Every four years, I am tickled with glee that the Winter Olympics have arrived. I have come to discover that people prefer either the Summer or the Winter Olympics. They can like both, of course, but they are usually more partial to one. I am definitely more partial to the Winter Olympics, which is surprising, since I hate the cold. But there is something about how winter sports make the dark, cold season cozy and celebratory that helps me make it to spring.
About 3 years ago, I took up speed skating as a way to lose weight. I learned that the activity burns 500 calories an hour. I figured if I am going to suffer through a workout, I might as well get the biggest bang for my buck. The first time I tried it, my legs felt like someone was taking a blowtorch to them. My feet were sore with blisters. And my nose was running like a faucet (ice skating makes your nose run – bring tissues). I realized this was going to be a slow buildup of my body adjusting to this new activity. I read over some books on athletic training to get an idea on how to proceed. The key was to take it slow and steady. I skated in 10 minute segments with 10 minutes of rest. Gradually, I worked up to 15 minute segments with 5 minutes of rest. Eventually I got to the point where I am at today which is a solid 90 minutes of skating with a 5 minute rest in the middle. It is amazing how the human body adapts and alters.
The following eBooks are available on sports training at Touro College Library:
Sports Performance. Kanosue, Kazuyuki.
Nutrition and Enhanced Sports Performance : Muscle Building, Endurance, and Strength. Bagchi, Debasis.
Strength and Conditioning for Sports Performance. Jeffreys, Ian.
But getting back to the Olympics. The Olympics has always been about more than just athletic stamina and grace. It is also an extravaganza of politics and national agendas mixing. The underlying current is about the nations of the world interacting, competing, and making statements about other nations. In a way, the Olympics is a political summit. And as the 2018 Winter Olympics wrapped up in Pyeongchang this week, we saw a thawing of tensions between North and South Korea as both nations decided to have their athletes march into the opening ceremonies under a united Korean flag. They also had a united hockey team. However, North and South Korea marched out of the games separately at the closing ceremonies leaving many to ponder the message. In addition to the drama surrounding Korea, Russian athletes had to compete under the Olympic flag due to doping scandals in their homeland. This opened a lot of discussion and controversy regarding the IOC (International Olympic Committee) engaging in favoritism and corruption. The political football of the Olympics is not new. It has been a tradition since the Olympics started.
The following eBooks are available on the politics of the Olympics:
Activism and the Olympics : dissent at the games in Vancouver and London Boykoff, Jules.
The Beijing Olympics : Soft and Hard Power in Global Politics. Caffrey, Kevin.
Designing the Olympics : Representation, Participation, Contestation. Traganou, Jilly.
As far as the 2020 Summer Olympics go, someone else will have to blog about them. I am too busy celebrating summer to watch.
Contributed by Annette Carr, Business Librarian, 65 Broadway.
Before I was a Librarian, I was a Dietitian. That was a while ago. My favorite part of the job was finding and reading the latest nutrition research in scholarly journals, which is probably why I decided to become a Librarian and work in a Health Sciences Library. Nutrition recommendations are constantly changing and evolving and I admit I haven’t kept up since I no longer see clients or give nutrition advice. But since March is National Nutrition Month, I thought I would take a look at what’s happening in my old line of work. 
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