Compression Calf Sleeves Offer Support, Style

From time to time on longer races or training runs, I develop some cramping, soreness and general fatigue in my calf muscles.  While some of these aches are to be expected when you run 15 or more miles, you can still hope to minimize their effects.  Hence, the latest addition to my attire for long runs and races: the compression calf sleeves.

Compression calf sleeves serve several purposes.  Their end goals are to allow you to run longer and recover quicker.  Generally, the compression sleeves support your calf muscles.  They improve blood flow to the muscles, allowing increased oxygen to the lower leg and alleviating lactic acide accumulation.  Compression sleeves  also stabilize and minimize muscle vibration.  Less muscle exhaustion and reduced risk of cramping result.  Even after a run, wearing the sleeves can speed up muscle recovery.  Continue reading →

White House Sub Shop Highlights Any Atlantic City Trip

A visit to Atlantic City from Center City Philadelphia is only about 65 miles and a little over an hour, so it’s not really accurate to describe it as a road trip.  You can go there on the way to or from a weekend at the shore, as a spur-of-the-moment decision during a night out, or for a planned gambling excursion.  Regardless of the circumstances, I strongly recommend that you make time for a submarine sandwich at White House Sub Shop on Arctic Avenue.

Open since 1946, White House is well known to both old timer residents as well as newer generations of Atlantic City visitors.  The corner shop itself is not large and is an exercise in inefficiency.  There are about 10 booths, and those looking to sit down must stay outside the inner door until a waitress takes them to a table.  Those looking for take out can proceed inside to  the back, where they then stand around like stockbrokers waiting to place buy-sell orders.  For those looking to sit down at the counter, it’s a gray area whether you can go in and sit down without a waitress taking you there or not.  Somehow, this system has worked for about fifty years.

Continue reading →

Wissahickon Trails Offer Dramatic Contrast to City Landscape

In the middle of Center City Philadelphia, there is the prototypical urban jungle.  Office buildings, high rise apartments, new condominiums and brownstone houses all spread across the city as far as the eye can see.

Within the city, however, is Farimount Park , a 9,200 acre system that is the largest urban park in the world, spread out across nearly in every neighborhood.  Though the primary area considered to be Fairmount Park is located to the west and northwest part, there are approximately 60 distinct areas, including in Northeast, North and South Philadelphia.

Continue reading →