Photograph of Adam Austin (right) by Jay Westcott.
Gregg Deal and Adam Austin
of District Cycling
Why you should read their blog: The self-deprecating banter between the two 36-year-olds is just downright amusing. Deal started the blog a few years before Austin began contributing in 2008, and now the pair run a popular podcast twice a month, where they chat about local cycling news, races, and athletes. Their podcasts caught the attention of professional cyclist Michael Creed, who soon joined their team.
How did you two meet?
Austin: “Funny story. Gregg was actually stalking me. I was on a TV show back in 2008 for the Discovery Channel, and I was at Revolution Cycles for a book-signing event. Gregg was covering the event for his blog.”
Deal: “I went over to him fully intending to give him a hard time because he quit the cycling show. I remember yelling at the TV when I saw his special. So I gave him a hard time.”
What kind of audience are you trying to reach with your blog and podcast?
Austin: “We really want to point out how ridiculous things are in the Washington area. Cyclists, I think, do take what they do really seriously, from what they wear to the bikes they ride. We were really just looking to poke fun at the culture a bit.”
Deal: “A man can’t wear spandex and take himself too seriously. We make fun of each other and of people who love cycling. It’s just for fun. Our blog and podcast are purely for cycling enthusiasts who like to watch, race, and talk about it—and have a good sense of humor.”
Slideshow: 8 Great Gifts for Golfers
It may not be golf season, but it’s never too early to start working on your swing. We asked golf enthusiasts, including one of the top coaches in the nation, Steve Bosdosh, what made their wish list this year.
Bosdosh recommends giving golf lovers a chance to use their new gear come spring by signing them up for a series of lessons. Click here for more information on local courses and instructors.
Photograph courtesy of The U.S. Army
Think all watches are created equal? Think again.
The demand for high-tech sport watches with GPS systems has been on the rise, especially among serious athletes. Scan the crowd during marathons or triathlons and you’ll find lots of competitors using their wristwatches to record their distance, route, and even heart rate. While plenty of athletes are happy using a simple design with just a timer, watches with more sophisticated features allow users to tune them to their own workouts and performance, which can be extremely helpful for triathletes, who have to keep track of more than one sport.
It’s that time of year: The leaves are turning, the air is crisp, and daylight hours keep getting shorter. While these 50-degree days can feel like a long-distance runner’s paradise, you still have to contend with pitch-black mornings and evenings. Not ready to sacrifice your outdoor running route for a treadmill routine? We’ve got you covered from head to toe with these running gear picks to keep you safe and visible before dawn and after dusk.
Past Tense Studio hosts a Happy Hour yoga session every Friday. Photograph by Stacey Vaeth
Your next yoga session doesn’t have to be done to new age music—let’s face it, that stuff isn’t for everyone. Listen to this new playlist created by Kelly DiNardo, owner of Past Tense Studio in Mount Pleasant, which features a mix of up-tempo and slow songs, including Beyonce’s “Single Ladies” and “Songbird” by Fleetwood Mac.
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“Some of my playlists are seasonal,” DiNardo says. “Others are more straightforward with whatever catches my attention.” The owner’s playlists typically have a wide range of music genres, from Arcade Fire to Jay-Z.
DiNardo and other Past Tense instructors put a lot of work into creating the perfect playlist for each of their classes. The following playlist is one of DiNardo’s most recent creations for her hour-long Happy Hour yoga classes on Fridays at 6:30 PM. The session is a fast-paced vinyasa, or flow class, so it’s recommended you have some experience before signing up.
First timers at Past Tense Studio can purchase a single pass for $10 or an unlimited 10-day pass for $20.
Download Spotify to your smartphone and you’ll be able to listen to this playlist wherever you go.
1. “Little Bird” by Annie Lennox
2. “All For You” by Janet Jackson
3. “Ray of Light” by Madonna
4. “Song for the Lonely” by Cher
5. “Just Dance” by Lady Gaga and Colby O’Donis
6. “Single Ladies” by Beyoncé
7. “Bad Romance” by Lady Gaga
8. “Revolver” by Madonna vs. David Guetta (One Love Remix)
9. “Love Is All We Need” by Mary J. Blige
10. “Golden” by Jill Scott
11. “Love on Top” by Beyoncé
12. “My Love Is Your Love” by Whitney Houston
13. “Songbird” by Fleetwood Mac
Do you have your own yoga playlist? If you think it’s worthy enough, starting next week bring a CD to Past Tense Studio's Happy Hour class. If they accept it, you’ll get a free class.
When you’re ready to upgrade from your yoga studio’s grungy loaner mats, the choices can be daunting. Caitlin Van Hecke, the studio manager of Boundless Yoga near U Street, Northwest, and an instructor at Past Tense in Mt. Pleasant, says the most important consideration when looking at mats is knowing yourself: how you practice yoga, your limitations, and any injuries you may have. The rest is all about taste, but to help narrow your options, here are her picks:
In an effort to promote hydration and conservation, Nalgene is giving away 5,000 of its multi-use bottles at Union Station tomorrow from 10 AM to 4 PM. Nalgene will give away the wide-mouth bottles in purple, green, frost, red, and blue, new translucent colors that launched on the site this week.
While not mandatory, people can exchange their plastic, one-use water bottles for a free, 16-ounce and translucent Nalgene. The translucent bottles typically cost $9.
Nalgene’s products are BPA-free. The safety of Bisphenol A, a chemical that has been used in the manufacturing of plastic products, has been questioned after recent studies and reports raised concerns about its exposure to infants and children. For more information on Nalgene’s use of materials in its bottles, click here.
We’ve got another workout playlist for you courtesy of Grant Hill, fitness trainer and founder of My Bootcamp. Hill chose 13 songs for a 60-minute running playlist to get you through those hills, sprints, and cool down.
“You obviously have to love what you are listening to, or you’ll find yourself distracted, fumbling with your iPhone instead of focusing on your run,” says Hill, who has produced music for the Real World, the Hills, and Keeping Up with the Kardashians.
When it comes to choosing songs for a perfect running playlist, Hill says to go with tunes that are long and have a steady, driving beat. “If you can sync up your pace precisely with the beat, you’ll feel a huge endorphin rush.”
Listen to the running playlist on Spotify here. Don’t have the music-sharing program? Download it and listen to the playlist on your smartphone wherever you go.
Use soap and water. Drink lots of water. Moisturize at night. Each person has a skincare regimen he or she swears by, but not many people know that skin treatments need to change and evolve as one ages.
"A lot of people hold onto things they used to do in their twenties," says Dr. Tina Alster, founder of the Washington Institute of Dermatologic Laser Surgery. "They keep trying a lot of different things, and they never find out what's best for them."
But with the dizzying amount of skincare products out there, it can be overwhelming trying to figure out which scrub or moisturizer works best for your type of skin. Alster recommends sticking with a product for at least one month before seeing results. "Unless someone has an allergic reaction, all of my patients see a difference in their skin after a month. I always say you should invest in your skin like you are investing in your money for the long term," Alster says.
The following skincare regimens are for people in their twenties, thirties, and forties and onwards. But at least one thing that people of every age should do to protect their skin, Alster says, is to use sun block.
It’s been established in studies and among athletes that while barefoot-running shoes are quite funny looking, they can also improve your running and prevent injury. Chi Running, a form of running based on the principles of T’ai Chi, has advocated for shoes with minimal heels since 1999.
If you take a look at your current running shoe, its heel is probably at least one-inch thick. When shoes have this thick padding, “it removes us from the ever important foot-to-ground connection,” Chi Running explains on its Web site. The less heel there is, the more stable and connected to the ground runners can feel, thus reducing their chances of injury.
