Ted Spiker

Person running on the beach

Ted Talks: Blistering Pace

Health is hard enough—so it stinks when you make it even harder. “How far do you want to go?” my friend asked. “I’m game for 5,” I said. I mean, why the heck not? We were at the beach, the… read more

Is a Deadline the Best Motivator?

Almost 10 years ago, I started a Facebook group for people who wanted to run a 5K under 30 minutes. The group—called the Sub-30 Club, which now has nearly 7,000 members—quickly changed its focus: We wouldn’t just center around 29:59.… read more

Ted Talks: Game On … Or Off?

For years, my favorite weekly workout has been our old-guy pickup basketball game. Though I can get hotter than a habanero every once in a while, I am not very good (I have the vertical leap of a street curb,… read more

Ted Talks: Mission Impossible

Despite the inspirational words that come from motivational speakers and flashy Instagram quotes, sometimes you have to realize that certain fitness feats will never happen. I accept, for example, that I will never be able to dunk a basketball, qualify… read more

Tips For Staying Healthy While You Travel

For so long, I always believed that “healthy” and “travel” went together about as well as chocolate and toothpaste. After all, where’s the fun if you can’t have the pizza and wine carafe(s) in Italy, the paella in Spain, or… read more

Humorous Side of Health: Food Fight

As much as I’d love to have flung marinara-dressed noodles across a cafeteria once or twice in my life, I’ve never had a real food fight. Unless you count these battles: The bloody nose I got after wolfing down 12… read more

Ted Talks: Sole to Soul

On the 1–10 adventure scale (1 being snuggled in bed, 10 being an Everest attempt), I would probably rate myself at about a 4. Try new things? Yes. Do so when there is a high chance that you will plummet… read more