Shana Martin

Shana Martin and her contemporaries today, it occurred to me that a new class of women athletes may be emerging, perhaps even tougher than their male counterparts. News out of one of these competitions, The Lumberjack World Championships, painted a whole new picture of women in sport for this writer. In an article entitled Walking on Water, Penn State student Alyse Schroeder edged out Shana Martin in a race across water, atop logs connected by ropes, and then back again.

Shana, a former gymnast and pole vaulter, is also a trainer, holds a black belt in Karate, and competes in triathlon events. As stated in her bio at Stihl/ESPN, her first love has always been lumberjack sports. The events in Madison take the tough little competitor back home to where it all began for her, and the events and competition have been her way of life obviously. Toughness however, is not always about physical prowess, which Shana learned early on, her mother having Huntington’s disease. Now Shana supports causes to help people and families suffering from the dread affliction.

Shana, like so many great athletes, attributes more of her success to mental toughness, and her need to cope through athletics, than any God given talent. From my perspective, it is really cool to discover new people (to me and maybe you that is) who make “real sport” a valuable part of our lives.

Time For Dinner

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When you're busy it seems like the best place to meet up with friends is for dinner at a local restaurant. But these days, with everyone on a budget, eating out isn't in the cards. Always having a few items on hand makes it easy to entertain, no matter how much (or little) time you have to prepare.

Quick and easy entertaining depends on preparation. Having these items on hand at all times will prepare you for an intimate meal for four or a boisterous gathering of 10. Odds are you've got hours and hours of music stored in your MP3 player. So create and keep a dinner party playlist with your music. An mp3 dock with speakers makes it easy to play music at a low level in the background for instant atmosphere.

Tour de France Stage 21

Can Mark Cavendish take a 6th stage win of the Tour and his 10th in his 3 years of racing the Tour. This is a sensational effort from the Isle of Man rider. The Manx missile will again be unstoppable today. David Millar, Fabian Cancellara, Alessandro Ballan and Stijn Devolder could be just some of the 4 riders who could break free of the peloton in the Tunnel ala Alexandre Vinokourov in 2005.

Alberto Contador solidified his spot atop the cycling world on Sunday after capturing his second career title, finishing the final Stage 21 101.9-mile trek of the Tour de France in comfortable style to hold off Andy Schleck and Lance Armstrong. Schleck finished second overall, 4 minutes, 11 seconds behind Contador while Armstrong, the seven-time Tour de France winner, managed to hold on to third, 5 minutes, 24 seconds back.

While Contador celebrated as the Tour de France overall winner Thor Hushovd grabbed the green jersey for the points classification and Franco Pellizotti won the polka dot jersey as the best climber. Mark Cavendish also had a strong Tour de France, wining six stages in the event. David Millar, Fabian Cancellara, Allesandro Ballan and Stijn Devolder could be just some of the 4 riders who could break free of the peloton in the Tunnel ala Alexandre Vinokourov in 2005.