Runner’s Butt in 2017: 5 Obstacle Races That Will Kick Your Ass
For those seeking a fitness challenge, a simple 5K or 10K race isn’t enough. They need difficulty, they need obstacles, they need mud. Obstacle course races are spreading all across the country and if you’re looking to join the movement, these are the five adventures you should know about.
Spartan Race
Now part of a featured NBC show, the Spartan Race is one of the biggest and widely available obstacle runs for adventurers nationwide. It has even gone international, with races in Taiwan, Canada and Chile.
The Spartan has multiple options as well for beginners and experts. One possibility is the Spartan Sprint, a three-plus mile race that includes more than 20 obstacles. For those seeking a bigger challenge, there’s the Spartan Super (a distance of more than eight miles and features 25-plus obstacles) and Spartan Beast (12-plus miles, 30-plus obstacles).
The ultimate course, however, is the Spartan Ultra Beast, which is a literal marathon (26-plus miles) and confronts runners with more than 60 obstacles to face. “Every Spartan Race is a baptism. The Ultra Beast is considered an exorcism,” reads the race description. Better say your prayers.
Warrior Dash
This obstacle race is the perfect choice for beginners and intermediate runner alike. With more than two and half million racers since 2009, this obstacle course has reinvented the 5K run. Boasting 12 world-class obstacles from the Goliath to the Fisherman’s Catch, you will be rewarded with a frothy pint and a Viking hat for completing this race.
Tough Mudder
Another popular and well-known obstacle race is the Tough Mudder. Perhaps you’ve seen friends share their post-race selfies dripping in mud and wearing the orange headbands associated with the event. The 10-12 mile race challenges racers with such obstacles as the “Block Ness Monster,” an arctic pit with 10 tons of freezing ice, rope swings, and more. The Tough Mudder, as the website promotes, is about team work. This is a race near impossible to complete solo. You will need the help of fellow runners around you and you will need to help them if any of want any hope of finishing this beast of a race.
Zombie Mud Run
Consider the Zombie Mud Run focused on something these other races aren’t: fun. Not to say you won’t enjoy yourself otherwise at the other course found on this list, but the Zombie Mud Run claims it’s “probably the funnest event on the planet.” This race includes the mud, the obstacles, the length of others, but adds brain-eating zombies chasing you for extra difficulty. Not only do you have to complete the course, you must finish with all your flags to save the human race. No pressure.
Savage Race
This barbaric course claims the title of most obstacles per mile of any race on this list. With 12 races per year, and a 81.6% completion rate, Savage Race keeps its namesake with obstacles like the 43-foot tall Colossus quarter pipe and the Big Ass Cargo Net, which is exactly what you think it is. Savage Race isn’t really geared for beginners, this race will test you to your limits.
Florida Will Have Cool And Comfortable Medical Marijuana Dispensaries
Florida is predicted to become one of the largest medical marijuana markets in the United States, potentially servicing somewhere in the neighborhood of 500,000 patients within the next few years. Interestingly, many of these people will be “new customers,” never having frequented the black market for weed, much less stepped foot inside a state licensed dispensary that makes buying marijuana as easy as walking into a pharmacy to pick up a regular prescription.
But a number of cannabis companies presently operating throughout the state are trying to make these newcomers feel at ease with the freedom to purchase legal cannabis products.
“The idea is to make patients feel comfortable, to make a mother with a sick child or a sick parent – or herself, who is dealing with an ailment – make her feel comfortable to bring her child in with her or bring her elderly parent in here and not feel like she is doing something wrong,” Monica Russell, a spokesperson for the Surterra Wellness Center, told the Tallahassee Democrat. “We’re not going to hide what we’re doing.”
The state-licensed dispensaries currently providing medicine to Florida patients are selling products like sprays, tinctures, and lotions. Some of these stores will soon begin distributing vaporizer liquids. However, marijuana in smokeable form is not permitted under state law.
In order to qualify for the program, patients must first get their hands on a recomedation from a state-certified physician. But the law requires a patient to have a bona-fide relationship with a doctor before this can take place, so it could conceivably take a person several months of seeing a new family doctor or specialist before cannabis medicine could ever be discussed as part of their treatment program.
As it stands, there are only around 400 doctors in the entire state that have completed the state mandated online training course to certify patients for participation.
Despite the program’s current position, legal but lingering in a purgatorial phase, as the industry waits for the state legislature to hash out all of the regulations, it is just a matter of time before the state’s medical marijuana program grows into a wealthy monster. There are now just a over 1,000 patients cleared to buy medical marijuana, but the language of the law, which was cleared through the passing of Amendment 2, opens the market up to hundred of thousands more patients.
It is for this reason that area dispensaries are working to put people at ease about what it means to by medical marijuana. Some of the latest predictions show the majority of the patients set to take advantage of the state’s medical marijuana program will most likely be senior citizens, many of which have never used cannabis before due to its outlaw status.
7 Weed Products You Can Order On Amazon Now
Winter is here, which means you should try to stay inside as much as possible. And what better way to beat the cold and entertain yourself while indoors than smoking a little bit of weed? Thanks to the miracle of online shopping, you can now prepare for the season by ordering all of your required smoking gear directly to your home. Here are the 10 best products available on Amazon right now.
Zip Grinders – Large Herb Grinder
We can personally recommend this Large Herb Grinder from Zip Grinders, which grinds your tobacco-like product into small, even-sized crumbs that are perfect for the smoking device of your choice. It also has a nice keef collector in the bottom, and you can remove the clear middle section to make it portable if need be.
Kush Kaddie Hard Shell Vacuum Sealed Padded Container
Keep your buds and bowl safe with the Kush Kaddie. While the padded interior protects your glass piece, the vacuum seal will keep even the strongest kush’s odors contained and the buds fresh. Perfect for smokers on the go, or those who need to keep their hobby a secret.
Medium Smelly Proof Clear Bags
If you need to share some of your weed or take some just a small amount with you somewhere, Smelly Proof’s medium-sized plastic bags are a great choice. Be aware though that, as several reviewers note, the bags are strong enough to keep the scent from most humans but not dogs.
Doob Tubes – Large Airtight Packaging Tube
Another great product for smoking on the go, Doob Tubes let you store a new or partially-smoked joint in an airtight tube. Bonus points for the bright colors and clever slogans emblazoned on the side.
Magical Butter 2 Butter Making Machine
If you have $175 to spare and love edibles, you should check out the Magical Butter 2 Butter Making Machine. The product description on Amazon claims it’ll help you make herbal butter in just two hours and herbal tincture in four-to-eight hours. And reviewers seem to love it. “Higher than my expectations lol,” wrote Amazon-user Sydney Stephens.
THC Sticker
Want to be the cool guy in the coffee shop with a THC sticker on your laptop? Look no further than the THC Tetrahydrocannabinol Marijuana Molecule Molecular Model – 6″ Green Vinyl Decal Sticker Car Macbook Laptop Skin, which is just nine bucks now on Amazon.
Glass Incense Holder
“Glass Incense Holder” is, for whatever reason, code on Amazon for a glass bowl. These don’t seem like the highest quality ones, but in a pinch they’ll do just fine.
Visine Maximum Redness Relief
Just in case you need it 🙂
Pulp Fiction: This YouTuber Makes The Famous Movie Burger
YouTube’s Andrew Rea loves recreating famous foods from movies via his online cooking show, Binging With Babish. There’s the breakfast “dessert pasta” from Elf, the Il Timpano from Big Night, and The World’s Greatest Sandwich from Spanglish, to name a few. Most recently, Rea created the Big Kahuna burger that appears in a string of Quentin Tarantino film, including Pulp Fiction.
Here, Rea demonstrates how easy it is to whip up this magical creation that relies heavily on a flattened burger patty, along with some teriyaki sauce, caramelized pineapple and the all-important grilled bun. Commenters are quick to point out that the only thing missing on this burger is the lettuce, but if you’re reliant on a tutorial to demonstrate how to add garnishes, you’ve got bigger problems.
Follow Andrew Rea’s YouTube channel.
Consume is an essential source for food and beverage news, trends, tips, original recipes and everything in between. Want to read more? Try these posts: Cheese Lattes Are Now A Thing, 9 Of The Best Pumpkin Beers In America, and What I Ate Today: Coquine’s Katy Millard.
13 Facts About Food You Love That Will Blow Your Mind
Forbes recently put together a list of shocking food facts that would make anyone put down their burger and pick up a seitan sandwich (and a copy of Cowspiracy). For instance, did you realize it takes nearly 700 gallons of water to make a single patty for your BigMac? And you thought almonds were the problem.
And while everyone is pining over the cool new diet they’re adhering to in 2017, we’ve come up with our own meal plan of interesting food facts to feed the mind.
1. Cap’n Crunch is a phony!
According to the stripes on his sleeve, he’s a Commander in disguise. Maybe he ingested too much nutmeg, which is a hallucinogen.
2. Skip the General Tsao’s chicken at a Chinese buffet.
It’s likely been fried in old, used oil. Gross.
3. It takes 12-pounds of milk to make a single gallon of ice cream.
And it takes nearly 2,000 gallons of water to create a single gallon of milk. You do the math. Maybe it’s time to switch to sorbet.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BO6rXdmhr48
4. It takes 872 gallons of water to create a gallon of wine.
https://www.instagram.com/p/7vvksdIExE
5. Licorice ropes are shaped by extruders, just like pasta.
6. Finland consumes the most coffee.
The average person drinks 2.64 cups per day.
https://www.instagram.com/p/h9Igo5lVEp
7. It takes about 20 minutes to make a tube of Pringles.
8. Japan grows the most expensive watermelon.
The average cost of the extremely rare, black-skinned Densuke watermelon, of which only 10,000 are grown each year, is about $6,000.
9. Australia consumes the most meat at 205 lbs per year.
The U.S. ranks a close second with 200.6 lbs.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BO755olDQHo/
10. Toy-filled candy is banned in America.
The U.S. has prohibited toy-filled candy since 1938 because of its chocking hazard. Being caught with one could land you a $1,200 fine.
11. The holes in Swiss cheese are created by…hay.
12. While a hugely popular dish at Indian restaurants, Chicken Tikka Masala originated in Britain.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BO5jxF_gxeZ
13. McDonald’s ice cream is anything but McNatural.
The long list of ingredients includes: corn syrup solids, artificial vanilla flavor, mono- and diglycerides, guar gum, dextrose, sodium citrate, sodium phosphate, carrageenan, disodium phosphate, cellulose gum and vitamin A palmitate. Phew!
https://www.instagram.com/p/raUO7YMT_Q
The Fresh Toast Publisher Named to Salonniere 100
Since the turn of the last century, people have been obsessed with lists about the rich, the connected and the famous. And occasionally the infamous. Debrett’s and the Almanach de Gotha chronicle the royals and titled nobility, Vanity Fair has their annual best dressed list, and Salonniere is making a name by listing the 100 best society hosts in the country. Town and Country magainze reviews the list also and is filled crossover glittering names. In their recent list, The Fresh Toast publisher named to Salooniere 100. JJ McKay founded and is the publisher of The Fresh Toast, but has a long history of bring people together.
The magazine says this about the publication. Salonnière means a hostess of meaningful gatherings that facilitate profound conversations to spark change in the world. We intentionally chose the feminine manifestation of this word because it represents a nurturing mind for the future, through collaboration and intuition. Salons have been taking place around the world in many forms since the 17th century and we’re continuing that tradition through digital and print publications, virtual conversations and events.
McKay co-chaired his junior/senior prom and went on to be the social chair of his fraternity. After college he started giving an annual holiday party, which has occurred every year except when he first moved to Seattle.
Social and eager to learn about people, McKay has been involved in a variety of organizations. He has been a board member of Seattle Opera, the Pilchuck School of Glass, US Bank Washington and others. He was the long-serving Chair of Mary’s Place Seattle helping them grow from a $200K budget day shelter to a $10+million budget and being the largest family shelter system in the Northwest. He was active with Tina Brown’s Women in the World and the Daily Beast under her stewardship. McKay chaired the International Middle East and North Africa International Human Rights Film Festival, which was organized by the State Department and the American Islamic Congress.
He is legendary for gathering people together for cocktail parties, dinners at his place in Seattle and other events. The criteria is to be interesting, bring a conversation to the table and be gracious. He has had billionaires, geeks, models, celebrities, politicians, firefighters and innovators all chatting it up. Of his history, he has introduced 9 couples who went on to be married.
In 2016, McKay founded The Fresh Toast to connect people to marijuana. With no publication focused on the causal or new user which represented 90% of customers, Mckay has focused on being the largest consumer voice in cannabis. Geekwire covered the launch of The Fresh Toast.
Whether hosting an après-ski party for 350 at Sundance or a book launch party for his friend Norman Lear in New York or a hoe-down in Seattle, McKay enjoys being around interesting people who are doing things.
The Fresh Toast Publisher Named to Salonniere 100
Congress, Marijuana And PTSD: The State Of The Debate
There was a disappointment in the medical cannabis community when, in August, the DEA refused to relax its classification marijuana. But for all the laments about the bureaucratic hurdles to cannabis research, it is nevertheless a quickly moving field.
Nowhere is that pace more apparent than in PTSD research (which is probably a sad commentary on the amount of fear and trauma in our world.) As we’ve already reported, the University of Colorado has conducted the first controlled, clinical trial of whole-plant on PTSD. This follows nearly a decade of work in this area.
In this context, the September print issue of Neuropsychopharmacology includes a exhaustively documented debate on the state of research on cannabis and PTSD, which is cheekily subtitled “An Oversimplified Debate Discussed.”
Here’s our re-oversimplified take:
PRO
- Cannabis reduces the symptoms of PTSD. Studies have shown that THC reduces fear response and nightmares while improving sleep and overall sense of well being in PTSD patients.
- Cannabis doesn’t merely sedate; it changes the way the brain works. CB1 receptors are densely present in the amygdala-hippocampal-cortico-striatal circuits (but you can call them the fear centers of the brain). The brains of patients with PTSD ramp up the fear response and suppress the rational bits that keep us from acting impulsively and doing stupid stuff. Cannabinoids rebalance that condition. They may not make us any wiser, but they do neurologically mellow us out.
- Cannabis inhibits the formation of fear-induced habits. Events like loud noises can trigger PTSD episode, even when no danger is present. Breaking the connection between a traumatic event and associated circumstances is called “fear extinction”—it’s a sort of reverse Pavlov’s dog effect, where we never confuse the ringing bell with a dish of food. But for PTSD replace “a dish of food” with “a buddy getting blown up.” Both mouse and human studies have shown that THC plays an important role in fear extinction.
CON
- Thin Evidence. This is a cobweb-thin chicken-and-egg problem: Until clinical trials are done, the evidence will always be thin. Far from being an objection, it is actually a call for more research.
- Known harms. At last, something to ponder: Longitudinal study of more than 2,000 PTSD patients found that those who used cannabis had more severe symptoms, more violent behavior, and more alcohol and other drug use than those who either didn’t use or who had but stopped.
- Cannabis use can disrupt current PTSD treatment. There are effective, non-drug-related treatments for PTSD, including cognitive behavior therapy and prolonged exposure. Unfortunately, marijuana use actively reduces their efficacy—partially by inducing the negative effects listed above.
- Just because cannabis makes you feel better doesn’t mean you actually are better. Quality of life assessments are based on self-reporting, and that means bias is a real concern. Moreover, while personal testimony can guide scientific inquiry, as your high school bio teacher told you, the plural of anecdote is not data.
Still, wouldn’t it make sense to offer medical marijuana as a treatment in the cases where it makes sense? We think so, and we know that many veterans think so as well.
[gravityform id=”13″ title=”false” description=”true”]
10 Perfect Examples of How Scottish Twitter Could Save Social Media
For all of the trolls and other obnoxious, terrible people on it, Twitter still has some wonderful, mostly undiscovered corners tucked away that when occasionally stumbled up make the social media service seem like it might be half-way decent after all. One of those nooks is an area known as Sottish Twitter because, well, it consists of tweets written by people from Scotland.
What, you ask, makes a tweet written by someone from Scotland so special? Here’s a perfect example about a random encounter with a nice sounding couple.
Just seen a bird shoutin at her bairn to put his pants on then pointed at me sayin 'look the mans gonna steal ur willy'. Wtf no am no
— Ryan King (@ryankingg) April 19, 2014
What is it about the tweet that’s so hilarious and perfect? It’s hard to pin-point exactly but we’d really rather not dig too deep anyways; instead, we feel it’s best to just enjoy Scottish Twitter on its own, without giving it too much thought. Here are nine more classics from the genre.
On the troubles of shopping:
https://twitter.com/sharpis/status/613057414020132864?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
On TFW Your “Maw” Buys You the Wrong Kind of Soap
https://twitter.com/adamfraser14/status/634393640123674624?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
On the Struggles of Modern Day Romance
https://twitter.com/RyanBurns96/status/584055655637590016?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
On Kanine Police Units
On Tributes to Lost Family Members
A boy at avicii telt me his dad died cos of MDMA and when the beat dropped he was proper crying his eyes out shoutin "ma dad died for this"
— Nathan Henderson (@nathanhend_97) July 13, 2015
On…Well, We’re Not Really Sure What This One Is About But We Like It
Do Ann Summers actually ask if yi want a bag?
No thanks Sue hen I'll carry the 15" black mamba with ma milk n bread.
— John Chalmers (@JohnBoyPure) August 20, 2015
On A Nice Night At Home By Yourself
https://twitter.com/cannyswim/status/612975944761016320
On Owning Your Mistakes
https://twitter.com/CfcRyanS/status/654986957517402112
On Properly Appreciating Your Mother
Came in to the Hoose to find oot Ma maws made me fajitas a could honestly shag her sometimes
— jamie johnstone (@jamiejay67) October 14, 2015
Drunk Woman Grabbs EMT By The Privates In Walmart
A Florida woman was arrested earlier this week after she allegedly downed five beers in the beer aisle of a local Walmart and then grabbed a paramedic’s testicles.
WKMG reports that, according to the Sumter County Sheriff’s Department, 18-year-old Shelby Conder told the manager of a Walmart in Lady Lake, Florida that she drank five beers and that she needed a ride home. The manager then presumably called 911.
When responding deputies found Conder by the store’s restrooms, she told them “she drank beer from the beer aisle and wanted to go home,” according to the deputies’ report. She also reportedly said that she was drunk.
RELATED: Science Explains How Marijuana Inspires Awe
Condor allegedly resisted arrest and kicked at least one deputy before being brought under control, at least temporarily. Later, as she was being evaluated outside the store, police say she grabbed an EMT by the testicles.
Once officers got her into a patrol car, she reportedly said, “I’m sorry to who I hit.” She’s since been charged with battery on a officer, larceny petit theft, and resisting officer with violence.
Florida is home to #Floridaman and Conder is the perfect example. The moniker refers to an alleged prevalence of people performing irrational, maniacal, illogical, delusional, insane, and absurd actions in the U.S. state of Florida. Internet users typically submit links to news stories and articles about unusual or strange crimes and other events occurring in Florida, with stories’ headlines often beginning with “Florida Man…” followed by the main event of the story. Because of the way news headlines are typically written, they can be creatively interpreted as implying that the subjects of the articles are all a single individual known as “Florida Man”.
