Vanessa Cardui

Kennemer dunes 360°, today. Deep breath [ dive into it ]

Above: Second training after EVLT. Posing with a Vanessa cardui, a.k.a. 'the painted lady'. The truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, is in the microcosm, the detail.

Min/max temperature: 13°C/29°C; humidity: 51%; precipitation: 0 mm; sea level pressure: 1015 hPa; wind: East 5 km/h; visibility: 11.0 kilometres; Clouds: Overcast 4876 m. ; Moon: Waning Crescent, 13% illuminated

"Survival of our civilisation depends on the leadership of more and more people with a more highly developed sense of play."

Brian Sutton Smith as quoted by Roland Renson on page 3, of 'Geschiedenis van de Sport in de oudheid', first published in 1980 by Uitgeverij Acco, Leuven, Belgium 

"Claudius Galenus (129-199 A.D.) […] is considered to be one of the prominent medical authorities in the history of the world. […] During his career he was a follower and admirer of […] the Greek physician Hippocrates […] who in his medical system put the emphasize upon the interaction between dietetic and gymnastics for the preservation of health. When he returned to Pergamon in 157 A.D. he witnessed numerous cruel gladiator games. Raising consternation among the local physicians, he immediately started operating as a sports doctor. Trough his care no athletes died that year. […] In his pamphlet 'Thrasybalus sieve strum medicine sit an gymnastics hygiene' he fell out sharply against athletes and their trainers. His main criticism was that they lived in complete opposition to natural circumstances. In short he summarised their persuits as "eating, drinking, sleeping and rolling trough sand". Especialy their consumption of meat took unlimited forms. [The] famous Milon of Croton [ ate ] 8.5 Kgs. of meat every day, an equal amount of bread, poured over by an estimate of 10 liters wine. Another famous athlete, Theagenus, possesed the ability to eat a complete ox all by himself. […] These anecdotes point towards excesses among heavy weight athletes, trough overeating meat, comparable to the present day use of anabolics. Galenos showed their brittle health trough their unilateral feeding and life-style: "… these fighters are like fortifications walls, who trough repeated punches of the battering ram are wrecked and so with the least additional push go down."

Roland Renson on page 122 and 123, of 'Geschiedenis van de Sport in de oudheid', first published in 1980 by Uitgeverij Acco, Leuven, Belgium (unauthorized translation)