INDOT is applying for federal money to upgrade passenger train service in the state. The proposed new route through Fort Wayne is a needed upgrade. There have been a number of times when I would have liked to take a train, but the option wasn’t available. This project can’t be approved and completed soon enough.

[INDOT via Fort Wayne Observed]

One of today’s headlines is “Hoosier obesity rate flat at 27.4%.” The article cites a RWJF/Trust for America’s Health report, which included this map and an interesting interactive map. The original data are from the CDC National Center for Health Statistics.

Sources:

• The Journal Gazette: Hoosier obesity rate flat at 27.4%
• Trust for America’s Health: F as in Fat 2009
• RWJF: F as in Fat 2009
• CDC: Overweight Prevalence

My hill-climbing technique on classic skis is much faster than it was at the start of the season. I now have much more glide for less effort. Since I had never skate-skied before this winter, my skating technique has improved even more than my classic technique. Over my first two days of skating, I became much more efficient. My style still needed a lot of work. A week ago I made a major improvement to my skating. I was doing a loop that was taking me twenty minutes at 90% effort. I tried some changes to my style and my time dropped to fifteen minutes and my effort dropped to 85%. I then spent a few hours waxing my skis, and my time and effort dropped even more. I think that I switched from a V1/V2A hybrid to a better almost-V2A technique. My V2 and V2A style really needs work, but I’m a lot closer now.

Last week was spring break, so I had time to iron many coats of wax into my skis. They should be much faster next winter. I finished with a thick storage coat of wax and put my skis away for the winter.