LOCALadk Magazine

The Bookshelf By Anne Brewer Believe Training Journal I believe in journals. For more than 25 years I kept a daily journal. I wrote ever yday. I stopped a few years ago and can't say why. I have missed the structure and routine of a journal. Recently I decided to start charting my daily exercise and was searching for a journal that would help track my exer- cise while also motivating me. I came across a website for a company called Picky Bars that not only sells delicious ener- gy bars, but also a great training journal. The journal is titled Believe Training Journal and is written by pro runners Lauren Fleshman and Roisin McGettigan-Dumas. Although this book is written by runners, I have found it applicable to the type of multi-sport activities I do. "Believe Training Journal is designed to guide your running (or any sport) to the best place possible. It is one part train- ing log, one part how-to manual, and one part workbook – all woven into one year of your life. The purpose is to get you to the sweet spot for performance, where heart meets intellect and effort meets ease. To get you to a place of knowledge and balance. To help you set, stick to, and accomplish your goals, and use running (or any sport) as a tool to enhance your overall life." The Adiron- dacks host many different sporting activ- ities and races each year and many may ben- efit from such a journal. It covers such things as goal setting, mental train- ing, and knowing yourself and your approach to training or exercise. Nutrition plays a major part in training for anything and the journal outlines good eating habits and lets you keep track of what is working for you. Mental training, setbacks, resolve, and recover y are also covered with explanations and suggestions. We recommend this book to those who are train- ing for something or want to begin and are look- ing for a tool that will get them on the right track and help keep them there. This book can be found at www.pickybars.com or Amazon. Gear Review: 32 oz. Sawyer Squeeze (Water Filtration System), approx. $40 By Bev Yang I recently used the nifty Sawyer Squeeze water filtration system during a five-day women's kayaking expedition in the Southern Adirondacks. The plastic flask and filtered nozzle combo rolls into a handy tube about 1 inch in diameter and 5 inches long. Best of all, at only 2 ounces, the filter has an awesome weight-to-usefulness ratio! So how does it work? The signature Sawyer natural fiber filter blocks 99.99999% of bacteria (salmonella, cholera and E.coli) and 99.9999% of all protozoa (including the dreaded Giardia). Just fill the plastic water pouch, screw on the filter, then squeeze the water through the nozzle into a container (or your mouth). Once finished, the pouch can be flattened and neatly rolled around the filter to save space. PROs: 1. Simplicity = economy. No more expensive parts to re-assemble. Sawyer says each filter can clean up to 100,000 gallons of water. That's a 300 percent improvement over common microfilters. 2. Weight. The Sawyer Squeeze is lighter than most 32 oz bottles. 3. Utility. The pouch does double-duty as a flask. Need I say more? CONs: 1. Even when fully submerged, the pouch never re- trieved more than 28 ounces from the lake. We found it eas- iest to fill a collapsible bucket and pour it into the Sawyer pouch before beginning the filtration process. Compared to a conventional wand that sucks water up through a tube, the pouch can be more cumbersome. 2. Contaminated water on the outside of the pouch or filter may dribble down the nozzle and into your container. Okay, so a couple of drops of water probably won't make any- body sick. 3. Sub-optimal squeeze. Imagine tr ying to get that last bit of toothpaste from the tube. That's what it's like to tr y and force water through the filter. A plastic key ring at- tached to the bottom of the pouch would make folding and squeezing the pouch a whole lot easier. (Tip: Tr y optimizing your Sawyer pouch with a binder clip.) For a lightweight, compact, emergency filtration system, the price and efficiency of the Sawyer Squeeze is hard to beat. Katadyn's does have a slightly more expensive, Be- Free Collapsible Water Bottle that works the same way. Fans of the bladder hydration system can retrofit the filter so that all liquid in the bladder is filtered before it gets to the mouthpiece. Additional pouch sizes (16 ounces, 64 ounces and 1 gallon) are also available.

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