it was for its own sake that it yearned back toward the fire But the man whistled and spoke to it with the sound of whiplashes and the dog swung in at the mans heel and followed after

The man took a chew of tobacco and proceeded to start a new amber beard Also his moist breath quickly powdered with white his mustache eyebrows and lashes There did not seem to be so many springs on the left fork of the Henderson and for half an hour the man saw no signs of any And then it happened At a place where there were no signs where the soft unbroken snow seemed to advertise solidity beneath tee man broke through It was not deep He wet himself halfway to the knees before he floundered out to the firm crust

He was angry and cursed his luck aloud He had hoped to get into camp with the boys at six oclock and this would delay him an hour for he would have to build a fire and dry out his foot-gear This was imperative at that low temperature--he knew that much and he turned aside to the bank which he climbed On top tangled in the underbrush about the trunks of several small spruce trees was a high-water deposit of dry firewood--sticks and twigs principally but also larger portions of seasoned branches and fine dry last-years grasses He threw down several large pieces on top of the snow This served for a foundation and prevented the young flame from drowning itself in the snow it otherwise would melt The flame he got by touching a match to a small shred of birch bark that he took from his pocket This burned even more readily than paper Placing it on the foundation he fed the young flame with wisps of dry grass and with the tiniest dry twigs

He worked slowly and carefully keenly aware of his danger Gradually as the flame grew stronger he increased the size of the twigs with which he fed it He squatted in the snow pulling the twigs out from their entanglement in the brush and feeding directly to the flame He knew there must be no failure When it is seventy-five below zero a man must not fail in his first attempt to build a fire--that is if his feet are wet If his feet are dry and he fails he can run along the trail for half a mile and restore his circulation But the circulation of wet and freezing feet cannot be restored by running when it is seventy-five below No matter how fast he runs the wet feet will freeze the harder

All this the man knew The old-timer on Sulphur Creek had told him about it the previous fall and now he was appreciating the advice Already all sensation had gone out of his feet To build the fire he had been forced to remove his mittens and the fingers had quickly gone numb His pace of four miles an hour had kept his heart pumping blood to the surface of his body and to all the extremities But the instant he stopped the action of the pump eased down The cold of space smote the unprotected tip of the planet and he being on that unprotected tip received the full force of the blow The blood of his body recoiled before it The blood was alive like the dog and like the dog it wanted to hide away and cover itself up from the fearful cold So long as he walked four miles an hour he pumped that blood willy-nilly to the surface but now it ebbed away and sank down into the recesses of his body The extremities were the first to feel its absence His wet feet froze the faster and his exposed fingers numbed the faster though they had not yet begun to freeze Nose and cheeks were already freezing while the skin of all his body chilled as it lost its blood

But he was safe Toes and nose and cheeks would be only touched by the frost for the fire was beginning to burn with strength He was feeding it

To Build a FireContinued

with twigs the size of his finger In another minute he would be able to feed it with branches the size of his wrier and then he could remove his wet toot-gear and while it dried he could keep his naked feet warm by the fire rubbing them at first of course with snow The fire was a success He was safe He remembered the advice of the old timer on Sulphur Creek and smiled The old-timer had been very serious in laying down the law that no man must travel alone in the Klondike after fifty below Well here he was he had had the accident he was alone and he had saved himself Those old-timers were rather womanish some of them he thought All a man had to do was to keep his head and he was all right Any man who was a man could travel alone But it was surprising the rapidity with which his cheeks and nose were freezing And he had not thought his fingers could go lifeless in so short a time Lifeless they were for he could scarcely make them move together to grip a twig and they seemed remote from his body and from him When he touched a twig he had to look and see whether or not he had hold of it The wires were pretty well down between him and his finger-ends

All of which counted for little There was the fire snapping and crackling and promising life with every dancing flame He started to untie his moccasins They were coated with ice the thick German socks were like sheaths of iron halfway to the knees and the moccasin strings were like rods of steel all twisted and knotted as by some conflagration For a moment he tugged with his numb fingers then realizing the folly of it he drew his sheath-knife

But before he could cut the strings it happened It was his own fault or rather his mistake He should not have built the fire under the spruce tree He should have built it in the open But it had been easier to pull the twigs from the brush and drop them directly on the fire Now the tree under which

he had done this carried a weight of snow on its boughs No wind had blown for weeks and each bough was fully freighted Each time he had pulled a twig he had communicated a slight agitation to the tree--an imperceptible agitation so far as he was concerned but an agitation sufficient to bring about the disaster High up in the tree one bough capsized its load of snow This fell on the boughs beneath capsizing them This process continued spreading out and involving the whole tree It grew like an avalanche and it descended without warning upon the man and the fire and the fire was blotted out Where it had burned was a mantle of fresh and disordered snow

The man was shocked It was as though he had just heard his own sentence of death For a moment he sat and stared at the spot where the fire had been Then he grew very calm Perhaps the old-timer on Sulphur Creek was right If he had only had a trail-mate he would have been in no danger now The trail-mate could have built the fire Well it was up to him to build the fire over again and this second time there must be no failure Even if he succeeded he would most likely lose some toes His feet must be badly frozen by now and there would be some time before the second fire Was ready

Such were his thoughts but he did not sit and think them He was busy all the time they were passing through his mind He made a new foundation for a fire this time in the open where no treacherous tree could blot it out Next he gathered dry grasses and tiny twigs from the high-water flotsam He could not bring his fingers together to pull them out but he was able to gather them by the handful In this way he got many rotten twigs and bits of green moss that were undesirable but it was the best he could do He worked methodically even collecting an armful of the larger branches to be used later when the fire gathered strength And all the while the dog sat and watched him a certain yearning wistfulness in its eyes for it looked upon

To Build a FireContinued

him as the fire-provider and the fire was slow in coming

When all was ready the man reached in his pocket for a second piece of birch bark He knew the bark was there and though he could not feel it with his fingers he could hear its crisp rustling as he fumbled for it Try as he would he could not clutch hold of it And all the time in his consciousness was the knowledge that each instant his feet were freezing This thought tended to put him in a panic but he fought against it and kept calm He pulled on his mittens with his teeth and threshed his arms back and forth beating his hands with all his might against his sides He did this sitting down and he stood up to do it and all the while the dog sat in the snow its wolf-brush of a tail curled around warmly over its forefeet its sharp wolf-ears pricked forward intently as it watched the man And the man as he beat and threshed with his arms and hands felt a great surge of envy as he regarded the creature that was warm ant secure in its natural covering

After a time he was aware of the first far-away signals of sensation in his beaten fingers The faint tingling grew stronger till it evolved into a stinging ache that was excruciating but which the man hailed with satisfaction He stripped the mitten from his right hand and fetched forth the birch bark The exposed fingers were quickly going numb again Next he brought out his bunch of sulphur matches But the tremendous cold had already driven the life out of his fingers In his effort to separate one match from the others the whole bunch fell in the snow He tried to pick it out of the snow but failed The dead fingers could neither touch nor clutch He was very careful He drove the thought of his freezing feet and nose and cheeks out of his mind devoting his whole soul to the matches He watched using the sense of vision in place of that of touch and when he saw his fingers on each side the bunch he dosed them--that is he willed to close them for the wires were down and the fingers did not obey He pulled

the mitten on the right hand and beat it fiercely against his knee Then with both mittened hands he scooped the bunch of matches along with much snow into his lap Yet he was no better off

After some manipulation he managed to get the bunch between the heels of his mittened hands In this fashion he carried it to his mouth The ice crackled and snapped when by a violent effort he opened his mouth He drew the lower jaw in curled the upper lip out of the way and scraped the bunch with his upper teeth in order to separate a match He succeeded in getting one which he dropped on his lap He was no better off He could not pick it up Then he devised a way He picked it up in his teeth and scratched it on his leg Twenty times he scratched before he succeeded in lighting it As it flamed he held it with his teeth to the birch bark But the burning brimstone went up his nostrils and into his lungs causing him to cough spasmodically The match fell into the snow and went out

The old-timer an Sulphur Creek was right he thought in the moment of controlled despair that ensued after fifty below a man should travel with a partner He beat his hands but failed in exciting any sensation Suddenly he bared both hands removing the mittens with his teeth He caught the whole bunch between the heels of his hands His arm muscles not being frozen enabled him to press the hand-heels tightly against the matches Then he scratched the bunch along his leg It flared into flame seventy sulphur matches at once There was no wind to blow them out He kept his head to one side to escape the strangling fumes and held the blazing bunch to the birth bark As he so held it he became aware of sensation in his hand His flesh was burning He could smell it Deep down below the surface he could feel it The sensation developed into pain that grew acute And still he endured it holding the flame of the matches clumsily to the bark that would not light readily because his own burning hands were in the way absorbing most of the flame

To Build a FireContinued

At last when he could endure no more he jerked his hands apart The blazing matches fell sizzling into the snow but the birch bark was alight He began laying dry grasses and the tiniest twigs on the flame He could not pick and choose for he had to lift the fuel between the heels of his hands Small pieces of rotten wood and green moss clung to the twigs and he bit them off as well as he could with his teeth He cherished the flame carefully and awkwardly It meant life and it must not perish The withdrawal of blood from the surface of his body now made him begin to shiver and he grew more awkward A large piece of green moss fell squarely on the little fire He tried to poke it out with his fingers but his shivering frame made him poke too far and he disrupted the nucleus of the little fire the burning grasses and tiny twigs separating and scattering He tried to poke them together again but in spite of the tenseness of the effort his shivering got away with him and the twigs were hopelessly scattered Each twig gushed a puff of smoke and went out The fire-provider had failed As he looked apathetically about him his eyes chanced on the dog sitting across the ruins of the fire from him in the snow making restless hunching movements slightly lifting one forefoot and then the other shifting its weight back and forth on them with wistful eagerness

The sight of the dog put a wild idea into his head He remembered the tale of the man caught in a blizzard who killed a steer and crawled inside the carcass and so was saved He would kill the dog and bury his hands in the warm body until the numbness went out of them Then he could build another fire He spoke to the dog calling it to him but in his voice was a strange note of fear that frightened the animal who had never known the man to speak in such way before Something was the matter and its suspicious nature sensed danger--it knew not what danger but somewhere somehow in its brain arose an apprehension of the man It flattened its ears down at the sound of the mans voice and its restless

hunching movements and the liftings and shiftings of its forefeet became more pronounced but it would not come to the man He got on his hands and knees and crawled toward the dog This unusual posture again excited suspicion and the animal sidled mincingly away

The man sat up in the snow for a moment and struggled for calmness Then he pulled on his mittens by means of his teeth and got upon his feet He glanced down at first in order to assure himself that he was really standing up for the absence of sensation in his feet left him unrelated to the earth His erect position in itself started to drive the webs of suspicion from the dogs mind and when he spoke peremptorily with the sound of whiplashes in his voice the dog rendered its customary allegiance and came to him As it came within reaching distance the man lost his control His arms flashed out to the dog and he experienced genuine surprise when he discovered that his hands could not clutch that there was neither bend nor feeling in the fingers He had forgotten for the moment that they were frozen and that they were freezing more and more All this happened quickly and before the animal could get away he encircled its body with his arms He sat down in the snow and in this fashion held the dog while it snarled and whined and struggled

But it was all he could do hold its body encircled in his arms and sit there He realized that he could not kill the dog There was no way to do it With his helpless hands he could neither draw nor hold his sheath knife nor throttle the animal He released it and it plunged wildly away with tail between its legs and still snarling It halted forty feet away and surveyed him curiously with ears sharply pricked forward The man looked down at his hands in order to locate them and found them hanging on the ends of his arms It struck him as curious that one should have to use his eyes in order to find out where his hands were He began threshing his arms back and forth beating the mittened hands against

To Build a FireContinued

his sides He did this for five minutes violently and his heart pumped enough blood up to the surface to put a stop to his shivering But no sensation was aroused in the hands He had an impression that they hung like weights on the ends of his arms but when he tried to run the impression down he could not find it

A certain fear of death dull and oppressive came to him This fear quickly became poignant as he realized that it was no longer a mere matter of freezing his fingers and toes or of losing his hands and feet but that it was a matter of life and death with the chances against him This threw him into a panic and he turned and ran up the creek-bed along the old dim trail The dog joined in behind and kept up with him He ran blindly without intention in fear such as he had never known in his life Slowly as he plowed and floundered through the snow he began to see things again the banks of the creek the old timber-jams the leafless aspens and the sky The running made him feel better He did not shiver Maybe if he ran on his feet would thaw out and anyway if he ran far enough he would reach camp and the boys Without doubt he would lose some fingers and toes and some of his face but the boys would take care of him and save the rest of him when he got there And at the same time there was another thought in his mind that said he would never get to the camp and the boys that it was too many miles away that the freezing had too great a start on him and that he would soon be stiff and dead This thought he kept in the background and refused to consider Sometimes it pushed itself forward and demanded to be heard but he thrust it back and strove to think of other things

It struck him as curious that he could run at all on feet so frozen that he could not feel them when they struck the earth and took the weigh of his body He seemed to himself to skim along above the surface and to have no connection with the earth Somewhere he had once seen a winged Mercury

and he wondered if Mercury felt as he felt when skimming over the earth

His theory of running until he reached camp and the boys had one flaw in it he lacked the endurance Several times he stumbled and finally he tottered crumpled up and fell When he tried to rise he failed He must sit and rest he decided and next time he would merely walk and keep on going As he sat and regained his breath he noted that he was feeling quite warm and comfortable He was not shivering and it even seemed that a warm glow had come to his chest and trunk And yet when he touched his nose or cheeks there was no sensation Running would not thaw them out Nor would it thaw out his hands and feet Then the thought came to him that the frozen portions of his body must be extending He tried to keep this thought down to forget it to think of something else he was aware of the panicky feeling that it caused and he was afraid of the panic But the thought asserted itself and persisted until it produced a vision of his body totally frozen This was too much and he made another wild run along the trail Once he slowed down to a walk but the thought of the freezing extending itself made him run again

And all the time the dog ran with him at his heels When he fell down a second time it curled its tad over its forefeet and sat in front of him facing him curiously eager and intent The warmth and security of the animal angered him and he cursed it till it flattened down its ears appealingly This time the shivering came more quickly upon the man He was losing in his battle with the frost It was creeping into his body from all sides The thought of it drove him on but he ran no more than a hundred feet when he staggered and pitched headlong It was his last panic When he had recovered his breath and control he sat up and entertained in his mind the conception of meeting death with dignity However the conception did not come to him in such terms His idea of it was that he had been making a fool of

To Build a FireContinued

himself running around like a chicken with its head cut off--such was the simile that occurred to him Well he was bound to freeze anyway and he might as well take it decently With this new-found peace of mind came the first glimmerings of drowsiness A good idea he thought to sleep off to death It was like salting an anesthetic Freezing was not so bad as people thought There were lots worse ways to die

He pictured the boys finding his body next day Suddenly he found himself with them coming along the trail and looking for himself And still with them he came around a turn in the trail and found himself lying in the snow He did not belong with himself any more for even then he was out of himself standing with the boys and looking at himself in the snow It certainly was cold was his thought When he got back to the States he could tell the folks what real cold was He drifted on from this to a vision of the old-timer on Sulphur Creek He could see him quite clearly warm and comfortable and smoking a pipe

You were right old boss you were right the man mumbled to the old-timer of Sulphur Creek

Then the man drowsed off into what seemed to him the most comfortable and satisfying sleep he had ever known The dog sat facing him and waiting The brief day drew to a close in a long slow twilight There were no signs of a fire to be made and besides never in the dogs experience had it known a man to sit like that in the snow and make no fire As the twilight drew on its eager yearning for the fire mastered it and with a great lifting and shifting of forefeet it whined softly then flattened its ears down in anticipation of being chidden by the man But the man remained silent Later the dog whined loudly And still later it crept close to the man and caught the scent of death This made the animal bristle and back away A little longer it delayed howling under the stars that leaped and danced and shone brightly in the cold sky Then it turned and trotted up the trail in the direction of the camp it knew where were the other food-providers and fire-providers

To Build a FireContinued

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Page 56: FitnessDigest.us Vol. 4.3 Cover

Comment with LiveMedia LiveAddition links

Part 213 I was prepared by the doctors survivors and literature to be ldquodownrdquo for several weeks after my surgery I even took the rest of the school year off My surgery went well and I was out of the hospital the next day A few friends came to visit while I was in the hospital and my principal and vice principal brought the most wonderful picture of the faculty wearing pink for me I can only imagine what it looked like at Thornton Elementary on that day in May 2009 a sea of pink all for Brandi Shipman Shortly after their visit I received a text from my friend Margie Massey My friends from the gym wore pink for me that day as well The support brought tears to my eyes I was so excited to come home and be comfortable in my own home I just wish the stupid drain that was attached could have stayed at the hospital The pain from that was worse than the pain from the mastectomy

the most

powerful picture

13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Recovery ndash May13 Once I got home I slept and watched a lot of TV Friends visited and brought yummy food and my favorites I am not supposed to eat I ate them all My friend and co-worker set up a cancer care calendar that alerted anyone who logged on when I was having a doctorrsquos appointment or when I was in need of anything I felt like royalty as everyone took care of me I think Brian secretly enjoyed the fact that he wouldnrsquot have to cook for me each night My recovery was quicker than I thought as I was doing my best to get better and get the stinkinrsquo drain out of my skin I was out walking within a week and running within 3 weeks I couldnrsquot believe my recovery I know it was from all the prayers love and good care from Brian and the loved ones around me Life was looking better each day

ldquoLife was looking

better each dayrdquo

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Part three and part

four of I am Survivor

will be published in

the next edition of

FitnessDigestus

Get the convenience of

digital-delivery

Sign-up or subscribe at

httpFitnessDigestus

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During the past 150 years we have witnessed many remarkable advances against cancer a disease known to humanity for thousands of years The advances highlighted below represent a sampling of what has been accomplished to date

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

1882 William Halsted performs the first radical mastectomy to treat breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast the lymph nodes under the arm (axillary lymph nodes) and the chest muscles behind the breast (pectoralis major and pectoralis minor muscles) are removed Radical mastectomy will remain the standard operation for breast cancer until latter half of the 20th century when the use of modified radical mastectomy becomes widely accepted

1932 David H Patey develops the modified radical mastectomy for breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast axillary lymph nodes and pectoralis minor muscle behind the breast are removed The modified radical mastectomy is less disfiguring than the radical mastectomy and will eventually replace the radical mastectomy as a standard treatment option for breast cancer

1953 James Watson and Francis Crick discover the molecular structure of DNA (the double helix)

1963 The Health Insurance Plan (HIP) of Greater New York Study begins HIP is the first randomized controlled trial of periodic breast cancer screening with mammography

1882

1932

1953

1963

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1976 The results of a randomized clinical trial show that women with early breast cancer who receive post-operative (adjuvant) combination chemotherapy with the drugs cyclophosphamide methotrexate and 5-FU have improved disease-free survival

1981 A randomized clinical trial in the United Kingdom shows for the first time that the rates of survival local recurrence and tumor metastasis among women whose breast cancer is treated with modified radical mastectomy are not substantially different from those of women who are treated with radical mastectomy

1993 An NCI-convened international workshop on screening for breast cancer reports that screening with mammography reduces breast cancer mortality among women ages 50-69 This conclusion is based on a review of published and unpublished data from eight randomized controlled trials

2004 Data from the Womens Health Initiative (WHI) study show that women who take estrogen in combination with the hormone progestin have a greater risk of developing breast cancer than women who take estrogen alone The results also show that menopausal hormone therapy with estrogen alone has no benefit in disease prevention specifically in reducing the risks of colorectal cancer coronary heart disease and dementia

1976

1981

1993

2004

Although we still have a long way to go to reduce the toll of cancer in the United States and worldwide our research and public health efforts are beginning to pay dividends

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

Volunteering vs Participating13 My girl friend and I are involved in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation The local chapter raises awareness for the cause with a fun-run each year We have volunteered to help with the race five years in a row This year we were stationed at a water table where the runners pick-up cups of water to drink Toward the end of the race there are very few runners There was a little time to chat about things We were talking about what we would wish for if we could have three wishes I told her I would wish for an end to Juvenile Diabetes and to lose 10 pounds Being nice I said ldquoyou can have my last wishrdquo She said I wish you would skip volunteering and just run this race next year

Admission Price Our aquatic center was having a promotion one night and advertised an elementary school night The kids could swim for free When we got to the pool we saw a promotional sign for the event In small lettering it read All swimmers must be accompanied by an adult We thought no big deal one of us can just stay and watch When we got to the front desk we found the lifeguard was enforcing the adult-admission price of $8

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CNFI Publishing - Products Books Chapbooks Bookmarks Plaques and Poetry Collector Cards Merchandising Products Coffee Mugs Mouse Pads Tiles 3x6 Coasters T - Shirts and Wall Plaques More info athttpliveadsFitnessDigestus

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Featured PhotosFitnessDigestus feature

Chicago open water swim course at nighttop left

Kids race at Bicycle Blues and BBQtop right

Some team members volunteer at the local soup kitchenmiddle right

Ken Mauer loads the balls for hitting practice during a Twins baseball camp for

children 7-13 bottom right

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As he turned to go on he spat speculatively There was a sharp explosive crackle that startled him He spat again And again in the air before it could fall to the snow the spittle crackled He knew that at fifty below spittle crackled on the snow but this spittle had crackled in the air Undoubtedly it was colder than fifty below--how much colder he did not know But the temperature did not matter He was bound for the old claim on the left fork of Henderson Creek where the boys were already They had come over across the divide from the Indian Creek country while he had come the roundabout way to take a look at the possibilities of getting out logs in the spring from the islands in the Yukon He would be in to camp by six oclock a bit after dark it was true but the boys would be there a fire would be going and a hot supper would be ready As for lunch he pressed his hand against the protruding bundle under his jacket It was also under his shirt wrapped up in a handkerchief and lying against the naked skin It was the only way to keep the biscuits from freezing He smiled agreeably to himself as he thought of those biscuits each cut open and sopped in bacon grease and each enclosing a generous slice of fried bacon

He plunged in among the big spruce trees The trail was faint A foot of snow had fallen since the last sled had passed over and he was glad he was without a sled traveling light In fact he carried nothing but the lunch wrapped in the handkerchief He was surprised however at the cold It certainly was cold he concluded as he rubbed his numb nose and cheek-bones with his mittened hand He was a warm-whiskered man but the hair on his face did not protect the high cheek-bones and the eager nose that thrust itself aggressively into the frosty air

At the mans heels trotted a dog a big native husky the proper wolf-dog gray-coated and without any visible or temperamental difference from its brother the wild wolf The animal was depressed by the tremendous cold It knew that it was no time for

traveling Its instinct told it a truer tale than was told to the man by the mans judgment In reality it was not merely colder than fifty below zero it was colder than sixty below than seventy below It was seventy-five below zero Since the freezing point is thirty-two above zero it meant that one hundred and seven degrees of frost obtained The dog did not know anything about thermometers Possibly in its brain there was no sharp consciousness of a condition of very cold such as was in the mans brain But the brute had its instinct It experienced a vague but menacing apprehension that subdued it then made it slink along at the mans heels and that made it question eagerly every unwonted movement of the man as if expecting him to go into camp or to seek shelter somewhere and build a fire The dog had learned fire and it wanted fire or else to burrow under the snow and cuddle its warmth away from the air

The frozen moisture of its breathing had settled on its fur in a fine powder of frost and especially were its jowls muzzle and eyelashes whitened by its cry-stalled breath The mans red beard and mustache were likewise frosted but more solidly the deposit taking the form of ice and increasing with every warm moist breath he exhaled Also the man was chewing tobacco and the muzzle of ice held his lips so rigidly that he was unable to clear his chin when he expelled the juice The result was that a crystal beard of the color and solidity of amber was increasing its length on his chin If he fell down it would shatter itself like glass into brittle fragments But he did not mind the appendage It was the penalty all tobacco-chewers paid in that country and he had been out before in two cold snaps They had not been so cold as this he knew but by the spirit thermometer at Sixty Mile he knew they had been registered at fifty below and at fifty-five

He held on through the level stretch of woods for several miles crossed a wide flat of rigger-heads and dropped down a bank to the frozen bed of a

To Build a FireContinued

small stream This was Henderson Creek and he knew he was ten miles from the forks He looked at his watch It was ten oclock He was making four miles an hour and he calculated that he would arrive at the forks at half-past twelve He decided to celebrate that event by eating his lunch there

The dog dropped in again at his heels with a tail drooping discouragement as the man swung along the creek-bed The furrow of the old sled-trail was plainly visible but a dozen inches of snow covered the marks of the last runners In a month no man had come up or down that silent creek The man held steadily on He was not much given to thinking and just then particularly he had nothing to think about save that he would eat lunch at-the forks and that at six oclock he would be in camp with the boys There was nobody to talk to and had there been speech would have been impossible because of the ice-muzzle on his mouth So he continued monotonously to chew tobacco and to increase the length of his amber beard

Once in a while the thought reiterated itself that it was very cold and that he had never experienced such cold As he walked along he rubbed his cheek-bones and nose with the back of his mittened hand He did this automatically now and again changing hands But rub as he would the instant he stopped his cheek-bones went numb and the following instant the end of his nose went numb He was sure to frost his cheeks he knew that and experienced a pang of regret that he had not devised a nose-strap of the sort Bud wore in cold snaps Such a strap passed across the cheeks as well and saved them But it didnt matter much after all What were frosted cheeks A bit painful that was all they were never serious

Empty as the mans mind was of thoughts he was keenly observant and he noticed the changes in the creek the curves and bends and timber jams and always he sharply noted where he placed his feet Once coming around a bend he shied abruptly

like a startled horse curved away from the place where he had been walking and retreated several paces back along the trail The creek he knew was frozen clear to the bottom--no creek could contain water in that arctic winter--but he knew also that there were springs that bubbled out from the hillsides and ran along under the snow and on top the ice of the creek He knew that the coldest snaps never froze these springs and he knew likewise their danger They were traps They hid pools of water under the snow that might be three inches deep or three feet Sometimes a skin of ice half an inch thick covered them and in turn was covered by the snow Sometimes there were alternate layers of water and ice-skin so that when one broke through he kept on breaking through for a while sometimes wetting himself to the waist

That was why he had shied in such panic He had felt the give under his feet and heard the crackle of a snow-hidden ice-skin And to get his feet wet in such a temperature meant trouble and danger At the very least it meant delay for he would be forced to stop and build a fire and under its protection to bare his feet while he dried his socks and moccasins He stood and studied the creek-bed and its banks and decided that the flow of water came from the right He reflected a while rubbing his nose and cheeks then skirted to the left stepping gingerly and testing the footing for each step Once clear of the danger he took a fresh chew of tobacco and swung along at his four-mile gait

In the course of the next two hours he came upon several similar traps Usually the snow above the hidden pools had a sunken candied appearance that advertised the danger Once again however he had a close call and once suspecting danger he compelled the dog to go on in front The dog did not want to go It hung back until the man shoved it forward and then it went quickly across the white unbroken surface Suddenly it broke through floundered to one side and got away to firmer

To Build a FireContinued

To Build a FireContinued

footing It had wet its forefeet and legs and almost immediately the water that clung to it turned to ice It made quick efforts to lick the ice off its legs then dropped down in the snow and began to bite out the ice that had formed between the toes l his was a matter of instinct To permit the ice to remain would mean sore feet It did not know this It merely obeyed the mysterious prompting that arose from the deep crypts of its being But the man knew having achieved a judgment on the subject and he removed the mitten from his right hand and helped tear out the ice-particles He did not expose his fingers more than a minute and was astonished at the swift numbness that smote them It certainly was cold He pulled on the mitten hastily and beat the hand savagely across his chest

At twelve oclock the day was at its brightest Yet the sun was too far south an its winter journey to clear the horizon The bulge of the earth intervened between it arid Henderson Creek where the man walked under a clear sky at noon and cast no shadow At half-past twelve to the minute he arrived at the forks of the creek He was pleased at the speed he had made If he kept it up he would certainly be with the boys by six He unbuttoned his jacket and shirt and drew forth his lunch The action consumed no more than a quarter of a minute yet in that brief moment the numbness laid hold of the exposed fingers He did not put the mitten on but instead struck the fingers a dozen sharp smashes against his leg Then he sat down on a snow-covered log to eat The sting that followed upon the striking of his fingers against his leg ceased so quickly that he was startled He had had no chance to take a bite of biscuit He struck the fingers repeatedly and returned them to the mitten baring the other hand for the purpose of eating He tried to take a mouthful but the ice-muzzle prevented He had forgotten to build a fire and thaw out He chuckled at his foolishness and as he chuckled he noted the numbness creeping into the exposed fingers Also he noted that the stinging which had first come to his

toes when he sat down was already passing away He wandered whether the toes were warm or numb He moved them inside the moccasins and decided that they were numb

He pulled the mitten on hurriedly and stood up He was a bit frightened He stamped up and down until the stinging returned into the feet It certainly was cold was his thought That man from Sulphur Creek had spoken the truth when telling how cold it sometimes got in the country And he had laughed at him at the time That showed one must not be too sure of things There was no mistake about it it was cold He strode up and down stamping his feet and threshing his arms until reassured by the returning warmth Then he got out matches and proceeded to make a fire From the undergrowth where high water of the previous spring had lodged a supply of seasoned twigs he got his firewood Working carefully from a small beginning he soon had a roaring fire over which he thawed the ice from his face and in the protection of which he ate his biscuits For the moment the cold space was outwitted The dog took satisfaction in the fire stretching out close enough for warmth and far enough away to escape being singed

When the man had finished be filled his pipe and took his comfortable time over a smoke Then he pulled on his mittens settled the ear-flaps of his cap firmly about his ears and took the creek trail up the left fork The dog was disappointed and yearned back toward the fire This man did not know cold Possibly all the generations of his ancestry had been ignorant of cold of real cold of cold one hundred and seven degrees below freezing point But the dog knew all its ancestry knew and it had inherited the knowledge And it knew that it was not good to walk abroad in such fearful cold It was the time to lie snug in a hole in the snow and wait for a curtain of cloud to be drawn across the face of outer space whence this cold came On the other hand there was no keen intimacy between the dog and the man

The one was the toil-slave of the other and the only caresses it had ever received were the caresses of the whiplash and of harsh and menacing throat-sounds that threatened the whiplash So the dog made no effort to communicate its apprehension to the man It was not concerned in the welfare of the man it was for its own sake that it yearned back toward the fire But the man whistled and spoke to it with the sound of whiplashes and the dog swung in at the mans heel and followed after

The man took a chew of tobacco and proceeded to start a new amber beard Also his moist breath quickly powdered with white his mustache eyebrows and lashes There did not seem to be so many springs on the left fork of the Henderson and for half an hour the man saw no signs of any And then it happened At a place where there were no signs where the soft unbroken snow seemed to advertise solidity beneath tee man broke through It was not deep He wet himself halfway to the knees before he floundered out to the firm crust

He was angry and cursed his luck aloud He had hoped to get into camp with the boys at six oclock and this would delay him an hour for he would have to build a fire and dry out his foot-gear This was imperative at that low temperature--he knew that much and he turned aside to the bank which he climbed On top tangled in the underbrush about the trunks of several small spruce trees was a high-water deposit of dry firewood--sticks and twigs principally but also larger portions of seasoned branches and fine dry last-years grasses He threw down several large pieces on top of the snow This served for a foundation and prevented the young flame from drowning itself in the snow it otherwise would melt The flame he got by touching a match to a small shred of birch bark that he took from his pocket This burned even more readily than paper Placing it on the foundation he fed the young flame with wisps of dry grass and with the tiniest dry twigs

He worked slowly and carefully keenly aware of his danger Gradually as the flame grew stronger he increased the size of the twigs with which he fed it He squatted in the snow pulling the twigs out from their entanglement in the brush and feeding directly to the flame He knew there must be no failure When it is seventy-five below zero a man must not fail in his first attempt to build a fire--that is if his feet are wet If his feet are dry and he fails he can run along the trail for half a mile and restore his circulation But the circulation of wet and freezing feet cannot be restored by running when it is seventy-five below No matter how fast he runs the wet feet will freeze the harder

All this the man knew The old-timer on Sulphur Creek had told him about it the previous fall and now he was appreciating the advice Already all sensation had gone out of his feet To build the fire he had been forced to remove his mittens and the fingers had quickly gone numb His pace of four miles an hour had kept his heart pumping blood to the surface of his body and to all the extremities But the instant he stopped the action of the pump eased down The cold of space smote the unprotected tip of the planet and he being on that unprotected tip received the full force of the blow The blood of his body recoiled before it The blood was alive like the dog and like the dog it wanted to hide away and cover itself up from the fearful cold So long as he walked four miles an hour he pumped that blood willy-nilly to the surface but now it ebbed away and sank down into the recesses of his body The extremities were the first to feel its absence His wet feet froze the faster and his exposed fingers numbed the faster though they had not yet begun to freeze Nose and cheeks were already freezing while the skin of all his body chilled as it lost its blood

But he was safe Toes and nose and cheeks would be only touched by the frost for the fire was beginning to burn with strength He was feeding it

To Build a FireContinued

with twigs the size of his finger In another minute he would be able to feed it with branches the size of his wrier and then he could remove his wet toot-gear and while it dried he could keep his naked feet warm by the fire rubbing them at first of course with snow The fire was a success He was safe He remembered the advice of the old timer on Sulphur Creek and smiled The old-timer had been very serious in laying down the law that no man must travel alone in the Klondike after fifty below Well here he was he had had the accident he was alone and he had saved himself Those old-timers were rather womanish some of them he thought All a man had to do was to keep his head and he was all right Any man who was a man could travel alone But it was surprising the rapidity with which his cheeks and nose were freezing And he had not thought his fingers could go lifeless in so short a time Lifeless they were for he could scarcely make them move together to grip a twig and they seemed remote from his body and from him When he touched a twig he had to look and see whether or not he had hold of it The wires were pretty well down between him and his finger-ends

All of which counted for little There was the fire snapping and crackling and promising life with every dancing flame He started to untie his moccasins They were coated with ice the thick German socks were like sheaths of iron halfway to the knees and the moccasin strings were like rods of steel all twisted and knotted as by some conflagration For a moment he tugged with his numb fingers then realizing the folly of it he drew his sheath-knife

But before he could cut the strings it happened It was his own fault or rather his mistake He should not have built the fire under the spruce tree He should have built it in the open But it had been easier to pull the twigs from the brush and drop them directly on the fire Now the tree under which

he had done this carried a weight of snow on its boughs No wind had blown for weeks and each bough was fully freighted Each time he had pulled a twig he had communicated a slight agitation to the tree--an imperceptible agitation so far as he was concerned but an agitation sufficient to bring about the disaster High up in the tree one bough capsized its load of snow This fell on the boughs beneath capsizing them This process continued spreading out and involving the whole tree It grew like an avalanche and it descended without warning upon the man and the fire and the fire was blotted out Where it had burned was a mantle of fresh and disordered snow

The man was shocked It was as though he had just heard his own sentence of death For a moment he sat and stared at the spot where the fire had been Then he grew very calm Perhaps the old-timer on Sulphur Creek was right If he had only had a trail-mate he would have been in no danger now The trail-mate could have built the fire Well it was up to him to build the fire over again and this second time there must be no failure Even if he succeeded he would most likely lose some toes His feet must be badly frozen by now and there would be some time before the second fire Was ready

Such were his thoughts but he did not sit and think them He was busy all the time they were passing through his mind He made a new foundation for a fire this time in the open where no treacherous tree could blot it out Next he gathered dry grasses and tiny twigs from the high-water flotsam He could not bring his fingers together to pull them out but he was able to gather them by the handful In this way he got many rotten twigs and bits of green moss that were undesirable but it was the best he could do He worked methodically even collecting an armful of the larger branches to be used later when the fire gathered strength And all the while the dog sat and watched him a certain yearning wistfulness in its eyes for it looked upon

To Build a FireContinued

him as the fire-provider and the fire was slow in coming

When all was ready the man reached in his pocket for a second piece of birch bark He knew the bark was there and though he could not feel it with his fingers he could hear its crisp rustling as he fumbled for it Try as he would he could not clutch hold of it And all the time in his consciousness was the knowledge that each instant his feet were freezing This thought tended to put him in a panic but he fought against it and kept calm He pulled on his mittens with his teeth and threshed his arms back and forth beating his hands with all his might against his sides He did this sitting down and he stood up to do it and all the while the dog sat in the snow its wolf-brush of a tail curled around warmly over its forefeet its sharp wolf-ears pricked forward intently as it watched the man And the man as he beat and threshed with his arms and hands felt a great surge of envy as he regarded the creature that was warm ant secure in its natural covering

After a time he was aware of the first far-away signals of sensation in his beaten fingers The faint tingling grew stronger till it evolved into a stinging ache that was excruciating but which the man hailed with satisfaction He stripped the mitten from his right hand and fetched forth the birch bark The exposed fingers were quickly going numb again Next he brought out his bunch of sulphur matches But the tremendous cold had already driven the life out of his fingers In his effort to separate one match from the others the whole bunch fell in the snow He tried to pick it out of the snow but failed The dead fingers could neither touch nor clutch He was very careful He drove the thought of his freezing feet and nose and cheeks out of his mind devoting his whole soul to the matches He watched using the sense of vision in place of that of touch and when he saw his fingers on each side the bunch he dosed them--that is he willed to close them for the wires were down and the fingers did not obey He pulled

the mitten on the right hand and beat it fiercely against his knee Then with both mittened hands he scooped the bunch of matches along with much snow into his lap Yet he was no better off

After some manipulation he managed to get the bunch between the heels of his mittened hands In this fashion he carried it to his mouth The ice crackled and snapped when by a violent effort he opened his mouth He drew the lower jaw in curled the upper lip out of the way and scraped the bunch with his upper teeth in order to separate a match He succeeded in getting one which he dropped on his lap He was no better off He could not pick it up Then he devised a way He picked it up in his teeth and scratched it on his leg Twenty times he scratched before he succeeded in lighting it As it flamed he held it with his teeth to the birch bark But the burning brimstone went up his nostrils and into his lungs causing him to cough spasmodically The match fell into the snow and went out

The old-timer an Sulphur Creek was right he thought in the moment of controlled despair that ensued after fifty below a man should travel with a partner He beat his hands but failed in exciting any sensation Suddenly he bared both hands removing the mittens with his teeth He caught the whole bunch between the heels of his hands His arm muscles not being frozen enabled him to press the hand-heels tightly against the matches Then he scratched the bunch along his leg It flared into flame seventy sulphur matches at once There was no wind to blow them out He kept his head to one side to escape the strangling fumes and held the blazing bunch to the birth bark As he so held it he became aware of sensation in his hand His flesh was burning He could smell it Deep down below the surface he could feel it The sensation developed into pain that grew acute And still he endured it holding the flame of the matches clumsily to the bark that would not light readily because his own burning hands were in the way absorbing most of the flame

To Build a FireContinued

At last when he could endure no more he jerked his hands apart The blazing matches fell sizzling into the snow but the birch bark was alight He began laying dry grasses and the tiniest twigs on the flame He could not pick and choose for he had to lift the fuel between the heels of his hands Small pieces of rotten wood and green moss clung to the twigs and he bit them off as well as he could with his teeth He cherished the flame carefully and awkwardly It meant life and it must not perish The withdrawal of blood from the surface of his body now made him begin to shiver and he grew more awkward A large piece of green moss fell squarely on the little fire He tried to poke it out with his fingers but his shivering frame made him poke too far and he disrupted the nucleus of the little fire the burning grasses and tiny twigs separating and scattering He tried to poke them together again but in spite of the tenseness of the effort his shivering got away with him and the twigs were hopelessly scattered Each twig gushed a puff of smoke and went out The fire-provider had failed As he looked apathetically about him his eyes chanced on the dog sitting across the ruins of the fire from him in the snow making restless hunching movements slightly lifting one forefoot and then the other shifting its weight back and forth on them with wistful eagerness

The sight of the dog put a wild idea into his head He remembered the tale of the man caught in a blizzard who killed a steer and crawled inside the carcass and so was saved He would kill the dog and bury his hands in the warm body until the numbness went out of them Then he could build another fire He spoke to the dog calling it to him but in his voice was a strange note of fear that frightened the animal who had never known the man to speak in such way before Something was the matter and its suspicious nature sensed danger--it knew not what danger but somewhere somehow in its brain arose an apprehension of the man It flattened its ears down at the sound of the mans voice and its restless

hunching movements and the liftings and shiftings of its forefeet became more pronounced but it would not come to the man He got on his hands and knees and crawled toward the dog This unusual posture again excited suspicion and the animal sidled mincingly away

The man sat up in the snow for a moment and struggled for calmness Then he pulled on his mittens by means of his teeth and got upon his feet He glanced down at first in order to assure himself that he was really standing up for the absence of sensation in his feet left him unrelated to the earth His erect position in itself started to drive the webs of suspicion from the dogs mind and when he spoke peremptorily with the sound of whiplashes in his voice the dog rendered its customary allegiance and came to him As it came within reaching distance the man lost his control His arms flashed out to the dog and he experienced genuine surprise when he discovered that his hands could not clutch that there was neither bend nor feeling in the fingers He had forgotten for the moment that they were frozen and that they were freezing more and more All this happened quickly and before the animal could get away he encircled its body with his arms He sat down in the snow and in this fashion held the dog while it snarled and whined and struggled

But it was all he could do hold its body encircled in his arms and sit there He realized that he could not kill the dog There was no way to do it With his helpless hands he could neither draw nor hold his sheath knife nor throttle the animal He released it and it plunged wildly away with tail between its legs and still snarling It halted forty feet away and surveyed him curiously with ears sharply pricked forward The man looked down at his hands in order to locate them and found them hanging on the ends of his arms It struck him as curious that one should have to use his eyes in order to find out where his hands were He began threshing his arms back and forth beating the mittened hands against

To Build a FireContinued

his sides He did this for five minutes violently and his heart pumped enough blood up to the surface to put a stop to his shivering But no sensation was aroused in the hands He had an impression that they hung like weights on the ends of his arms but when he tried to run the impression down he could not find it

A certain fear of death dull and oppressive came to him This fear quickly became poignant as he realized that it was no longer a mere matter of freezing his fingers and toes or of losing his hands and feet but that it was a matter of life and death with the chances against him This threw him into a panic and he turned and ran up the creek-bed along the old dim trail The dog joined in behind and kept up with him He ran blindly without intention in fear such as he had never known in his life Slowly as he plowed and floundered through the snow he began to see things again the banks of the creek the old timber-jams the leafless aspens and the sky The running made him feel better He did not shiver Maybe if he ran on his feet would thaw out and anyway if he ran far enough he would reach camp and the boys Without doubt he would lose some fingers and toes and some of his face but the boys would take care of him and save the rest of him when he got there And at the same time there was another thought in his mind that said he would never get to the camp and the boys that it was too many miles away that the freezing had too great a start on him and that he would soon be stiff and dead This thought he kept in the background and refused to consider Sometimes it pushed itself forward and demanded to be heard but he thrust it back and strove to think of other things

It struck him as curious that he could run at all on feet so frozen that he could not feel them when they struck the earth and took the weigh of his body He seemed to himself to skim along above the surface and to have no connection with the earth Somewhere he had once seen a winged Mercury

and he wondered if Mercury felt as he felt when skimming over the earth

His theory of running until he reached camp and the boys had one flaw in it he lacked the endurance Several times he stumbled and finally he tottered crumpled up and fell When he tried to rise he failed He must sit and rest he decided and next time he would merely walk and keep on going As he sat and regained his breath he noted that he was feeling quite warm and comfortable He was not shivering and it even seemed that a warm glow had come to his chest and trunk And yet when he touched his nose or cheeks there was no sensation Running would not thaw them out Nor would it thaw out his hands and feet Then the thought came to him that the frozen portions of his body must be extending He tried to keep this thought down to forget it to think of something else he was aware of the panicky feeling that it caused and he was afraid of the panic But the thought asserted itself and persisted until it produced a vision of his body totally frozen This was too much and he made another wild run along the trail Once he slowed down to a walk but the thought of the freezing extending itself made him run again

And all the time the dog ran with him at his heels When he fell down a second time it curled its tad over its forefeet and sat in front of him facing him curiously eager and intent The warmth and security of the animal angered him and he cursed it till it flattened down its ears appealingly This time the shivering came more quickly upon the man He was losing in his battle with the frost It was creeping into his body from all sides The thought of it drove him on but he ran no more than a hundred feet when he staggered and pitched headlong It was his last panic When he had recovered his breath and control he sat up and entertained in his mind the conception of meeting death with dignity However the conception did not come to him in such terms His idea of it was that he had been making a fool of

To Build a FireContinued

himself running around like a chicken with its head cut off--such was the simile that occurred to him Well he was bound to freeze anyway and he might as well take it decently With this new-found peace of mind came the first glimmerings of drowsiness A good idea he thought to sleep off to death It was like salting an anesthetic Freezing was not so bad as people thought There were lots worse ways to die

He pictured the boys finding his body next day Suddenly he found himself with them coming along the trail and looking for himself And still with them he came around a turn in the trail and found himself lying in the snow He did not belong with himself any more for even then he was out of himself standing with the boys and looking at himself in the snow It certainly was cold was his thought When he got back to the States he could tell the folks what real cold was He drifted on from this to a vision of the old-timer on Sulphur Creek He could see him quite clearly warm and comfortable and smoking a pipe

You were right old boss you were right the man mumbled to the old-timer of Sulphur Creek

Then the man drowsed off into what seemed to him the most comfortable and satisfying sleep he had ever known The dog sat facing him and waiting The brief day drew to a close in a long slow twilight There were no signs of a fire to be made and besides never in the dogs experience had it known a man to sit like that in the snow and make no fire As the twilight drew on its eager yearning for the fire mastered it and with a great lifting and shifting of forefeet it whined softly then flattened its ears down in anticipation of being chidden by the man But the man remained silent Later the dog whined loudly And still later it crept close to the man and caught the scent of death This made the animal bristle and back away A little longer it delayed howling under the stars that leaped and danced and shone brightly in the cold sky Then it turned and trotted up the trail in the direction of the camp it knew where were the other food-providers and fire-providers

To Build a FireContinued

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Page 57: FitnessDigest.us Vol. 4.3 Cover

Recovery ndash May13 Once I got home I slept and watched a lot of TV Friends visited and brought yummy food and my favorites I am not supposed to eat I ate them all My friend and co-worker set up a cancer care calendar that alerted anyone who logged on when I was having a doctorrsquos appointment or when I was in need of anything I felt like royalty as everyone took care of me I think Brian secretly enjoyed the fact that he wouldnrsquot have to cook for me each night My recovery was quicker than I thought as I was doing my best to get better and get the stinkinrsquo drain out of my skin I was out walking within a week and running within 3 weeks I couldnrsquot believe my recovery I know it was from all the prayers love and good care from Brian and the loved ones around me Life was looking better each day

ldquoLife was looking

better each dayrdquo

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13 Irsquom a Survivor

Written by Brandi Shipman Texas

Part three and part

four of I am Survivor

will be published in

the next edition of

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digital-delivery

Sign-up or subscribe at

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During the past 150 years we have witnessed many remarkable advances against cancer a disease known to humanity for thousands of years The advances highlighted below represent a sampling of what has been accomplished to date

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

1882 William Halsted performs the first radical mastectomy to treat breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast the lymph nodes under the arm (axillary lymph nodes) and the chest muscles behind the breast (pectoralis major and pectoralis minor muscles) are removed Radical mastectomy will remain the standard operation for breast cancer until latter half of the 20th century when the use of modified radical mastectomy becomes widely accepted

1932 David H Patey develops the modified radical mastectomy for breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast axillary lymph nodes and pectoralis minor muscle behind the breast are removed The modified radical mastectomy is less disfiguring than the radical mastectomy and will eventually replace the radical mastectomy as a standard treatment option for breast cancer

1953 James Watson and Francis Crick discover the molecular structure of DNA (the double helix)

1963 The Health Insurance Plan (HIP) of Greater New York Study begins HIP is the first randomized controlled trial of periodic breast cancer screening with mammography

1882

1932

1953

1963

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1976 The results of a randomized clinical trial show that women with early breast cancer who receive post-operative (adjuvant) combination chemotherapy with the drugs cyclophosphamide methotrexate and 5-FU have improved disease-free survival

1981 A randomized clinical trial in the United Kingdom shows for the first time that the rates of survival local recurrence and tumor metastasis among women whose breast cancer is treated with modified radical mastectomy are not substantially different from those of women who are treated with radical mastectomy

1993 An NCI-convened international workshop on screening for breast cancer reports that screening with mammography reduces breast cancer mortality among women ages 50-69 This conclusion is based on a review of published and unpublished data from eight randomized controlled trials

2004 Data from the Womens Health Initiative (WHI) study show that women who take estrogen in combination with the hormone progestin have a greater risk of developing breast cancer than women who take estrogen alone The results also show that menopausal hormone therapy with estrogen alone has no benefit in disease prevention specifically in reducing the risks of colorectal cancer coronary heart disease and dementia

1976

1981

1993

2004

Although we still have a long way to go to reduce the toll of cancer in the United States and worldwide our research and public health efforts are beginning to pay dividends

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

Volunteering vs Participating13 My girl friend and I are involved in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation The local chapter raises awareness for the cause with a fun-run each year We have volunteered to help with the race five years in a row This year we were stationed at a water table where the runners pick-up cups of water to drink Toward the end of the race there are very few runners There was a little time to chat about things We were talking about what we would wish for if we could have three wishes I told her I would wish for an end to Juvenile Diabetes and to lose 10 pounds Being nice I said ldquoyou can have my last wishrdquo She said I wish you would skip volunteering and just run this race next year

Admission Price Our aquatic center was having a promotion one night and advertised an elementary school night The kids could swim for free When we got to the pool we saw a promotional sign for the event In small lettering it read All swimmers must be accompanied by an adult We thought no big deal one of us can just stay and watch When we got to the front desk we found the lifeguard was enforcing the adult-admission price of $8

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CNFI Publishing - Products Books Chapbooks Bookmarks Plaques and Poetry Collector Cards Merchandising Products Coffee Mugs Mouse Pads Tiles 3x6 Coasters T - Shirts and Wall Plaques More info athttpliveadsFitnessDigestus

Ultra-Short StoriesU l t r a - S h o r t S t o r i e s

Featured PhotosFitnessDigestus feature

Chicago open water swim course at nighttop left

Kids race at Bicycle Blues and BBQtop right

Some team members volunteer at the local soup kitchenmiddle right

Ken Mauer loads the balls for hitting practice during a Twins baseball camp for

children 7-13 bottom right

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As he turned to go on he spat speculatively There was a sharp explosive crackle that startled him He spat again And again in the air before it could fall to the snow the spittle crackled He knew that at fifty below spittle crackled on the snow but this spittle had crackled in the air Undoubtedly it was colder than fifty below--how much colder he did not know But the temperature did not matter He was bound for the old claim on the left fork of Henderson Creek where the boys were already They had come over across the divide from the Indian Creek country while he had come the roundabout way to take a look at the possibilities of getting out logs in the spring from the islands in the Yukon He would be in to camp by six oclock a bit after dark it was true but the boys would be there a fire would be going and a hot supper would be ready As for lunch he pressed his hand against the protruding bundle under his jacket It was also under his shirt wrapped up in a handkerchief and lying against the naked skin It was the only way to keep the biscuits from freezing He smiled agreeably to himself as he thought of those biscuits each cut open and sopped in bacon grease and each enclosing a generous slice of fried bacon

He plunged in among the big spruce trees The trail was faint A foot of snow had fallen since the last sled had passed over and he was glad he was without a sled traveling light In fact he carried nothing but the lunch wrapped in the handkerchief He was surprised however at the cold It certainly was cold he concluded as he rubbed his numb nose and cheek-bones with his mittened hand He was a warm-whiskered man but the hair on his face did not protect the high cheek-bones and the eager nose that thrust itself aggressively into the frosty air

At the mans heels trotted a dog a big native husky the proper wolf-dog gray-coated and without any visible or temperamental difference from its brother the wild wolf The animal was depressed by the tremendous cold It knew that it was no time for

traveling Its instinct told it a truer tale than was told to the man by the mans judgment In reality it was not merely colder than fifty below zero it was colder than sixty below than seventy below It was seventy-five below zero Since the freezing point is thirty-two above zero it meant that one hundred and seven degrees of frost obtained The dog did not know anything about thermometers Possibly in its brain there was no sharp consciousness of a condition of very cold such as was in the mans brain But the brute had its instinct It experienced a vague but menacing apprehension that subdued it then made it slink along at the mans heels and that made it question eagerly every unwonted movement of the man as if expecting him to go into camp or to seek shelter somewhere and build a fire The dog had learned fire and it wanted fire or else to burrow under the snow and cuddle its warmth away from the air

The frozen moisture of its breathing had settled on its fur in a fine powder of frost and especially were its jowls muzzle and eyelashes whitened by its cry-stalled breath The mans red beard and mustache were likewise frosted but more solidly the deposit taking the form of ice and increasing with every warm moist breath he exhaled Also the man was chewing tobacco and the muzzle of ice held his lips so rigidly that he was unable to clear his chin when he expelled the juice The result was that a crystal beard of the color and solidity of amber was increasing its length on his chin If he fell down it would shatter itself like glass into brittle fragments But he did not mind the appendage It was the penalty all tobacco-chewers paid in that country and he had been out before in two cold snaps They had not been so cold as this he knew but by the spirit thermometer at Sixty Mile he knew they had been registered at fifty below and at fifty-five

He held on through the level stretch of woods for several miles crossed a wide flat of rigger-heads and dropped down a bank to the frozen bed of a

To Build a FireContinued

small stream This was Henderson Creek and he knew he was ten miles from the forks He looked at his watch It was ten oclock He was making four miles an hour and he calculated that he would arrive at the forks at half-past twelve He decided to celebrate that event by eating his lunch there

The dog dropped in again at his heels with a tail drooping discouragement as the man swung along the creek-bed The furrow of the old sled-trail was plainly visible but a dozen inches of snow covered the marks of the last runners In a month no man had come up or down that silent creek The man held steadily on He was not much given to thinking and just then particularly he had nothing to think about save that he would eat lunch at-the forks and that at six oclock he would be in camp with the boys There was nobody to talk to and had there been speech would have been impossible because of the ice-muzzle on his mouth So he continued monotonously to chew tobacco and to increase the length of his amber beard

Once in a while the thought reiterated itself that it was very cold and that he had never experienced such cold As he walked along he rubbed his cheek-bones and nose with the back of his mittened hand He did this automatically now and again changing hands But rub as he would the instant he stopped his cheek-bones went numb and the following instant the end of his nose went numb He was sure to frost his cheeks he knew that and experienced a pang of regret that he had not devised a nose-strap of the sort Bud wore in cold snaps Such a strap passed across the cheeks as well and saved them But it didnt matter much after all What were frosted cheeks A bit painful that was all they were never serious

Empty as the mans mind was of thoughts he was keenly observant and he noticed the changes in the creek the curves and bends and timber jams and always he sharply noted where he placed his feet Once coming around a bend he shied abruptly

like a startled horse curved away from the place where he had been walking and retreated several paces back along the trail The creek he knew was frozen clear to the bottom--no creek could contain water in that arctic winter--but he knew also that there were springs that bubbled out from the hillsides and ran along under the snow and on top the ice of the creek He knew that the coldest snaps never froze these springs and he knew likewise their danger They were traps They hid pools of water under the snow that might be three inches deep or three feet Sometimes a skin of ice half an inch thick covered them and in turn was covered by the snow Sometimes there were alternate layers of water and ice-skin so that when one broke through he kept on breaking through for a while sometimes wetting himself to the waist

That was why he had shied in such panic He had felt the give under his feet and heard the crackle of a snow-hidden ice-skin And to get his feet wet in such a temperature meant trouble and danger At the very least it meant delay for he would be forced to stop and build a fire and under its protection to bare his feet while he dried his socks and moccasins He stood and studied the creek-bed and its banks and decided that the flow of water came from the right He reflected a while rubbing his nose and cheeks then skirted to the left stepping gingerly and testing the footing for each step Once clear of the danger he took a fresh chew of tobacco and swung along at his four-mile gait

In the course of the next two hours he came upon several similar traps Usually the snow above the hidden pools had a sunken candied appearance that advertised the danger Once again however he had a close call and once suspecting danger he compelled the dog to go on in front The dog did not want to go It hung back until the man shoved it forward and then it went quickly across the white unbroken surface Suddenly it broke through floundered to one side and got away to firmer

To Build a FireContinued

To Build a FireContinued

footing It had wet its forefeet and legs and almost immediately the water that clung to it turned to ice It made quick efforts to lick the ice off its legs then dropped down in the snow and began to bite out the ice that had formed between the toes l his was a matter of instinct To permit the ice to remain would mean sore feet It did not know this It merely obeyed the mysterious prompting that arose from the deep crypts of its being But the man knew having achieved a judgment on the subject and he removed the mitten from his right hand and helped tear out the ice-particles He did not expose his fingers more than a minute and was astonished at the swift numbness that smote them It certainly was cold He pulled on the mitten hastily and beat the hand savagely across his chest

At twelve oclock the day was at its brightest Yet the sun was too far south an its winter journey to clear the horizon The bulge of the earth intervened between it arid Henderson Creek where the man walked under a clear sky at noon and cast no shadow At half-past twelve to the minute he arrived at the forks of the creek He was pleased at the speed he had made If he kept it up he would certainly be with the boys by six He unbuttoned his jacket and shirt and drew forth his lunch The action consumed no more than a quarter of a minute yet in that brief moment the numbness laid hold of the exposed fingers He did not put the mitten on but instead struck the fingers a dozen sharp smashes against his leg Then he sat down on a snow-covered log to eat The sting that followed upon the striking of his fingers against his leg ceased so quickly that he was startled He had had no chance to take a bite of biscuit He struck the fingers repeatedly and returned them to the mitten baring the other hand for the purpose of eating He tried to take a mouthful but the ice-muzzle prevented He had forgotten to build a fire and thaw out He chuckled at his foolishness and as he chuckled he noted the numbness creeping into the exposed fingers Also he noted that the stinging which had first come to his

toes when he sat down was already passing away He wandered whether the toes were warm or numb He moved them inside the moccasins and decided that they were numb

He pulled the mitten on hurriedly and stood up He was a bit frightened He stamped up and down until the stinging returned into the feet It certainly was cold was his thought That man from Sulphur Creek had spoken the truth when telling how cold it sometimes got in the country And he had laughed at him at the time That showed one must not be too sure of things There was no mistake about it it was cold He strode up and down stamping his feet and threshing his arms until reassured by the returning warmth Then he got out matches and proceeded to make a fire From the undergrowth where high water of the previous spring had lodged a supply of seasoned twigs he got his firewood Working carefully from a small beginning he soon had a roaring fire over which he thawed the ice from his face and in the protection of which he ate his biscuits For the moment the cold space was outwitted The dog took satisfaction in the fire stretching out close enough for warmth and far enough away to escape being singed

When the man had finished be filled his pipe and took his comfortable time over a smoke Then he pulled on his mittens settled the ear-flaps of his cap firmly about his ears and took the creek trail up the left fork The dog was disappointed and yearned back toward the fire This man did not know cold Possibly all the generations of his ancestry had been ignorant of cold of real cold of cold one hundred and seven degrees below freezing point But the dog knew all its ancestry knew and it had inherited the knowledge And it knew that it was not good to walk abroad in such fearful cold It was the time to lie snug in a hole in the snow and wait for a curtain of cloud to be drawn across the face of outer space whence this cold came On the other hand there was no keen intimacy between the dog and the man

The one was the toil-slave of the other and the only caresses it had ever received were the caresses of the whiplash and of harsh and menacing throat-sounds that threatened the whiplash So the dog made no effort to communicate its apprehension to the man It was not concerned in the welfare of the man it was for its own sake that it yearned back toward the fire But the man whistled and spoke to it with the sound of whiplashes and the dog swung in at the mans heel and followed after

The man took a chew of tobacco and proceeded to start a new amber beard Also his moist breath quickly powdered with white his mustache eyebrows and lashes There did not seem to be so many springs on the left fork of the Henderson and for half an hour the man saw no signs of any And then it happened At a place where there were no signs where the soft unbroken snow seemed to advertise solidity beneath tee man broke through It was not deep He wet himself halfway to the knees before he floundered out to the firm crust

He was angry and cursed his luck aloud He had hoped to get into camp with the boys at six oclock and this would delay him an hour for he would have to build a fire and dry out his foot-gear This was imperative at that low temperature--he knew that much and he turned aside to the bank which he climbed On top tangled in the underbrush about the trunks of several small spruce trees was a high-water deposit of dry firewood--sticks and twigs principally but also larger portions of seasoned branches and fine dry last-years grasses He threw down several large pieces on top of the snow This served for a foundation and prevented the young flame from drowning itself in the snow it otherwise would melt The flame he got by touching a match to a small shred of birch bark that he took from his pocket This burned even more readily than paper Placing it on the foundation he fed the young flame with wisps of dry grass and with the tiniest dry twigs

He worked slowly and carefully keenly aware of his danger Gradually as the flame grew stronger he increased the size of the twigs with which he fed it He squatted in the snow pulling the twigs out from their entanglement in the brush and feeding directly to the flame He knew there must be no failure When it is seventy-five below zero a man must not fail in his first attempt to build a fire--that is if his feet are wet If his feet are dry and he fails he can run along the trail for half a mile and restore his circulation But the circulation of wet and freezing feet cannot be restored by running when it is seventy-five below No matter how fast he runs the wet feet will freeze the harder

All this the man knew The old-timer on Sulphur Creek had told him about it the previous fall and now he was appreciating the advice Already all sensation had gone out of his feet To build the fire he had been forced to remove his mittens and the fingers had quickly gone numb His pace of four miles an hour had kept his heart pumping blood to the surface of his body and to all the extremities But the instant he stopped the action of the pump eased down The cold of space smote the unprotected tip of the planet and he being on that unprotected tip received the full force of the blow The blood of his body recoiled before it The blood was alive like the dog and like the dog it wanted to hide away and cover itself up from the fearful cold So long as he walked four miles an hour he pumped that blood willy-nilly to the surface but now it ebbed away and sank down into the recesses of his body The extremities were the first to feel its absence His wet feet froze the faster and his exposed fingers numbed the faster though they had not yet begun to freeze Nose and cheeks were already freezing while the skin of all his body chilled as it lost its blood

But he was safe Toes and nose and cheeks would be only touched by the frost for the fire was beginning to burn with strength He was feeding it

To Build a FireContinued

with twigs the size of his finger In another minute he would be able to feed it with branches the size of his wrier and then he could remove his wet toot-gear and while it dried he could keep his naked feet warm by the fire rubbing them at first of course with snow The fire was a success He was safe He remembered the advice of the old timer on Sulphur Creek and smiled The old-timer had been very serious in laying down the law that no man must travel alone in the Klondike after fifty below Well here he was he had had the accident he was alone and he had saved himself Those old-timers were rather womanish some of them he thought All a man had to do was to keep his head and he was all right Any man who was a man could travel alone But it was surprising the rapidity with which his cheeks and nose were freezing And he had not thought his fingers could go lifeless in so short a time Lifeless they were for he could scarcely make them move together to grip a twig and they seemed remote from his body and from him When he touched a twig he had to look and see whether or not he had hold of it The wires were pretty well down between him and his finger-ends

All of which counted for little There was the fire snapping and crackling and promising life with every dancing flame He started to untie his moccasins They were coated with ice the thick German socks were like sheaths of iron halfway to the knees and the moccasin strings were like rods of steel all twisted and knotted as by some conflagration For a moment he tugged with his numb fingers then realizing the folly of it he drew his sheath-knife

But before he could cut the strings it happened It was his own fault or rather his mistake He should not have built the fire under the spruce tree He should have built it in the open But it had been easier to pull the twigs from the brush and drop them directly on the fire Now the tree under which

he had done this carried a weight of snow on its boughs No wind had blown for weeks and each bough was fully freighted Each time he had pulled a twig he had communicated a slight agitation to the tree--an imperceptible agitation so far as he was concerned but an agitation sufficient to bring about the disaster High up in the tree one bough capsized its load of snow This fell on the boughs beneath capsizing them This process continued spreading out and involving the whole tree It grew like an avalanche and it descended without warning upon the man and the fire and the fire was blotted out Where it had burned was a mantle of fresh and disordered snow

The man was shocked It was as though he had just heard his own sentence of death For a moment he sat and stared at the spot where the fire had been Then he grew very calm Perhaps the old-timer on Sulphur Creek was right If he had only had a trail-mate he would have been in no danger now The trail-mate could have built the fire Well it was up to him to build the fire over again and this second time there must be no failure Even if he succeeded he would most likely lose some toes His feet must be badly frozen by now and there would be some time before the second fire Was ready

Such were his thoughts but he did not sit and think them He was busy all the time they were passing through his mind He made a new foundation for a fire this time in the open where no treacherous tree could blot it out Next he gathered dry grasses and tiny twigs from the high-water flotsam He could not bring his fingers together to pull them out but he was able to gather them by the handful In this way he got many rotten twigs and bits of green moss that were undesirable but it was the best he could do He worked methodically even collecting an armful of the larger branches to be used later when the fire gathered strength And all the while the dog sat and watched him a certain yearning wistfulness in its eyes for it looked upon

To Build a FireContinued

him as the fire-provider and the fire was slow in coming

When all was ready the man reached in his pocket for a second piece of birch bark He knew the bark was there and though he could not feel it with his fingers he could hear its crisp rustling as he fumbled for it Try as he would he could not clutch hold of it And all the time in his consciousness was the knowledge that each instant his feet were freezing This thought tended to put him in a panic but he fought against it and kept calm He pulled on his mittens with his teeth and threshed his arms back and forth beating his hands with all his might against his sides He did this sitting down and he stood up to do it and all the while the dog sat in the snow its wolf-brush of a tail curled around warmly over its forefeet its sharp wolf-ears pricked forward intently as it watched the man And the man as he beat and threshed with his arms and hands felt a great surge of envy as he regarded the creature that was warm ant secure in its natural covering

After a time he was aware of the first far-away signals of sensation in his beaten fingers The faint tingling grew stronger till it evolved into a stinging ache that was excruciating but which the man hailed with satisfaction He stripped the mitten from his right hand and fetched forth the birch bark The exposed fingers were quickly going numb again Next he brought out his bunch of sulphur matches But the tremendous cold had already driven the life out of his fingers In his effort to separate one match from the others the whole bunch fell in the snow He tried to pick it out of the snow but failed The dead fingers could neither touch nor clutch He was very careful He drove the thought of his freezing feet and nose and cheeks out of his mind devoting his whole soul to the matches He watched using the sense of vision in place of that of touch and when he saw his fingers on each side the bunch he dosed them--that is he willed to close them for the wires were down and the fingers did not obey He pulled

the mitten on the right hand and beat it fiercely against his knee Then with both mittened hands he scooped the bunch of matches along with much snow into his lap Yet he was no better off

After some manipulation he managed to get the bunch between the heels of his mittened hands In this fashion he carried it to his mouth The ice crackled and snapped when by a violent effort he opened his mouth He drew the lower jaw in curled the upper lip out of the way and scraped the bunch with his upper teeth in order to separate a match He succeeded in getting one which he dropped on his lap He was no better off He could not pick it up Then he devised a way He picked it up in his teeth and scratched it on his leg Twenty times he scratched before he succeeded in lighting it As it flamed he held it with his teeth to the birch bark But the burning brimstone went up his nostrils and into his lungs causing him to cough spasmodically The match fell into the snow and went out

The old-timer an Sulphur Creek was right he thought in the moment of controlled despair that ensued after fifty below a man should travel with a partner He beat his hands but failed in exciting any sensation Suddenly he bared both hands removing the mittens with his teeth He caught the whole bunch between the heels of his hands His arm muscles not being frozen enabled him to press the hand-heels tightly against the matches Then he scratched the bunch along his leg It flared into flame seventy sulphur matches at once There was no wind to blow them out He kept his head to one side to escape the strangling fumes and held the blazing bunch to the birth bark As he so held it he became aware of sensation in his hand His flesh was burning He could smell it Deep down below the surface he could feel it The sensation developed into pain that grew acute And still he endured it holding the flame of the matches clumsily to the bark that would not light readily because his own burning hands were in the way absorbing most of the flame

To Build a FireContinued

At last when he could endure no more he jerked his hands apart The blazing matches fell sizzling into the snow but the birch bark was alight He began laying dry grasses and the tiniest twigs on the flame He could not pick and choose for he had to lift the fuel between the heels of his hands Small pieces of rotten wood and green moss clung to the twigs and he bit them off as well as he could with his teeth He cherished the flame carefully and awkwardly It meant life and it must not perish The withdrawal of blood from the surface of his body now made him begin to shiver and he grew more awkward A large piece of green moss fell squarely on the little fire He tried to poke it out with his fingers but his shivering frame made him poke too far and he disrupted the nucleus of the little fire the burning grasses and tiny twigs separating and scattering He tried to poke them together again but in spite of the tenseness of the effort his shivering got away with him and the twigs were hopelessly scattered Each twig gushed a puff of smoke and went out The fire-provider had failed As he looked apathetically about him his eyes chanced on the dog sitting across the ruins of the fire from him in the snow making restless hunching movements slightly lifting one forefoot and then the other shifting its weight back and forth on them with wistful eagerness

The sight of the dog put a wild idea into his head He remembered the tale of the man caught in a blizzard who killed a steer and crawled inside the carcass and so was saved He would kill the dog and bury his hands in the warm body until the numbness went out of them Then he could build another fire He spoke to the dog calling it to him but in his voice was a strange note of fear that frightened the animal who had never known the man to speak in such way before Something was the matter and its suspicious nature sensed danger--it knew not what danger but somewhere somehow in its brain arose an apprehension of the man It flattened its ears down at the sound of the mans voice and its restless

hunching movements and the liftings and shiftings of its forefeet became more pronounced but it would not come to the man He got on his hands and knees and crawled toward the dog This unusual posture again excited suspicion and the animal sidled mincingly away

The man sat up in the snow for a moment and struggled for calmness Then he pulled on his mittens by means of his teeth and got upon his feet He glanced down at first in order to assure himself that he was really standing up for the absence of sensation in his feet left him unrelated to the earth His erect position in itself started to drive the webs of suspicion from the dogs mind and when he spoke peremptorily with the sound of whiplashes in his voice the dog rendered its customary allegiance and came to him As it came within reaching distance the man lost his control His arms flashed out to the dog and he experienced genuine surprise when he discovered that his hands could not clutch that there was neither bend nor feeling in the fingers He had forgotten for the moment that they were frozen and that they were freezing more and more All this happened quickly and before the animal could get away he encircled its body with his arms He sat down in the snow and in this fashion held the dog while it snarled and whined and struggled

But it was all he could do hold its body encircled in his arms and sit there He realized that he could not kill the dog There was no way to do it With his helpless hands he could neither draw nor hold his sheath knife nor throttle the animal He released it and it plunged wildly away with tail between its legs and still snarling It halted forty feet away and surveyed him curiously with ears sharply pricked forward The man looked down at his hands in order to locate them and found them hanging on the ends of his arms It struck him as curious that one should have to use his eyes in order to find out where his hands were He began threshing his arms back and forth beating the mittened hands against

To Build a FireContinued

his sides He did this for five minutes violently and his heart pumped enough blood up to the surface to put a stop to his shivering But no sensation was aroused in the hands He had an impression that they hung like weights on the ends of his arms but when he tried to run the impression down he could not find it

A certain fear of death dull and oppressive came to him This fear quickly became poignant as he realized that it was no longer a mere matter of freezing his fingers and toes or of losing his hands and feet but that it was a matter of life and death with the chances against him This threw him into a panic and he turned and ran up the creek-bed along the old dim trail The dog joined in behind and kept up with him He ran blindly without intention in fear such as he had never known in his life Slowly as he plowed and floundered through the snow he began to see things again the banks of the creek the old timber-jams the leafless aspens and the sky The running made him feel better He did not shiver Maybe if he ran on his feet would thaw out and anyway if he ran far enough he would reach camp and the boys Without doubt he would lose some fingers and toes and some of his face but the boys would take care of him and save the rest of him when he got there And at the same time there was another thought in his mind that said he would never get to the camp and the boys that it was too many miles away that the freezing had too great a start on him and that he would soon be stiff and dead This thought he kept in the background and refused to consider Sometimes it pushed itself forward and demanded to be heard but he thrust it back and strove to think of other things

It struck him as curious that he could run at all on feet so frozen that he could not feel them when they struck the earth and took the weigh of his body He seemed to himself to skim along above the surface and to have no connection with the earth Somewhere he had once seen a winged Mercury

and he wondered if Mercury felt as he felt when skimming over the earth

His theory of running until he reached camp and the boys had one flaw in it he lacked the endurance Several times he stumbled and finally he tottered crumpled up and fell When he tried to rise he failed He must sit and rest he decided and next time he would merely walk and keep on going As he sat and regained his breath he noted that he was feeling quite warm and comfortable He was not shivering and it even seemed that a warm glow had come to his chest and trunk And yet when he touched his nose or cheeks there was no sensation Running would not thaw them out Nor would it thaw out his hands and feet Then the thought came to him that the frozen portions of his body must be extending He tried to keep this thought down to forget it to think of something else he was aware of the panicky feeling that it caused and he was afraid of the panic But the thought asserted itself and persisted until it produced a vision of his body totally frozen This was too much and he made another wild run along the trail Once he slowed down to a walk but the thought of the freezing extending itself made him run again

And all the time the dog ran with him at his heels When he fell down a second time it curled its tad over its forefeet and sat in front of him facing him curiously eager and intent The warmth and security of the animal angered him and he cursed it till it flattened down its ears appealingly This time the shivering came more quickly upon the man He was losing in his battle with the frost It was creeping into his body from all sides The thought of it drove him on but he ran no more than a hundred feet when he staggered and pitched headlong It was his last panic When he had recovered his breath and control he sat up and entertained in his mind the conception of meeting death with dignity However the conception did not come to him in such terms His idea of it was that he had been making a fool of

To Build a FireContinued

himself running around like a chicken with its head cut off--such was the simile that occurred to him Well he was bound to freeze anyway and he might as well take it decently With this new-found peace of mind came the first glimmerings of drowsiness A good idea he thought to sleep off to death It was like salting an anesthetic Freezing was not so bad as people thought There were lots worse ways to die

He pictured the boys finding his body next day Suddenly he found himself with them coming along the trail and looking for himself And still with them he came around a turn in the trail and found himself lying in the snow He did not belong with himself any more for even then he was out of himself standing with the boys and looking at himself in the snow It certainly was cold was his thought When he got back to the States he could tell the folks what real cold was He drifted on from this to a vision of the old-timer on Sulphur Creek He could see him quite clearly warm and comfortable and smoking a pipe

You were right old boss you were right the man mumbled to the old-timer of Sulphur Creek

Then the man drowsed off into what seemed to him the most comfortable and satisfying sleep he had ever known The dog sat facing him and waiting The brief day drew to a close in a long slow twilight There were no signs of a fire to be made and besides never in the dogs experience had it known a man to sit like that in the snow and make no fire As the twilight drew on its eager yearning for the fire mastered it and with a great lifting and shifting of forefeet it whined softly then flattened its ears down in anticipation of being chidden by the man But the man remained silent Later the dog whined loudly And still later it crept close to the man and caught the scent of death This made the animal bristle and back away A little longer it delayed howling under the stars that leaped and danced and shone brightly in the cold sky Then it turned and trotted up the trail in the direction of the camp it knew where were the other food-providers and fire-providers

To Build a FireContinued

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Page 58: FitnessDigest.us Vol. 4.3 Cover

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During the past 150 years we have witnessed many remarkable advances against cancer a disease known to humanity for thousands of years The advances highlighted below represent a sampling of what has been accomplished to date

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

1882 William Halsted performs the first radical mastectomy to treat breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast the lymph nodes under the arm (axillary lymph nodes) and the chest muscles behind the breast (pectoralis major and pectoralis minor muscles) are removed Radical mastectomy will remain the standard operation for breast cancer until latter half of the 20th century when the use of modified radical mastectomy becomes widely accepted

1932 David H Patey develops the modified radical mastectomy for breast cancer In this surgical procedure the entire breast axillary lymph nodes and pectoralis minor muscle behind the breast are removed The modified radical mastectomy is less disfiguring than the radical mastectomy and will eventually replace the radical mastectomy as a standard treatment option for breast cancer

1953 James Watson and Francis Crick discover the molecular structure of DNA (the double helix)

1963 The Health Insurance Plan (HIP) of Greater New York Study begins HIP is the first randomized controlled trial of periodic breast cancer screening with mammography

1882

1932

1953

1963

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1976 The results of a randomized clinical trial show that women with early breast cancer who receive post-operative (adjuvant) combination chemotherapy with the drugs cyclophosphamide methotrexate and 5-FU have improved disease-free survival

1981 A randomized clinical trial in the United Kingdom shows for the first time that the rates of survival local recurrence and tumor metastasis among women whose breast cancer is treated with modified radical mastectomy are not substantially different from those of women who are treated with radical mastectomy

1993 An NCI-convened international workshop on screening for breast cancer reports that screening with mammography reduces breast cancer mortality among women ages 50-69 This conclusion is based on a review of published and unpublished data from eight randomized controlled trials

2004 Data from the Womens Health Initiative (WHI) study show that women who take estrogen in combination with the hormone progestin have a greater risk of developing breast cancer than women who take estrogen alone The results also show that menopausal hormone therapy with estrogen alone has no benefit in disease prevention specifically in reducing the risks of colorectal cancer coronary heart disease and dementia

1976

1981

1993

2004

Although we still have a long way to go to reduce the toll of cancer in the United States and worldwide our research and public health efforts are beginning to pay dividends

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

Volunteering vs Participating13 My girl friend and I are involved in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation The local chapter raises awareness for the cause with a fun-run each year We have volunteered to help with the race five years in a row This year we were stationed at a water table where the runners pick-up cups of water to drink Toward the end of the race there are very few runners There was a little time to chat about things We were talking about what we would wish for if we could have three wishes I told her I would wish for an end to Juvenile Diabetes and to lose 10 pounds Being nice I said ldquoyou can have my last wishrdquo She said I wish you would skip volunteering and just run this race next year

Admission Price Our aquatic center was having a promotion one night and advertised an elementary school night The kids could swim for free When we got to the pool we saw a promotional sign for the event In small lettering it read All swimmers must be accompanied by an adult We thought no big deal one of us can just stay and watch When we got to the front desk we found the lifeguard was enforcing the adult-admission price of $8

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Featured PhotosFitnessDigestus feature

Chicago open water swim course at nighttop left

Kids race at Bicycle Blues and BBQtop right

Some team members volunteer at the local soup kitchenmiddle right

Ken Mauer loads the balls for hitting practice during a Twins baseball camp for

children 7-13 bottom right

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As he turned to go on he spat speculatively There was a sharp explosive crackle that startled him He spat again And again in the air before it could fall to the snow the spittle crackled He knew that at fifty below spittle crackled on the snow but this spittle had crackled in the air Undoubtedly it was colder than fifty below--how much colder he did not know But the temperature did not matter He was bound for the old claim on the left fork of Henderson Creek where the boys were already They had come over across the divide from the Indian Creek country while he had come the roundabout way to take a look at the possibilities of getting out logs in the spring from the islands in the Yukon He would be in to camp by six oclock a bit after dark it was true but the boys would be there a fire would be going and a hot supper would be ready As for lunch he pressed his hand against the protruding bundle under his jacket It was also under his shirt wrapped up in a handkerchief and lying against the naked skin It was the only way to keep the biscuits from freezing He smiled agreeably to himself as he thought of those biscuits each cut open and sopped in bacon grease and each enclosing a generous slice of fried bacon

He plunged in among the big spruce trees The trail was faint A foot of snow had fallen since the last sled had passed over and he was glad he was without a sled traveling light In fact he carried nothing but the lunch wrapped in the handkerchief He was surprised however at the cold It certainly was cold he concluded as he rubbed his numb nose and cheek-bones with his mittened hand He was a warm-whiskered man but the hair on his face did not protect the high cheek-bones and the eager nose that thrust itself aggressively into the frosty air

At the mans heels trotted a dog a big native husky the proper wolf-dog gray-coated and without any visible or temperamental difference from its brother the wild wolf The animal was depressed by the tremendous cold It knew that it was no time for

traveling Its instinct told it a truer tale than was told to the man by the mans judgment In reality it was not merely colder than fifty below zero it was colder than sixty below than seventy below It was seventy-five below zero Since the freezing point is thirty-two above zero it meant that one hundred and seven degrees of frost obtained The dog did not know anything about thermometers Possibly in its brain there was no sharp consciousness of a condition of very cold such as was in the mans brain But the brute had its instinct It experienced a vague but menacing apprehension that subdued it then made it slink along at the mans heels and that made it question eagerly every unwonted movement of the man as if expecting him to go into camp or to seek shelter somewhere and build a fire The dog had learned fire and it wanted fire or else to burrow under the snow and cuddle its warmth away from the air

The frozen moisture of its breathing had settled on its fur in a fine powder of frost and especially were its jowls muzzle and eyelashes whitened by its cry-stalled breath The mans red beard and mustache were likewise frosted but more solidly the deposit taking the form of ice and increasing with every warm moist breath he exhaled Also the man was chewing tobacco and the muzzle of ice held his lips so rigidly that he was unable to clear his chin when he expelled the juice The result was that a crystal beard of the color and solidity of amber was increasing its length on his chin If he fell down it would shatter itself like glass into brittle fragments But he did not mind the appendage It was the penalty all tobacco-chewers paid in that country and he had been out before in two cold snaps They had not been so cold as this he knew but by the spirit thermometer at Sixty Mile he knew they had been registered at fifty below and at fifty-five

He held on through the level stretch of woods for several miles crossed a wide flat of rigger-heads and dropped down a bank to the frozen bed of a

To Build a FireContinued

small stream This was Henderson Creek and he knew he was ten miles from the forks He looked at his watch It was ten oclock He was making four miles an hour and he calculated that he would arrive at the forks at half-past twelve He decided to celebrate that event by eating his lunch there

The dog dropped in again at his heels with a tail drooping discouragement as the man swung along the creek-bed The furrow of the old sled-trail was plainly visible but a dozen inches of snow covered the marks of the last runners In a month no man had come up or down that silent creek The man held steadily on He was not much given to thinking and just then particularly he had nothing to think about save that he would eat lunch at-the forks and that at six oclock he would be in camp with the boys There was nobody to talk to and had there been speech would have been impossible because of the ice-muzzle on his mouth So he continued monotonously to chew tobacco and to increase the length of his amber beard

Once in a while the thought reiterated itself that it was very cold and that he had never experienced such cold As he walked along he rubbed his cheek-bones and nose with the back of his mittened hand He did this automatically now and again changing hands But rub as he would the instant he stopped his cheek-bones went numb and the following instant the end of his nose went numb He was sure to frost his cheeks he knew that and experienced a pang of regret that he had not devised a nose-strap of the sort Bud wore in cold snaps Such a strap passed across the cheeks as well and saved them But it didnt matter much after all What were frosted cheeks A bit painful that was all they were never serious

Empty as the mans mind was of thoughts he was keenly observant and he noticed the changes in the creek the curves and bends and timber jams and always he sharply noted where he placed his feet Once coming around a bend he shied abruptly

like a startled horse curved away from the place where he had been walking and retreated several paces back along the trail The creek he knew was frozen clear to the bottom--no creek could contain water in that arctic winter--but he knew also that there were springs that bubbled out from the hillsides and ran along under the snow and on top the ice of the creek He knew that the coldest snaps never froze these springs and he knew likewise their danger They were traps They hid pools of water under the snow that might be three inches deep or three feet Sometimes a skin of ice half an inch thick covered them and in turn was covered by the snow Sometimes there were alternate layers of water and ice-skin so that when one broke through he kept on breaking through for a while sometimes wetting himself to the waist

That was why he had shied in such panic He had felt the give under his feet and heard the crackle of a snow-hidden ice-skin And to get his feet wet in such a temperature meant trouble and danger At the very least it meant delay for he would be forced to stop and build a fire and under its protection to bare his feet while he dried his socks and moccasins He stood and studied the creek-bed and its banks and decided that the flow of water came from the right He reflected a while rubbing his nose and cheeks then skirted to the left stepping gingerly and testing the footing for each step Once clear of the danger he took a fresh chew of tobacco and swung along at his four-mile gait

In the course of the next two hours he came upon several similar traps Usually the snow above the hidden pools had a sunken candied appearance that advertised the danger Once again however he had a close call and once suspecting danger he compelled the dog to go on in front The dog did not want to go It hung back until the man shoved it forward and then it went quickly across the white unbroken surface Suddenly it broke through floundered to one side and got away to firmer

To Build a FireContinued

To Build a FireContinued

footing It had wet its forefeet and legs and almost immediately the water that clung to it turned to ice It made quick efforts to lick the ice off its legs then dropped down in the snow and began to bite out the ice that had formed between the toes l his was a matter of instinct To permit the ice to remain would mean sore feet It did not know this It merely obeyed the mysterious prompting that arose from the deep crypts of its being But the man knew having achieved a judgment on the subject and he removed the mitten from his right hand and helped tear out the ice-particles He did not expose his fingers more than a minute and was astonished at the swift numbness that smote them It certainly was cold He pulled on the mitten hastily and beat the hand savagely across his chest

At twelve oclock the day was at its brightest Yet the sun was too far south an its winter journey to clear the horizon The bulge of the earth intervened between it arid Henderson Creek where the man walked under a clear sky at noon and cast no shadow At half-past twelve to the minute he arrived at the forks of the creek He was pleased at the speed he had made If he kept it up he would certainly be with the boys by six He unbuttoned his jacket and shirt and drew forth his lunch The action consumed no more than a quarter of a minute yet in that brief moment the numbness laid hold of the exposed fingers He did not put the mitten on but instead struck the fingers a dozen sharp smashes against his leg Then he sat down on a snow-covered log to eat The sting that followed upon the striking of his fingers against his leg ceased so quickly that he was startled He had had no chance to take a bite of biscuit He struck the fingers repeatedly and returned them to the mitten baring the other hand for the purpose of eating He tried to take a mouthful but the ice-muzzle prevented He had forgotten to build a fire and thaw out He chuckled at his foolishness and as he chuckled he noted the numbness creeping into the exposed fingers Also he noted that the stinging which had first come to his

toes when he sat down was already passing away He wandered whether the toes were warm or numb He moved them inside the moccasins and decided that they were numb

He pulled the mitten on hurriedly and stood up He was a bit frightened He stamped up and down until the stinging returned into the feet It certainly was cold was his thought That man from Sulphur Creek had spoken the truth when telling how cold it sometimes got in the country And he had laughed at him at the time That showed one must not be too sure of things There was no mistake about it it was cold He strode up and down stamping his feet and threshing his arms until reassured by the returning warmth Then he got out matches and proceeded to make a fire From the undergrowth where high water of the previous spring had lodged a supply of seasoned twigs he got his firewood Working carefully from a small beginning he soon had a roaring fire over which he thawed the ice from his face and in the protection of which he ate his biscuits For the moment the cold space was outwitted The dog took satisfaction in the fire stretching out close enough for warmth and far enough away to escape being singed

When the man had finished be filled his pipe and took his comfortable time over a smoke Then he pulled on his mittens settled the ear-flaps of his cap firmly about his ears and took the creek trail up the left fork The dog was disappointed and yearned back toward the fire This man did not know cold Possibly all the generations of his ancestry had been ignorant of cold of real cold of cold one hundred and seven degrees below freezing point But the dog knew all its ancestry knew and it had inherited the knowledge And it knew that it was not good to walk abroad in such fearful cold It was the time to lie snug in a hole in the snow and wait for a curtain of cloud to be drawn across the face of outer space whence this cold came On the other hand there was no keen intimacy between the dog and the man

The one was the toil-slave of the other and the only caresses it had ever received were the caresses of the whiplash and of harsh and menacing throat-sounds that threatened the whiplash So the dog made no effort to communicate its apprehension to the man It was not concerned in the welfare of the man it was for its own sake that it yearned back toward the fire But the man whistled and spoke to it with the sound of whiplashes and the dog swung in at the mans heel and followed after

The man took a chew of tobacco and proceeded to start a new amber beard Also his moist breath quickly powdered with white his mustache eyebrows and lashes There did not seem to be so many springs on the left fork of the Henderson and for half an hour the man saw no signs of any And then it happened At a place where there were no signs where the soft unbroken snow seemed to advertise solidity beneath tee man broke through It was not deep He wet himself halfway to the knees before he floundered out to the firm crust

He was angry and cursed his luck aloud He had hoped to get into camp with the boys at six oclock and this would delay him an hour for he would have to build a fire and dry out his foot-gear This was imperative at that low temperature--he knew that much and he turned aside to the bank which he climbed On top tangled in the underbrush about the trunks of several small spruce trees was a high-water deposit of dry firewood--sticks and twigs principally but also larger portions of seasoned branches and fine dry last-years grasses He threw down several large pieces on top of the snow This served for a foundation and prevented the young flame from drowning itself in the snow it otherwise would melt The flame he got by touching a match to a small shred of birch bark that he took from his pocket This burned even more readily than paper Placing it on the foundation he fed the young flame with wisps of dry grass and with the tiniest dry twigs

He worked slowly and carefully keenly aware of his danger Gradually as the flame grew stronger he increased the size of the twigs with which he fed it He squatted in the snow pulling the twigs out from their entanglement in the brush and feeding directly to the flame He knew there must be no failure When it is seventy-five below zero a man must not fail in his first attempt to build a fire--that is if his feet are wet If his feet are dry and he fails he can run along the trail for half a mile and restore his circulation But the circulation of wet and freezing feet cannot be restored by running when it is seventy-five below No matter how fast he runs the wet feet will freeze the harder

All this the man knew The old-timer on Sulphur Creek had told him about it the previous fall and now he was appreciating the advice Already all sensation had gone out of his feet To build the fire he had been forced to remove his mittens and the fingers had quickly gone numb His pace of four miles an hour had kept his heart pumping blood to the surface of his body and to all the extremities But the instant he stopped the action of the pump eased down The cold of space smote the unprotected tip of the planet and he being on that unprotected tip received the full force of the blow The blood of his body recoiled before it The blood was alive like the dog and like the dog it wanted to hide away and cover itself up from the fearful cold So long as he walked four miles an hour he pumped that blood willy-nilly to the surface but now it ebbed away and sank down into the recesses of his body The extremities were the first to feel its absence His wet feet froze the faster and his exposed fingers numbed the faster though they had not yet begun to freeze Nose and cheeks were already freezing while the skin of all his body chilled as it lost its blood

But he was safe Toes and nose and cheeks would be only touched by the frost for the fire was beginning to burn with strength He was feeding it

To Build a FireContinued

with twigs the size of his finger In another minute he would be able to feed it with branches the size of his wrier and then he could remove his wet toot-gear and while it dried he could keep his naked feet warm by the fire rubbing them at first of course with snow The fire was a success He was safe He remembered the advice of the old timer on Sulphur Creek and smiled The old-timer had been very serious in laying down the law that no man must travel alone in the Klondike after fifty below Well here he was he had had the accident he was alone and he had saved himself Those old-timers were rather womanish some of them he thought All a man had to do was to keep his head and he was all right Any man who was a man could travel alone But it was surprising the rapidity with which his cheeks and nose were freezing And he had not thought his fingers could go lifeless in so short a time Lifeless they were for he could scarcely make them move together to grip a twig and they seemed remote from his body and from him When he touched a twig he had to look and see whether or not he had hold of it The wires were pretty well down between him and his finger-ends

All of which counted for little There was the fire snapping and crackling and promising life with every dancing flame He started to untie his moccasins They were coated with ice the thick German socks were like sheaths of iron halfway to the knees and the moccasin strings were like rods of steel all twisted and knotted as by some conflagration For a moment he tugged with his numb fingers then realizing the folly of it he drew his sheath-knife

But before he could cut the strings it happened It was his own fault or rather his mistake He should not have built the fire under the spruce tree He should have built it in the open But it had been easier to pull the twigs from the brush and drop them directly on the fire Now the tree under which

he had done this carried a weight of snow on its boughs No wind had blown for weeks and each bough was fully freighted Each time he had pulled a twig he had communicated a slight agitation to the tree--an imperceptible agitation so far as he was concerned but an agitation sufficient to bring about the disaster High up in the tree one bough capsized its load of snow This fell on the boughs beneath capsizing them This process continued spreading out and involving the whole tree It grew like an avalanche and it descended without warning upon the man and the fire and the fire was blotted out Where it had burned was a mantle of fresh and disordered snow

The man was shocked It was as though he had just heard his own sentence of death For a moment he sat and stared at the spot where the fire had been Then he grew very calm Perhaps the old-timer on Sulphur Creek was right If he had only had a trail-mate he would have been in no danger now The trail-mate could have built the fire Well it was up to him to build the fire over again and this second time there must be no failure Even if he succeeded he would most likely lose some toes His feet must be badly frozen by now and there would be some time before the second fire Was ready

Such were his thoughts but he did not sit and think them He was busy all the time they were passing through his mind He made a new foundation for a fire this time in the open where no treacherous tree could blot it out Next he gathered dry grasses and tiny twigs from the high-water flotsam He could not bring his fingers together to pull them out but he was able to gather them by the handful In this way he got many rotten twigs and bits of green moss that were undesirable but it was the best he could do He worked methodically even collecting an armful of the larger branches to be used later when the fire gathered strength And all the while the dog sat and watched him a certain yearning wistfulness in its eyes for it looked upon

To Build a FireContinued

him as the fire-provider and the fire was slow in coming

When all was ready the man reached in his pocket for a second piece of birch bark He knew the bark was there and though he could not feel it with his fingers he could hear its crisp rustling as he fumbled for it Try as he would he could not clutch hold of it And all the time in his consciousness was the knowledge that each instant his feet were freezing This thought tended to put him in a panic but he fought against it and kept calm He pulled on his mittens with his teeth and threshed his arms back and forth beating his hands with all his might against his sides He did this sitting down and he stood up to do it and all the while the dog sat in the snow its wolf-brush of a tail curled around warmly over its forefeet its sharp wolf-ears pricked forward intently as it watched the man And the man as he beat and threshed with his arms and hands felt a great surge of envy as he regarded the creature that was warm ant secure in its natural covering

After a time he was aware of the first far-away signals of sensation in his beaten fingers The faint tingling grew stronger till it evolved into a stinging ache that was excruciating but which the man hailed with satisfaction He stripped the mitten from his right hand and fetched forth the birch bark The exposed fingers were quickly going numb again Next he brought out his bunch of sulphur matches But the tremendous cold had already driven the life out of his fingers In his effort to separate one match from the others the whole bunch fell in the snow He tried to pick it out of the snow but failed The dead fingers could neither touch nor clutch He was very careful He drove the thought of his freezing feet and nose and cheeks out of his mind devoting his whole soul to the matches He watched using the sense of vision in place of that of touch and when he saw his fingers on each side the bunch he dosed them--that is he willed to close them for the wires were down and the fingers did not obey He pulled

the mitten on the right hand and beat it fiercely against his knee Then with both mittened hands he scooped the bunch of matches along with much snow into his lap Yet he was no better off

After some manipulation he managed to get the bunch between the heels of his mittened hands In this fashion he carried it to his mouth The ice crackled and snapped when by a violent effort he opened his mouth He drew the lower jaw in curled the upper lip out of the way and scraped the bunch with his upper teeth in order to separate a match He succeeded in getting one which he dropped on his lap He was no better off He could not pick it up Then he devised a way He picked it up in his teeth and scratched it on his leg Twenty times he scratched before he succeeded in lighting it As it flamed he held it with his teeth to the birch bark But the burning brimstone went up his nostrils and into his lungs causing him to cough spasmodically The match fell into the snow and went out

The old-timer an Sulphur Creek was right he thought in the moment of controlled despair that ensued after fifty below a man should travel with a partner He beat his hands but failed in exciting any sensation Suddenly he bared both hands removing the mittens with his teeth He caught the whole bunch between the heels of his hands His arm muscles not being frozen enabled him to press the hand-heels tightly against the matches Then he scratched the bunch along his leg It flared into flame seventy sulphur matches at once There was no wind to blow them out He kept his head to one side to escape the strangling fumes and held the blazing bunch to the birth bark As he so held it he became aware of sensation in his hand His flesh was burning He could smell it Deep down below the surface he could feel it The sensation developed into pain that grew acute And still he endured it holding the flame of the matches clumsily to the bark that would not light readily because his own burning hands were in the way absorbing most of the flame

To Build a FireContinued

At last when he could endure no more he jerked his hands apart The blazing matches fell sizzling into the snow but the birch bark was alight He began laying dry grasses and the tiniest twigs on the flame He could not pick and choose for he had to lift the fuel between the heels of his hands Small pieces of rotten wood and green moss clung to the twigs and he bit them off as well as he could with his teeth He cherished the flame carefully and awkwardly It meant life and it must not perish The withdrawal of blood from the surface of his body now made him begin to shiver and he grew more awkward A large piece of green moss fell squarely on the little fire He tried to poke it out with his fingers but his shivering frame made him poke too far and he disrupted the nucleus of the little fire the burning grasses and tiny twigs separating and scattering He tried to poke them together again but in spite of the tenseness of the effort his shivering got away with him and the twigs were hopelessly scattered Each twig gushed a puff of smoke and went out The fire-provider had failed As he looked apathetically about him his eyes chanced on the dog sitting across the ruins of the fire from him in the snow making restless hunching movements slightly lifting one forefoot and then the other shifting its weight back and forth on them with wistful eagerness

The sight of the dog put a wild idea into his head He remembered the tale of the man caught in a blizzard who killed a steer and crawled inside the carcass and so was saved He would kill the dog and bury his hands in the warm body until the numbness went out of them Then he could build another fire He spoke to the dog calling it to him but in his voice was a strange note of fear that frightened the animal who had never known the man to speak in such way before Something was the matter and its suspicious nature sensed danger--it knew not what danger but somewhere somehow in its brain arose an apprehension of the man It flattened its ears down at the sound of the mans voice and its restless

hunching movements and the liftings and shiftings of its forefeet became more pronounced but it would not come to the man He got on his hands and knees and crawled toward the dog This unusual posture again excited suspicion and the animal sidled mincingly away

The man sat up in the snow for a moment and struggled for calmness Then he pulled on his mittens by means of his teeth and got upon his feet He glanced down at first in order to assure himself that he was really standing up for the absence of sensation in his feet left him unrelated to the earth His erect position in itself started to drive the webs of suspicion from the dogs mind and when he spoke peremptorily with the sound of whiplashes in his voice the dog rendered its customary allegiance and came to him As it came within reaching distance the man lost his control His arms flashed out to the dog and he experienced genuine surprise when he discovered that his hands could not clutch that there was neither bend nor feeling in the fingers He had forgotten for the moment that they were frozen and that they were freezing more and more All this happened quickly and before the animal could get away he encircled its body with his arms He sat down in the snow and in this fashion held the dog while it snarled and whined and struggled

But it was all he could do hold its body encircled in his arms and sit there He realized that he could not kill the dog There was no way to do it With his helpless hands he could neither draw nor hold his sheath knife nor throttle the animal He released it and it plunged wildly away with tail between its legs and still snarling It halted forty feet away and surveyed him curiously with ears sharply pricked forward The man looked down at his hands in order to locate them and found them hanging on the ends of his arms It struck him as curious that one should have to use his eyes in order to find out where his hands were He began threshing his arms back and forth beating the mittened hands against

To Build a FireContinued

his sides He did this for five minutes violently and his heart pumped enough blood up to the surface to put a stop to his shivering But no sensation was aroused in the hands He had an impression that they hung like weights on the ends of his arms but when he tried to run the impression down he could not find it

A certain fear of death dull and oppressive came to him This fear quickly became poignant as he realized that it was no longer a mere matter of freezing his fingers and toes or of losing his hands and feet but that it was a matter of life and death with the chances against him This threw him into a panic and he turned and ran up the creek-bed along the old dim trail The dog joined in behind and kept up with him He ran blindly without intention in fear such as he had never known in his life Slowly as he plowed and floundered through the snow he began to see things again the banks of the creek the old timber-jams the leafless aspens and the sky The running made him feel better He did not shiver Maybe if he ran on his feet would thaw out and anyway if he ran far enough he would reach camp and the boys Without doubt he would lose some fingers and toes and some of his face but the boys would take care of him and save the rest of him when he got there And at the same time there was another thought in his mind that said he would never get to the camp and the boys that it was too many miles away that the freezing had too great a start on him and that he would soon be stiff and dead This thought he kept in the background and refused to consider Sometimes it pushed itself forward and demanded to be heard but he thrust it back and strove to think of other things

It struck him as curious that he could run at all on feet so frozen that he could not feel them when they struck the earth and took the weigh of his body He seemed to himself to skim along above the surface and to have no connection with the earth Somewhere he had once seen a winged Mercury

and he wondered if Mercury felt as he felt when skimming over the earth

His theory of running until he reached camp and the boys had one flaw in it he lacked the endurance Several times he stumbled and finally he tottered crumpled up and fell When he tried to rise he failed He must sit and rest he decided and next time he would merely walk and keep on going As he sat and regained his breath he noted that he was feeling quite warm and comfortable He was not shivering and it even seemed that a warm glow had come to his chest and trunk And yet when he touched his nose or cheeks there was no sensation Running would not thaw them out Nor would it thaw out his hands and feet Then the thought came to him that the frozen portions of his body must be extending He tried to keep this thought down to forget it to think of something else he was aware of the panicky feeling that it caused and he was afraid of the panic But the thought asserted itself and persisted until it produced a vision of his body totally frozen This was too much and he made another wild run along the trail Once he slowed down to a walk but the thought of the freezing extending itself made him run again

And all the time the dog ran with him at his heels When he fell down a second time it curled its tad over its forefeet and sat in front of him facing him curiously eager and intent The warmth and security of the animal angered him and he cursed it till it flattened down its ears appealingly This time the shivering came more quickly upon the man He was losing in his battle with the frost It was creeping into his body from all sides The thought of it drove him on but he ran no more than a hundred feet when he staggered and pitched headlong It was his last panic When he had recovered his breath and control he sat up and entertained in his mind the conception of meeting death with dignity However the conception did not come to him in such terms His idea of it was that he had been making a fool of

To Build a FireContinued

himself running around like a chicken with its head cut off--such was the simile that occurred to him Well he was bound to freeze anyway and he might as well take it decently With this new-found peace of mind came the first glimmerings of drowsiness A good idea he thought to sleep off to death It was like salting an anesthetic Freezing was not so bad as people thought There were lots worse ways to die

He pictured the boys finding his body next day Suddenly he found himself with them coming along the trail and looking for himself And still with them he came around a turn in the trail and found himself lying in the snow He did not belong with himself any more for even then he was out of himself standing with the boys and looking at himself in the snow It certainly was cold was his thought When he got back to the States he could tell the folks what real cold was He drifted on from this to a vision of the old-timer on Sulphur Creek He could see him quite clearly warm and comfortable and smoking a pipe

You were right old boss you were right the man mumbled to the old-timer of Sulphur Creek

Then the man drowsed off into what seemed to him the most comfortable and satisfying sleep he had ever known The dog sat facing him and waiting The brief day drew to a close in a long slow twilight There were no signs of a fire to be made and besides never in the dogs experience had it known a man to sit like that in the snow and make no fire As the twilight drew on its eager yearning for the fire mastered it and with a great lifting and shifting of forefeet it whined softly then flattened its ears down in anticipation of being chidden by the man But the man remained silent Later the dog whined loudly And still later it crept close to the man and caught the scent of death This made the animal bristle and back away A little longer it delayed howling under the stars that leaped and danced and shone brightly in the cold sky Then it turned and trotted up the trail in the direction of the camp it knew where were the other food-providers and fire-providers

To Build a FireContinued

Blogs can be a lot of work to maintainTwitter only gives you 140 characters

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Page 59: FitnessDigest.us Vol. 4.3 Cover

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1976 The results of a randomized clinical trial show that women with early breast cancer who receive post-operative (adjuvant) combination chemotherapy with the drugs cyclophosphamide methotrexate and 5-FU have improved disease-free survival

1981 A randomized clinical trial in the United Kingdom shows for the first time that the rates of survival local recurrence and tumor metastasis among women whose breast cancer is treated with modified radical mastectomy are not substantially different from those of women who are treated with radical mastectomy

1993 An NCI-convened international workshop on screening for breast cancer reports that screening with mammography reduces breast cancer mortality among women ages 50-69 This conclusion is based on a review of published and unpublished data from eight randomized controlled trials

2004 Data from the Womens Health Initiative (WHI) study show that women who take estrogen in combination with the hormone progestin have a greater risk of developing breast cancer than women who take estrogen alone The results also show that menopausal hormone therapy with estrogen alone has no benefit in disease prevention specifically in reducing the risks of colorectal cancer coronary heart disease and dementia

1976

1981

1993

2004

Although we still have a long way to go to reduce the toll of cancer in the United States and worldwide our research and public health efforts are beginning to pay dividends

From the website of the National Cancer Institute (httpwwwcancergov)

Volunteering vs Participating13 My girl friend and I are involved in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation The local chapter raises awareness for the cause with a fun-run each year We have volunteered to help with the race five years in a row This year we were stationed at a water table where the runners pick-up cups of water to drink Toward the end of the race there are very few runners There was a little time to chat about things We were talking about what we would wish for if we could have three wishes I told her I would wish for an end to Juvenile Diabetes and to lose 10 pounds Being nice I said ldquoyou can have my last wishrdquo She said I wish you would skip volunteering and just run this race next year

Admission Price Our aquatic center was having a promotion one night and advertised an elementary school night The kids could swim for free When we got to the pool we saw a promotional sign for the event In small lettering it read All swimmers must be accompanied by an adult We thought no big deal one of us can just stay and watch When we got to the front desk we found the lifeguard was enforcing the adult-admission price of $8

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Chicago open water swim course at nighttop left

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Some team members volunteer at the local soup kitchenmiddle right

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As he turned to go on he spat speculatively There was a sharp explosive crackle that startled him He spat again And again in the air before it could fall to the snow the spittle crackled He knew that at fifty below spittle crackled on the snow but this spittle had crackled in the air Undoubtedly it was colder than fifty below--how much colder he did not know But the temperature did not matter He was bound for the old claim on the left fork of Henderson Creek where the boys were already They had come over across the divide from the Indian Creek country while he had come the roundabout way to take a look at the possibilities of getting out logs in the spring from the islands in the Yukon He would be in to camp by six oclock a bit after dark it was true but the boys would be there a fire would be going and a hot supper would be ready As for lunch he pressed his hand against the protruding bundle under his jacket It was also under his shirt wrapped up in a handkerchief and lying against the naked skin It was the only way to keep the biscuits from freezing He smiled agreeably to himself as he thought of those biscuits each cut open and sopped in bacon grease and each enclosing a generous slice of fried bacon

He plunged in among the big spruce trees The trail was faint A foot of snow had fallen since the last sled had passed over and he was glad he was without a sled traveling light In fact he carried nothing but the lunch wrapped in the handkerchief He was surprised however at the cold It certainly was cold he concluded as he rubbed his numb nose and cheek-bones with his mittened hand He was a warm-whiskered man but the hair on his face did not protect the high cheek-bones and the eager nose that thrust itself aggressively into the frosty air

At the mans heels trotted a dog a big native husky the proper wolf-dog gray-coated and without any visible or temperamental difference from its brother the wild wolf The animal was depressed by the tremendous cold It knew that it was no time for

traveling Its instinct told it a truer tale than was told to the man by the mans judgment In reality it was not merely colder than fifty below zero it was colder than sixty below than seventy below It was seventy-five below zero Since the freezing point is thirty-two above zero it meant that one hundred and seven degrees of frost obtained The dog did not know anything about thermometers Possibly in its brain there was no sharp consciousness of a condition of very cold such as was in the mans brain But the brute had its instinct It experienced a vague but menacing apprehension that subdued it then made it slink along at the mans heels and that made it question eagerly every unwonted movement of the man as if expecting him to go into camp or to seek shelter somewhere and build a fire The dog had learned fire and it wanted fire or else to burrow under the snow and cuddle its warmth away from the air

The frozen moisture of its breathing had settled on its fur in a fine powder of frost and especially were its jowls muzzle and eyelashes whitened by its cry-stalled breath The mans red beard and mustache were likewise frosted but more solidly the deposit taking the form of ice and increasing with every warm moist breath he exhaled Also the man was chewing tobacco and the muzzle of ice held his lips so rigidly that he was unable to clear his chin when he expelled the juice The result was that a crystal beard of the color and solidity of amber was increasing its length on his chin If he fell down it would shatter itself like glass into brittle fragments But he did not mind the appendage It was the penalty all tobacco-chewers paid in that country and he had been out before in two cold snaps They had not been so cold as this he knew but by the spirit thermometer at Sixty Mile he knew they had been registered at fifty below and at fifty-five

He held on through the level stretch of woods for several miles crossed a wide flat of rigger-heads and dropped down a bank to the frozen bed of a

To Build a FireContinued

small stream This was Henderson Creek and he knew he was ten miles from the forks He looked at his watch It was ten oclock He was making four miles an hour and he calculated that he would arrive at the forks at half-past twelve He decided to celebrate that event by eating his lunch there

The dog dropped in again at his heels with a tail drooping discouragement as the man swung along the creek-bed The furrow of the old sled-trail was plainly visible but a dozen inches of snow covered the marks of the last runners In a month no man had come up or down that silent creek The man held steadily on He was not much given to thinking and just then particularly he had nothing to think about save that he would eat lunch at-the forks and that at six oclock he would be in camp with the boys There was nobody to talk to and had there been speech would have been impossible because of the ice-muzzle on his mouth So he continued monotonously to chew tobacco and to increase the length of his amber beard

Once in a while the thought reiterated itself that it was very cold and that he had never experienced such cold As he walked along he rubbed his cheek-bones and nose with the back of his mittened hand He did this automatically now and again changing hands But rub as he would the instant he stopped his cheek-bones went numb and the following instant the end of his nose went numb He was sure to frost his cheeks he knew that and experienced a pang of regret that he had not devised a nose-strap of the sort Bud wore in cold snaps Such a strap passed across the cheeks as well and saved them But it didnt matter much after all What were frosted cheeks A bit painful that was all they were never serious

Empty as the mans mind was of thoughts he was keenly observant and he noticed the changes in the creek the curves and bends and timber jams and always he sharply noted where he placed his feet Once coming around a bend he shied abruptly

like a startled horse curved away from the place where he had been walking and retreated several paces back along the trail The creek he knew was frozen clear to the bottom--no creek could contain water in that arctic winter--but he knew also that there were springs that bubbled out from the hillsides and ran along under the snow and on top the ice of the creek He knew that the coldest snaps never froze these springs and he knew likewise their danger They were traps They hid pools of water under the snow that might be three inches deep or three feet Sometimes a skin of ice half an inch thick covered them and in turn was covered by the snow Sometimes there were alternate layers of water and ice-skin so that when one broke through he kept on breaking through for a while sometimes wetting himself to the waist

That was why he had shied in such panic He had felt the give under his feet and heard the crackle of a snow-hidden ice-skin And to get his feet wet in such a temperature meant trouble and danger At the very least it meant delay for he would be forced to stop and build a fire and under its protection to bare his feet while he dried his socks and moccasins He stood and studied the creek-bed and its banks and decided that the flow of water came from the right He reflected a while rubbing his nose and cheeks then skirted to the left stepping gingerly and testing the footing for each step Once clear of the danger he took a fresh chew of tobacco and swung along at his four-mile gait

In the course of the next two hours he came upon several similar traps Usually the snow above the hidden pools had a sunken candied appearance that advertised the danger Once again however he had a close call and once suspecting danger he compelled the dog to go on in front The dog did not want to go It hung back until the man shoved it forward and then it went quickly across the white unbroken surface Suddenly it broke through floundered to one side and got away to firmer

To Build a FireContinued

To Build a FireContinued

footing It had wet its forefeet and legs and almost immediately the water that clung to it turned to ice It made quick efforts to lick the ice off its legs then dropped down in the snow and began to bite out the ice that had formed between the toes l his was a matter of instinct To permit the ice to remain would mean sore feet It did not know this It merely obeyed the mysterious prompting that arose from the deep crypts of its being But the man knew having achieved a judgment on the subject and he removed the mitten from his right hand and helped tear out the ice-particles He did not expose his fingers more than a minute and was astonished at the swift numbness that smote them It certainly was cold He pulled on the mitten hastily and beat the hand savagely across his chest

At twelve oclock the day was at its brightest Yet the sun was too far south an its winter journey to clear the horizon The bulge of the earth intervened between it arid Henderson Creek where the man walked under a clear sky at noon and cast no shadow At half-past twelve to the minute he arrived at the forks of the creek He was pleased at the speed he had made If he kept it up he would certainly be with the boys by six He unbuttoned his jacket and shirt and drew forth his lunch The action consumed no more than a quarter of a minute yet in that brief moment the numbness laid hold of the exposed fingers He did not put the mitten on but instead struck the fingers a dozen sharp smashes against his leg Then he sat down on a snow-covered log to eat The sting that followed upon the striking of his fingers against his leg ceased so quickly that he was startled He had had no chance to take a bite of biscuit He struck the fingers repeatedly and returned them to the mitten baring the other hand for the purpose of eating He tried to take a mouthful but the ice-muzzle prevented He had forgotten to build a fire and thaw out He chuckled at his foolishness and as he chuckled he noted the numbness creeping into the exposed fingers Also he noted that the stinging which had first come to his

toes when he sat down was already passing away He wandered whether the toes were warm or numb He moved them inside the moccasins and decided that they were numb

He pulled the mitten on hurriedly and stood up He was a bit frightened He stamped up and down until the stinging returned into the feet It certainly was cold was his thought That man from Sulphur Creek had spoken the truth when telling how cold it sometimes got in the country And he had laughed at him at the time That showed one must not be too sure of things There was no mistake about it it was cold He strode up and down stamping his feet and threshing his arms until reassured by the returning warmth Then he got out matches and proceeded to make a fire From the undergrowth where high water of the previous spring had lodged a supply of seasoned twigs he got his firewood Working carefully from a small beginning he soon had a roaring fire over which he thawed the ice from his face and in the protection of which he ate his biscuits For the moment the cold space was outwitted The dog took satisfaction in the fire stretching out close enough for warmth and far enough away to escape being singed

When the man had finished be filled his pipe and took his comfortable time over a smoke Then he pulled on his mittens settled the ear-flaps of his cap firmly about his ears and took the creek trail up the left fork The dog was disappointed and yearned back toward the fire This man did not know cold Possibly all the generations of his ancestry had been ignorant of cold of real cold of cold one hundred and seven degrees below freezing point But the dog knew all its ancestry knew and it had inherited the knowledge And it knew that it was not good to walk abroad in such fearful cold It was the time to lie snug in a hole in the snow and wait for a curtain of cloud to be drawn across the face of outer space whence this cold came On the other hand there was no keen intimacy between the dog and the man

The one was the toil-slave of the other and the only caresses it had ever received were the caresses of the whiplash and of harsh and menacing throat-sounds that threatened the whiplash So the dog made no effort to communicate its apprehension to the man It was not concerned in the welfare of the man it was for its own sake that it yearned back toward the fire But the man whistled and spoke to it with the sound of whiplashes and the dog swung in at the mans heel and followed after

The man took a chew of tobacco and proceeded to start a new amber beard Also his moist breath quickly powdered with white his mustache eyebrows and lashes There did not seem to be so many springs on the left fork of the Henderson and for half an hour the man saw no signs of any And then it happened At a place where there were no signs where the soft unbroken snow seemed to advertise solidity beneath tee man broke through It was not deep He wet himself halfway to the knees before he floundered out to the firm crust

He was angry and cursed his luck aloud He had hoped to get into camp with the boys at six oclock and this would delay him an hour for he would have to build a fire and dry out his foot-gear This was imperative at that low temperature--he knew that much and he turned aside to the bank which he climbed On top tangled in the underbrush about the trunks of several small spruce trees was a high-water deposit of dry firewood--sticks and twigs principally but also larger portions of seasoned branches and fine dry last-years grasses He threw down several large pieces on top of the snow This served for a foundation and prevented the young flame from drowning itself in the snow it otherwise would melt The flame he got by touching a match to a small shred of birch bark that he took from his pocket This burned even more readily than paper Placing it on the foundation he fed the young flame with wisps of dry grass and with the tiniest dry twigs

He worked slowly and carefully keenly aware of his danger Gradually as the flame grew stronger he increased the size of the twigs with which he fed it He squatted in the snow pulling the twigs out from their entanglement in the brush and feeding directly to the flame He knew there must be no failure When it is seventy-five below zero a man must not fail in his first attempt to build a fire--that is if his feet are wet If his feet are dry and he fails he can run along the trail for half a mile and restore his circulation But the circulation of wet and freezing feet cannot be restored by running when it is seventy-five below No matter how fast he runs the wet feet will freeze the harder

All this the man knew The old-timer on Sulphur Creek had told him about it the previous fall and now he was appreciating the advice Already all sensation had gone out of his feet To build the fire he had been forced to remove his mittens and the fingers had quickly gone numb His pace of four miles an hour had kept his heart pumping blood to the surface of his body and to all the extremities But the instant he stopped the action of the pump eased down The cold of space smote the unprotected tip of the planet and he being on that unprotected tip received the full force of the blow The blood of his body recoiled before it The blood was alive like the dog and like the dog it wanted to hide away and cover itself up from the fearful cold So long as he walked four miles an hour he pumped that blood willy-nilly to the surface but now it ebbed away and sank down into the recesses of his body The extremities were the first to feel its absence His wet feet froze the faster and his exposed fingers numbed the faster though they had not yet begun to freeze Nose and cheeks were already freezing while the skin of all his body chilled as it lost its blood

But he was safe Toes and nose and cheeks would be only touched by the frost for the fire was beginning to burn with strength He was feeding it

To Build a FireContinued

with twigs the size of his finger In another minute he would be able to feed it with branches the size of his wrier and then he could remove his wet toot-gear and while it dried he could keep his naked feet warm by the fire rubbing them at first of course with snow The fire was a success He was safe He remembered the advice of the old timer on Sulphur Creek and smiled The old-timer had been very serious in laying down the law that no man must travel alone in the Klondike after fifty below Well here he was he had had the accident he was alone and he had saved himself Those old-timers were rather womanish some of them he thought All a man had to do was to keep his head and he was all right Any man who was a man could travel alone But it was surprising the rapidity with which his cheeks and nose were freezing And he had not thought his fingers could go lifeless in so short a time Lifeless they were for he could scarcely make them move together to grip a twig and they seemed remote from his body and from him When he touched a twig he had to look and see whether or not he had hold of it The wires were pretty well down between him and his finger-ends

All of which counted for little There was the fire snapping and crackling and promising life with every dancing flame He started to untie his moccasins They were coated with ice the thick German socks were like sheaths of iron halfway to the knees and the moccasin strings were like rods of steel all twisted and knotted as by some conflagration For a moment he tugged with his numb fingers then realizing the folly of it he drew his sheath-knife

But before he could cut the strings it happened It was his own fault or rather his mistake He should not have built the fire under the spruce tree He should have built it in the open But it had been easier to pull the twigs from the brush and drop them directly on the fire Now the tree under which

he had done this carried a weight of snow on its boughs No wind had blown for weeks and each bough was fully freighted Each time he had pulled a twig he had communicated a slight agitation to the tree--an imperceptible agitation so far as he was concerned but an agitation sufficient to bring about the disaster High up in the tree one bough capsized its load of snow This fell on the boughs beneath capsizing them This process continued spreading out and involving the whole tree It grew like an avalanche and it descended without warning upon the man and the fire and the fire was blotted out Where it had burned was a mantle of fresh and disordered snow

The man was shocked It was as though he had just heard his own sentence of death For a moment he sat and stared at the spot where the fire had been Then he grew very calm Perhaps the old-timer on Sulphur Creek was right If he had only had a trail-mate he would have been in no danger now The trail-mate could have built the fire Well it was up to him to build the fire over again and this second time there must be no failure Even if he succeeded he would most likely lose some toes His feet must be badly frozen by now and there would be some time before the second fire Was ready

Such were his thoughts but he did not sit and think them He was busy all the time they were passing through his mind He made a new foundation for a fire this time in the open where no treacherous tree could blot it out Next he gathered dry grasses and tiny twigs from the high-water flotsam He could not bring his fingers together to pull them out but he was able to gather them by the handful In this way he got many rotten twigs and bits of green moss that were undesirable but it was the best he could do He worked methodically even collecting an armful of the larger branches to be used later when the fire gathered strength And all the while the dog sat and watched him a certain yearning wistfulness in its eyes for it looked upon

To Build a FireContinued

him as the fire-provider and the fire was slow in coming

When all was ready the man reached in his pocket for a second piece of birch bark He knew the bark was there and though he could not feel it with his fingers he could hear its crisp rustling as he fumbled for it Try as he would he could not clutch hold of it And all the time in his consciousness was the knowledge that each instant his feet were freezing This thought tended to put him in a panic but he fought against it and kept calm He pulled on his mittens with his teeth and threshed his arms back and forth beating his hands with all his might against his sides He did this sitting down and he stood up to do it and all the while the dog sat in the snow its wolf-brush of a tail curled around warmly over its forefeet its sharp wolf-ears pricked forward intently as it watched the man And the man as he beat and threshed with his arms and hands felt a great surge of envy as he regarded the creature that was warm ant secure in its natural covering

After a time he was aware of the first far-away signals of sensation in his beaten fingers The faint tingling grew stronger till it evolved into a stinging ache that was excruciating but which the man hailed with satisfaction He stripped the mitten from his right hand and fetched forth the birch bark The exposed fingers were quickly going numb again Next he brought out his bunch of sulphur matches But the tremendous cold had already driven the life out of his fingers In his effort to separate one match from the others the whole bunch fell in the snow He tried to pick it out of the snow but failed The dead fingers could neither touch nor clutch He was very careful He drove the thought of his freezing feet and nose and cheeks out of his mind devoting his whole soul to the matches He watched using the sense of vision in place of that of touch and when he saw his fingers on each side the bunch he dosed them--that is he willed to close them for the wires were down and the fingers did not obey He pulled

the mitten on the right hand and beat it fiercely against his knee Then with both mittened hands he scooped the bunch of matches along with much snow into his lap Yet he was no better off

After some manipulation he managed to get the bunch between the heels of his mittened hands In this fashion he carried it to his mouth The ice crackled and snapped when by a violent effort he opened his mouth He drew the lower jaw in curled the upper lip out of the way and scraped the bunch with his upper teeth in order to separate a match He succeeded in getting one which he dropped on his lap He was no better off He could not pick it up Then he devised a way He picked it up in his teeth and scratched it on his leg Twenty times he scratched before he succeeded in lighting it As it flamed he held it with his teeth to the birch bark But the burning brimstone went up his nostrils and into his lungs causing him to cough spasmodically The match fell into the snow and went out

The old-timer an Sulphur Creek was right he thought in the moment of controlled despair that ensued after fifty below a man should travel with a partner He beat his hands but failed in exciting any sensation Suddenly he bared both hands removing the mittens with his teeth He caught the whole bunch between the heels of his hands His arm muscles not being frozen enabled him to press the hand-heels tightly against the matches Then he scratched the bunch along his leg It flared into flame seventy sulphur matches at once There was no wind to blow them out He kept his head to one side to escape the strangling fumes and held the blazing bunch to the birth bark As he so held it he became aware of sensation in his hand His flesh was burning He could smell it Deep down below the surface he could feel it The sensation developed into pain that grew acute And still he endured it holding the flame of the matches clumsily to the bark that would not light readily because his own burning hands were in the way absorbing most of the flame

To Build a FireContinued

At last when he could endure no more he jerked his hands apart The blazing matches fell sizzling into the snow but the birch bark was alight He began laying dry grasses and the tiniest twigs on the flame He could not pick and choose for he had to lift the fuel between the heels of his hands Small pieces of rotten wood and green moss clung to the twigs and he bit them off as well as he could with his teeth He cherished the flame carefully and awkwardly It meant life and it must not perish The withdrawal of blood from the surface of his body now made him begin to shiver and he grew more awkward A large piece of green moss fell squarely on the little fire He tried to poke it out with his fingers but his shivering frame made him poke too far and he disrupted the nucleus of the little fire the burning grasses and tiny twigs separating and scattering He tried to poke them together again but in spite of the tenseness of the effort his shivering got away with him and the twigs were hopelessly scattered Each twig gushed a puff of smoke and went out The fire-provider had failed As he looked apathetically about him his eyes chanced on the dog sitting across the ruins of the fire from him in the snow making restless hunching movements slightly lifting one forefoot and then the other shifting its weight back and forth on them with wistful eagerness

The sight of the dog put a wild idea into his head He remembered the tale of the man caught in a blizzard who killed a steer and crawled inside the carcass and so was saved He would kill the dog and bury his hands in the warm body until the numbness went out of them Then he could build another fire He spoke to the dog calling it to him but in his voice was a strange note of fear that frightened the animal who had never known the man to speak in such way before Something was the matter and its suspicious nature sensed danger--it knew not what danger but somewhere somehow in its brain arose an apprehension of the man It flattened its ears down at the sound of the mans voice and its restless

hunching movements and the liftings and shiftings of its forefeet became more pronounced but it would not come to the man He got on his hands and knees and crawled toward the dog This unusual posture again excited suspicion and the animal sidled mincingly away

The man sat up in the snow for a moment and struggled for calmness Then he pulled on his mittens by means of his teeth and got upon his feet He glanced down at first in order to assure himself that he was really standing up for the absence of sensation in his feet left him unrelated to the earth His erect position in itself started to drive the webs of suspicion from the dogs mind and when he spoke peremptorily with the sound of whiplashes in his voice the dog rendered its customary allegiance and came to him As it came within reaching distance the man lost his control His arms flashed out to the dog and he experienced genuine surprise when he discovered that his hands could not clutch that there was neither bend nor feeling in the fingers He had forgotten for the moment that they were frozen and that they were freezing more and more All this happened quickly and before the animal could get away he encircled its body with his arms He sat down in the snow and in this fashion held the dog while it snarled and whined and struggled

But it was all he could do hold its body encircled in his arms and sit there He realized that he could not kill the dog There was no way to do it With his helpless hands he could neither draw nor hold his sheath knife nor throttle the animal He released it and it plunged wildly away with tail between its legs and still snarling It halted forty feet away and surveyed him curiously with ears sharply pricked forward The man looked down at his hands in order to locate them and found them hanging on the ends of his arms It struck him as curious that one should have to use his eyes in order to find out where his hands were He began threshing his arms back and forth beating the mittened hands against

To Build a FireContinued

his sides He did this for five minutes violently and his heart pumped enough blood up to the surface to put a stop to his shivering But no sensation was aroused in the hands He had an impression that they hung like weights on the ends of his arms but when he tried to run the impression down he could not find it

A certain fear of death dull and oppressive came to him This fear quickly became poignant as he realized that it was no longer a mere matter of freezing his fingers and toes or of losing his hands and feet but that it was a matter of life and death with the chances against him This threw him into a panic and he turned and ran up the creek-bed along the old dim trail The dog joined in behind and kept up with him He ran blindly without intention in fear such as he had never known in his life Slowly as he plowed and floundered through the snow he began to see things again the banks of the creek the old timber-jams the leafless aspens and the sky The running made him feel better He did not shiver Maybe if he ran on his feet would thaw out and anyway if he ran far enough he would reach camp and the boys Without doubt he would lose some fingers and toes and some of his face but the boys would take care of him and save the rest of him when he got there And at the same time there was another thought in his mind that said he would never get to the camp and the boys that it was too many miles away that the freezing had too great a start on him and that he would soon be stiff and dead This thought he kept in the background and refused to consider Sometimes it pushed itself forward and demanded to be heard but he thrust it back and strove to think of other things

It struck him as curious that he could run at all on feet so frozen that he could not feel them when they struck the earth and took the weigh of his body He seemed to himself to skim along above the surface and to have no connection with the earth Somewhere he had once seen a winged Mercury

and he wondered if Mercury felt as he felt when skimming over the earth

His theory of running until he reached camp and the boys had one flaw in it he lacked the endurance Several times he stumbled and finally he tottered crumpled up and fell When he tried to rise he failed He must sit and rest he decided and next time he would merely walk and keep on going As he sat and regained his breath he noted that he was feeling quite warm and comfortable He was not shivering and it even seemed that a warm glow had come to his chest and trunk And yet when he touched his nose or cheeks there was no sensation Running would not thaw them out Nor would it thaw out his hands and feet Then the thought came to him that the frozen portions of his body must be extending He tried to keep this thought down to forget it to think of something else he was aware of the panicky feeling that it caused and he was afraid of the panic But the thought asserted itself and persisted until it produced a vision of his body totally frozen This was too much and he made another wild run along the trail Once he slowed down to a walk but the thought of the freezing extending itself made him run again

And all the time the dog ran with him at his heels When he fell down a second time it curled its tad over its forefeet and sat in front of him facing him curiously eager and intent The warmth and security of the animal angered him and he cursed it till it flattened down its ears appealingly This time the shivering came more quickly upon the man He was losing in his battle with the frost It was creeping into his body from all sides The thought of it drove him on but he ran no more than a hundred feet when he staggered and pitched headlong It was his last panic When he had recovered his breath and control he sat up and entertained in his mind the conception of meeting death with dignity However the conception did not come to him in such terms His idea of it was that he had been making a fool of

To Build a FireContinued

himself running around like a chicken with its head cut off--such was the simile that occurred to him Well he was bound to freeze anyway and he might as well take it decently With this new-found peace of mind came the first glimmerings of drowsiness A good idea he thought to sleep off to death It was like salting an anesthetic Freezing was not so bad as people thought There were lots worse ways to die

He pictured the boys finding his body next day Suddenly he found himself with them coming along the trail and looking for himself And still with them he came around a turn in the trail and found himself lying in the snow He did not belong with himself any more for even then he was out of himself standing with the boys and looking at himself in the snow It certainly was cold was his thought When he got back to the States he could tell the folks what real cold was He drifted on from this to a vision of the old-timer on Sulphur Creek He could see him quite clearly warm and comfortable and smoking a pipe

You were right old boss you were right the man mumbled to the old-timer of Sulphur Creek

Then the man drowsed off into what seemed to him the most comfortable and satisfying sleep he had ever known The dog sat facing him and waiting The brief day drew to a close in a long slow twilight There were no signs of a fire to be made and besides never in the dogs experience had it known a man to sit like that in the snow and make no fire As the twilight drew on its eager yearning for the fire mastered it and with a great lifting and shifting of forefeet it whined softly then flattened its ears down in anticipation of being chidden by the man But the man remained silent Later the dog whined loudly And still later it crept close to the man and caught the scent of death This made the animal bristle and back away A little longer it delayed howling under the stars that leaped and danced and shone brightly in the cold sky Then it turned and trotted up the trail in the direction of the camp it knew where were the other food-providers and fire-providers

To Build a FireContinued

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Page 60: FitnessDigest.us Vol. 4.3 Cover

Volunteering vs Participating13 My girl friend and I are involved in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation The local chapter raises awareness for the cause with a fun-run each year We have volunteered to help with the race five years in a row This year we were stationed at a water table where the runners pick-up cups of water to drink Toward the end of the race there are very few runners There was a little time to chat about things We were talking about what we would wish for if we could have three wishes I told her I would wish for an end to Juvenile Diabetes and to lose 10 pounds Being nice I said ldquoyou can have my last wishrdquo She said I wish you would skip volunteering and just run this race next year

Admission Price Our aquatic center was having a promotion one night and advertised an elementary school night The kids could swim for free When we got to the pool we saw a promotional sign for the event In small lettering it read All swimmers must be accompanied by an adult We thought no big deal one of us can just stay and watch When we got to the front desk we found the lifeguard was enforcing the adult-admission price of $8

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As he turned to go on he spat speculatively There was a sharp explosive crackle that startled him He spat again And again in the air before it could fall to the snow the spittle crackled He knew that at fifty below spittle crackled on the snow but this spittle had crackled in the air Undoubtedly it was colder than fifty below--how much colder he did not know But the temperature did not matter He was bound for the old claim on the left fork of Henderson Creek where the boys were already They had come over across the divide from the Indian Creek country while he had come the roundabout way to take a look at the possibilities of getting out logs in the spring from the islands in the Yukon He would be in to camp by six oclock a bit after dark it was true but the boys would be there a fire would be going and a hot supper would be ready As for lunch he pressed his hand against the protruding bundle under his jacket It was also under his shirt wrapped up in a handkerchief and lying against the naked skin It was the only way to keep the biscuits from freezing He smiled agreeably to himself as he thought of those biscuits each cut open and sopped in bacon grease and each enclosing a generous slice of fried bacon

He plunged in among the big spruce trees The trail was faint A foot of snow had fallen since the last sled had passed over and he was glad he was without a sled traveling light In fact he carried nothing but the lunch wrapped in the handkerchief He was surprised however at the cold It certainly was cold he concluded as he rubbed his numb nose and cheek-bones with his mittened hand He was a warm-whiskered man but the hair on his face did not protect the high cheek-bones and the eager nose that thrust itself aggressively into the frosty air

At the mans heels trotted a dog a big native husky the proper wolf-dog gray-coated and without any visible or temperamental difference from its brother the wild wolf The animal was depressed by the tremendous cold It knew that it was no time for

traveling Its instinct told it a truer tale than was told to the man by the mans judgment In reality it was not merely colder than fifty below zero it was colder than sixty below than seventy below It was seventy-five below zero Since the freezing point is thirty-two above zero it meant that one hundred and seven degrees of frost obtained The dog did not know anything about thermometers Possibly in its brain there was no sharp consciousness of a condition of very cold such as was in the mans brain But the brute had its instinct It experienced a vague but menacing apprehension that subdued it then made it slink along at the mans heels and that made it question eagerly every unwonted movement of the man as if expecting him to go into camp or to seek shelter somewhere and build a fire The dog had learned fire and it wanted fire or else to burrow under the snow and cuddle its warmth away from the air

The frozen moisture of its breathing had settled on its fur in a fine powder of frost and especially were its jowls muzzle and eyelashes whitened by its cry-stalled breath The mans red beard and mustache were likewise frosted but more solidly the deposit taking the form of ice and increasing with every warm moist breath he exhaled Also the man was chewing tobacco and the muzzle of ice held his lips so rigidly that he was unable to clear his chin when he expelled the juice The result was that a crystal beard of the color and solidity of amber was increasing its length on his chin If he fell down it would shatter itself like glass into brittle fragments But he did not mind the appendage It was the penalty all tobacco-chewers paid in that country and he had been out before in two cold snaps They had not been so cold as this he knew but by the spirit thermometer at Sixty Mile he knew they had been registered at fifty below and at fifty-five

He held on through the level stretch of woods for several miles crossed a wide flat of rigger-heads and dropped down a bank to the frozen bed of a

To Build a FireContinued

small stream This was Henderson Creek and he knew he was ten miles from the forks He looked at his watch It was ten oclock He was making four miles an hour and he calculated that he would arrive at the forks at half-past twelve He decided to celebrate that event by eating his lunch there

The dog dropped in again at his heels with a tail drooping discouragement as the man swung along the creek-bed The furrow of the old sled-trail was plainly visible but a dozen inches of snow covered the marks of the last runners In a month no man had come up or down that silent creek The man held steadily on He was not much given to thinking and just then particularly he had nothing to think about save that he would eat lunch at-the forks and that at six oclock he would be in camp with the boys There was nobody to talk to and had there been speech would have been impossible because of the ice-muzzle on his mouth So he continued monotonously to chew tobacco and to increase the length of his amber beard

Once in a while the thought reiterated itself that it was very cold and that he had never experienced such cold As he walked along he rubbed his cheek-bones and nose with the back of his mittened hand He did this automatically now and again changing hands But rub as he would the instant he stopped his cheek-bones went numb and the following instant the end of his nose went numb He was sure to frost his cheeks he knew that and experienced a pang of regret that he had not devised a nose-strap of the sort Bud wore in cold snaps Such a strap passed across the cheeks as well and saved them But it didnt matter much after all What were frosted cheeks A bit painful that was all they were never serious

Empty as the mans mind was of thoughts he was keenly observant and he noticed the changes in the creek the curves and bends and timber jams and always he sharply noted where he placed his feet Once coming around a bend he shied abruptly

like a startled horse curved away from the place where he had been walking and retreated several paces back along the trail The creek he knew was frozen clear to the bottom--no creek could contain water in that arctic winter--but he knew also that there were springs that bubbled out from the hillsides and ran along under the snow and on top the ice of the creek He knew that the coldest snaps never froze these springs and he knew likewise their danger They were traps They hid pools of water under the snow that might be three inches deep or three feet Sometimes a skin of ice half an inch thick covered them and in turn was covered by the snow Sometimes there were alternate layers of water and ice-skin so that when one broke through he kept on breaking through for a while sometimes wetting himself to the waist

That was why he had shied in such panic He had felt the give under his feet and heard the crackle of a snow-hidden ice-skin And to get his feet wet in such a temperature meant trouble and danger At the very least it meant delay for he would be forced to stop and build a fire and under its protection to bare his feet while he dried his socks and moccasins He stood and studied the creek-bed and its banks and decided that the flow of water came from the right He reflected a while rubbing his nose and cheeks then skirted to the left stepping gingerly and testing the footing for each step Once clear of the danger he took a fresh chew of tobacco and swung along at his four-mile gait

In the course of the next two hours he came upon several similar traps Usually the snow above the hidden pools had a sunken candied appearance that advertised the danger Once again however he had a close call and once suspecting danger he compelled the dog to go on in front The dog did not want to go It hung back until the man shoved it forward and then it went quickly across the white unbroken surface Suddenly it broke through floundered to one side and got away to firmer

To Build a FireContinued

To Build a FireContinued

footing It had wet its forefeet and legs and almost immediately the water that clung to it turned to ice It made quick efforts to lick the ice off its legs then dropped down in the snow and began to bite out the ice that had formed between the toes l his was a matter of instinct To permit the ice to remain would mean sore feet It did not know this It merely obeyed the mysterious prompting that arose from the deep crypts of its being But the man knew having achieved a judgment on the subject and he removed the mitten from his right hand and helped tear out the ice-particles He did not expose his fingers more than a minute and was astonished at the swift numbness that smote them It certainly was cold He pulled on the mitten hastily and beat the hand savagely across his chest

At twelve oclock the day was at its brightest Yet the sun was too far south an its winter journey to clear the horizon The bulge of the earth intervened between it arid Henderson Creek where the man walked under a clear sky at noon and cast no shadow At half-past twelve to the minute he arrived at the forks of the creek He was pleased at the speed he had made If he kept it up he would certainly be with the boys by six He unbuttoned his jacket and shirt and drew forth his lunch The action consumed no more than a quarter of a minute yet in that brief moment the numbness laid hold of the exposed fingers He did not put the mitten on but instead struck the fingers a dozen sharp smashes against his leg Then he sat down on a snow-covered log to eat The sting that followed upon the striking of his fingers against his leg ceased so quickly that he was startled He had had no chance to take a bite of biscuit He struck the fingers repeatedly and returned them to the mitten baring the other hand for the purpose of eating He tried to take a mouthful but the ice-muzzle prevented He had forgotten to build a fire and thaw out He chuckled at his foolishness and as he chuckled he noted the numbness creeping into the exposed fingers Also he noted that the stinging which had first come to his

toes when he sat down was already passing away He wandered whether the toes were warm or numb He moved them inside the moccasins and decided that they were numb

He pulled the mitten on hurriedly and stood up He was a bit frightened He stamped up and down until the stinging returned into the feet It certainly was cold was his thought That man from Sulphur Creek had spoken the truth when telling how cold it sometimes got in the country And he had laughed at him at the time That showed one must not be too sure of things There was no mistake about it it was cold He strode up and down stamping his feet and threshing his arms until reassured by the returning warmth Then he got out matches and proceeded to make a fire From the undergrowth where high water of the previous spring had lodged a supply of seasoned twigs he got his firewood Working carefully from a small beginning he soon had a roaring fire over which he thawed the ice from his face and in the protection of which he ate his biscuits For the moment the cold space was outwitted The dog took satisfaction in the fire stretching out close enough for warmth and far enough away to escape being singed

When the man had finished be filled his pipe and took his comfortable time over a smoke Then he pulled on his mittens settled the ear-flaps of his cap firmly about his ears and took the creek trail up the left fork The dog was disappointed and yearned back toward the fire This man did not know cold Possibly all the generations of his ancestry had been ignorant of cold of real cold of cold one hundred and seven degrees below freezing point But the dog knew all its ancestry knew and it had inherited the knowledge And it knew that it was not good to walk abroad in such fearful cold It was the time to lie snug in a hole in the snow and wait for a curtain of cloud to be drawn across the face of outer space whence this cold came On the other hand there was no keen intimacy between the dog and the man

The one was the toil-slave of the other and the only caresses it had ever received were the caresses of the whiplash and of harsh and menacing throat-sounds that threatened the whiplash So the dog made no effort to communicate its apprehension to the man It was not concerned in the welfare of the man it was for its own sake that it yearned back toward the fire But the man whistled and spoke to it with the sound of whiplashes and the dog swung in at the mans heel and followed after

The man took a chew of tobacco and proceeded to start a new amber beard Also his moist breath quickly powdered with white his mustache eyebrows and lashes There did not seem to be so many springs on the left fork of the Henderson and for half an hour the man saw no signs of any And then it happened At a place where there were no signs where the soft unbroken snow seemed to advertise solidity beneath tee man broke through It was not deep He wet himself halfway to the knees before he floundered out to the firm crust

He was angry and cursed his luck aloud He had hoped to get into camp with the boys at six oclock and this would delay him an hour for he would have to build a fire and dry out his foot-gear This was imperative at that low temperature--he knew that much and he turned aside to the bank which he climbed On top tangled in the underbrush about the trunks of several small spruce trees was a high-water deposit of dry firewood--sticks and twigs principally but also larger portions of seasoned branches and fine dry last-years grasses He threw down several large pieces on top of the snow This served for a foundation and prevented the young flame from drowning itself in the snow it otherwise would melt The flame he got by touching a match to a small shred of birch bark that he took from his pocket This burned even more readily than paper Placing it on the foundation he fed the young flame with wisps of dry grass and with the tiniest dry twigs

He worked slowly and carefully keenly aware of his danger Gradually as the flame grew stronger he increased the size of the twigs with which he fed it He squatted in the snow pulling the twigs out from their entanglement in the brush and feeding directly to the flame He knew there must be no failure When it is seventy-five below zero a man must not fail in his first attempt to build a fire--that is if his feet are wet If his feet are dry and he fails he can run along the trail for half a mile and restore his circulation But the circulation of wet and freezing feet cannot be restored by running when it is seventy-five below No matter how fast he runs the wet feet will freeze the harder

All this the man knew The old-timer on Sulphur Creek had told him about it the previous fall and now he was appreciating the advice Already all sensation had gone out of his feet To build the fire he had been forced to remove his mittens and the fingers had quickly gone numb His pace of four miles an hour had kept his heart pumping blood to the surface of his body and to all the extremities But the instant he stopped the action of the pump eased down The cold of space smote the unprotected tip of the planet and he being on that unprotected tip received the full force of the blow The blood of his body recoiled before it The blood was alive like the dog and like the dog it wanted to hide away and cover itself up from the fearful cold So long as he walked four miles an hour he pumped that blood willy-nilly to the surface but now it ebbed away and sank down into the recesses of his body The extremities were the first to feel its absence His wet feet froze the faster and his exposed fingers numbed the faster though they had not yet begun to freeze Nose and cheeks were already freezing while the skin of all his body chilled as it lost its blood

But he was safe Toes and nose and cheeks would be only touched by the frost for the fire was beginning to burn with strength He was feeding it

To Build a FireContinued

with twigs the size of his finger In another minute he would be able to feed it with branches the size of his wrier and then he could remove his wet toot-gear and while it dried he could keep his naked feet warm by the fire rubbing them at first of course with snow The fire was a success He was safe He remembered the advice of the old timer on Sulphur Creek and smiled The old-timer had been very serious in laying down the law that no man must travel alone in the Klondike after fifty below Well here he was he had had the accident he was alone and he had saved himself Those old-timers were rather womanish some of them he thought All a man had to do was to keep his head and he was all right Any man who was a man could travel alone But it was surprising the rapidity with which his cheeks and nose were freezing And he had not thought his fingers could go lifeless in so short a time Lifeless they were for he could scarcely make them move together to grip a twig and they seemed remote from his body and from him When he touched a twig he had to look and see whether or not he had hold of it The wires were pretty well down between him and his finger-ends

All of which counted for little There was the fire snapping and crackling and promising life with every dancing flame He started to untie his moccasins They were coated with ice the thick German socks were like sheaths of iron halfway to the knees and the moccasin strings were like rods of steel all twisted and knotted as by some conflagration For a moment he tugged with his numb fingers then realizing the folly of it he drew his sheath-knife

But before he could cut the strings it happened It was his own fault or rather his mistake He should not have built the fire under the spruce tree He should have built it in the open But it had been easier to pull the twigs from the brush and drop them directly on the fire Now the tree under which

he had done this carried a weight of snow on its boughs No wind had blown for weeks and each bough was fully freighted Each time he had pulled a twig he had communicated a slight agitation to the tree--an imperceptible agitation so far as he was concerned but an agitation sufficient to bring about the disaster High up in the tree one bough capsized its load of snow This fell on the boughs beneath capsizing them This process continued spreading out and involving the whole tree It grew like an avalanche and it descended without warning upon the man and the fire and the fire was blotted out Where it had burned was a mantle of fresh and disordered snow

The man was shocked It was as though he had just heard his own sentence of death For a moment he sat and stared at the spot where the fire had been Then he grew very calm Perhaps the old-timer on Sulphur Creek was right If he had only had a trail-mate he would have been in no danger now The trail-mate could have built the fire Well it was up to him to build the fire over again and this second time there must be no failure Even if he succeeded he would most likely lose some toes His feet must be badly frozen by now and there would be some time before the second fire Was ready

Such were his thoughts but he did not sit and think them He was busy all the time they were passing through his mind He made a new foundation for a fire this time in the open where no treacherous tree could blot it out Next he gathered dry grasses and tiny twigs from the high-water flotsam He could not bring his fingers together to pull them out but he was able to gather them by the handful In this way he got many rotten twigs and bits of green moss that were undesirable but it was the best he could do He worked methodically even collecting an armful of the larger branches to be used later when the fire gathered strength And all the while the dog sat and watched him a certain yearning wistfulness in its eyes for it looked upon

To Build a FireContinued

him as the fire-provider and the fire was slow in coming

When all was ready the man reached in his pocket for a second piece of birch bark He knew the bark was there and though he could not feel it with his fingers he could hear its crisp rustling as he fumbled for it Try as he would he could not clutch hold of it And all the time in his consciousness was the knowledge that each instant his feet were freezing This thought tended to put him in a panic but he fought against it and kept calm He pulled on his mittens with his teeth and threshed his arms back and forth beating his hands with all his might against his sides He did this sitting down and he stood up to do it and all the while the dog sat in the snow its wolf-brush of a tail curled around warmly over its forefeet its sharp wolf-ears pricked forward intently as it watched the man And the man as he beat and threshed with his arms and hands felt a great surge of envy as he regarded the creature that was warm ant secure in its natural covering

After a time he was aware of the first far-away signals of sensation in his beaten fingers The faint tingling grew stronger till it evolved into a stinging ache that was excruciating but which the man hailed with satisfaction He stripped the mitten from his right hand and fetched forth the birch bark The exposed fingers were quickly going numb again Next he brought out his bunch of sulphur matches But the tremendous cold had already driven the life out of his fingers In his effort to separate one match from the others the whole bunch fell in the snow He tried to pick it out of the snow but failed The dead fingers could neither touch nor clutch He was very careful He drove the thought of his freezing feet and nose and cheeks out of his mind devoting his whole soul to the matches He watched using the sense of vision in place of that of touch and when he saw his fingers on each side the bunch he dosed them--that is he willed to close them for the wires were down and the fingers did not obey He pulled

the mitten on the right hand and beat it fiercely against his knee Then with both mittened hands he scooped the bunch of matches along with much snow into his lap Yet he was no better off

After some manipulation he managed to get the bunch between the heels of his mittened hands In this fashion he carried it to his mouth The ice crackled and snapped when by a violent effort he opened his mouth He drew the lower jaw in curled the upper lip out of the way and scraped the bunch with his upper teeth in order to separate a match He succeeded in getting one which he dropped on his lap He was no better off He could not pick it up Then he devised a way He picked it up in his teeth and scratched it on his leg Twenty times he scratched before he succeeded in lighting it As it flamed he held it with his teeth to the birch bark But the burning brimstone went up his nostrils and into his lungs causing him to cough spasmodically The match fell into the snow and went out

The old-timer an Sulphur Creek was right he thought in the moment of controlled despair that ensued after fifty below a man should travel with a partner He beat his hands but failed in exciting any sensation Suddenly he bared both hands removing the mittens with his teeth He caught the whole bunch between the heels of his hands His arm muscles not being frozen enabled him to press the hand-heels tightly against the matches Then he scratched the bunch along his leg It flared into flame seventy sulphur matches at once There was no wind to blow them out He kept his head to one side to escape the strangling fumes and held the blazing bunch to the birth bark As he so held it he became aware of sensation in his hand His flesh was burning He could smell it Deep down below the surface he could feel it The sensation developed into pain that grew acute And still he endured it holding the flame of the matches clumsily to the bark that would not light readily because his own burning hands were in the way absorbing most of the flame

To Build a FireContinued

At last when he could endure no more he jerked his hands apart The blazing matches fell sizzling into the snow but the birch bark was alight He began laying dry grasses and the tiniest twigs on the flame He could not pick and choose for he had to lift the fuel between the heels of his hands Small pieces of rotten wood and green moss clung to the twigs and he bit them off as well as he could with his teeth He cherished the flame carefully and awkwardly It meant life and it must not perish The withdrawal of blood from the surface of his body now made him begin to shiver and he grew more awkward A large piece of green moss fell squarely on the little fire He tried to poke it out with his fingers but his shivering frame made him poke too far and he disrupted the nucleus of the little fire the burning grasses and tiny twigs separating and scattering He tried to poke them together again but in spite of the tenseness of the effort his shivering got away with him and the twigs were hopelessly scattered Each twig gushed a puff of smoke and went out The fire-provider had failed As he looked apathetically about him his eyes chanced on the dog sitting across the ruins of the fire from him in the snow making restless hunching movements slightly lifting one forefoot and then the other shifting its weight back and forth on them with wistful eagerness

The sight of the dog put a wild idea into his head He remembered the tale of the man caught in a blizzard who killed a steer and crawled inside the carcass and so was saved He would kill the dog and bury his hands in the warm body until the numbness went out of them Then he could build another fire He spoke to the dog calling it to him but in his voice was a strange note of fear that frightened the animal who had never known the man to speak in such way before Something was the matter and its suspicious nature sensed danger--it knew not what danger but somewhere somehow in its brain arose an apprehension of the man It flattened its ears down at the sound of the mans voice and its restless

hunching movements and the liftings and shiftings of its forefeet became more pronounced but it would not come to the man He got on his hands and knees and crawled toward the dog This unusual posture again excited suspicion and the animal sidled mincingly away

The man sat up in the snow for a moment and struggled for calmness Then he pulled on his mittens by means of his teeth and got upon his feet He glanced down at first in order to assure himself that he was really standing up for the absence of sensation in his feet left him unrelated to the earth His erect position in itself started to drive the webs of suspicion from the dogs mind and when he spoke peremptorily with the sound of whiplashes in his voice the dog rendered its customary allegiance and came to him As it came within reaching distance the man lost his control His arms flashed out to the dog and he experienced genuine surprise when he discovered that his hands could not clutch that there was neither bend nor feeling in the fingers He had forgotten for the moment that they were frozen and that they were freezing more and more All this happened quickly and before the animal could get away he encircled its body with his arms He sat down in the snow and in this fashion held the dog while it snarled and whined and struggled

But it was all he could do hold its body encircled in his arms and sit there He realized that he could not kill the dog There was no way to do it With his helpless hands he could neither draw nor hold his sheath knife nor throttle the animal He released it and it plunged wildly away with tail between its legs and still snarling It halted forty feet away and surveyed him curiously with ears sharply pricked forward The man looked down at his hands in order to locate them and found them hanging on the ends of his arms It struck him as curious that one should have to use his eyes in order to find out where his hands were He began threshing his arms back and forth beating the mittened hands against

To Build a FireContinued

his sides He did this for five minutes violently and his heart pumped enough blood up to the surface to put a stop to his shivering But no sensation was aroused in the hands He had an impression that they hung like weights on the ends of his arms but when he tried to run the impression down he could not find it

A certain fear of death dull and oppressive came to him This fear quickly became poignant as he realized that it was no longer a mere matter of freezing his fingers and toes or of losing his hands and feet but that it was a matter of life and death with the chances against him This threw him into a panic and he turned and ran up the creek-bed along the old dim trail The dog joined in behind and kept up with him He ran blindly without intention in fear such as he had never known in his life Slowly as he plowed and floundered through the snow he began to see things again the banks of the creek the old timber-jams the leafless aspens and the sky The running made him feel better He did not shiver Maybe if he ran on his feet would thaw out and anyway if he ran far enough he would reach camp and the boys Without doubt he would lose some fingers and toes and some of his face but the boys would take care of him and save the rest of him when he got there And at the same time there was another thought in his mind that said he would never get to the camp and the boys that it was too many miles away that the freezing had too great a start on him and that he would soon be stiff and dead This thought he kept in the background and refused to consider Sometimes it pushed itself forward and demanded to be heard but he thrust it back and strove to think of other things

It struck him as curious that he could run at all on feet so frozen that he could not feel them when they struck the earth and took the weigh of his body He seemed to himself to skim along above the surface and to have no connection with the earth Somewhere he had once seen a winged Mercury

and he wondered if Mercury felt as he felt when skimming over the earth

His theory of running until he reached camp and the boys had one flaw in it he lacked the endurance Several times he stumbled and finally he tottered crumpled up and fell When he tried to rise he failed He must sit and rest he decided and next time he would merely walk and keep on going As he sat and regained his breath he noted that he was feeling quite warm and comfortable He was not shivering and it even seemed that a warm glow had come to his chest and trunk And yet when he touched his nose or cheeks there was no sensation Running would not thaw them out Nor would it thaw out his hands and feet Then the thought came to him that the frozen portions of his body must be extending He tried to keep this thought down to forget it to think of something else he was aware of the panicky feeling that it caused and he was afraid of the panic But the thought asserted itself and persisted until it produced a vision of his body totally frozen This was too much and he made another wild run along the trail Once he slowed down to a walk but the thought of the freezing extending itself made him run again

And all the time the dog ran with him at his heels When he fell down a second time it curled its tad over its forefeet and sat in front of him facing him curiously eager and intent The warmth and security of the animal angered him and he cursed it till it flattened down its ears appealingly This time the shivering came more quickly upon the man He was losing in his battle with the frost It was creeping into his body from all sides The thought of it drove him on but he ran no more than a hundred feet when he staggered and pitched headlong It was his last panic When he had recovered his breath and control he sat up and entertained in his mind the conception of meeting death with dignity However the conception did not come to him in such terms His idea of it was that he had been making a fool of

To Build a FireContinued

himself running around like a chicken with its head cut off--such was the simile that occurred to him Well he was bound to freeze anyway and he might as well take it decently With this new-found peace of mind came the first glimmerings of drowsiness A good idea he thought to sleep off to death It was like salting an anesthetic Freezing was not so bad as people thought There were lots worse ways to die

He pictured the boys finding his body next day Suddenly he found himself with them coming along the trail and looking for himself And still with them he came around a turn in the trail and found himself lying in the snow He did not belong with himself any more for even then he was out of himself standing with the boys and looking at himself in the snow It certainly was cold was his thought When he got back to the States he could tell the folks what real cold was He drifted on from this to a vision of the old-timer on Sulphur Creek He could see him quite clearly warm and comfortable and smoking a pipe

You were right old boss you were right the man mumbled to the old-timer of Sulphur Creek

Then the man drowsed off into what seemed to him the most comfortable and satisfying sleep he had ever known The dog sat facing him and waiting The brief day drew to a close in a long slow twilight There were no signs of a fire to be made and besides never in the dogs experience had it known a man to sit like that in the snow and make no fire As the twilight drew on its eager yearning for the fire mastered it and with a great lifting and shifting of forefeet it whined softly then flattened its ears down in anticipation of being chidden by the man But the man remained silent Later the dog whined loudly And still later it crept close to the man and caught the scent of death This made the animal bristle and back away A little longer it delayed howling under the stars that leaped and danced and shone brightly in the cold sky Then it turned and trotted up the trail in the direction of the camp it knew where were the other food-providers and fire-providers

To Build a FireContinued

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Page 61: FitnessDigest.us Vol. 4.3 Cover

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As he turned to go on he spat speculatively There was a sharp explosive crackle that startled him He spat again And again in the air before it could fall to the snow the spittle crackled He knew that at fifty below spittle crackled on the snow but this spittle had crackled in the air Undoubtedly it was colder than fifty below--how much colder he did not know But the temperature did not matter He was bound for the old claim on the left fork of Henderson Creek where the boys were already They had come over across the divide from the Indian Creek country while he had come the roundabout way to take a look at the possibilities of getting out logs in the spring from the islands in the Yukon He would be in to camp by six oclock a bit after dark it was true but the boys would be there a fire would be going and a hot supper would be ready As for lunch he pressed his hand against the protruding bundle under his jacket It was also under his shirt wrapped up in a handkerchief and lying against the naked skin It was the only way to keep the biscuits from freezing He smiled agreeably to himself as he thought of those biscuits each cut open and sopped in bacon grease and each enclosing a generous slice of fried bacon

He plunged in among the big spruce trees The trail was faint A foot of snow had fallen since the last sled had passed over and he was glad he was without a sled traveling light In fact he carried nothing but the lunch wrapped in the handkerchief He was surprised however at the cold It certainly was cold he concluded as he rubbed his numb nose and cheek-bones with his mittened hand He was a warm-whiskered man but the hair on his face did not protect the high cheek-bones and the eager nose that thrust itself aggressively into the frosty air

At the mans heels trotted a dog a big native husky the proper wolf-dog gray-coated and without any visible or temperamental difference from its brother the wild wolf The animal was depressed by the tremendous cold It knew that it was no time for

traveling Its instinct told it a truer tale than was told to the man by the mans judgment In reality it was not merely colder than fifty below zero it was colder than sixty below than seventy below It was seventy-five below zero Since the freezing point is thirty-two above zero it meant that one hundred and seven degrees of frost obtained The dog did not know anything about thermometers Possibly in its brain there was no sharp consciousness of a condition of very cold such as was in the mans brain But the brute had its instinct It experienced a vague but menacing apprehension that subdued it then made it slink along at the mans heels and that made it question eagerly every unwonted movement of the man as if expecting him to go into camp or to seek shelter somewhere and build a fire The dog had learned fire and it wanted fire or else to burrow under the snow and cuddle its warmth away from the air

The frozen moisture of its breathing had settled on its fur in a fine powder of frost and especially were its jowls muzzle and eyelashes whitened by its cry-stalled breath The mans red beard and mustache were likewise frosted but more solidly the deposit taking the form of ice and increasing with every warm moist breath he exhaled Also the man was chewing tobacco and the muzzle of ice held his lips so rigidly that he was unable to clear his chin when he expelled the juice The result was that a crystal beard of the color and solidity of amber was increasing its length on his chin If he fell down it would shatter itself like glass into brittle fragments But he did not mind the appendage It was the penalty all tobacco-chewers paid in that country and he had been out before in two cold snaps They had not been so cold as this he knew but by the spirit thermometer at Sixty Mile he knew they had been registered at fifty below and at fifty-five

He held on through the level stretch of woods for several miles crossed a wide flat of rigger-heads and dropped down a bank to the frozen bed of a

To Build a FireContinued

small stream This was Henderson Creek and he knew he was ten miles from the forks He looked at his watch It was ten oclock He was making four miles an hour and he calculated that he would arrive at the forks at half-past twelve He decided to celebrate that event by eating his lunch there

The dog dropped in again at his heels with a tail drooping discouragement as the man swung along the creek-bed The furrow of the old sled-trail was plainly visible but a dozen inches of snow covered the marks of the last runners In a month no man had come up or down that silent creek The man held steadily on He was not much given to thinking and just then particularly he had nothing to think about save that he would eat lunch at-the forks and that at six oclock he would be in camp with the boys There was nobody to talk to and had there been speech would have been impossible because of the ice-muzzle on his mouth So he continued monotonously to chew tobacco and to increase the length of his amber beard

Once in a while the thought reiterated itself that it was very cold and that he had never experienced such cold As he walked along he rubbed his cheek-bones and nose with the back of his mittened hand He did this automatically now and again changing hands But rub as he would the instant he stopped his cheek-bones went numb and the following instant the end of his nose went numb He was sure to frost his cheeks he knew that and experienced a pang of regret that he had not devised a nose-strap of the sort Bud wore in cold snaps Such a strap passed across the cheeks as well and saved them But it didnt matter much after all What were frosted cheeks A bit painful that was all they were never serious

Empty as the mans mind was of thoughts he was keenly observant and he noticed the changes in the creek the curves and bends and timber jams and always he sharply noted where he placed his feet Once coming around a bend he shied abruptly

like a startled horse curved away from the place where he had been walking and retreated several paces back along the trail The creek he knew was frozen clear to the bottom--no creek could contain water in that arctic winter--but he knew also that there were springs that bubbled out from the hillsides and ran along under the snow and on top the ice of the creek He knew that the coldest snaps never froze these springs and he knew likewise their danger They were traps They hid pools of water under the snow that might be three inches deep or three feet Sometimes a skin of ice half an inch thick covered them and in turn was covered by the snow Sometimes there were alternate layers of water and ice-skin so that when one broke through he kept on breaking through for a while sometimes wetting himself to the waist

That was why he had shied in such panic He had felt the give under his feet and heard the crackle of a snow-hidden ice-skin And to get his feet wet in such a temperature meant trouble and danger At the very least it meant delay for he would be forced to stop and build a fire and under its protection to bare his feet while he dried his socks and moccasins He stood and studied the creek-bed and its banks and decided that the flow of water came from the right He reflected a while rubbing his nose and cheeks then skirted to the left stepping gingerly and testing the footing for each step Once clear of the danger he took a fresh chew of tobacco and swung along at his four-mile gait

In the course of the next two hours he came upon several similar traps Usually the snow above the hidden pools had a sunken candied appearance that advertised the danger Once again however he had a close call and once suspecting danger he compelled the dog to go on in front The dog did not want to go It hung back until the man shoved it forward and then it went quickly across the white unbroken surface Suddenly it broke through floundered to one side and got away to firmer

To Build a FireContinued

To Build a FireContinued

footing It had wet its forefeet and legs and almost immediately the water that clung to it turned to ice It made quick efforts to lick the ice off its legs then dropped down in the snow and began to bite out the ice that had formed between the toes l his was a matter of instinct To permit the ice to remain would mean sore feet It did not know this It merely obeyed the mysterious prompting that arose from the deep crypts of its being But the man knew having achieved a judgment on the subject and he removed the mitten from his right hand and helped tear out the ice-particles He did not expose his fingers more than a minute and was astonished at the swift numbness that smote them It certainly was cold He pulled on the mitten hastily and beat the hand savagely across his chest

At twelve oclock the day was at its brightest Yet the sun was too far south an its winter journey to clear the horizon The bulge of the earth intervened between it arid Henderson Creek where the man walked under a clear sky at noon and cast no shadow At half-past twelve to the minute he arrived at the forks of the creek He was pleased at the speed he had made If he kept it up he would certainly be with the boys by six He unbuttoned his jacket and shirt and drew forth his lunch The action consumed no more than a quarter of a minute yet in that brief moment the numbness laid hold of the exposed fingers He did not put the mitten on but instead struck the fingers a dozen sharp smashes against his leg Then he sat down on a snow-covered log to eat The sting that followed upon the striking of his fingers against his leg ceased so quickly that he was startled He had had no chance to take a bite of biscuit He struck the fingers repeatedly and returned them to the mitten baring the other hand for the purpose of eating He tried to take a mouthful but the ice-muzzle prevented He had forgotten to build a fire and thaw out He chuckled at his foolishness and as he chuckled he noted the numbness creeping into the exposed fingers Also he noted that the stinging which had first come to his

toes when he sat down was already passing away He wandered whether the toes were warm or numb He moved them inside the moccasins and decided that they were numb

He pulled the mitten on hurriedly and stood up He was a bit frightened He stamped up and down until the stinging returned into the feet It certainly was cold was his thought That man from Sulphur Creek had spoken the truth when telling how cold it sometimes got in the country And he had laughed at him at the time That showed one must not be too sure of things There was no mistake about it it was cold He strode up and down stamping his feet and threshing his arms until reassured by the returning warmth Then he got out matches and proceeded to make a fire From the undergrowth where high water of the previous spring had lodged a supply of seasoned twigs he got his firewood Working carefully from a small beginning he soon had a roaring fire over which he thawed the ice from his face and in the protection of which he ate his biscuits For the moment the cold space was outwitted The dog took satisfaction in the fire stretching out close enough for warmth and far enough away to escape being singed

When the man had finished be filled his pipe and took his comfortable time over a smoke Then he pulled on his mittens settled the ear-flaps of his cap firmly about his ears and took the creek trail up the left fork The dog was disappointed and yearned back toward the fire This man did not know cold Possibly all the generations of his ancestry had been ignorant of cold of real cold of cold one hundred and seven degrees below freezing point But the dog knew all its ancestry knew and it had inherited the knowledge And it knew that it was not good to walk abroad in such fearful cold It was the time to lie snug in a hole in the snow and wait for a curtain of cloud to be drawn across the face of outer space whence this cold came On the other hand there was no keen intimacy between the dog and the man

The one was the toil-slave of the other and the only caresses it had ever received were the caresses of the whiplash and of harsh and menacing throat-sounds that threatened the whiplash So the dog made no effort to communicate its apprehension to the man It was not concerned in the welfare of the man it was for its own sake that it yearned back toward the fire But the man whistled and spoke to it with the sound of whiplashes and the dog swung in at the mans heel and followed after

The man took a chew of tobacco and proceeded to start a new amber beard Also his moist breath quickly powdered with white his mustache eyebrows and lashes There did not seem to be so many springs on the left fork of the Henderson and for half an hour the man saw no signs of any And then it happened At a place where there were no signs where the soft unbroken snow seemed to advertise solidity beneath tee man broke through It was not deep He wet himself halfway to the knees before he floundered out to the firm crust

He was angry and cursed his luck aloud He had hoped to get into camp with the boys at six oclock and this would delay him an hour for he would have to build a fire and dry out his foot-gear This was imperative at that low temperature--he knew that much and he turned aside to the bank which he climbed On top tangled in the underbrush about the trunks of several small spruce trees was a high-water deposit of dry firewood--sticks and twigs principally but also larger portions of seasoned branches and fine dry last-years grasses He threw down several large pieces on top of the snow This served for a foundation and prevented the young flame from drowning itself in the snow it otherwise would melt The flame he got by touching a match to a small shred of birch bark that he took from his pocket This burned even more readily than paper Placing it on the foundation he fed the young flame with wisps of dry grass and with the tiniest dry twigs

He worked slowly and carefully keenly aware of his danger Gradually as the flame grew stronger he increased the size of the twigs with which he fed it He squatted in the snow pulling the twigs out from their entanglement in the brush and feeding directly to the flame He knew there must be no failure When it is seventy-five below zero a man must not fail in his first attempt to build a fire--that is if his feet are wet If his feet are dry and he fails he can run along the trail for half a mile and restore his circulation But the circulation of wet and freezing feet cannot be restored by running when it is seventy-five below No matter how fast he runs the wet feet will freeze the harder

All this the man knew The old-timer on Sulphur Creek had told him about it the previous fall and now he was appreciating the advice Already all sensation had gone out of his feet To build the fire he had been forced to remove his mittens and the fingers had quickly gone numb His pace of four miles an hour had kept his heart pumping blood to the surface of his body and to all the extremities But the instant he stopped the action of the pump eased down The cold of space smote the unprotected tip of the planet and he being on that unprotected tip received the full force of the blow The blood of his body recoiled before it The blood was alive like the dog and like the dog it wanted to hide away and cover itself up from the fearful cold So long as he walked four miles an hour he pumped that blood willy-nilly to the surface but now it ebbed away and sank down into the recesses of his body The extremities were the first to feel its absence His wet feet froze the faster and his exposed fingers numbed the faster though they had not yet begun to freeze Nose and cheeks were already freezing while the skin of all his body chilled as it lost its blood

But he was safe Toes and nose and cheeks would be only touched by the frost for the fire was beginning to burn with strength He was feeding it

To Build a FireContinued

with twigs the size of his finger In another minute he would be able to feed it with branches the size of his wrier and then he could remove his wet toot-gear and while it dried he could keep his naked feet warm by the fire rubbing them at first of course with snow The fire was a success He was safe He remembered the advice of the old timer on Sulphur Creek and smiled The old-timer had been very serious in laying down the law that no man must travel alone in the Klondike after fifty below Well here he was he had had the accident he was alone and he had saved himself Those old-timers were rather womanish some of them he thought All a man had to do was to keep his head and he was all right Any man who was a man could travel alone But it was surprising the rapidity with which his cheeks and nose were freezing And he had not thought his fingers could go lifeless in so short a time Lifeless they were for he could scarcely make them move together to grip a twig and they seemed remote from his body and from him When he touched a twig he had to look and see whether or not he had hold of it The wires were pretty well down between him and his finger-ends

All of which counted for little There was the fire snapping and crackling and promising life with every dancing flame He started to untie his moccasins They were coated with ice the thick German socks were like sheaths of iron halfway to the knees and the moccasin strings were like rods of steel all twisted and knotted as by some conflagration For a moment he tugged with his numb fingers then realizing the folly of it he drew his sheath-knife

But before he could cut the strings it happened It was his own fault or rather his mistake He should not have built the fire under the spruce tree He should have built it in the open But it had been easier to pull the twigs from the brush and drop them directly on the fire Now the tree under which

he had done this carried a weight of snow on its boughs No wind had blown for weeks and each bough was fully freighted Each time he had pulled a twig he had communicated a slight agitation to the tree--an imperceptible agitation so far as he was concerned but an agitation sufficient to bring about the disaster High up in the tree one bough capsized its load of snow This fell on the boughs beneath capsizing them This process continued spreading out and involving the whole tree It grew like an avalanche and it descended without warning upon the man and the fire and the fire was blotted out Where it had burned was a mantle of fresh and disordered snow

The man was shocked It was as though he had just heard his own sentence of death For a moment he sat and stared at the spot where the fire had been Then he grew very calm Perhaps the old-timer on Sulphur Creek was right If he had only had a trail-mate he would have been in no danger now The trail-mate could have built the fire Well it was up to him to build the fire over again and this second time there must be no failure Even if he succeeded he would most likely lose some toes His feet must be badly frozen by now and there would be some time before the second fire Was ready

Such were his thoughts but he did not sit and think them He was busy all the time they were passing through his mind He made a new foundation for a fire this time in the open where no treacherous tree could blot it out Next he gathered dry grasses and tiny twigs from the high-water flotsam He could not bring his fingers together to pull them out but he was able to gather them by the handful In this way he got many rotten twigs and bits of green moss that were undesirable but it was the best he could do He worked methodically even collecting an armful of the larger branches to be used later when the fire gathered strength And all the while the dog sat and watched him a certain yearning wistfulness in its eyes for it looked upon

To Build a FireContinued

him as the fire-provider and the fire was slow in coming

When all was ready the man reached in his pocket for a second piece of birch bark He knew the bark was there and though he could not feel it with his fingers he could hear its crisp rustling as he fumbled for it Try as he would he could not clutch hold of it And all the time in his consciousness was the knowledge that each instant his feet were freezing This thought tended to put him in a panic but he fought against it and kept calm He pulled on his mittens with his teeth and threshed his arms back and forth beating his hands with all his might against his sides He did this sitting down and he stood up to do it and all the while the dog sat in the snow its wolf-brush of a tail curled around warmly over its forefeet its sharp wolf-ears pricked forward intently as it watched the man And the man as he beat and threshed with his arms and hands felt a great surge of envy as he regarded the creature that was warm ant secure in its natural covering

After a time he was aware of the first far-away signals of sensation in his beaten fingers The faint tingling grew stronger till it evolved into a stinging ache that was excruciating but which the man hailed with satisfaction He stripped the mitten from his right hand and fetched forth the birch bark The exposed fingers were quickly going numb again Next he brought out his bunch of sulphur matches But the tremendous cold had already driven the life out of his fingers In his effort to separate one match from the others the whole bunch fell in the snow He tried to pick it out of the snow but failed The dead fingers could neither touch nor clutch He was very careful He drove the thought of his freezing feet and nose and cheeks out of his mind devoting his whole soul to the matches He watched using the sense of vision in place of that of touch and when he saw his fingers on each side the bunch he dosed them--that is he willed to close them for the wires were down and the fingers did not obey He pulled

the mitten on the right hand and beat it fiercely against his knee Then with both mittened hands he scooped the bunch of matches along with much snow into his lap Yet he was no better off

After some manipulation he managed to get the bunch between the heels of his mittened hands In this fashion he carried it to his mouth The ice crackled and snapped when by a violent effort he opened his mouth He drew the lower jaw in curled the upper lip out of the way and scraped the bunch with his upper teeth in order to separate a match He succeeded in getting one which he dropped on his lap He was no better off He could not pick it up Then he devised a way He picked it up in his teeth and scratched it on his leg Twenty times he scratched before he succeeded in lighting it As it flamed he held it with his teeth to the birch bark But the burning brimstone went up his nostrils and into his lungs causing him to cough spasmodically The match fell into the snow and went out

The old-timer an Sulphur Creek was right he thought in the moment of controlled despair that ensued after fifty below a man should travel with a partner He beat his hands but failed in exciting any sensation Suddenly he bared both hands removing the mittens with his teeth He caught the whole bunch between the heels of his hands His arm muscles not being frozen enabled him to press the hand-heels tightly against the matches Then he scratched the bunch along his leg It flared into flame seventy sulphur matches at once There was no wind to blow them out He kept his head to one side to escape the strangling fumes and held the blazing bunch to the birth bark As he so held it he became aware of sensation in his hand His flesh was burning He could smell it Deep down below the surface he could feel it The sensation developed into pain that grew acute And still he endured it holding the flame of the matches clumsily to the bark that would not light readily because his own burning hands were in the way absorbing most of the flame

To Build a FireContinued

At last when he could endure no more he jerked his hands apart The blazing matches fell sizzling into the snow but the birch bark was alight He began laying dry grasses and the tiniest twigs on the flame He could not pick and choose for he had to lift the fuel between the heels of his hands Small pieces of rotten wood and green moss clung to the twigs and he bit them off as well as he could with his teeth He cherished the flame carefully and awkwardly It meant life and it must not perish The withdrawal of blood from the surface of his body now made him begin to shiver and he grew more awkward A large piece of green moss fell squarely on the little fire He tried to poke it out with his fingers but his shivering frame made him poke too far and he disrupted the nucleus of the little fire the burning grasses and tiny twigs separating and scattering He tried to poke them together again but in spite of the tenseness of the effort his shivering got away with him and the twigs were hopelessly scattered Each twig gushed a puff of smoke and went out The fire-provider had failed As he looked apathetically about him his eyes chanced on the dog sitting across the ruins of the fire from him in the snow making restless hunching movements slightly lifting one forefoot and then the other shifting its weight back and forth on them with wistful eagerness

The sight of the dog put a wild idea into his head He remembered the tale of the man caught in a blizzard who killed a steer and crawled inside the carcass and so was saved He would kill the dog and bury his hands in the warm body until the numbness went out of them Then he could build another fire He spoke to the dog calling it to him but in his voice was a strange note of fear that frightened the animal who had never known the man to speak in such way before Something was the matter and its suspicious nature sensed danger--it knew not what danger but somewhere somehow in its brain arose an apprehension of the man It flattened its ears down at the sound of the mans voice and its restless

hunching movements and the liftings and shiftings of its forefeet became more pronounced but it would not come to the man He got on his hands and knees and crawled toward the dog This unusual posture again excited suspicion and the animal sidled mincingly away

The man sat up in the snow for a moment and struggled for calmness Then he pulled on his mittens by means of his teeth and got upon his feet He glanced down at first in order to assure himself that he was really standing up for the absence of sensation in his feet left him unrelated to the earth His erect position in itself started to drive the webs of suspicion from the dogs mind and when he spoke peremptorily with the sound of whiplashes in his voice the dog rendered its customary allegiance and came to him As it came within reaching distance the man lost his control His arms flashed out to the dog and he experienced genuine surprise when he discovered that his hands could not clutch that there was neither bend nor feeling in the fingers He had forgotten for the moment that they were frozen and that they were freezing more and more All this happened quickly and before the animal could get away he encircled its body with his arms He sat down in the snow and in this fashion held the dog while it snarled and whined and struggled

But it was all he could do hold its body encircled in his arms and sit there He realized that he could not kill the dog There was no way to do it With his helpless hands he could neither draw nor hold his sheath knife nor throttle the animal He released it and it plunged wildly away with tail between its legs and still snarling It halted forty feet away and surveyed him curiously with ears sharply pricked forward The man looked down at his hands in order to locate them and found them hanging on the ends of his arms It struck him as curious that one should have to use his eyes in order to find out where his hands were He began threshing his arms back and forth beating the mittened hands against

To Build a FireContinued

his sides He did this for five minutes violently and his heart pumped enough blood up to the surface to put a stop to his shivering But no sensation was aroused in the hands He had an impression that they hung like weights on the ends of his arms but when he tried to run the impression down he could not find it

A certain fear of death dull and oppressive came to him This fear quickly became poignant as he realized that it was no longer a mere matter of freezing his fingers and toes or of losing his hands and feet but that it was a matter of life and death with the chances against him This threw him into a panic and he turned and ran up the creek-bed along the old dim trail The dog joined in behind and kept up with him He ran blindly without intention in fear such as he had never known in his life Slowly as he plowed and floundered through the snow he began to see things again the banks of the creek the old timber-jams the leafless aspens and the sky The running made him feel better He did not shiver Maybe if he ran on his feet would thaw out and anyway if he ran far enough he would reach camp and the boys Without doubt he would lose some fingers and toes and some of his face but the boys would take care of him and save the rest of him when he got there And at the same time there was another thought in his mind that said he would never get to the camp and the boys that it was too many miles away that the freezing had too great a start on him and that he would soon be stiff and dead This thought he kept in the background and refused to consider Sometimes it pushed itself forward and demanded to be heard but he thrust it back and strove to think of other things

It struck him as curious that he could run at all on feet so frozen that he could not feel them when they struck the earth and took the weigh of his body He seemed to himself to skim along above the surface and to have no connection with the earth Somewhere he had once seen a winged Mercury

and he wondered if Mercury felt as he felt when skimming over the earth

His theory of running until he reached camp and the boys had one flaw in it he lacked the endurance Several times he stumbled and finally he tottered crumpled up and fell When he tried to rise he failed He must sit and rest he decided and next time he would merely walk and keep on going As he sat and regained his breath he noted that he was feeling quite warm and comfortable He was not shivering and it even seemed that a warm glow had come to his chest and trunk And yet when he touched his nose or cheeks there was no sensation Running would not thaw them out Nor would it thaw out his hands and feet Then the thought came to him that the frozen portions of his body must be extending He tried to keep this thought down to forget it to think of something else he was aware of the panicky feeling that it caused and he was afraid of the panic But the thought asserted itself and persisted until it produced a vision of his body totally frozen This was too much and he made another wild run along the trail Once he slowed down to a walk but the thought of the freezing extending itself made him run again

And all the time the dog ran with him at his heels When he fell down a second time it curled its tad over its forefeet and sat in front of him facing him curiously eager and intent The warmth and security of the animal angered him and he cursed it till it flattened down its ears appealingly This time the shivering came more quickly upon the man He was losing in his battle with the frost It was creeping into his body from all sides The thought of it drove him on but he ran no more than a hundred feet when he staggered and pitched headlong It was his last panic When he had recovered his breath and control he sat up and entertained in his mind the conception of meeting death with dignity However the conception did not come to him in such terms His idea of it was that he had been making a fool of

To Build a FireContinued

himself running around like a chicken with its head cut off--such was the simile that occurred to him Well he was bound to freeze anyway and he might as well take it decently With this new-found peace of mind came the first glimmerings of drowsiness A good idea he thought to sleep off to death It was like salting an anesthetic Freezing was not so bad as people thought There were lots worse ways to die

He pictured the boys finding his body next day Suddenly he found himself with them coming along the trail and looking for himself And still with them he came around a turn in the trail and found himself lying in the snow He did not belong with himself any more for even then he was out of himself standing with the boys and looking at himself in the snow It certainly was cold was his thought When he got back to the States he could tell the folks what real cold was He drifted on from this to a vision of the old-timer on Sulphur Creek He could see him quite clearly warm and comfortable and smoking a pipe

You were right old boss you were right the man mumbled to the old-timer of Sulphur Creek

Then the man drowsed off into what seemed to him the most comfortable and satisfying sleep he had ever known The dog sat facing him and waiting The brief day drew to a close in a long slow twilight There were no signs of a fire to be made and besides never in the dogs experience had it known a man to sit like that in the snow and make no fire As the twilight drew on its eager yearning for the fire mastered it and with a great lifting and shifting of forefeet it whined softly then flattened its ears down in anticipation of being chidden by the man But the man remained silent Later the dog whined loudly And still later it crept close to the man and caught the scent of death This made the animal bristle and back away A little longer it delayed howling under the stars that leaped and danced and shone brightly in the cold sky Then it turned and trotted up the trail in the direction of the camp it knew where were the other food-providers and fire-providers

To Build a FireContinued

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Page 62: FitnessDigest.us Vol. 4.3 Cover

As he turned to go on he spat speculatively There was a sharp explosive crackle that startled him He spat again And again in the air before it could fall to the snow the spittle crackled He knew that at fifty below spittle crackled on the snow but this spittle had crackled in the air Undoubtedly it was colder than fifty below--how much colder he did not know But the temperature did not matter He was bound for the old claim on the left fork of Henderson Creek where the boys were already They had come over across the divide from the Indian Creek country while he had come the roundabout way to take a look at the possibilities of getting out logs in the spring from the islands in the Yukon He would be in to camp by six oclock a bit after dark it was true but the boys would be there a fire would be going and a hot supper would be ready As for lunch he pressed his hand against the protruding bundle under his jacket It was also under his shirt wrapped up in a handkerchief and lying against the naked skin It was the only way to keep the biscuits from freezing He smiled agreeably to himself as he thought of those biscuits each cut open and sopped in bacon grease and each enclosing a generous slice of fried bacon

He plunged in among the big spruce trees The trail was faint A foot of snow had fallen since the last sled had passed over and he was glad he was without a sled traveling light In fact he carried nothing but the lunch wrapped in the handkerchief He was surprised however at the cold It certainly was cold he concluded as he rubbed his numb nose and cheek-bones with his mittened hand He was a warm-whiskered man but the hair on his face did not protect the high cheek-bones and the eager nose that thrust itself aggressively into the frosty air

At the mans heels trotted a dog a big native husky the proper wolf-dog gray-coated and without any visible or temperamental difference from its brother the wild wolf The animal was depressed by the tremendous cold It knew that it was no time for

traveling Its instinct told it a truer tale than was told to the man by the mans judgment In reality it was not merely colder than fifty below zero it was colder than sixty below than seventy below It was seventy-five below zero Since the freezing point is thirty-two above zero it meant that one hundred and seven degrees of frost obtained The dog did not know anything about thermometers Possibly in its brain there was no sharp consciousness of a condition of very cold such as was in the mans brain But the brute had its instinct It experienced a vague but menacing apprehension that subdued it then made it slink along at the mans heels and that made it question eagerly every unwonted movement of the man as if expecting him to go into camp or to seek shelter somewhere and build a fire The dog had learned fire and it wanted fire or else to burrow under the snow and cuddle its warmth away from the air

The frozen moisture of its breathing had settled on its fur in a fine powder of frost and especially were its jowls muzzle and eyelashes whitened by its cry-stalled breath The mans red beard and mustache were likewise frosted but more solidly the deposit taking the form of ice and increasing with every warm moist breath he exhaled Also the man was chewing tobacco and the muzzle of ice held his lips so rigidly that he was unable to clear his chin when he expelled the juice The result was that a crystal beard of the color and solidity of amber was increasing its length on his chin If he fell down it would shatter itself like glass into brittle fragments But he did not mind the appendage It was the penalty all tobacco-chewers paid in that country and he had been out before in two cold snaps They had not been so cold as this he knew but by the spirit thermometer at Sixty Mile he knew they had been registered at fifty below and at fifty-five

He held on through the level stretch of woods for several miles crossed a wide flat of rigger-heads and dropped down a bank to the frozen bed of a

To Build a FireContinued

small stream This was Henderson Creek and he knew he was ten miles from the forks He looked at his watch It was ten oclock He was making four miles an hour and he calculated that he would arrive at the forks at half-past twelve He decided to celebrate that event by eating his lunch there

The dog dropped in again at his heels with a tail drooping discouragement as the man swung along the creek-bed The furrow of the old sled-trail was plainly visible but a dozen inches of snow covered the marks of the last runners In a month no man had come up or down that silent creek The man held steadily on He was not much given to thinking and just then particularly he had nothing to think about save that he would eat lunch at-the forks and that at six oclock he would be in camp with the boys There was nobody to talk to and had there been speech would have been impossible because of the ice-muzzle on his mouth So he continued monotonously to chew tobacco and to increase the length of his amber beard

Once in a while the thought reiterated itself that it was very cold and that he had never experienced such cold As he walked along he rubbed his cheek-bones and nose with the back of his mittened hand He did this automatically now and again changing hands But rub as he would the instant he stopped his cheek-bones went numb and the following instant the end of his nose went numb He was sure to frost his cheeks he knew that and experienced a pang of regret that he had not devised a nose-strap of the sort Bud wore in cold snaps Such a strap passed across the cheeks as well and saved them But it didnt matter much after all What were frosted cheeks A bit painful that was all they were never serious

Empty as the mans mind was of thoughts he was keenly observant and he noticed the changes in the creek the curves and bends and timber jams and always he sharply noted where he placed his feet Once coming around a bend he shied abruptly

like a startled horse curved away from the place where he had been walking and retreated several paces back along the trail The creek he knew was frozen clear to the bottom--no creek could contain water in that arctic winter--but he knew also that there were springs that bubbled out from the hillsides and ran along under the snow and on top the ice of the creek He knew that the coldest snaps never froze these springs and he knew likewise their danger They were traps They hid pools of water under the snow that might be three inches deep or three feet Sometimes a skin of ice half an inch thick covered them and in turn was covered by the snow Sometimes there were alternate layers of water and ice-skin so that when one broke through he kept on breaking through for a while sometimes wetting himself to the waist

That was why he had shied in such panic He had felt the give under his feet and heard the crackle of a snow-hidden ice-skin And to get his feet wet in such a temperature meant trouble and danger At the very least it meant delay for he would be forced to stop and build a fire and under its protection to bare his feet while he dried his socks and moccasins He stood and studied the creek-bed and its banks and decided that the flow of water came from the right He reflected a while rubbing his nose and cheeks then skirted to the left stepping gingerly and testing the footing for each step Once clear of the danger he took a fresh chew of tobacco and swung along at his four-mile gait

In the course of the next two hours he came upon several similar traps Usually the snow above the hidden pools had a sunken candied appearance that advertised the danger Once again however he had a close call and once suspecting danger he compelled the dog to go on in front The dog did not want to go It hung back until the man shoved it forward and then it went quickly across the white unbroken surface Suddenly it broke through floundered to one side and got away to firmer

To Build a FireContinued

To Build a FireContinued

footing It had wet its forefeet and legs and almost immediately the water that clung to it turned to ice It made quick efforts to lick the ice off its legs then dropped down in the snow and began to bite out the ice that had formed between the toes l his was a matter of instinct To permit the ice to remain would mean sore feet It did not know this It merely obeyed the mysterious prompting that arose from the deep crypts of its being But the man knew having achieved a judgment on the subject and he removed the mitten from his right hand and helped tear out the ice-particles He did not expose his fingers more than a minute and was astonished at the swift numbness that smote them It certainly was cold He pulled on the mitten hastily and beat the hand savagely across his chest

At twelve oclock the day was at its brightest Yet the sun was too far south an its winter journey to clear the horizon The bulge of the earth intervened between it arid Henderson Creek where the man walked under a clear sky at noon and cast no shadow At half-past twelve to the minute he arrived at the forks of the creek He was pleased at the speed he had made If he kept it up he would certainly be with the boys by six He unbuttoned his jacket and shirt and drew forth his lunch The action consumed no more than a quarter of a minute yet in that brief moment the numbness laid hold of the exposed fingers He did not put the mitten on but instead struck the fingers a dozen sharp smashes against his leg Then he sat down on a snow-covered log to eat The sting that followed upon the striking of his fingers against his leg ceased so quickly that he was startled He had had no chance to take a bite of biscuit He struck the fingers repeatedly and returned them to the mitten baring the other hand for the purpose of eating He tried to take a mouthful but the ice-muzzle prevented He had forgotten to build a fire and thaw out He chuckled at his foolishness and as he chuckled he noted the numbness creeping into the exposed fingers Also he noted that the stinging which had first come to his

toes when he sat down was already passing away He wandered whether the toes were warm or numb He moved them inside the moccasins and decided that they were numb

He pulled the mitten on hurriedly and stood up He was a bit frightened He stamped up and down until the stinging returned into the feet It certainly was cold was his thought That man from Sulphur Creek had spoken the truth when telling how cold it sometimes got in the country And he had laughed at him at the time That showed one must not be too sure of things There was no mistake about it it was cold He strode up and down stamping his feet and threshing his arms until reassured by the returning warmth Then he got out matches and proceeded to make a fire From the undergrowth where high water of the previous spring had lodged a supply of seasoned twigs he got his firewood Working carefully from a small beginning he soon had a roaring fire over which he thawed the ice from his face and in the protection of which he ate his biscuits For the moment the cold space was outwitted The dog took satisfaction in the fire stretching out close enough for warmth and far enough away to escape being singed

When the man had finished be filled his pipe and took his comfortable time over a smoke Then he pulled on his mittens settled the ear-flaps of his cap firmly about his ears and took the creek trail up the left fork The dog was disappointed and yearned back toward the fire This man did not know cold Possibly all the generations of his ancestry had been ignorant of cold of real cold of cold one hundred and seven degrees below freezing point But the dog knew all its ancestry knew and it had inherited the knowledge And it knew that it was not good to walk abroad in such fearful cold It was the time to lie snug in a hole in the snow and wait for a curtain of cloud to be drawn across the face of outer space whence this cold came On the other hand there was no keen intimacy between the dog and the man

The one was the toil-slave of the other and the only caresses it had ever received were the caresses of the whiplash and of harsh and menacing throat-sounds that threatened the whiplash So the dog made no effort to communicate its apprehension to the man It was not concerned in the welfare of the man it was for its own sake that it yearned back toward the fire But the man whistled and spoke to it with the sound of whiplashes and the dog swung in at the mans heel and followed after

The man took a chew of tobacco and proceeded to start a new amber beard Also his moist breath quickly powdered with white his mustache eyebrows and lashes There did not seem to be so many springs on the left fork of the Henderson and for half an hour the man saw no signs of any And then it happened At a place where there were no signs where the soft unbroken snow seemed to advertise solidity beneath tee man broke through It was not deep He wet himself halfway to the knees before he floundered out to the firm crust

He was angry and cursed his luck aloud He had hoped to get into camp with the boys at six oclock and this would delay him an hour for he would have to build a fire and dry out his foot-gear This was imperative at that low temperature--he knew that much and he turned aside to the bank which he climbed On top tangled in the underbrush about the trunks of several small spruce trees was a high-water deposit of dry firewood--sticks and twigs principally but also larger portions of seasoned branches and fine dry last-years grasses He threw down several large pieces on top of the snow This served for a foundation and prevented the young flame from drowning itself in the snow it otherwise would melt The flame he got by touching a match to a small shred of birch bark that he took from his pocket This burned even more readily than paper Placing it on the foundation he fed the young flame with wisps of dry grass and with the tiniest dry twigs

He worked slowly and carefully keenly aware of his danger Gradually as the flame grew stronger he increased the size of the twigs with which he fed it He squatted in the snow pulling the twigs out from their entanglement in the brush and feeding directly to the flame He knew there must be no failure When it is seventy-five below zero a man must not fail in his first attempt to build a fire--that is if his feet are wet If his feet are dry and he fails he can run along the trail for half a mile and restore his circulation But the circulation of wet and freezing feet cannot be restored by running when it is seventy-five below No matter how fast he runs the wet feet will freeze the harder

All this the man knew The old-timer on Sulphur Creek had told him about it the previous fall and now he was appreciating the advice Already all sensation had gone out of his feet To build the fire he had been forced to remove his mittens and the fingers had quickly gone numb His pace of four miles an hour had kept his heart pumping blood to the surface of his body and to all the extremities But the instant he stopped the action of the pump eased down The cold of space smote the unprotected tip of the planet and he being on that unprotected tip received the full force of the blow The blood of his body recoiled before it The blood was alive like the dog and like the dog it wanted to hide away and cover itself up from the fearful cold So long as he walked four miles an hour he pumped that blood willy-nilly to the surface but now it ebbed away and sank down into the recesses of his body The extremities were the first to feel its absence His wet feet froze the faster and his exposed fingers numbed the faster though they had not yet begun to freeze Nose and cheeks were already freezing while the skin of all his body chilled as it lost its blood

But he was safe Toes and nose and cheeks would be only touched by the frost for the fire was beginning to burn with strength He was feeding it

To Build a FireContinued

with twigs the size of his finger In another minute he would be able to feed it with branches the size of his wrier and then he could remove his wet toot-gear and while it dried he could keep his naked feet warm by the fire rubbing them at first of course with snow The fire was a success He was safe He remembered the advice of the old timer on Sulphur Creek and smiled The old-timer had been very serious in laying down the law that no man must travel alone in the Klondike after fifty below Well here he was he had had the accident he was alone and he had saved himself Those old-timers were rather womanish some of them he thought All a man had to do was to keep his head and he was all right Any man who was a man could travel alone But it was surprising the rapidity with which his cheeks and nose were freezing And he had not thought his fingers could go lifeless in so short a time Lifeless they were for he could scarcely make them move together to grip a twig and they seemed remote from his body and from him When he touched a twig he had to look and see whether or not he had hold of it The wires were pretty well down between him and his finger-ends

All of which counted for little There was the fire snapping and crackling and promising life with every dancing flame He started to untie his moccasins They were coated with ice the thick German socks were like sheaths of iron halfway to the knees and the moccasin strings were like rods of steel all twisted and knotted as by some conflagration For a moment he tugged with his numb fingers then realizing the folly of it he drew his sheath-knife

But before he could cut the strings it happened It was his own fault or rather his mistake He should not have built the fire under the spruce tree He should have built it in the open But it had been easier to pull the twigs from the brush and drop them directly on the fire Now the tree under which

he had done this carried a weight of snow on its boughs No wind had blown for weeks and each bough was fully freighted Each time he had pulled a twig he had communicated a slight agitation to the tree--an imperceptible agitation so far as he was concerned but an agitation sufficient to bring about the disaster High up in the tree one bough capsized its load of snow This fell on the boughs beneath capsizing them This process continued spreading out and involving the whole tree It grew like an avalanche and it descended without warning upon the man and the fire and the fire was blotted out Where it had burned was a mantle of fresh and disordered snow

The man was shocked It was as though he had just heard his own sentence of death For a moment he sat and stared at the spot where the fire had been Then he grew very calm Perhaps the old-timer on Sulphur Creek was right If he had only had a trail-mate he would have been in no danger now The trail-mate could have built the fire Well it was up to him to build the fire over again and this second time there must be no failure Even if he succeeded he would most likely lose some toes His feet must be badly frozen by now and there would be some time before the second fire Was ready

Such were his thoughts but he did not sit and think them He was busy all the time they were passing through his mind He made a new foundation for a fire this time in the open where no treacherous tree could blot it out Next he gathered dry grasses and tiny twigs from the high-water flotsam He could not bring his fingers together to pull them out but he was able to gather them by the handful In this way he got many rotten twigs and bits of green moss that were undesirable but it was the best he could do He worked methodically even collecting an armful of the larger branches to be used later when the fire gathered strength And all the while the dog sat and watched him a certain yearning wistfulness in its eyes for it looked upon

To Build a FireContinued

him as the fire-provider and the fire was slow in coming

When all was ready the man reached in his pocket for a second piece of birch bark He knew the bark was there and though he could not feel it with his fingers he could hear its crisp rustling as he fumbled for it Try as he would he could not clutch hold of it And all the time in his consciousness was the knowledge that each instant his feet were freezing This thought tended to put him in a panic but he fought against it and kept calm He pulled on his mittens with his teeth and threshed his arms back and forth beating his hands with all his might against his sides He did this sitting down and he stood up to do it and all the while the dog sat in the snow its wolf-brush of a tail curled around warmly over its forefeet its sharp wolf-ears pricked forward intently as it watched the man And the man as he beat and threshed with his arms and hands felt a great surge of envy as he regarded the creature that was warm ant secure in its natural covering

After a time he was aware of the first far-away signals of sensation in his beaten fingers The faint tingling grew stronger till it evolved into a stinging ache that was excruciating but which the man hailed with satisfaction He stripped the mitten from his right hand and fetched forth the birch bark The exposed fingers were quickly going numb again Next he brought out his bunch of sulphur matches But the tremendous cold had already driven the life out of his fingers In his effort to separate one match from the others the whole bunch fell in the snow He tried to pick it out of the snow but failed The dead fingers could neither touch nor clutch He was very careful He drove the thought of his freezing feet and nose and cheeks out of his mind devoting his whole soul to the matches He watched using the sense of vision in place of that of touch and when he saw his fingers on each side the bunch he dosed them--that is he willed to close them for the wires were down and the fingers did not obey He pulled

the mitten on the right hand and beat it fiercely against his knee Then with both mittened hands he scooped the bunch of matches along with much snow into his lap Yet he was no better off

After some manipulation he managed to get the bunch between the heels of his mittened hands In this fashion he carried it to his mouth The ice crackled and snapped when by a violent effort he opened his mouth He drew the lower jaw in curled the upper lip out of the way and scraped the bunch with his upper teeth in order to separate a match He succeeded in getting one which he dropped on his lap He was no better off He could not pick it up Then he devised a way He picked it up in his teeth and scratched it on his leg Twenty times he scratched before he succeeded in lighting it As it flamed he held it with his teeth to the birch bark But the burning brimstone went up his nostrils and into his lungs causing him to cough spasmodically The match fell into the snow and went out

The old-timer an Sulphur Creek was right he thought in the moment of controlled despair that ensued after fifty below a man should travel with a partner He beat his hands but failed in exciting any sensation Suddenly he bared both hands removing the mittens with his teeth He caught the whole bunch between the heels of his hands His arm muscles not being frozen enabled him to press the hand-heels tightly against the matches Then he scratched the bunch along his leg It flared into flame seventy sulphur matches at once There was no wind to blow them out He kept his head to one side to escape the strangling fumes and held the blazing bunch to the birth bark As he so held it he became aware of sensation in his hand His flesh was burning He could smell it Deep down below the surface he could feel it The sensation developed into pain that grew acute And still he endured it holding the flame of the matches clumsily to the bark that would not light readily because his own burning hands were in the way absorbing most of the flame

To Build a FireContinued

At last when he could endure no more he jerked his hands apart The blazing matches fell sizzling into the snow but the birch bark was alight He began laying dry grasses and the tiniest twigs on the flame He could not pick and choose for he had to lift the fuel between the heels of his hands Small pieces of rotten wood and green moss clung to the twigs and he bit them off as well as he could with his teeth He cherished the flame carefully and awkwardly It meant life and it must not perish The withdrawal of blood from the surface of his body now made him begin to shiver and he grew more awkward A large piece of green moss fell squarely on the little fire He tried to poke it out with his fingers but his shivering frame made him poke too far and he disrupted the nucleus of the little fire the burning grasses and tiny twigs separating and scattering He tried to poke them together again but in spite of the tenseness of the effort his shivering got away with him and the twigs were hopelessly scattered Each twig gushed a puff of smoke and went out The fire-provider had failed As he looked apathetically about him his eyes chanced on the dog sitting across the ruins of the fire from him in the snow making restless hunching movements slightly lifting one forefoot and then the other shifting its weight back and forth on them with wistful eagerness

The sight of the dog put a wild idea into his head He remembered the tale of the man caught in a blizzard who killed a steer and crawled inside the carcass and so was saved He would kill the dog and bury his hands in the warm body until the numbness went out of them Then he could build another fire He spoke to the dog calling it to him but in his voice was a strange note of fear that frightened the animal who had never known the man to speak in such way before Something was the matter and its suspicious nature sensed danger--it knew not what danger but somewhere somehow in its brain arose an apprehension of the man It flattened its ears down at the sound of the mans voice and its restless

hunching movements and the liftings and shiftings of its forefeet became more pronounced but it would not come to the man He got on his hands and knees and crawled toward the dog This unusual posture again excited suspicion and the animal sidled mincingly away

The man sat up in the snow for a moment and struggled for calmness Then he pulled on his mittens by means of his teeth and got upon his feet He glanced down at first in order to assure himself that he was really standing up for the absence of sensation in his feet left him unrelated to the earth His erect position in itself started to drive the webs of suspicion from the dogs mind and when he spoke peremptorily with the sound of whiplashes in his voice the dog rendered its customary allegiance and came to him As it came within reaching distance the man lost his control His arms flashed out to the dog and he experienced genuine surprise when he discovered that his hands could not clutch that there was neither bend nor feeling in the fingers He had forgotten for the moment that they were frozen and that they were freezing more and more All this happened quickly and before the animal could get away he encircled its body with his arms He sat down in the snow and in this fashion held the dog while it snarled and whined and struggled

But it was all he could do hold its body encircled in his arms and sit there He realized that he could not kill the dog There was no way to do it With his helpless hands he could neither draw nor hold his sheath knife nor throttle the animal He released it and it plunged wildly away with tail between its legs and still snarling It halted forty feet away and surveyed him curiously with ears sharply pricked forward The man looked down at his hands in order to locate them and found them hanging on the ends of his arms It struck him as curious that one should have to use his eyes in order to find out where his hands were He began threshing his arms back and forth beating the mittened hands against

To Build a FireContinued

his sides He did this for five minutes violently and his heart pumped enough blood up to the surface to put a stop to his shivering But no sensation was aroused in the hands He had an impression that they hung like weights on the ends of his arms but when he tried to run the impression down he could not find it

A certain fear of death dull and oppressive came to him This fear quickly became poignant as he realized that it was no longer a mere matter of freezing his fingers and toes or of losing his hands and feet but that it was a matter of life and death with the chances against him This threw him into a panic and he turned and ran up the creek-bed along the old dim trail The dog joined in behind and kept up with him He ran blindly without intention in fear such as he had never known in his life Slowly as he plowed and floundered through the snow he began to see things again the banks of the creek the old timber-jams the leafless aspens and the sky The running made him feel better He did not shiver Maybe if he ran on his feet would thaw out and anyway if he ran far enough he would reach camp and the boys Without doubt he would lose some fingers and toes and some of his face but the boys would take care of him and save the rest of him when he got there And at the same time there was another thought in his mind that said he would never get to the camp and the boys that it was too many miles away that the freezing had too great a start on him and that he would soon be stiff and dead This thought he kept in the background and refused to consider Sometimes it pushed itself forward and demanded to be heard but he thrust it back and strove to think of other things

It struck him as curious that he could run at all on feet so frozen that he could not feel them when they struck the earth and took the weigh of his body He seemed to himself to skim along above the surface and to have no connection with the earth Somewhere he had once seen a winged Mercury

and he wondered if Mercury felt as he felt when skimming over the earth

His theory of running until he reached camp and the boys had one flaw in it he lacked the endurance Several times he stumbled and finally he tottered crumpled up and fell When he tried to rise he failed He must sit and rest he decided and next time he would merely walk and keep on going As he sat and regained his breath he noted that he was feeling quite warm and comfortable He was not shivering and it even seemed that a warm glow had come to his chest and trunk And yet when he touched his nose or cheeks there was no sensation Running would not thaw them out Nor would it thaw out his hands and feet Then the thought came to him that the frozen portions of his body must be extending He tried to keep this thought down to forget it to think of something else he was aware of the panicky feeling that it caused and he was afraid of the panic But the thought asserted itself and persisted until it produced a vision of his body totally frozen This was too much and he made another wild run along the trail Once he slowed down to a walk but the thought of the freezing extending itself made him run again

And all the time the dog ran with him at his heels When he fell down a second time it curled its tad over its forefeet and sat in front of him facing him curiously eager and intent The warmth and security of the animal angered him and he cursed it till it flattened down its ears appealingly This time the shivering came more quickly upon the man He was losing in his battle with the frost It was creeping into his body from all sides The thought of it drove him on but he ran no more than a hundred feet when he staggered and pitched headlong It was his last panic When he had recovered his breath and control he sat up and entertained in his mind the conception of meeting death with dignity However the conception did not come to him in such terms His idea of it was that he had been making a fool of

To Build a FireContinued

himself running around like a chicken with its head cut off--such was the simile that occurred to him Well he was bound to freeze anyway and he might as well take it decently With this new-found peace of mind came the first glimmerings of drowsiness A good idea he thought to sleep off to death It was like salting an anesthetic Freezing was not so bad as people thought There were lots worse ways to die

He pictured the boys finding his body next day Suddenly he found himself with them coming along the trail and looking for himself And still with them he came around a turn in the trail and found himself lying in the snow He did not belong with himself any more for even then he was out of himself standing with the boys and looking at himself in the snow It certainly was cold was his thought When he got back to the States he could tell the folks what real cold was He drifted on from this to a vision of the old-timer on Sulphur Creek He could see him quite clearly warm and comfortable and smoking a pipe

You were right old boss you were right the man mumbled to the old-timer of Sulphur Creek

Then the man drowsed off into what seemed to him the most comfortable and satisfying sleep he had ever known The dog sat facing him and waiting The brief day drew to a close in a long slow twilight There were no signs of a fire to be made and besides never in the dogs experience had it known a man to sit like that in the snow and make no fire As the twilight drew on its eager yearning for the fire mastered it and with a great lifting and shifting of forefeet it whined softly then flattened its ears down in anticipation of being chidden by the man But the man remained silent Later the dog whined loudly And still later it crept close to the man and caught the scent of death This made the animal bristle and back away A little longer it delayed howling under the stars that leaped and danced and shone brightly in the cold sky Then it turned and trotted up the trail in the direction of the camp it knew where were the other food-providers and fire-providers

To Build a FireContinued

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Page 63: FitnessDigest.us Vol. 4.3 Cover

small stream This was Henderson Creek and he knew he was ten miles from the forks He looked at his watch It was ten oclock He was making four miles an hour and he calculated that he would arrive at the forks at half-past twelve He decided to celebrate that event by eating his lunch there

The dog dropped in again at his heels with a tail drooping discouragement as the man swung along the creek-bed The furrow of the old sled-trail was plainly visible but a dozen inches of snow covered the marks of the last runners In a month no man had come up or down that silent creek The man held steadily on He was not much given to thinking and just then particularly he had nothing to think about save that he would eat lunch at-the forks and that at six oclock he would be in camp with the boys There was nobody to talk to and had there been speech would have been impossible because of the ice-muzzle on his mouth So he continued monotonously to chew tobacco and to increase the length of his amber beard

Once in a while the thought reiterated itself that it was very cold and that he had never experienced such cold As he walked along he rubbed his cheek-bones and nose with the back of his mittened hand He did this automatically now and again changing hands But rub as he would the instant he stopped his cheek-bones went numb and the following instant the end of his nose went numb He was sure to frost his cheeks he knew that and experienced a pang of regret that he had not devised a nose-strap of the sort Bud wore in cold snaps Such a strap passed across the cheeks as well and saved them But it didnt matter much after all What were frosted cheeks A bit painful that was all they were never serious

Empty as the mans mind was of thoughts he was keenly observant and he noticed the changes in the creek the curves and bends and timber jams and always he sharply noted where he placed his feet Once coming around a bend he shied abruptly

like a startled horse curved away from the place where he had been walking and retreated several paces back along the trail The creek he knew was frozen clear to the bottom--no creek could contain water in that arctic winter--but he knew also that there were springs that bubbled out from the hillsides and ran along under the snow and on top the ice of the creek He knew that the coldest snaps never froze these springs and he knew likewise their danger They were traps They hid pools of water under the snow that might be three inches deep or three feet Sometimes a skin of ice half an inch thick covered them and in turn was covered by the snow Sometimes there were alternate layers of water and ice-skin so that when one broke through he kept on breaking through for a while sometimes wetting himself to the waist

That was why he had shied in such panic He had felt the give under his feet and heard the crackle of a snow-hidden ice-skin And to get his feet wet in such a temperature meant trouble and danger At the very least it meant delay for he would be forced to stop and build a fire and under its protection to bare his feet while he dried his socks and moccasins He stood and studied the creek-bed and its banks and decided that the flow of water came from the right He reflected a while rubbing his nose and cheeks then skirted to the left stepping gingerly and testing the footing for each step Once clear of the danger he took a fresh chew of tobacco and swung along at his four-mile gait

In the course of the next two hours he came upon several similar traps Usually the snow above the hidden pools had a sunken candied appearance that advertised the danger Once again however he had a close call and once suspecting danger he compelled the dog to go on in front The dog did not want to go It hung back until the man shoved it forward and then it went quickly across the white unbroken surface Suddenly it broke through floundered to one side and got away to firmer

To Build a FireContinued

To Build a FireContinued

footing It had wet its forefeet and legs and almost immediately the water that clung to it turned to ice It made quick efforts to lick the ice off its legs then dropped down in the snow and began to bite out the ice that had formed between the toes l his was a matter of instinct To permit the ice to remain would mean sore feet It did not know this It merely obeyed the mysterious prompting that arose from the deep crypts of its being But the man knew having achieved a judgment on the subject and he removed the mitten from his right hand and helped tear out the ice-particles He did not expose his fingers more than a minute and was astonished at the swift numbness that smote them It certainly was cold He pulled on the mitten hastily and beat the hand savagely across his chest

At twelve oclock the day was at its brightest Yet the sun was too far south an its winter journey to clear the horizon The bulge of the earth intervened between it arid Henderson Creek where the man walked under a clear sky at noon and cast no shadow At half-past twelve to the minute he arrived at the forks of the creek He was pleased at the speed he had made If he kept it up he would certainly be with the boys by six He unbuttoned his jacket and shirt and drew forth his lunch The action consumed no more than a quarter of a minute yet in that brief moment the numbness laid hold of the exposed fingers He did not put the mitten on but instead struck the fingers a dozen sharp smashes against his leg Then he sat down on a snow-covered log to eat The sting that followed upon the striking of his fingers against his leg ceased so quickly that he was startled He had had no chance to take a bite of biscuit He struck the fingers repeatedly and returned them to the mitten baring the other hand for the purpose of eating He tried to take a mouthful but the ice-muzzle prevented He had forgotten to build a fire and thaw out He chuckled at his foolishness and as he chuckled he noted the numbness creeping into the exposed fingers Also he noted that the stinging which had first come to his

toes when he sat down was already passing away He wandered whether the toes were warm or numb He moved them inside the moccasins and decided that they were numb

He pulled the mitten on hurriedly and stood up He was a bit frightened He stamped up and down until the stinging returned into the feet It certainly was cold was his thought That man from Sulphur Creek had spoken the truth when telling how cold it sometimes got in the country And he had laughed at him at the time That showed one must not be too sure of things There was no mistake about it it was cold He strode up and down stamping his feet and threshing his arms until reassured by the returning warmth Then he got out matches and proceeded to make a fire From the undergrowth where high water of the previous spring had lodged a supply of seasoned twigs he got his firewood Working carefully from a small beginning he soon had a roaring fire over which he thawed the ice from his face and in the protection of which he ate his biscuits For the moment the cold space was outwitted The dog took satisfaction in the fire stretching out close enough for warmth and far enough away to escape being singed

When the man had finished be filled his pipe and took his comfortable time over a smoke Then he pulled on his mittens settled the ear-flaps of his cap firmly about his ears and took the creek trail up the left fork The dog was disappointed and yearned back toward the fire This man did not know cold Possibly all the generations of his ancestry had been ignorant of cold of real cold of cold one hundred and seven degrees below freezing point But the dog knew all its ancestry knew and it had inherited the knowledge And it knew that it was not good to walk abroad in such fearful cold It was the time to lie snug in a hole in the snow and wait for a curtain of cloud to be drawn across the face of outer space whence this cold came On the other hand there was no keen intimacy between the dog and the man

The one was the toil-slave of the other and the only caresses it had ever received were the caresses of the whiplash and of harsh and menacing throat-sounds that threatened the whiplash So the dog made no effort to communicate its apprehension to the man It was not concerned in the welfare of the man it was for its own sake that it yearned back toward the fire But the man whistled and spoke to it with the sound of whiplashes and the dog swung in at the mans heel and followed after

The man took a chew of tobacco and proceeded to start a new amber beard Also his moist breath quickly powdered with white his mustache eyebrows and lashes There did not seem to be so many springs on the left fork of the Henderson and for half an hour the man saw no signs of any And then it happened At a place where there were no signs where the soft unbroken snow seemed to advertise solidity beneath tee man broke through It was not deep He wet himself halfway to the knees before he floundered out to the firm crust

He was angry and cursed his luck aloud He had hoped to get into camp with the boys at six oclock and this would delay him an hour for he would have to build a fire and dry out his foot-gear This was imperative at that low temperature--he knew that much and he turned aside to the bank which he climbed On top tangled in the underbrush about the trunks of several small spruce trees was a high-water deposit of dry firewood--sticks and twigs principally but also larger portions of seasoned branches and fine dry last-years grasses He threw down several large pieces on top of the snow This served for a foundation and prevented the young flame from drowning itself in the snow it otherwise would melt The flame he got by touching a match to a small shred of birch bark that he took from his pocket This burned even more readily than paper Placing it on the foundation he fed the young flame with wisps of dry grass and with the tiniest dry twigs

He worked slowly and carefully keenly aware of his danger Gradually as the flame grew stronger he increased the size of the twigs with which he fed it He squatted in the snow pulling the twigs out from their entanglement in the brush and feeding directly to the flame He knew there must be no failure When it is seventy-five below zero a man must not fail in his first attempt to build a fire--that is if his feet are wet If his feet are dry and he fails he can run along the trail for half a mile and restore his circulation But the circulation of wet and freezing feet cannot be restored by running when it is seventy-five below No matter how fast he runs the wet feet will freeze the harder

All this the man knew The old-timer on Sulphur Creek had told him about it the previous fall and now he was appreciating the advice Already all sensation had gone out of his feet To build the fire he had been forced to remove his mittens and the fingers had quickly gone numb His pace of four miles an hour had kept his heart pumping blood to the surface of his body and to all the extremities But the instant he stopped the action of the pump eased down The cold of space smote the unprotected tip of the planet and he being on that unprotected tip received the full force of the blow The blood of his body recoiled before it The blood was alive like the dog and like the dog it wanted to hide away and cover itself up from the fearful cold So long as he walked four miles an hour he pumped that blood willy-nilly to the surface but now it ebbed away and sank down into the recesses of his body The extremities were the first to feel its absence His wet feet froze the faster and his exposed fingers numbed the faster though they had not yet begun to freeze Nose and cheeks were already freezing while the skin of all his body chilled as it lost its blood

But he was safe Toes and nose and cheeks would be only touched by the frost for the fire was beginning to burn with strength He was feeding it

To Build a FireContinued

with twigs the size of his finger In another minute he would be able to feed it with branches the size of his wrier and then he could remove his wet toot-gear and while it dried he could keep his naked feet warm by the fire rubbing them at first of course with snow The fire was a success He was safe He remembered the advice of the old timer on Sulphur Creek and smiled The old-timer had been very serious in laying down the law that no man must travel alone in the Klondike after fifty below Well here he was he had had the accident he was alone and he had saved himself Those old-timers were rather womanish some of them he thought All a man had to do was to keep his head and he was all right Any man who was a man could travel alone But it was surprising the rapidity with which his cheeks and nose were freezing And he had not thought his fingers could go lifeless in so short a time Lifeless they were for he could scarcely make them move together to grip a twig and they seemed remote from his body and from him When he touched a twig he had to look and see whether or not he had hold of it The wires were pretty well down between him and his finger-ends

All of which counted for little There was the fire snapping and crackling and promising life with every dancing flame He started to untie his moccasins They were coated with ice the thick German socks were like sheaths of iron halfway to the knees and the moccasin strings were like rods of steel all twisted and knotted as by some conflagration For a moment he tugged with his numb fingers then realizing the folly of it he drew his sheath-knife

But before he could cut the strings it happened It was his own fault or rather his mistake He should not have built the fire under the spruce tree He should have built it in the open But it had been easier to pull the twigs from the brush and drop them directly on the fire Now the tree under which

he had done this carried a weight of snow on its boughs No wind had blown for weeks and each bough was fully freighted Each time he had pulled a twig he had communicated a slight agitation to the tree--an imperceptible agitation so far as he was concerned but an agitation sufficient to bring about the disaster High up in the tree one bough capsized its load of snow This fell on the boughs beneath capsizing them This process continued spreading out and involving the whole tree It grew like an avalanche and it descended without warning upon the man and the fire and the fire was blotted out Where it had burned was a mantle of fresh and disordered snow

The man was shocked It was as though he had just heard his own sentence of death For a moment he sat and stared at the spot where the fire had been Then he grew very calm Perhaps the old-timer on Sulphur Creek was right If he had only had a trail-mate he would have been in no danger now The trail-mate could have built the fire Well it was up to him to build the fire over again and this second time there must be no failure Even if he succeeded he would most likely lose some toes His feet must be badly frozen by now and there would be some time before the second fire Was ready

Such were his thoughts but he did not sit and think them He was busy all the time they were passing through his mind He made a new foundation for a fire this time in the open where no treacherous tree could blot it out Next he gathered dry grasses and tiny twigs from the high-water flotsam He could not bring his fingers together to pull them out but he was able to gather them by the handful In this way he got many rotten twigs and bits of green moss that were undesirable but it was the best he could do He worked methodically even collecting an armful of the larger branches to be used later when the fire gathered strength And all the while the dog sat and watched him a certain yearning wistfulness in its eyes for it looked upon

To Build a FireContinued

him as the fire-provider and the fire was slow in coming

When all was ready the man reached in his pocket for a second piece of birch bark He knew the bark was there and though he could not feel it with his fingers he could hear its crisp rustling as he fumbled for it Try as he would he could not clutch hold of it And all the time in his consciousness was the knowledge that each instant his feet were freezing This thought tended to put him in a panic but he fought against it and kept calm He pulled on his mittens with his teeth and threshed his arms back and forth beating his hands with all his might against his sides He did this sitting down and he stood up to do it and all the while the dog sat in the snow its wolf-brush of a tail curled around warmly over its forefeet its sharp wolf-ears pricked forward intently as it watched the man And the man as he beat and threshed with his arms and hands felt a great surge of envy as he regarded the creature that was warm ant secure in its natural covering

After a time he was aware of the first far-away signals of sensation in his beaten fingers The faint tingling grew stronger till it evolved into a stinging ache that was excruciating but which the man hailed with satisfaction He stripped the mitten from his right hand and fetched forth the birch bark The exposed fingers were quickly going numb again Next he brought out his bunch of sulphur matches But the tremendous cold had already driven the life out of his fingers In his effort to separate one match from the others the whole bunch fell in the snow He tried to pick it out of the snow but failed The dead fingers could neither touch nor clutch He was very careful He drove the thought of his freezing feet and nose and cheeks out of his mind devoting his whole soul to the matches He watched using the sense of vision in place of that of touch and when he saw his fingers on each side the bunch he dosed them--that is he willed to close them for the wires were down and the fingers did not obey He pulled

the mitten on the right hand and beat it fiercely against his knee Then with both mittened hands he scooped the bunch of matches along with much snow into his lap Yet he was no better off

After some manipulation he managed to get the bunch between the heels of his mittened hands In this fashion he carried it to his mouth The ice crackled and snapped when by a violent effort he opened his mouth He drew the lower jaw in curled the upper lip out of the way and scraped the bunch with his upper teeth in order to separate a match He succeeded in getting one which he dropped on his lap He was no better off He could not pick it up Then he devised a way He picked it up in his teeth and scratched it on his leg Twenty times he scratched before he succeeded in lighting it As it flamed he held it with his teeth to the birch bark But the burning brimstone went up his nostrils and into his lungs causing him to cough spasmodically The match fell into the snow and went out

The old-timer an Sulphur Creek was right he thought in the moment of controlled despair that ensued after fifty below a man should travel with a partner He beat his hands but failed in exciting any sensation Suddenly he bared both hands removing the mittens with his teeth He caught the whole bunch between the heels of his hands His arm muscles not being frozen enabled him to press the hand-heels tightly against the matches Then he scratched the bunch along his leg It flared into flame seventy sulphur matches at once There was no wind to blow them out He kept his head to one side to escape the strangling fumes and held the blazing bunch to the birth bark As he so held it he became aware of sensation in his hand His flesh was burning He could smell it Deep down below the surface he could feel it The sensation developed into pain that grew acute And still he endured it holding the flame of the matches clumsily to the bark that would not light readily because his own burning hands were in the way absorbing most of the flame

To Build a FireContinued

At last when he could endure no more he jerked his hands apart The blazing matches fell sizzling into the snow but the birch bark was alight He began laying dry grasses and the tiniest twigs on the flame He could not pick and choose for he had to lift the fuel between the heels of his hands Small pieces of rotten wood and green moss clung to the twigs and he bit them off as well as he could with his teeth He cherished the flame carefully and awkwardly It meant life and it must not perish The withdrawal of blood from the surface of his body now made him begin to shiver and he grew more awkward A large piece of green moss fell squarely on the little fire He tried to poke it out with his fingers but his shivering frame made him poke too far and he disrupted the nucleus of the little fire the burning grasses and tiny twigs separating and scattering He tried to poke them together again but in spite of the tenseness of the effort his shivering got away with him and the twigs were hopelessly scattered Each twig gushed a puff of smoke and went out The fire-provider had failed As he looked apathetically about him his eyes chanced on the dog sitting across the ruins of the fire from him in the snow making restless hunching movements slightly lifting one forefoot and then the other shifting its weight back and forth on them with wistful eagerness

The sight of the dog put a wild idea into his head He remembered the tale of the man caught in a blizzard who killed a steer and crawled inside the carcass and so was saved He would kill the dog and bury his hands in the warm body until the numbness went out of them Then he could build another fire He spoke to the dog calling it to him but in his voice was a strange note of fear that frightened the animal who had never known the man to speak in such way before Something was the matter and its suspicious nature sensed danger--it knew not what danger but somewhere somehow in its brain arose an apprehension of the man It flattened its ears down at the sound of the mans voice and its restless

hunching movements and the liftings and shiftings of its forefeet became more pronounced but it would not come to the man He got on his hands and knees and crawled toward the dog This unusual posture again excited suspicion and the animal sidled mincingly away

The man sat up in the snow for a moment and struggled for calmness Then he pulled on his mittens by means of his teeth and got upon his feet He glanced down at first in order to assure himself that he was really standing up for the absence of sensation in his feet left him unrelated to the earth His erect position in itself started to drive the webs of suspicion from the dogs mind and when he spoke peremptorily with the sound of whiplashes in his voice the dog rendered its customary allegiance and came to him As it came within reaching distance the man lost his control His arms flashed out to the dog and he experienced genuine surprise when he discovered that his hands could not clutch that there was neither bend nor feeling in the fingers He had forgotten for the moment that they were frozen and that they were freezing more and more All this happened quickly and before the animal could get away he encircled its body with his arms He sat down in the snow and in this fashion held the dog while it snarled and whined and struggled

But it was all he could do hold its body encircled in his arms and sit there He realized that he could not kill the dog There was no way to do it With his helpless hands he could neither draw nor hold his sheath knife nor throttle the animal He released it and it plunged wildly away with tail between its legs and still snarling It halted forty feet away and surveyed him curiously with ears sharply pricked forward The man looked down at his hands in order to locate them and found them hanging on the ends of his arms It struck him as curious that one should have to use his eyes in order to find out where his hands were He began threshing his arms back and forth beating the mittened hands against

To Build a FireContinued

his sides He did this for five minutes violently and his heart pumped enough blood up to the surface to put a stop to his shivering But no sensation was aroused in the hands He had an impression that they hung like weights on the ends of his arms but when he tried to run the impression down he could not find it

A certain fear of death dull and oppressive came to him This fear quickly became poignant as he realized that it was no longer a mere matter of freezing his fingers and toes or of losing his hands and feet but that it was a matter of life and death with the chances against him This threw him into a panic and he turned and ran up the creek-bed along the old dim trail The dog joined in behind and kept up with him He ran blindly without intention in fear such as he had never known in his life Slowly as he plowed and floundered through the snow he began to see things again the banks of the creek the old timber-jams the leafless aspens and the sky The running made him feel better He did not shiver Maybe if he ran on his feet would thaw out and anyway if he ran far enough he would reach camp and the boys Without doubt he would lose some fingers and toes and some of his face but the boys would take care of him and save the rest of him when he got there And at the same time there was another thought in his mind that said he would never get to the camp and the boys that it was too many miles away that the freezing had too great a start on him and that he would soon be stiff and dead This thought he kept in the background and refused to consider Sometimes it pushed itself forward and demanded to be heard but he thrust it back and strove to think of other things

It struck him as curious that he could run at all on feet so frozen that he could not feel them when they struck the earth and took the weigh of his body He seemed to himself to skim along above the surface and to have no connection with the earth Somewhere he had once seen a winged Mercury

and he wondered if Mercury felt as he felt when skimming over the earth

His theory of running until he reached camp and the boys had one flaw in it he lacked the endurance Several times he stumbled and finally he tottered crumpled up and fell When he tried to rise he failed He must sit and rest he decided and next time he would merely walk and keep on going As he sat and regained his breath he noted that he was feeling quite warm and comfortable He was not shivering and it even seemed that a warm glow had come to his chest and trunk And yet when he touched his nose or cheeks there was no sensation Running would not thaw them out Nor would it thaw out his hands and feet Then the thought came to him that the frozen portions of his body must be extending He tried to keep this thought down to forget it to think of something else he was aware of the panicky feeling that it caused and he was afraid of the panic But the thought asserted itself and persisted until it produced a vision of his body totally frozen This was too much and he made another wild run along the trail Once he slowed down to a walk but the thought of the freezing extending itself made him run again

And all the time the dog ran with him at his heels When he fell down a second time it curled its tad over its forefeet and sat in front of him facing him curiously eager and intent The warmth and security of the animal angered him and he cursed it till it flattened down its ears appealingly This time the shivering came more quickly upon the man He was losing in his battle with the frost It was creeping into his body from all sides The thought of it drove him on but he ran no more than a hundred feet when he staggered and pitched headlong It was his last panic When he had recovered his breath and control he sat up and entertained in his mind the conception of meeting death with dignity However the conception did not come to him in such terms His idea of it was that he had been making a fool of

To Build a FireContinued

himself running around like a chicken with its head cut off--such was the simile that occurred to him Well he was bound to freeze anyway and he might as well take it decently With this new-found peace of mind came the first glimmerings of drowsiness A good idea he thought to sleep off to death It was like salting an anesthetic Freezing was not so bad as people thought There were lots worse ways to die

He pictured the boys finding his body next day Suddenly he found himself with them coming along the trail and looking for himself And still with them he came around a turn in the trail and found himself lying in the snow He did not belong with himself any more for even then he was out of himself standing with the boys and looking at himself in the snow It certainly was cold was his thought When he got back to the States he could tell the folks what real cold was He drifted on from this to a vision of the old-timer on Sulphur Creek He could see him quite clearly warm and comfortable and smoking a pipe

You were right old boss you were right the man mumbled to the old-timer of Sulphur Creek

Then the man drowsed off into what seemed to him the most comfortable and satisfying sleep he had ever known The dog sat facing him and waiting The brief day drew to a close in a long slow twilight There were no signs of a fire to be made and besides never in the dogs experience had it known a man to sit like that in the snow and make no fire As the twilight drew on its eager yearning for the fire mastered it and with a great lifting and shifting of forefeet it whined softly then flattened its ears down in anticipation of being chidden by the man But the man remained silent Later the dog whined loudly And still later it crept close to the man and caught the scent of death This made the animal bristle and back away A little longer it delayed howling under the stars that leaped and danced and shone brightly in the cold sky Then it turned and trotted up the trail in the direction of the camp it knew where were the other food-providers and fire-providers

To Build a FireContinued

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To Build a FireContinued

footing It had wet its forefeet and legs and almost immediately the water that clung to it turned to ice It made quick efforts to lick the ice off its legs then dropped down in the snow and began to bite out the ice that had formed between the toes l his was a matter of instinct To permit the ice to remain would mean sore feet It did not know this It merely obeyed the mysterious prompting that arose from the deep crypts of its being But the man knew having achieved a judgment on the subject and he removed the mitten from his right hand and helped tear out the ice-particles He did not expose his fingers more than a minute and was astonished at the swift numbness that smote them It certainly was cold He pulled on the mitten hastily and beat the hand savagely across his chest

At twelve oclock the day was at its brightest Yet the sun was too far south an its winter journey to clear the horizon The bulge of the earth intervened between it arid Henderson Creek where the man walked under a clear sky at noon and cast no shadow At half-past twelve to the minute he arrived at the forks of the creek He was pleased at the speed he had made If he kept it up he would certainly be with the boys by six He unbuttoned his jacket and shirt and drew forth his lunch The action consumed no more than a quarter of a minute yet in that brief moment the numbness laid hold of the exposed fingers He did not put the mitten on but instead struck the fingers a dozen sharp smashes against his leg Then he sat down on a snow-covered log to eat The sting that followed upon the striking of his fingers against his leg ceased so quickly that he was startled He had had no chance to take a bite of biscuit He struck the fingers repeatedly and returned them to the mitten baring the other hand for the purpose of eating He tried to take a mouthful but the ice-muzzle prevented He had forgotten to build a fire and thaw out He chuckled at his foolishness and as he chuckled he noted the numbness creeping into the exposed fingers Also he noted that the stinging which had first come to his

toes when he sat down was already passing away He wandered whether the toes were warm or numb He moved them inside the moccasins and decided that they were numb

He pulled the mitten on hurriedly and stood up He was a bit frightened He stamped up and down until the stinging returned into the feet It certainly was cold was his thought That man from Sulphur Creek had spoken the truth when telling how cold it sometimes got in the country And he had laughed at him at the time That showed one must not be too sure of things There was no mistake about it it was cold He strode up and down stamping his feet and threshing his arms until reassured by the returning warmth Then he got out matches and proceeded to make a fire From the undergrowth where high water of the previous spring had lodged a supply of seasoned twigs he got his firewood Working carefully from a small beginning he soon had a roaring fire over which he thawed the ice from his face and in the protection of which he ate his biscuits For the moment the cold space was outwitted The dog took satisfaction in the fire stretching out close enough for warmth and far enough away to escape being singed

When the man had finished be filled his pipe and took his comfortable time over a smoke Then he pulled on his mittens settled the ear-flaps of his cap firmly about his ears and took the creek trail up the left fork The dog was disappointed and yearned back toward the fire This man did not know cold Possibly all the generations of his ancestry had been ignorant of cold of real cold of cold one hundred and seven degrees below freezing point But the dog knew all its ancestry knew and it had inherited the knowledge And it knew that it was not good to walk abroad in such fearful cold It was the time to lie snug in a hole in the snow and wait for a curtain of cloud to be drawn across the face of outer space whence this cold came On the other hand there was no keen intimacy between the dog and the man

The one was the toil-slave of the other and the only caresses it had ever received were the caresses of the whiplash and of harsh and menacing throat-sounds that threatened the whiplash So the dog made no effort to communicate its apprehension to the man It was not concerned in the welfare of the man it was for its own sake that it yearned back toward the fire But the man whistled and spoke to it with the sound of whiplashes and the dog swung in at the mans heel and followed after

The man took a chew of tobacco and proceeded to start a new amber beard Also his moist breath quickly powdered with white his mustache eyebrows and lashes There did not seem to be so many springs on the left fork of the Henderson and for half an hour the man saw no signs of any And then it happened At a place where there were no signs where the soft unbroken snow seemed to advertise solidity beneath tee man broke through It was not deep He wet himself halfway to the knees before he floundered out to the firm crust

He was angry and cursed his luck aloud He had hoped to get into camp with the boys at six oclock and this would delay him an hour for he would have to build a fire and dry out his foot-gear This was imperative at that low temperature--he knew that much and he turned aside to the bank which he climbed On top tangled in the underbrush about the trunks of several small spruce trees was a high-water deposit of dry firewood--sticks and twigs principally but also larger portions of seasoned branches and fine dry last-years grasses He threw down several large pieces on top of the snow This served for a foundation and prevented the young flame from drowning itself in the snow it otherwise would melt The flame he got by touching a match to a small shred of birch bark that he took from his pocket This burned even more readily than paper Placing it on the foundation he fed the young flame with wisps of dry grass and with the tiniest dry twigs

He worked slowly and carefully keenly aware of his danger Gradually as the flame grew stronger he increased the size of the twigs with which he fed it He squatted in the snow pulling the twigs out from their entanglement in the brush and feeding directly to the flame He knew there must be no failure When it is seventy-five below zero a man must not fail in his first attempt to build a fire--that is if his feet are wet If his feet are dry and he fails he can run along the trail for half a mile and restore his circulation But the circulation of wet and freezing feet cannot be restored by running when it is seventy-five below No matter how fast he runs the wet feet will freeze the harder

All this the man knew The old-timer on Sulphur Creek had told him about it the previous fall and now he was appreciating the advice Already all sensation had gone out of his feet To build the fire he had been forced to remove his mittens and the fingers had quickly gone numb His pace of four miles an hour had kept his heart pumping blood to the surface of his body and to all the extremities But the instant he stopped the action of the pump eased down The cold of space smote the unprotected tip of the planet and he being on that unprotected tip received the full force of the blow The blood of his body recoiled before it The blood was alive like the dog and like the dog it wanted to hide away and cover itself up from the fearful cold So long as he walked four miles an hour he pumped that blood willy-nilly to the surface but now it ebbed away and sank down into the recesses of his body The extremities were the first to feel its absence His wet feet froze the faster and his exposed fingers numbed the faster though they had not yet begun to freeze Nose and cheeks were already freezing while the skin of all his body chilled as it lost its blood

But he was safe Toes and nose and cheeks would be only touched by the frost for the fire was beginning to burn with strength He was feeding it

To Build a FireContinued

with twigs the size of his finger In another minute he would be able to feed it with branches the size of his wrier and then he could remove his wet toot-gear and while it dried he could keep his naked feet warm by the fire rubbing them at first of course with snow The fire was a success He was safe He remembered the advice of the old timer on Sulphur Creek and smiled The old-timer had been very serious in laying down the law that no man must travel alone in the Klondike after fifty below Well here he was he had had the accident he was alone and he had saved himself Those old-timers were rather womanish some of them he thought All a man had to do was to keep his head and he was all right Any man who was a man could travel alone But it was surprising the rapidity with which his cheeks and nose were freezing And he had not thought his fingers could go lifeless in so short a time Lifeless they were for he could scarcely make them move together to grip a twig and they seemed remote from his body and from him When he touched a twig he had to look and see whether or not he had hold of it The wires were pretty well down between him and his finger-ends

All of which counted for little There was the fire snapping and crackling and promising life with every dancing flame He started to untie his moccasins They were coated with ice the thick German socks were like sheaths of iron halfway to the knees and the moccasin strings were like rods of steel all twisted and knotted as by some conflagration For a moment he tugged with his numb fingers then realizing the folly of it he drew his sheath-knife

But before he could cut the strings it happened It was his own fault or rather his mistake He should not have built the fire under the spruce tree He should have built it in the open But it had been easier to pull the twigs from the brush and drop them directly on the fire Now the tree under which

he had done this carried a weight of snow on its boughs No wind had blown for weeks and each bough was fully freighted Each time he had pulled a twig he had communicated a slight agitation to the tree--an imperceptible agitation so far as he was concerned but an agitation sufficient to bring about the disaster High up in the tree one bough capsized its load of snow This fell on the boughs beneath capsizing them This process continued spreading out and involving the whole tree It grew like an avalanche and it descended without warning upon the man and the fire and the fire was blotted out Where it had burned was a mantle of fresh and disordered snow

The man was shocked It was as though he had just heard his own sentence of death For a moment he sat and stared at the spot where the fire had been Then he grew very calm Perhaps the old-timer on Sulphur Creek was right If he had only had a trail-mate he would have been in no danger now The trail-mate could have built the fire Well it was up to him to build the fire over again and this second time there must be no failure Even if he succeeded he would most likely lose some toes His feet must be badly frozen by now and there would be some time before the second fire Was ready

Such were his thoughts but he did not sit and think them He was busy all the time they were passing through his mind He made a new foundation for a fire this time in the open where no treacherous tree could blot it out Next he gathered dry grasses and tiny twigs from the high-water flotsam He could not bring his fingers together to pull them out but he was able to gather them by the handful In this way he got many rotten twigs and bits of green moss that were undesirable but it was the best he could do He worked methodically even collecting an armful of the larger branches to be used later when the fire gathered strength And all the while the dog sat and watched him a certain yearning wistfulness in its eyes for it looked upon

To Build a FireContinued

him as the fire-provider and the fire was slow in coming

When all was ready the man reached in his pocket for a second piece of birch bark He knew the bark was there and though he could not feel it with his fingers he could hear its crisp rustling as he fumbled for it Try as he would he could not clutch hold of it And all the time in his consciousness was the knowledge that each instant his feet were freezing This thought tended to put him in a panic but he fought against it and kept calm He pulled on his mittens with his teeth and threshed his arms back and forth beating his hands with all his might against his sides He did this sitting down and he stood up to do it and all the while the dog sat in the snow its wolf-brush of a tail curled around warmly over its forefeet its sharp wolf-ears pricked forward intently as it watched the man And the man as he beat and threshed with his arms and hands felt a great surge of envy as he regarded the creature that was warm ant secure in its natural covering

After a time he was aware of the first far-away signals of sensation in his beaten fingers The faint tingling grew stronger till it evolved into a stinging ache that was excruciating but which the man hailed with satisfaction He stripped the mitten from his right hand and fetched forth the birch bark The exposed fingers were quickly going numb again Next he brought out his bunch of sulphur matches But the tremendous cold had already driven the life out of his fingers In his effort to separate one match from the others the whole bunch fell in the snow He tried to pick it out of the snow but failed The dead fingers could neither touch nor clutch He was very careful He drove the thought of his freezing feet and nose and cheeks out of his mind devoting his whole soul to the matches He watched using the sense of vision in place of that of touch and when he saw his fingers on each side the bunch he dosed them--that is he willed to close them for the wires were down and the fingers did not obey He pulled

the mitten on the right hand and beat it fiercely against his knee Then with both mittened hands he scooped the bunch of matches along with much snow into his lap Yet he was no better off

After some manipulation he managed to get the bunch between the heels of his mittened hands In this fashion he carried it to his mouth The ice crackled and snapped when by a violent effort he opened his mouth He drew the lower jaw in curled the upper lip out of the way and scraped the bunch with his upper teeth in order to separate a match He succeeded in getting one which he dropped on his lap He was no better off He could not pick it up Then he devised a way He picked it up in his teeth and scratched it on his leg Twenty times he scratched before he succeeded in lighting it As it flamed he held it with his teeth to the birch bark But the burning brimstone went up his nostrils and into his lungs causing him to cough spasmodically The match fell into the snow and went out

The old-timer an Sulphur Creek was right he thought in the moment of controlled despair that ensued after fifty below a man should travel with a partner He beat his hands but failed in exciting any sensation Suddenly he bared both hands removing the mittens with his teeth He caught the whole bunch between the heels of his hands His arm muscles not being frozen enabled him to press the hand-heels tightly against the matches Then he scratched the bunch along his leg It flared into flame seventy sulphur matches at once There was no wind to blow them out He kept his head to one side to escape the strangling fumes and held the blazing bunch to the birth bark As he so held it he became aware of sensation in his hand His flesh was burning He could smell it Deep down below the surface he could feel it The sensation developed into pain that grew acute And still he endured it holding the flame of the matches clumsily to the bark that would not light readily because his own burning hands were in the way absorbing most of the flame

To Build a FireContinued

At last when he could endure no more he jerked his hands apart The blazing matches fell sizzling into the snow but the birch bark was alight He began laying dry grasses and the tiniest twigs on the flame He could not pick and choose for he had to lift the fuel between the heels of his hands Small pieces of rotten wood and green moss clung to the twigs and he bit them off as well as he could with his teeth He cherished the flame carefully and awkwardly It meant life and it must not perish The withdrawal of blood from the surface of his body now made him begin to shiver and he grew more awkward A large piece of green moss fell squarely on the little fire He tried to poke it out with his fingers but his shivering frame made him poke too far and he disrupted the nucleus of the little fire the burning grasses and tiny twigs separating and scattering He tried to poke them together again but in spite of the tenseness of the effort his shivering got away with him and the twigs were hopelessly scattered Each twig gushed a puff of smoke and went out The fire-provider had failed As he looked apathetically about him his eyes chanced on the dog sitting across the ruins of the fire from him in the snow making restless hunching movements slightly lifting one forefoot and then the other shifting its weight back and forth on them with wistful eagerness

The sight of the dog put a wild idea into his head He remembered the tale of the man caught in a blizzard who killed a steer and crawled inside the carcass and so was saved He would kill the dog and bury his hands in the warm body until the numbness went out of them Then he could build another fire He spoke to the dog calling it to him but in his voice was a strange note of fear that frightened the animal who had never known the man to speak in such way before Something was the matter and its suspicious nature sensed danger--it knew not what danger but somewhere somehow in its brain arose an apprehension of the man It flattened its ears down at the sound of the mans voice and its restless

hunching movements and the liftings and shiftings of its forefeet became more pronounced but it would not come to the man He got on his hands and knees and crawled toward the dog This unusual posture again excited suspicion and the animal sidled mincingly away

The man sat up in the snow for a moment and struggled for calmness Then he pulled on his mittens by means of his teeth and got upon his feet He glanced down at first in order to assure himself that he was really standing up for the absence of sensation in his feet left him unrelated to the earth His erect position in itself started to drive the webs of suspicion from the dogs mind and when he spoke peremptorily with the sound of whiplashes in his voice the dog rendered its customary allegiance and came to him As it came within reaching distance the man lost his control His arms flashed out to the dog and he experienced genuine surprise when he discovered that his hands could not clutch that there was neither bend nor feeling in the fingers He had forgotten for the moment that they were frozen and that they were freezing more and more All this happened quickly and before the animal could get away he encircled its body with his arms He sat down in the snow and in this fashion held the dog while it snarled and whined and struggled

But it was all he could do hold its body encircled in his arms and sit there He realized that he could not kill the dog There was no way to do it With his helpless hands he could neither draw nor hold his sheath knife nor throttle the animal He released it and it plunged wildly away with tail between its legs and still snarling It halted forty feet away and surveyed him curiously with ears sharply pricked forward The man looked down at his hands in order to locate them and found them hanging on the ends of his arms It struck him as curious that one should have to use his eyes in order to find out where his hands were He began threshing his arms back and forth beating the mittened hands against

To Build a FireContinued

his sides He did this for five minutes violently and his heart pumped enough blood up to the surface to put a stop to his shivering But no sensation was aroused in the hands He had an impression that they hung like weights on the ends of his arms but when he tried to run the impression down he could not find it

A certain fear of death dull and oppressive came to him This fear quickly became poignant as he realized that it was no longer a mere matter of freezing his fingers and toes or of losing his hands and feet but that it was a matter of life and death with the chances against him This threw him into a panic and he turned and ran up the creek-bed along the old dim trail The dog joined in behind and kept up with him He ran blindly without intention in fear such as he had never known in his life Slowly as he plowed and floundered through the snow he began to see things again the banks of the creek the old timber-jams the leafless aspens and the sky The running made him feel better He did not shiver Maybe if he ran on his feet would thaw out and anyway if he ran far enough he would reach camp and the boys Without doubt he would lose some fingers and toes and some of his face but the boys would take care of him and save the rest of him when he got there And at the same time there was another thought in his mind that said he would never get to the camp and the boys that it was too many miles away that the freezing had too great a start on him and that he would soon be stiff and dead This thought he kept in the background and refused to consider Sometimes it pushed itself forward and demanded to be heard but he thrust it back and strove to think of other things

It struck him as curious that he could run at all on feet so frozen that he could not feel them when they struck the earth and took the weigh of his body He seemed to himself to skim along above the surface and to have no connection with the earth Somewhere he had once seen a winged Mercury

and he wondered if Mercury felt as he felt when skimming over the earth

His theory of running until he reached camp and the boys had one flaw in it he lacked the endurance Several times he stumbled and finally he tottered crumpled up and fell When he tried to rise he failed He must sit and rest he decided and next time he would merely walk and keep on going As he sat and regained his breath he noted that he was feeling quite warm and comfortable He was not shivering and it even seemed that a warm glow had come to his chest and trunk And yet when he touched his nose or cheeks there was no sensation Running would not thaw them out Nor would it thaw out his hands and feet Then the thought came to him that the frozen portions of his body must be extending He tried to keep this thought down to forget it to think of something else he was aware of the panicky feeling that it caused and he was afraid of the panic But the thought asserted itself and persisted until it produced a vision of his body totally frozen This was too much and he made another wild run along the trail Once he slowed down to a walk but the thought of the freezing extending itself made him run again

And all the time the dog ran with him at his heels When he fell down a second time it curled its tad over its forefeet and sat in front of him facing him curiously eager and intent The warmth and security of the animal angered him and he cursed it till it flattened down its ears appealingly This time the shivering came more quickly upon the man He was losing in his battle with the frost It was creeping into his body from all sides The thought of it drove him on but he ran no more than a hundred feet when he staggered and pitched headlong It was his last panic When he had recovered his breath and control he sat up and entertained in his mind the conception of meeting death with dignity However the conception did not come to him in such terms His idea of it was that he had been making a fool of

To Build a FireContinued

himself running around like a chicken with its head cut off--such was the simile that occurred to him Well he was bound to freeze anyway and he might as well take it decently With this new-found peace of mind came the first glimmerings of drowsiness A good idea he thought to sleep off to death It was like salting an anesthetic Freezing was not so bad as people thought There were lots worse ways to die

He pictured the boys finding his body next day Suddenly he found himself with them coming along the trail and looking for himself And still with them he came around a turn in the trail and found himself lying in the snow He did not belong with himself any more for even then he was out of himself standing with the boys and looking at himself in the snow It certainly was cold was his thought When he got back to the States he could tell the folks what real cold was He drifted on from this to a vision of the old-timer on Sulphur Creek He could see him quite clearly warm and comfortable and smoking a pipe

You were right old boss you were right the man mumbled to the old-timer of Sulphur Creek

Then the man drowsed off into what seemed to him the most comfortable and satisfying sleep he had ever known The dog sat facing him and waiting The brief day drew to a close in a long slow twilight There were no signs of a fire to be made and besides never in the dogs experience had it known a man to sit like that in the snow and make no fire As the twilight drew on its eager yearning for the fire mastered it and with a great lifting and shifting of forefeet it whined softly then flattened its ears down in anticipation of being chidden by the man But the man remained silent Later the dog whined loudly And still later it crept close to the man and caught the scent of death This made the animal bristle and back away A little longer it delayed howling under the stars that leaped and danced and shone brightly in the cold sky Then it turned and trotted up the trail in the direction of the camp it knew where were the other food-providers and fire-providers

To Build a FireContinued

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Page 65: FitnessDigest.us Vol. 4.3 Cover

The one was the toil-slave of the other and the only caresses it had ever received were the caresses of the whiplash and of harsh and menacing throat-sounds that threatened the whiplash So the dog made no effort to communicate its apprehension to the man It was not concerned in the welfare of the man it was for its own sake that it yearned back toward the fire But the man whistled and spoke to it with the sound of whiplashes and the dog swung in at the mans heel and followed after

The man took a chew of tobacco and proceeded to start a new amber beard Also his moist breath quickly powdered with white his mustache eyebrows and lashes There did not seem to be so many springs on the left fork of the Henderson and for half an hour the man saw no signs of any And then it happened At a place where there were no signs where the soft unbroken snow seemed to advertise solidity beneath tee man broke through It was not deep He wet himself halfway to the knees before he floundered out to the firm crust

He was angry and cursed his luck aloud He had hoped to get into camp with the boys at six oclock and this would delay him an hour for he would have to build a fire and dry out his foot-gear This was imperative at that low temperature--he knew that much and he turned aside to the bank which he climbed On top tangled in the underbrush about the trunks of several small spruce trees was a high-water deposit of dry firewood--sticks and twigs principally but also larger portions of seasoned branches and fine dry last-years grasses He threw down several large pieces on top of the snow This served for a foundation and prevented the young flame from drowning itself in the snow it otherwise would melt The flame he got by touching a match to a small shred of birch bark that he took from his pocket This burned even more readily than paper Placing it on the foundation he fed the young flame with wisps of dry grass and with the tiniest dry twigs

He worked slowly and carefully keenly aware of his danger Gradually as the flame grew stronger he increased the size of the twigs with which he fed it He squatted in the snow pulling the twigs out from their entanglement in the brush and feeding directly to the flame He knew there must be no failure When it is seventy-five below zero a man must not fail in his first attempt to build a fire--that is if his feet are wet If his feet are dry and he fails he can run along the trail for half a mile and restore his circulation But the circulation of wet and freezing feet cannot be restored by running when it is seventy-five below No matter how fast he runs the wet feet will freeze the harder

All this the man knew The old-timer on Sulphur Creek had told him about it the previous fall and now he was appreciating the advice Already all sensation had gone out of his feet To build the fire he had been forced to remove his mittens and the fingers had quickly gone numb His pace of four miles an hour had kept his heart pumping blood to the surface of his body and to all the extremities But the instant he stopped the action of the pump eased down The cold of space smote the unprotected tip of the planet and he being on that unprotected tip received the full force of the blow The blood of his body recoiled before it The blood was alive like the dog and like the dog it wanted to hide away and cover itself up from the fearful cold So long as he walked four miles an hour he pumped that blood willy-nilly to the surface but now it ebbed away and sank down into the recesses of his body The extremities were the first to feel its absence His wet feet froze the faster and his exposed fingers numbed the faster though they had not yet begun to freeze Nose and cheeks were already freezing while the skin of all his body chilled as it lost its blood

But he was safe Toes and nose and cheeks would be only touched by the frost for the fire was beginning to burn with strength He was feeding it

To Build a FireContinued

with twigs the size of his finger In another minute he would be able to feed it with branches the size of his wrier and then he could remove his wet toot-gear and while it dried he could keep his naked feet warm by the fire rubbing them at first of course with snow The fire was a success He was safe He remembered the advice of the old timer on Sulphur Creek and smiled The old-timer had been very serious in laying down the law that no man must travel alone in the Klondike after fifty below Well here he was he had had the accident he was alone and he had saved himself Those old-timers were rather womanish some of them he thought All a man had to do was to keep his head and he was all right Any man who was a man could travel alone But it was surprising the rapidity with which his cheeks and nose were freezing And he had not thought his fingers could go lifeless in so short a time Lifeless they were for he could scarcely make them move together to grip a twig and they seemed remote from his body and from him When he touched a twig he had to look and see whether or not he had hold of it The wires were pretty well down between him and his finger-ends

All of which counted for little There was the fire snapping and crackling and promising life with every dancing flame He started to untie his moccasins They were coated with ice the thick German socks were like sheaths of iron halfway to the knees and the moccasin strings were like rods of steel all twisted and knotted as by some conflagration For a moment he tugged with his numb fingers then realizing the folly of it he drew his sheath-knife

But before he could cut the strings it happened It was his own fault or rather his mistake He should not have built the fire under the spruce tree He should have built it in the open But it had been easier to pull the twigs from the brush and drop them directly on the fire Now the tree under which

he had done this carried a weight of snow on its boughs No wind had blown for weeks and each bough was fully freighted Each time he had pulled a twig he had communicated a slight agitation to the tree--an imperceptible agitation so far as he was concerned but an agitation sufficient to bring about the disaster High up in the tree one bough capsized its load of snow This fell on the boughs beneath capsizing them This process continued spreading out and involving the whole tree It grew like an avalanche and it descended without warning upon the man and the fire and the fire was blotted out Where it had burned was a mantle of fresh and disordered snow

The man was shocked It was as though he had just heard his own sentence of death For a moment he sat and stared at the spot where the fire had been Then he grew very calm Perhaps the old-timer on Sulphur Creek was right If he had only had a trail-mate he would have been in no danger now The trail-mate could have built the fire Well it was up to him to build the fire over again and this second time there must be no failure Even if he succeeded he would most likely lose some toes His feet must be badly frozen by now and there would be some time before the second fire Was ready

Such were his thoughts but he did not sit and think them He was busy all the time they were passing through his mind He made a new foundation for a fire this time in the open where no treacherous tree could blot it out Next he gathered dry grasses and tiny twigs from the high-water flotsam He could not bring his fingers together to pull them out but he was able to gather them by the handful In this way he got many rotten twigs and bits of green moss that were undesirable but it was the best he could do He worked methodically even collecting an armful of the larger branches to be used later when the fire gathered strength And all the while the dog sat and watched him a certain yearning wistfulness in its eyes for it looked upon

To Build a FireContinued

him as the fire-provider and the fire was slow in coming

When all was ready the man reached in his pocket for a second piece of birch bark He knew the bark was there and though he could not feel it with his fingers he could hear its crisp rustling as he fumbled for it Try as he would he could not clutch hold of it And all the time in his consciousness was the knowledge that each instant his feet were freezing This thought tended to put him in a panic but he fought against it and kept calm He pulled on his mittens with his teeth and threshed his arms back and forth beating his hands with all his might against his sides He did this sitting down and he stood up to do it and all the while the dog sat in the snow its wolf-brush of a tail curled around warmly over its forefeet its sharp wolf-ears pricked forward intently as it watched the man And the man as he beat and threshed with his arms and hands felt a great surge of envy as he regarded the creature that was warm ant secure in its natural covering

After a time he was aware of the first far-away signals of sensation in his beaten fingers The faint tingling grew stronger till it evolved into a stinging ache that was excruciating but which the man hailed with satisfaction He stripped the mitten from his right hand and fetched forth the birch bark The exposed fingers were quickly going numb again Next he brought out his bunch of sulphur matches But the tremendous cold had already driven the life out of his fingers In his effort to separate one match from the others the whole bunch fell in the snow He tried to pick it out of the snow but failed The dead fingers could neither touch nor clutch He was very careful He drove the thought of his freezing feet and nose and cheeks out of his mind devoting his whole soul to the matches He watched using the sense of vision in place of that of touch and when he saw his fingers on each side the bunch he dosed them--that is he willed to close them for the wires were down and the fingers did not obey He pulled

the mitten on the right hand and beat it fiercely against his knee Then with both mittened hands he scooped the bunch of matches along with much snow into his lap Yet he was no better off

After some manipulation he managed to get the bunch between the heels of his mittened hands In this fashion he carried it to his mouth The ice crackled and snapped when by a violent effort he opened his mouth He drew the lower jaw in curled the upper lip out of the way and scraped the bunch with his upper teeth in order to separate a match He succeeded in getting one which he dropped on his lap He was no better off He could not pick it up Then he devised a way He picked it up in his teeth and scratched it on his leg Twenty times he scratched before he succeeded in lighting it As it flamed he held it with his teeth to the birch bark But the burning brimstone went up his nostrils and into his lungs causing him to cough spasmodically The match fell into the snow and went out

The old-timer an Sulphur Creek was right he thought in the moment of controlled despair that ensued after fifty below a man should travel with a partner He beat his hands but failed in exciting any sensation Suddenly he bared both hands removing the mittens with his teeth He caught the whole bunch between the heels of his hands His arm muscles not being frozen enabled him to press the hand-heels tightly against the matches Then he scratched the bunch along his leg It flared into flame seventy sulphur matches at once There was no wind to blow them out He kept his head to one side to escape the strangling fumes and held the blazing bunch to the birth bark As he so held it he became aware of sensation in his hand His flesh was burning He could smell it Deep down below the surface he could feel it The sensation developed into pain that grew acute And still he endured it holding the flame of the matches clumsily to the bark that would not light readily because his own burning hands were in the way absorbing most of the flame

To Build a FireContinued

At last when he could endure no more he jerked his hands apart The blazing matches fell sizzling into the snow but the birch bark was alight He began laying dry grasses and the tiniest twigs on the flame He could not pick and choose for he had to lift the fuel between the heels of his hands Small pieces of rotten wood and green moss clung to the twigs and he bit them off as well as he could with his teeth He cherished the flame carefully and awkwardly It meant life and it must not perish The withdrawal of blood from the surface of his body now made him begin to shiver and he grew more awkward A large piece of green moss fell squarely on the little fire He tried to poke it out with his fingers but his shivering frame made him poke too far and he disrupted the nucleus of the little fire the burning grasses and tiny twigs separating and scattering He tried to poke them together again but in spite of the tenseness of the effort his shivering got away with him and the twigs were hopelessly scattered Each twig gushed a puff of smoke and went out The fire-provider had failed As he looked apathetically about him his eyes chanced on the dog sitting across the ruins of the fire from him in the snow making restless hunching movements slightly lifting one forefoot and then the other shifting its weight back and forth on them with wistful eagerness

The sight of the dog put a wild idea into his head He remembered the tale of the man caught in a blizzard who killed a steer and crawled inside the carcass and so was saved He would kill the dog and bury his hands in the warm body until the numbness went out of them Then he could build another fire He spoke to the dog calling it to him but in his voice was a strange note of fear that frightened the animal who had never known the man to speak in such way before Something was the matter and its suspicious nature sensed danger--it knew not what danger but somewhere somehow in its brain arose an apprehension of the man It flattened its ears down at the sound of the mans voice and its restless

hunching movements and the liftings and shiftings of its forefeet became more pronounced but it would not come to the man He got on his hands and knees and crawled toward the dog This unusual posture again excited suspicion and the animal sidled mincingly away

The man sat up in the snow for a moment and struggled for calmness Then he pulled on his mittens by means of his teeth and got upon his feet He glanced down at first in order to assure himself that he was really standing up for the absence of sensation in his feet left him unrelated to the earth His erect position in itself started to drive the webs of suspicion from the dogs mind and when he spoke peremptorily with the sound of whiplashes in his voice the dog rendered its customary allegiance and came to him As it came within reaching distance the man lost his control His arms flashed out to the dog and he experienced genuine surprise when he discovered that his hands could not clutch that there was neither bend nor feeling in the fingers He had forgotten for the moment that they were frozen and that they were freezing more and more All this happened quickly and before the animal could get away he encircled its body with his arms He sat down in the snow and in this fashion held the dog while it snarled and whined and struggled

But it was all he could do hold its body encircled in his arms and sit there He realized that he could not kill the dog There was no way to do it With his helpless hands he could neither draw nor hold his sheath knife nor throttle the animal He released it and it plunged wildly away with tail between its legs and still snarling It halted forty feet away and surveyed him curiously with ears sharply pricked forward The man looked down at his hands in order to locate them and found them hanging on the ends of his arms It struck him as curious that one should have to use his eyes in order to find out where his hands were He began threshing his arms back and forth beating the mittened hands against

To Build a FireContinued

his sides He did this for five minutes violently and his heart pumped enough blood up to the surface to put a stop to his shivering But no sensation was aroused in the hands He had an impression that they hung like weights on the ends of his arms but when he tried to run the impression down he could not find it

A certain fear of death dull and oppressive came to him This fear quickly became poignant as he realized that it was no longer a mere matter of freezing his fingers and toes or of losing his hands and feet but that it was a matter of life and death with the chances against him This threw him into a panic and he turned and ran up the creek-bed along the old dim trail The dog joined in behind and kept up with him He ran blindly without intention in fear such as he had never known in his life Slowly as he plowed and floundered through the snow he began to see things again the banks of the creek the old timber-jams the leafless aspens and the sky The running made him feel better He did not shiver Maybe if he ran on his feet would thaw out and anyway if he ran far enough he would reach camp and the boys Without doubt he would lose some fingers and toes and some of his face but the boys would take care of him and save the rest of him when he got there And at the same time there was another thought in his mind that said he would never get to the camp and the boys that it was too many miles away that the freezing had too great a start on him and that he would soon be stiff and dead This thought he kept in the background and refused to consider Sometimes it pushed itself forward and demanded to be heard but he thrust it back and strove to think of other things

It struck him as curious that he could run at all on feet so frozen that he could not feel them when they struck the earth and took the weigh of his body He seemed to himself to skim along above the surface and to have no connection with the earth Somewhere he had once seen a winged Mercury

and he wondered if Mercury felt as he felt when skimming over the earth

His theory of running until he reached camp and the boys had one flaw in it he lacked the endurance Several times he stumbled and finally he tottered crumpled up and fell When he tried to rise he failed He must sit and rest he decided and next time he would merely walk and keep on going As he sat and regained his breath he noted that he was feeling quite warm and comfortable He was not shivering and it even seemed that a warm glow had come to his chest and trunk And yet when he touched his nose or cheeks there was no sensation Running would not thaw them out Nor would it thaw out his hands and feet Then the thought came to him that the frozen portions of his body must be extending He tried to keep this thought down to forget it to think of something else he was aware of the panicky feeling that it caused and he was afraid of the panic But the thought asserted itself and persisted until it produced a vision of his body totally frozen This was too much and he made another wild run along the trail Once he slowed down to a walk but the thought of the freezing extending itself made him run again

And all the time the dog ran with him at his heels When he fell down a second time it curled its tad over its forefeet and sat in front of him facing him curiously eager and intent The warmth and security of the animal angered him and he cursed it till it flattened down its ears appealingly This time the shivering came more quickly upon the man He was losing in his battle with the frost It was creeping into his body from all sides The thought of it drove him on but he ran no more than a hundred feet when he staggered and pitched headlong It was his last panic When he had recovered his breath and control he sat up and entertained in his mind the conception of meeting death with dignity However the conception did not come to him in such terms His idea of it was that he had been making a fool of

To Build a FireContinued

himself running around like a chicken with its head cut off--such was the simile that occurred to him Well he was bound to freeze anyway and he might as well take it decently With this new-found peace of mind came the first glimmerings of drowsiness A good idea he thought to sleep off to death It was like salting an anesthetic Freezing was not so bad as people thought There were lots worse ways to die

He pictured the boys finding his body next day Suddenly he found himself with them coming along the trail and looking for himself And still with them he came around a turn in the trail and found himself lying in the snow He did not belong with himself any more for even then he was out of himself standing with the boys and looking at himself in the snow It certainly was cold was his thought When he got back to the States he could tell the folks what real cold was He drifted on from this to a vision of the old-timer on Sulphur Creek He could see him quite clearly warm and comfortable and smoking a pipe

You were right old boss you were right the man mumbled to the old-timer of Sulphur Creek

Then the man drowsed off into what seemed to him the most comfortable and satisfying sleep he had ever known The dog sat facing him and waiting The brief day drew to a close in a long slow twilight There were no signs of a fire to be made and besides never in the dogs experience had it known a man to sit like that in the snow and make no fire As the twilight drew on its eager yearning for the fire mastered it and with a great lifting and shifting of forefeet it whined softly then flattened its ears down in anticipation of being chidden by the man But the man remained silent Later the dog whined loudly And still later it crept close to the man and caught the scent of death This made the animal bristle and back away A little longer it delayed howling under the stars that leaped and danced and shone brightly in the cold sky Then it turned and trotted up the trail in the direction of the camp it knew where were the other food-providers and fire-providers

To Build a FireContinued

Blogs can be a lot of work to maintainTwitter only gives you 140 characters

Facebook is just your friends

Now you can share a story no matter your social-web status

Stories are published for ALL FitnessDigestus readers Archived professionally and digitally in thousands of libraries

Sign with your real name pen-name or anonymousItrsquos easy and professional Go to httpLiveMediaFitnessDigestus

FitnessDigestUStrade Stories of the humankind

Make Htory

BENEFITS OF OUR CLASSIFIEDS

bull Free for FitnessDigestus customers or subscribersbull Your offer is delivered to the potential buyersbull No false or fake adsbull Selling to FitnessDigestus subscribers is safer with our blind box e-mail addresses

Check out eBay store for deals on gear Visit eBaycom and

search ldquoFitness Digestrdquo

Organic apple wood for healthy grilling $2lb+shipping

Includes instructions on how to get real apple wood flavor on a

gas grill For information on ordering e-mail

box02FitnessDigestus

PLACE AN AD Customers who have bought an issue of FitnessDigestus in the last 12 months can place an ad for free Just e-mail your ad of up to 140 characters to classifiedadFitnessDigestus or text it to (641) 583-2407 Your ad will appear in the next issue

Games Gimmicks ChallengesVisit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

Promote Camps or EventsclassifiedadFitnessDigestus

Sell bike racks or other fitness related equipment

classifiedadFitnessDigestus

Black Lab LanyardsVisit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

Personal Run ProgramsTrain for any distance E-mail

runFitnessDigestus

Life Business and Community Change

Visit wwwmycwellnesscomfor more information

Classified Marketplace Safe Effective Delivered

FitnessDigestUS Classifieds

place ads for if you have bought FitnessDigestus within the last 12 months

Current customers can send their ad copy to classifiedadFitnessDigestus Include a photo if you

would like It is free for you and simple to do

20 OFFUse the couponcode RAMCSPRShop at PureSportShopcom

Nutritional Performance Sports Drinks with Protein

Fitn

essD

iges

tU

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olum

e 4

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e 3

sum

mer

201

2

Page 66: FitnessDigest.us Vol. 4.3 Cover

with twigs the size of his finger In another minute he would be able to feed it with branches the size of his wrier and then he could remove his wet toot-gear and while it dried he could keep his naked feet warm by the fire rubbing them at first of course with snow The fire was a success He was safe He remembered the advice of the old timer on Sulphur Creek and smiled The old-timer had been very serious in laying down the law that no man must travel alone in the Klondike after fifty below Well here he was he had had the accident he was alone and he had saved himself Those old-timers were rather womanish some of them he thought All a man had to do was to keep his head and he was all right Any man who was a man could travel alone But it was surprising the rapidity with which his cheeks and nose were freezing And he had not thought his fingers could go lifeless in so short a time Lifeless they were for he could scarcely make them move together to grip a twig and they seemed remote from his body and from him When he touched a twig he had to look and see whether or not he had hold of it The wires were pretty well down between him and his finger-ends

All of which counted for little There was the fire snapping and crackling and promising life with every dancing flame He started to untie his moccasins They were coated with ice the thick German socks were like sheaths of iron halfway to the knees and the moccasin strings were like rods of steel all twisted and knotted as by some conflagration For a moment he tugged with his numb fingers then realizing the folly of it he drew his sheath-knife

But before he could cut the strings it happened It was his own fault or rather his mistake He should not have built the fire under the spruce tree He should have built it in the open But it had been easier to pull the twigs from the brush and drop them directly on the fire Now the tree under which

he had done this carried a weight of snow on its boughs No wind had blown for weeks and each bough was fully freighted Each time he had pulled a twig he had communicated a slight agitation to the tree--an imperceptible agitation so far as he was concerned but an agitation sufficient to bring about the disaster High up in the tree one bough capsized its load of snow This fell on the boughs beneath capsizing them This process continued spreading out and involving the whole tree It grew like an avalanche and it descended without warning upon the man and the fire and the fire was blotted out Where it had burned was a mantle of fresh and disordered snow

The man was shocked It was as though he had just heard his own sentence of death For a moment he sat and stared at the spot where the fire had been Then he grew very calm Perhaps the old-timer on Sulphur Creek was right If he had only had a trail-mate he would have been in no danger now The trail-mate could have built the fire Well it was up to him to build the fire over again and this second time there must be no failure Even if he succeeded he would most likely lose some toes His feet must be badly frozen by now and there would be some time before the second fire Was ready

Such were his thoughts but he did not sit and think them He was busy all the time they were passing through his mind He made a new foundation for a fire this time in the open where no treacherous tree could blot it out Next he gathered dry grasses and tiny twigs from the high-water flotsam He could not bring his fingers together to pull them out but he was able to gather them by the handful In this way he got many rotten twigs and bits of green moss that were undesirable but it was the best he could do He worked methodically even collecting an armful of the larger branches to be used later when the fire gathered strength And all the while the dog sat and watched him a certain yearning wistfulness in its eyes for it looked upon

To Build a FireContinued

him as the fire-provider and the fire was slow in coming

When all was ready the man reached in his pocket for a second piece of birch bark He knew the bark was there and though he could not feel it with his fingers he could hear its crisp rustling as he fumbled for it Try as he would he could not clutch hold of it And all the time in his consciousness was the knowledge that each instant his feet were freezing This thought tended to put him in a panic but he fought against it and kept calm He pulled on his mittens with his teeth and threshed his arms back and forth beating his hands with all his might against his sides He did this sitting down and he stood up to do it and all the while the dog sat in the snow its wolf-brush of a tail curled around warmly over its forefeet its sharp wolf-ears pricked forward intently as it watched the man And the man as he beat and threshed with his arms and hands felt a great surge of envy as he regarded the creature that was warm ant secure in its natural covering

After a time he was aware of the first far-away signals of sensation in his beaten fingers The faint tingling grew stronger till it evolved into a stinging ache that was excruciating but which the man hailed with satisfaction He stripped the mitten from his right hand and fetched forth the birch bark The exposed fingers were quickly going numb again Next he brought out his bunch of sulphur matches But the tremendous cold had already driven the life out of his fingers In his effort to separate one match from the others the whole bunch fell in the snow He tried to pick it out of the snow but failed The dead fingers could neither touch nor clutch He was very careful He drove the thought of his freezing feet and nose and cheeks out of his mind devoting his whole soul to the matches He watched using the sense of vision in place of that of touch and when he saw his fingers on each side the bunch he dosed them--that is he willed to close them for the wires were down and the fingers did not obey He pulled

the mitten on the right hand and beat it fiercely against his knee Then with both mittened hands he scooped the bunch of matches along with much snow into his lap Yet he was no better off

After some manipulation he managed to get the bunch between the heels of his mittened hands In this fashion he carried it to his mouth The ice crackled and snapped when by a violent effort he opened his mouth He drew the lower jaw in curled the upper lip out of the way and scraped the bunch with his upper teeth in order to separate a match He succeeded in getting one which he dropped on his lap He was no better off He could not pick it up Then he devised a way He picked it up in his teeth and scratched it on his leg Twenty times he scratched before he succeeded in lighting it As it flamed he held it with his teeth to the birch bark But the burning brimstone went up his nostrils and into his lungs causing him to cough spasmodically The match fell into the snow and went out

The old-timer an Sulphur Creek was right he thought in the moment of controlled despair that ensued after fifty below a man should travel with a partner He beat his hands but failed in exciting any sensation Suddenly he bared both hands removing the mittens with his teeth He caught the whole bunch between the heels of his hands His arm muscles not being frozen enabled him to press the hand-heels tightly against the matches Then he scratched the bunch along his leg It flared into flame seventy sulphur matches at once There was no wind to blow them out He kept his head to one side to escape the strangling fumes and held the blazing bunch to the birth bark As he so held it he became aware of sensation in his hand His flesh was burning He could smell it Deep down below the surface he could feel it The sensation developed into pain that grew acute And still he endured it holding the flame of the matches clumsily to the bark that would not light readily because his own burning hands were in the way absorbing most of the flame

To Build a FireContinued

At last when he could endure no more he jerked his hands apart The blazing matches fell sizzling into the snow but the birch bark was alight He began laying dry grasses and the tiniest twigs on the flame He could not pick and choose for he had to lift the fuel between the heels of his hands Small pieces of rotten wood and green moss clung to the twigs and he bit them off as well as he could with his teeth He cherished the flame carefully and awkwardly It meant life and it must not perish The withdrawal of blood from the surface of his body now made him begin to shiver and he grew more awkward A large piece of green moss fell squarely on the little fire He tried to poke it out with his fingers but his shivering frame made him poke too far and he disrupted the nucleus of the little fire the burning grasses and tiny twigs separating and scattering He tried to poke them together again but in spite of the tenseness of the effort his shivering got away with him and the twigs were hopelessly scattered Each twig gushed a puff of smoke and went out The fire-provider had failed As he looked apathetically about him his eyes chanced on the dog sitting across the ruins of the fire from him in the snow making restless hunching movements slightly lifting one forefoot and then the other shifting its weight back and forth on them with wistful eagerness

The sight of the dog put a wild idea into his head He remembered the tale of the man caught in a blizzard who killed a steer and crawled inside the carcass and so was saved He would kill the dog and bury his hands in the warm body until the numbness went out of them Then he could build another fire He spoke to the dog calling it to him but in his voice was a strange note of fear that frightened the animal who had never known the man to speak in such way before Something was the matter and its suspicious nature sensed danger--it knew not what danger but somewhere somehow in its brain arose an apprehension of the man It flattened its ears down at the sound of the mans voice and its restless

hunching movements and the liftings and shiftings of its forefeet became more pronounced but it would not come to the man He got on his hands and knees and crawled toward the dog This unusual posture again excited suspicion and the animal sidled mincingly away

The man sat up in the snow for a moment and struggled for calmness Then he pulled on his mittens by means of his teeth and got upon his feet He glanced down at first in order to assure himself that he was really standing up for the absence of sensation in his feet left him unrelated to the earth His erect position in itself started to drive the webs of suspicion from the dogs mind and when he spoke peremptorily with the sound of whiplashes in his voice the dog rendered its customary allegiance and came to him As it came within reaching distance the man lost his control His arms flashed out to the dog and he experienced genuine surprise when he discovered that his hands could not clutch that there was neither bend nor feeling in the fingers He had forgotten for the moment that they were frozen and that they were freezing more and more All this happened quickly and before the animal could get away he encircled its body with his arms He sat down in the snow and in this fashion held the dog while it snarled and whined and struggled

But it was all he could do hold its body encircled in his arms and sit there He realized that he could not kill the dog There was no way to do it With his helpless hands he could neither draw nor hold his sheath knife nor throttle the animal He released it and it plunged wildly away with tail between its legs and still snarling It halted forty feet away and surveyed him curiously with ears sharply pricked forward The man looked down at his hands in order to locate them and found them hanging on the ends of his arms It struck him as curious that one should have to use his eyes in order to find out where his hands were He began threshing his arms back and forth beating the mittened hands against

To Build a FireContinued

his sides He did this for five minutes violently and his heart pumped enough blood up to the surface to put a stop to his shivering But no sensation was aroused in the hands He had an impression that they hung like weights on the ends of his arms but when he tried to run the impression down he could not find it

A certain fear of death dull and oppressive came to him This fear quickly became poignant as he realized that it was no longer a mere matter of freezing his fingers and toes or of losing his hands and feet but that it was a matter of life and death with the chances against him This threw him into a panic and he turned and ran up the creek-bed along the old dim trail The dog joined in behind and kept up with him He ran blindly without intention in fear such as he had never known in his life Slowly as he plowed and floundered through the snow he began to see things again the banks of the creek the old timber-jams the leafless aspens and the sky The running made him feel better He did not shiver Maybe if he ran on his feet would thaw out and anyway if he ran far enough he would reach camp and the boys Without doubt he would lose some fingers and toes and some of his face but the boys would take care of him and save the rest of him when he got there And at the same time there was another thought in his mind that said he would never get to the camp and the boys that it was too many miles away that the freezing had too great a start on him and that he would soon be stiff and dead This thought he kept in the background and refused to consider Sometimes it pushed itself forward and demanded to be heard but he thrust it back and strove to think of other things

It struck him as curious that he could run at all on feet so frozen that he could not feel them when they struck the earth and took the weigh of his body He seemed to himself to skim along above the surface and to have no connection with the earth Somewhere he had once seen a winged Mercury

and he wondered if Mercury felt as he felt when skimming over the earth

His theory of running until he reached camp and the boys had one flaw in it he lacked the endurance Several times he stumbled and finally he tottered crumpled up and fell When he tried to rise he failed He must sit and rest he decided and next time he would merely walk and keep on going As he sat and regained his breath he noted that he was feeling quite warm and comfortable He was not shivering and it even seemed that a warm glow had come to his chest and trunk And yet when he touched his nose or cheeks there was no sensation Running would not thaw them out Nor would it thaw out his hands and feet Then the thought came to him that the frozen portions of his body must be extending He tried to keep this thought down to forget it to think of something else he was aware of the panicky feeling that it caused and he was afraid of the panic But the thought asserted itself and persisted until it produced a vision of his body totally frozen This was too much and he made another wild run along the trail Once he slowed down to a walk but the thought of the freezing extending itself made him run again

And all the time the dog ran with him at his heels When he fell down a second time it curled its tad over its forefeet and sat in front of him facing him curiously eager and intent The warmth and security of the animal angered him and he cursed it till it flattened down its ears appealingly This time the shivering came more quickly upon the man He was losing in his battle with the frost It was creeping into his body from all sides The thought of it drove him on but he ran no more than a hundred feet when he staggered and pitched headlong It was his last panic When he had recovered his breath and control he sat up and entertained in his mind the conception of meeting death with dignity However the conception did not come to him in such terms His idea of it was that he had been making a fool of

To Build a FireContinued

himself running around like a chicken with its head cut off--such was the simile that occurred to him Well he was bound to freeze anyway and he might as well take it decently With this new-found peace of mind came the first glimmerings of drowsiness A good idea he thought to sleep off to death It was like salting an anesthetic Freezing was not so bad as people thought There were lots worse ways to die

He pictured the boys finding his body next day Suddenly he found himself with them coming along the trail and looking for himself And still with them he came around a turn in the trail and found himself lying in the snow He did not belong with himself any more for even then he was out of himself standing with the boys and looking at himself in the snow It certainly was cold was his thought When he got back to the States he could tell the folks what real cold was He drifted on from this to a vision of the old-timer on Sulphur Creek He could see him quite clearly warm and comfortable and smoking a pipe

You were right old boss you were right the man mumbled to the old-timer of Sulphur Creek

Then the man drowsed off into what seemed to him the most comfortable and satisfying sleep he had ever known The dog sat facing him and waiting The brief day drew to a close in a long slow twilight There were no signs of a fire to be made and besides never in the dogs experience had it known a man to sit like that in the snow and make no fire As the twilight drew on its eager yearning for the fire mastered it and with a great lifting and shifting of forefeet it whined softly then flattened its ears down in anticipation of being chidden by the man But the man remained silent Later the dog whined loudly And still later it crept close to the man and caught the scent of death This made the animal bristle and back away A little longer it delayed howling under the stars that leaped and danced and shone brightly in the cold sky Then it turned and trotted up the trail in the direction of the camp it knew where were the other food-providers and fire-providers

To Build a FireContinued

Blogs can be a lot of work to maintainTwitter only gives you 140 characters

Facebook is just your friends

Now you can share a story no matter your social-web status

Stories are published for ALL FitnessDigestus readers Archived professionally and digitally in thousands of libraries

Sign with your real name pen-name or anonymousItrsquos easy and professional Go to httpLiveMediaFitnessDigestus

FitnessDigestUStrade Stories of the humankind

Make Htory

BENEFITS OF OUR CLASSIFIEDS

bull Free for FitnessDigestus customers or subscribersbull Your offer is delivered to the potential buyersbull No false or fake adsbull Selling to FitnessDigestus subscribers is safer with our blind box e-mail addresses

Check out eBay store for deals on gear Visit eBaycom and

search ldquoFitness Digestrdquo

Organic apple wood for healthy grilling $2lb+shipping

Includes instructions on how to get real apple wood flavor on a

gas grill For information on ordering e-mail

box02FitnessDigestus

PLACE AN AD Customers who have bought an issue of FitnessDigestus in the last 12 months can place an ad for free Just e-mail your ad of up to 140 characters to classifiedadFitnessDigestus or text it to (641) 583-2407 Your ad will appear in the next issue

Games Gimmicks ChallengesVisit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

Promote Camps or EventsclassifiedadFitnessDigestus

Sell bike racks or other fitness related equipment

classifiedadFitnessDigestus

Black Lab LanyardsVisit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

Personal Run ProgramsTrain for any distance E-mail

runFitnessDigestus

Life Business and Community Change

Visit wwwmycwellnesscomfor more information

Classified Marketplace Safe Effective Delivered

FitnessDigestUS Classifieds

place ads for if you have bought FitnessDigestus within the last 12 months

Current customers can send their ad copy to classifiedadFitnessDigestus Include a photo if you

would like It is free for you and simple to do

20 OFFUse the couponcode RAMCSPRShop at PureSportShopcom

Nutritional Performance Sports Drinks with Protein

Fitn

essD

iges

tU

S v

olum

e 4

issu

e 3

sum

mer

201

2

Page 67: FitnessDigest.us Vol. 4.3 Cover

him as the fire-provider and the fire was slow in coming

When all was ready the man reached in his pocket for a second piece of birch bark He knew the bark was there and though he could not feel it with his fingers he could hear its crisp rustling as he fumbled for it Try as he would he could not clutch hold of it And all the time in his consciousness was the knowledge that each instant his feet were freezing This thought tended to put him in a panic but he fought against it and kept calm He pulled on his mittens with his teeth and threshed his arms back and forth beating his hands with all his might against his sides He did this sitting down and he stood up to do it and all the while the dog sat in the snow its wolf-brush of a tail curled around warmly over its forefeet its sharp wolf-ears pricked forward intently as it watched the man And the man as he beat and threshed with his arms and hands felt a great surge of envy as he regarded the creature that was warm ant secure in its natural covering

After a time he was aware of the first far-away signals of sensation in his beaten fingers The faint tingling grew stronger till it evolved into a stinging ache that was excruciating but which the man hailed with satisfaction He stripped the mitten from his right hand and fetched forth the birch bark The exposed fingers were quickly going numb again Next he brought out his bunch of sulphur matches But the tremendous cold had already driven the life out of his fingers In his effort to separate one match from the others the whole bunch fell in the snow He tried to pick it out of the snow but failed The dead fingers could neither touch nor clutch He was very careful He drove the thought of his freezing feet and nose and cheeks out of his mind devoting his whole soul to the matches He watched using the sense of vision in place of that of touch and when he saw his fingers on each side the bunch he dosed them--that is he willed to close them for the wires were down and the fingers did not obey He pulled

the mitten on the right hand and beat it fiercely against his knee Then with both mittened hands he scooped the bunch of matches along with much snow into his lap Yet he was no better off

After some manipulation he managed to get the bunch between the heels of his mittened hands In this fashion he carried it to his mouth The ice crackled and snapped when by a violent effort he opened his mouth He drew the lower jaw in curled the upper lip out of the way and scraped the bunch with his upper teeth in order to separate a match He succeeded in getting one which he dropped on his lap He was no better off He could not pick it up Then he devised a way He picked it up in his teeth and scratched it on his leg Twenty times he scratched before he succeeded in lighting it As it flamed he held it with his teeth to the birch bark But the burning brimstone went up his nostrils and into his lungs causing him to cough spasmodically The match fell into the snow and went out

The old-timer an Sulphur Creek was right he thought in the moment of controlled despair that ensued after fifty below a man should travel with a partner He beat his hands but failed in exciting any sensation Suddenly he bared both hands removing the mittens with his teeth He caught the whole bunch between the heels of his hands His arm muscles not being frozen enabled him to press the hand-heels tightly against the matches Then he scratched the bunch along his leg It flared into flame seventy sulphur matches at once There was no wind to blow them out He kept his head to one side to escape the strangling fumes and held the blazing bunch to the birth bark As he so held it he became aware of sensation in his hand His flesh was burning He could smell it Deep down below the surface he could feel it The sensation developed into pain that grew acute And still he endured it holding the flame of the matches clumsily to the bark that would not light readily because his own burning hands were in the way absorbing most of the flame

To Build a FireContinued

At last when he could endure no more he jerked his hands apart The blazing matches fell sizzling into the snow but the birch bark was alight He began laying dry grasses and the tiniest twigs on the flame He could not pick and choose for he had to lift the fuel between the heels of his hands Small pieces of rotten wood and green moss clung to the twigs and he bit them off as well as he could with his teeth He cherished the flame carefully and awkwardly It meant life and it must not perish The withdrawal of blood from the surface of his body now made him begin to shiver and he grew more awkward A large piece of green moss fell squarely on the little fire He tried to poke it out with his fingers but his shivering frame made him poke too far and he disrupted the nucleus of the little fire the burning grasses and tiny twigs separating and scattering He tried to poke them together again but in spite of the tenseness of the effort his shivering got away with him and the twigs were hopelessly scattered Each twig gushed a puff of smoke and went out The fire-provider had failed As he looked apathetically about him his eyes chanced on the dog sitting across the ruins of the fire from him in the snow making restless hunching movements slightly lifting one forefoot and then the other shifting its weight back and forth on them with wistful eagerness

The sight of the dog put a wild idea into his head He remembered the tale of the man caught in a blizzard who killed a steer and crawled inside the carcass and so was saved He would kill the dog and bury his hands in the warm body until the numbness went out of them Then he could build another fire He spoke to the dog calling it to him but in his voice was a strange note of fear that frightened the animal who had never known the man to speak in such way before Something was the matter and its suspicious nature sensed danger--it knew not what danger but somewhere somehow in its brain arose an apprehension of the man It flattened its ears down at the sound of the mans voice and its restless

hunching movements and the liftings and shiftings of its forefeet became more pronounced but it would not come to the man He got on his hands and knees and crawled toward the dog This unusual posture again excited suspicion and the animal sidled mincingly away

The man sat up in the snow for a moment and struggled for calmness Then he pulled on his mittens by means of his teeth and got upon his feet He glanced down at first in order to assure himself that he was really standing up for the absence of sensation in his feet left him unrelated to the earth His erect position in itself started to drive the webs of suspicion from the dogs mind and when he spoke peremptorily with the sound of whiplashes in his voice the dog rendered its customary allegiance and came to him As it came within reaching distance the man lost his control His arms flashed out to the dog and he experienced genuine surprise when he discovered that his hands could not clutch that there was neither bend nor feeling in the fingers He had forgotten for the moment that they were frozen and that they were freezing more and more All this happened quickly and before the animal could get away he encircled its body with his arms He sat down in the snow and in this fashion held the dog while it snarled and whined and struggled

But it was all he could do hold its body encircled in his arms and sit there He realized that he could not kill the dog There was no way to do it With his helpless hands he could neither draw nor hold his sheath knife nor throttle the animal He released it and it plunged wildly away with tail between its legs and still snarling It halted forty feet away and surveyed him curiously with ears sharply pricked forward The man looked down at his hands in order to locate them and found them hanging on the ends of his arms It struck him as curious that one should have to use his eyes in order to find out where his hands were He began threshing his arms back and forth beating the mittened hands against

To Build a FireContinued

his sides He did this for five minutes violently and his heart pumped enough blood up to the surface to put a stop to his shivering But no sensation was aroused in the hands He had an impression that they hung like weights on the ends of his arms but when he tried to run the impression down he could not find it

A certain fear of death dull and oppressive came to him This fear quickly became poignant as he realized that it was no longer a mere matter of freezing his fingers and toes or of losing his hands and feet but that it was a matter of life and death with the chances against him This threw him into a panic and he turned and ran up the creek-bed along the old dim trail The dog joined in behind and kept up with him He ran blindly without intention in fear such as he had never known in his life Slowly as he plowed and floundered through the snow he began to see things again the banks of the creek the old timber-jams the leafless aspens and the sky The running made him feel better He did not shiver Maybe if he ran on his feet would thaw out and anyway if he ran far enough he would reach camp and the boys Without doubt he would lose some fingers and toes and some of his face but the boys would take care of him and save the rest of him when he got there And at the same time there was another thought in his mind that said he would never get to the camp and the boys that it was too many miles away that the freezing had too great a start on him and that he would soon be stiff and dead This thought he kept in the background and refused to consider Sometimes it pushed itself forward and demanded to be heard but he thrust it back and strove to think of other things

It struck him as curious that he could run at all on feet so frozen that he could not feel them when they struck the earth and took the weigh of his body He seemed to himself to skim along above the surface and to have no connection with the earth Somewhere he had once seen a winged Mercury

and he wondered if Mercury felt as he felt when skimming over the earth

His theory of running until he reached camp and the boys had one flaw in it he lacked the endurance Several times he stumbled and finally he tottered crumpled up and fell When he tried to rise he failed He must sit and rest he decided and next time he would merely walk and keep on going As he sat and regained his breath he noted that he was feeling quite warm and comfortable He was not shivering and it even seemed that a warm glow had come to his chest and trunk And yet when he touched his nose or cheeks there was no sensation Running would not thaw them out Nor would it thaw out his hands and feet Then the thought came to him that the frozen portions of his body must be extending He tried to keep this thought down to forget it to think of something else he was aware of the panicky feeling that it caused and he was afraid of the panic But the thought asserted itself and persisted until it produced a vision of his body totally frozen This was too much and he made another wild run along the trail Once he slowed down to a walk but the thought of the freezing extending itself made him run again

And all the time the dog ran with him at his heels When he fell down a second time it curled its tad over its forefeet and sat in front of him facing him curiously eager and intent The warmth and security of the animal angered him and he cursed it till it flattened down its ears appealingly This time the shivering came more quickly upon the man He was losing in his battle with the frost It was creeping into his body from all sides The thought of it drove him on but he ran no more than a hundred feet when he staggered and pitched headlong It was his last panic When he had recovered his breath and control he sat up and entertained in his mind the conception of meeting death with dignity However the conception did not come to him in such terms His idea of it was that he had been making a fool of

To Build a FireContinued

himself running around like a chicken with its head cut off--such was the simile that occurred to him Well he was bound to freeze anyway and he might as well take it decently With this new-found peace of mind came the first glimmerings of drowsiness A good idea he thought to sleep off to death It was like salting an anesthetic Freezing was not so bad as people thought There were lots worse ways to die

He pictured the boys finding his body next day Suddenly he found himself with them coming along the trail and looking for himself And still with them he came around a turn in the trail and found himself lying in the snow He did not belong with himself any more for even then he was out of himself standing with the boys and looking at himself in the snow It certainly was cold was his thought When he got back to the States he could tell the folks what real cold was He drifted on from this to a vision of the old-timer on Sulphur Creek He could see him quite clearly warm and comfortable and smoking a pipe

You were right old boss you were right the man mumbled to the old-timer of Sulphur Creek

Then the man drowsed off into what seemed to him the most comfortable and satisfying sleep he had ever known The dog sat facing him and waiting The brief day drew to a close in a long slow twilight There were no signs of a fire to be made and besides never in the dogs experience had it known a man to sit like that in the snow and make no fire As the twilight drew on its eager yearning for the fire mastered it and with a great lifting and shifting of forefeet it whined softly then flattened its ears down in anticipation of being chidden by the man But the man remained silent Later the dog whined loudly And still later it crept close to the man and caught the scent of death This made the animal bristle and back away A little longer it delayed howling under the stars that leaped and danced and shone brightly in the cold sky Then it turned and trotted up the trail in the direction of the camp it knew where were the other food-providers and fire-providers

To Build a FireContinued

Blogs can be a lot of work to maintainTwitter only gives you 140 characters

Facebook is just your friends

Now you can share a story no matter your social-web status

Stories are published for ALL FitnessDigestus readers Archived professionally and digitally in thousands of libraries

Sign with your real name pen-name or anonymousItrsquos easy and professional Go to httpLiveMediaFitnessDigestus

FitnessDigestUStrade Stories of the humankind

Make Htory

BENEFITS OF OUR CLASSIFIEDS

bull Free for FitnessDigestus customers or subscribersbull Your offer is delivered to the potential buyersbull No false or fake adsbull Selling to FitnessDigestus subscribers is safer with our blind box e-mail addresses

Check out eBay store for deals on gear Visit eBaycom and

search ldquoFitness Digestrdquo

Organic apple wood for healthy grilling $2lb+shipping

Includes instructions on how to get real apple wood flavor on a

gas grill For information on ordering e-mail

box02FitnessDigestus

PLACE AN AD Customers who have bought an issue of FitnessDigestus in the last 12 months can place an ad for free Just e-mail your ad of up to 140 characters to classifiedadFitnessDigestus or text it to (641) 583-2407 Your ad will appear in the next issue

Games Gimmicks ChallengesVisit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

Promote Camps or EventsclassifiedadFitnessDigestus

Sell bike racks or other fitness related equipment

classifiedadFitnessDigestus

Black Lab LanyardsVisit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

Personal Run ProgramsTrain for any distance E-mail

runFitnessDigestus

Life Business and Community Change

Visit wwwmycwellnesscomfor more information

Classified Marketplace Safe Effective Delivered

FitnessDigestUS Classifieds

place ads for if you have bought FitnessDigestus within the last 12 months

Current customers can send their ad copy to classifiedadFitnessDigestus Include a photo if you

would like It is free for you and simple to do

20 OFFUse the couponcode RAMCSPRShop at PureSportShopcom

Nutritional Performance Sports Drinks with Protein

Fitn

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Page 68: FitnessDigest.us Vol. 4.3 Cover

At last when he could endure no more he jerked his hands apart The blazing matches fell sizzling into the snow but the birch bark was alight He began laying dry grasses and the tiniest twigs on the flame He could not pick and choose for he had to lift the fuel between the heels of his hands Small pieces of rotten wood and green moss clung to the twigs and he bit them off as well as he could with his teeth He cherished the flame carefully and awkwardly It meant life and it must not perish The withdrawal of blood from the surface of his body now made him begin to shiver and he grew more awkward A large piece of green moss fell squarely on the little fire He tried to poke it out with his fingers but his shivering frame made him poke too far and he disrupted the nucleus of the little fire the burning grasses and tiny twigs separating and scattering He tried to poke them together again but in spite of the tenseness of the effort his shivering got away with him and the twigs were hopelessly scattered Each twig gushed a puff of smoke and went out The fire-provider had failed As he looked apathetically about him his eyes chanced on the dog sitting across the ruins of the fire from him in the snow making restless hunching movements slightly lifting one forefoot and then the other shifting its weight back and forth on them with wistful eagerness

The sight of the dog put a wild idea into his head He remembered the tale of the man caught in a blizzard who killed a steer and crawled inside the carcass and so was saved He would kill the dog and bury his hands in the warm body until the numbness went out of them Then he could build another fire He spoke to the dog calling it to him but in his voice was a strange note of fear that frightened the animal who had never known the man to speak in such way before Something was the matter and its suspicious nature sensed danger--it knew not what danger but somewhere somehow in its brain arose an apprehension of the man It flattened its ears down at the sound of the mans voice and its restless

hunching movements and the liftings and shiftings of its forefeet became more pronounced but it would not come to the man He got on his hands and knees and crawled toward the dog This unusual posture again excited suspicion and the animal sidled mincingly away

The man sat up in the snow for a moment and struggled for calmness Then he pulled on his mittens by means of his teeth and got upon his feet He glanced down at first in order to assure himself that he was really standing up for the absence of sensation in his feet left him unrelated to the earth His erect position in itself started to drive the webs of suspicion from the dogs mind and when he spoke peremptorily with the sound of whiplashes in his voice the dog rendered its customary allegiance and came to him As it came within reaching distance the man lost his control His arms flashed out to the dog and he experienced genuine surprise when he discovered that his hands could not clutch that there was neither bend nor feeling in the fingers He had forgotten for the moment that they were frozen and that they were freezing more and more All this happened quickly and before the animal could get away he encircled its body with his arms He sat down in the snow and in this fashion held the dog while it snarled and whined and struggled

But it was all he could do hold its body encircled in his arms and sit there He realized that he could not kill the dog There was no way to do it With his helpless hands he could neither draw nor hold his sheath knife nor throttle the animal He released it and it plunged wildly away with tail between its legs and still snarling It halted forty feet away and surveyed him curiously with ears sharply pricked forward The man looked down at his hands in order to locate them and found them hanging on the ends of his arms It struck him as curious that one should have to use his eyes in order to find out where his hands were He began threshing his arms back and forth beating the mittened hands against

To Build a FireContinued

his sides He did this for five minutes violently and his heart pumped enough blood up to the surface to put a stop to his shivering But no sensation was aroused in the hands He had an impression that they hung like weights on the ends of his arms but when he tried to run the impression down he could not find it

A certain fear of death dull and oppressive came to him This fear quickly became poignant as he realized that it was no longer a mere matter of freezing his fingers and toes or of losing his hands and feet but that it was a matter of life and death with the chances against him This threw him into a panic and he turned and ran up the creek-bed along the old dim trail The dog joined in behind and kept up with him He ran blindly without intention in fear such as he had never known in his life Slowly as he plowed and floundered through the snow he began to see things again the banks of the creek the old timber-jams the leafless aspens and the sky The running made him feel better He did not shiver Maybe if he ran on his feet would thaw out and anyway if he ran far enough he would reach camp and the boys Without doubt he would lose some fingers and toes and some of his face but the boys would take care of him and save the rest of him when he got there And at the same time there was another thought in his mind that said he would never get to the camp and the boys that it was too many miles away that the freezing had too great a start on him and that he would soon be stiff and dead This thought he kept in the background and refused to consider Sometimes it pushed itself forward and demanded to be heard but he thrust it back and strove to think of other things

It struck him as curious that he could run at all on feet so frozen that he could not feel them when they struck the earth and took the weigh of his body He seemed to himself to skim along above the surface and to have no connection with the earth Somewhere he had once seen a winged Mercury

and he wondered if Mercury felt as he felt when skimming over the earth

His theory of running until he reached camp and the boys had one flaw in it he lacked the endurance Several times he stumbled and finally he tottered crumpled up and fell When he tried to rise he failed He must sit and rest he decided and next time he would merely walk and keep on going As he sat and regained his breath he noted that he was feeling quite warm and comfortable He was not shivering and it even seemed that a warm glow had come to his chest and trunk And yet when he touched his nose or cheeks there was no sensation Running would not thaw them out Nor would it thaw out his hands and feet Then the thought came to him that the frozen portions of his body must be extending He tried to keep this thought down to forget it to think of something else he was aware of the panicky feeling that it caused and he was afraid of the panic But the thought asserted itself and persisted until it produced a vision of his body totally frozen This was too much and he made another wild run along the trail Once he slowed down to a walk but the thought of the freezing extending itself made him run again

And all the time the dog ran with him at his heels When he fell down a second time it curled its tad over its forefeet and sat in front of him facing him curiously eager and intent The warmth and security of the animal angered him and he cursed it till it flattened down its ears appealingly This time the shivering came more quickly upon the man He was losing in his battle with the frost It was creeping into his body from all sides The thought of it drove him on but he ran no more than a hundred feet when he staggered and pitched headlong It was his last panic When he had recovered his breath and control he sat up and entertained in his mind the conception of meeting death with dignity However the conception did not come to him in such terms His idea of it was that he had been making a fool of

To Build a FireContinued

himself running around like a chicken with its head cut off--such was the simile that occurred to him Well he was bound to freeze anyway and he might as well take it decently With this new-found peace of mind came the first glimmerings of drowsiness A good idea he thought to sleep off to death It was like salting an anesthetic Freezing was not so bad as people thought There were lots worse ways to die

He pictured the boys finding his body next day Suddenly he found himself with them coming along the trail and looking for himself And still with them he came around a turn in the trail and found himself lying in the snow He did not belong with himself any more for even then he was out of himself standing with the boys and looking at himself in the snow It certainly was cold was his thought When he got back to the States he could tell the folks what real cold was He drifted on from this to a vision of the old-timer on Sulphur Creek He could see him quite clearly warm and comfortable and smoking a pipe

You were right old boss you were right the man mumbled to the old-timer of Sulphur Creek

Then the man drowsed off into what seemed to him the most comfortable and satisfying sleep he had ever known The dog sat facing him and waiting The brief day drew to a close in a long slow twilight There were no signs of a fire to be made and besides never in the dogs experience had it known a man to sit like that in the snow and make no fire As the twilight drew on its eager yearning for the fire mastered it and with a great lifting and shifting of forefeet it whined softly then flattened its ears down in anticipation of being chidden by the man But the man remained silent Later the dog whined loudly And still later it crept close to the man and caught the scent of death This made the animal bristle and back away A little longer it delayed howling under the stars that leaped and danced and shone brightly in the cold sky Then it turned and trotted up the trail in the direction of the camp it knew where were the other food-providers and fire-providers

To Build a FireContinued

Blogs can be a lot of work to maintainTwitter only gives you 140 characters

Facebook is just your friends

Now you can share a story no matter your social-web status

Stories are published for ALL FitnessDigestus readers Archived professionally and digitally in thousands of libraries

Sign with your real name pen-name or anonymousItrsquos easy and professional Go to httpLiveMediaFitnessDigestus

FitnessDigestUStrade Stories of the humankind

Make Htory

BENEFITS OF OUR CLASSIFIEDS

bull Free for FitnessDigestus customers or subscribersbull Your offer is delivered to the potential buyersbull No false or fake adsbull Selling to FitnessDigestus subscribers is safer with our blind box e-mail addresses

Check out eBay store for deals on gear Visit eBaycom and

search ldquoFitness Digestrdquo

Organic apple wood for healthy grilling $2lb+shipping

Includes instructions on how to get real apple wood flavor on a

gas grill For information on ordering e-mail

box02FitnessDigestus

PLACE AN AD Customers who have bought an issue of FitnessDigestus in the last 12 months can place an ad for free Just e-mail your ad of up to 140 characters to classifiedadFitnessDigestus or text it to (641) 583-2407 Your ad will appear in the next issue

Games Gimmicks ChallengesVisit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

Promote Camps or EventsclassifiedadFitnessDigestus

Sell bike racks or other fitness related equipment

classifiedadFitnessDigestus

Black Lab LanyardsVisit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

Personal Run ProgramsTrain for any distance E-mail

runFitnessDigestus

Life Business and Community Change

Visit wwwmycwellnesscomfor more information

Classified Marketplace Safe Effective Delivered

FitnessDigestUS Classifieds

place ads for if you have bought FitnessDigestus within the last 12 months

Current customers can send their ad copy to classifiedadFitnessDigestus Include a photo if you

would like It is free for you and simple to do

20 OFFUse the couponcode RAMCSPRShop at PureSportShopcom

Nutritional Performance Sports Drinks with Protein

Fitn

essD

iges

tU

S v

olum

e 4

issu

e 3

sum

mer

201

2

Page 69: FitnessDigest.us Vol. 4.3 Cover

his sides He did this for five minutes violently and his heart pumped enough blood up to the surface to put a stop to his shivering But no sensation was aroused in the hands He had an impression that they hung like weights on the ends of his arms but when he tried to run the impression down he could not find it

A certain fear of death dull and oppressive came to him This fear quickly became poignant as he realized that it was no longer a mere matter of freezing his fingers and toes or of losing his hands and feet but that it was a matter of life and death with the chances against him This threw him into a panic and he turned and ran up the creek-bed along the old dim trail The dog joined in behind and kept up with him He ran blindly without intention in fear such as he had never known in his life Slowly as he plowed and floundered through the snow he began to see things again the banks of the creek the old timber-jams the leafless aspens and the sky The running made him feel better He did not shiver Maybe if he ran on his feet would thaw out and anyway if he ran far enough he would reach camp and the boys Without doubt he would lose some fingers and toes and some of his face but the boys would take care of him and save the rest of him when he got there And at the same time there was another thought in his mind that said he would never get to the camp and the boys that it was too many miles away that the freezing had too great a start on him and that he would soon be stiff and dead This thought he kept in the background and refused to consider Sometimes it pushed itself forward and demanded to be heard but he thrust it back and strove to think of other things

It struck him as curious that he could run at all on feet so frozen that he could not feel them when they struck the earth and took the weigh of his body He seemed to himself to skim along above the surface and to have no connection with the earth Somewhere he had once seen a winged Mercury

and he wondered if Mercury felt as he felt when skimming over the earth

His theory of running until he reached camp and the boys had one flaw in it he lacked the endurance Several times he stumbled and finally he tottered crumpled up and fell When he tried to rise he failed He must sit and rest he decided and next time he would merely walk and keep on going As he sat and regained his breath he noted that he was feeling quite warm and comfortable He was not shivering and it even seemed that a warm glow had come to his chest and trunk And yet when he touched his nose or cheeks there was no sensation Running would not thaw them out Nor would it thaw out his hands and feet Then the thought came to him that the frozen portions of his body must be extending He tried to keep this thought down to forget it to think of something else he was aware of the panicky feeling that it caused and he was afraid of the panic But the thought asserted itself and persisted until it produced a vision of his body totally frozen This was too much and he made another wild run along the trail Once he slowed down to a walk but the thought of the freezing extending itself made him run again

And all the time the dog ran with him at his heels When he fell down a second time it curled its tad over its forefeet and sat in front of him facing him curiously eager and intent The warmth and security of the animal angered him and he cursed it till it flattened down its ears appealingly This time the shivering came more quickly upon the man He was losing in his battle with the frost It was creeping into his body from all sides The thought of it drove him on but he ran no more than a hundred feet when he staggered and pitched headlong It was his last panic When he had recovered his breath and control he sat up and entertained in his mind the conception of meeting death with dignity However the conception did not come to him in such terms His idea of it was that he had been making a fool of

To Build a FireContinued

himself running around like a chicken with its head cut off--such was the simile that occurred to him Well he was bound to freeze anyway and he might as well take it decently With this new-found peace of mind came the first glimmerings of drowsiness A good idea he thought to sleep off to death It was like salting an anesthetic Freezing was not so bad as people thought There were lots worse ways to die

He pictured the boys finding his body next day Suddenly he found himself with them coming along the trail and looking for himself And still with them he came around a turn in the trail and found himself lying in the snow He did not belong with himself any more for even then he was out of himself standing with the boys and looking at himself in the snow It certainly was cold was his thought When he got back to the States he could tell the folks what real cold was He drifted on from this to a vision of the old-timer on Sulphur Creek He could see him quite clearly warm and comfortable and smoking a pipe

You were right old boss you were right the man mumbled to the old-timer of Sulphur Creek

Then the man drowsed off into what seemed to him the most comfortable and satisfying sleep he had ever known The dog sat facing him and waiting The brief day drew to a close in a long slow twilight There were no signs of a fire to be made and besides never in the dogs experience had it known a man to sit like that in the snow and make no fire As the twilight drew on its eager yearning for the fire mastered it and with a great lifting and shifting of forefeet it whined softly then flattened its ears down in anticipation of being chidden by the man But the man remained silent Later the dog whined loudly And still later it crept close to the man and caught the scent of death This made the animal bristle and back away A little longer it delayed howling under the stars that leaped and danced and shone brightly in the cold sky Then it turned and trotted up the trail in the direction of the camp it knew where were the other food-providers and fire-providers

To Build a FireContinued

Blogs can be a lot of work to maintainTwitter only gives you 140 characters

Facebook is just your friends

Now you can share a story no matter your social-web status

Stories are published for ALL FitnessDigestus readers Archived professionally and digitally in thousands of libraries

Sign with your real name pen-name or anonymousItrsquos easy and professional Go to httpLiveMediaFitnessDigestus

FitnessDigestUStrade Stories of the humankind

Make Htory

BENEFITS OF OUR CLASSIFIEDS

bull Free for FitnessDigestus customers or subscribersbull Your offer is delivered to the potential buyersbull No false or fake adsbull Selling to FitnessDigestus subscribers is safer with our blind box e-mail addresses

Check out eBay store for deals on gear Visit eBaycom and

search ldquoFitness Digestrdquo

Organic apple wood for healthy grilling $2lb+shipping

Includes instructions on how to get real apple wood flavor on a

gas grill For information on ordering e-mail

box02FitnessDigestus

PLACE AN AD Customers who have bought an issue of FitnessDigestus in the last 12 months can place an ad for free Just e-mail your ad of up to 140 characters to classifiedadFitnessDigestus or text it to (641) 583-2407 Your ad will appear in the next issue

Games Gimmicks ChallengesVisit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

Promote Camps or EventsclassifiedadFitnessDigestus

Sell bike racks or other fitness related equipment

classifiedadFitnessDigestus

Black Lab LanyardsVisit httpLiveAdsFitnessDigestus

Personal Run ProgramsTrain for any distance E-mail

runFitnessDigestus

Life Business and Community Change

Visit wwwmycwellnesscomfor more information

Classified Marketplace Safe Effective Delivered

FitnessDigestUS Classifieds

place ads for if you have bought FitnessDigestus within the last 12 months

Current customers can send their ad copy to classifiedadFitnessDigestus Include a photo if you

would like It is free for you and simple to do

20 OFFUse the couponcode RAMCSPRShop at PureSportShopcom

Nutritional Performance Sports Drinks with Protein

Fitn

essD

iges

tU

S v

olum

e 4

issu

e 3

sum

mer

201

2

Page 70: FitnessDigest.us Vol. 4.3 Cover

himself running around like a chicken with its head cut off--such was the simile that occurred to him Well he was bound to freeze anyway and he might as well take it decently With this new-found peace of mind came the first glimmerings of drowsiness A good idea he thought to sleep off to death It was like salting an anesthetic Freezing was not so bad as people thought There were lots worse ways to die

He pictured the boys finding his body next day Suddenly he found himself with them coming along the trail and looking for himself And still with them he came around a turn in the trail and found himself lying in the snow He did not belong with himself any more for even then he was out of himself standing with the boys and looking at himself in the snow It certainly was cold was his thought When he got back to the States he could tell the folks what real cold was He drifted on from this to a vision of the old-timer on Sulphur Creek He could see him quite clearly warm and comfortable and smoking a pipe

You were right old boss you were right the man mumbled to the old-timer of Sulphur Creek

Then the man drowsed off into what seemed to him the most comfortable and satisfying sleep he had ever known The dog sat facing him and waiting The brief day drew to a close in a long slow twilight There were no signs of a fire to be made and besides never in the dogs experience had it known a man to sit like that in the snow and make no fire As the twilight drew on its eager yearning for the fire mastered it and with a great lifting and shifting of forefeet it whined softly then flattened its ears down in anticipation of being chidden by the man But the man remained silent Later the dog whined loudly And still later it crept close to the man and caught the scent of death This made the animal bristle and back away A little longer it delayed howling under the stars that leaped and danced and shone brightly in the cold sky Then it turned and trotted up the trail in the direction of the camp it knew where were the other food-providers and fire-providers

To Build a FireContinued

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Page 71: FitnessDigest.us Vol. 4.3 Cover

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Current customers can send their ad copy to classifiedadFitnessDigestus Include a photo if you

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Nutritional Performance Sports Drinks with Protein

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