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In case you missed the memo, it’s Halloween.  Which deserves an enthusiastic MOOHAHAHA.  After all, as athletes, our lives lend themselves to a certain Halloweeny-ness.  Fear and fun are the foundation of our athletic pursuits.  Indeed, both the sports we do and this freakishly fun holiday are based on the central truth that:

Adrenaline Rush + Friends + Physical Activity + Cool Outfits = Fun

To honor this truth and the imminent feting of fun and fear, we have compiled videos of relatively unknown athletes who are, simply put, scary good.  These men, women and children embrace fright to elevate their sports to dazzling heights.  Each with a freakish combination of natural talent and a strange propensity to believe in their own strength beyond reason, will mesmerize you as you watch in terror, awe and delight as they gracefully complete death-defying feats.

Get yourself a fistful of candy corn, some headphones and enjoy.

Scary Good Biking

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

We’ve previously sung the praises of Danny McAskill but couldn’t resist including him in this group of scary good athletes.  Danny takes on the craziest stunts on two wheels and does death-defying skills effortlessly.  So effortlessly, in fact, that it might not even seem that scary to you.  But, trust us, it certainly is.

Scary Good Rock Climbing

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

Most pets don’t do much for one’s athletic career but this teenager’s childhood sidekick (a West African monkey) inspired her to ascend to unbelievable athletic heights…literally. Now Tori Allen is teen queen of women’s rock climbing taking the women’s gold in world competitions across disciplines. To learn more about her superhuman skill check out this Discovery Channel segment.

Just Scary Rock Climbing

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

Even after the 132nd viewing, this video still puts my stomach in my chests.  Alex Honnold owns free climbing.  As you watch this incredible athlete take on one of the world’s most treacherous bouldering climbs, feel free to cling white-knuckled to your armrests.

Awesomely Old, Scary Good Gymnast

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

I don’t know what I’ll be doing when I’m 82 years old, but I would say that there’s maybe a 0.2% chance it will be trampolining for gold.  And yet, John Rigby is doing just that.

Scary Good Kayaking

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

They’re all crazy.  That’s how I feel about kayaking and that’s precisely why I chose a beautiful compilation of kayaking feats of athleticism over singling out one particular insane athlete.  Huge rocks and plunging rapids call for death but the river seems to permit these select few to pass.  Unreal.

Scary Good Ultimate

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

So, here’s a cute lil video of Beau Kittredge, Ultimate (Frisbee) god, in a recent match.  What’s notable about this particular performance is that he catches the disc midair while effortlessly leaping over another man.  I’ll say that again.  He catches the disc midair while leaping over another man.  Here is where I fall short on this feat of agility and strength.  1. Actually catching a Frisbee.  2.  Catching anything midair.  3. Leaping over other people.  And, here’s the kicker, it doesn’t seem as if Beau even noticed that he did anything extraordinary.  Just another day as superman.

Scary Good Surf Prodigy

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Most athletes cannot claim to live on their field of choice.  A baseball diamond or a soccer pitch, do not make for reasonable backyards.  However, John John Florence’s backyard has always been both play area and training ground for what he seems destined to do – take surfing to a whole new level.  Take a look at a young John John and his mother as they talk about his physical and geographical natural gifts and then see how far he’s come today with this video.  With a little more power and a few more years under his belt, he might just reach Poseidonesque stature over the waves.

Scary Good Potential

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

What’s 28 lbs, 31″ tall and as adorable as the day is long? Given Goodwin, 22 month old son to surf pro Daize Shayne Goodwin.  Blessed with both genetics and geographic locale, this tiny tot is already on a longboard, carving out so water with his phenomenally talented mom.  While the mom-assisted surf session could arguably be accomplished by any babe, the sheer joy on his spray-splashed face speaks to an innate passion for the sport that is what turns the ingredients to amazing athletic success (amazing genetics, access to the sport, incredible mentors) into mastery.

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

kozumel/flickr

It’s month four of treadmill workouts here in Chicago and we’re fresh out of “fun and creative” things to do. (I think we’ve hit every permutation of incline and speed settings.) But before you send us your magical finger-jamming, speed-changing, interval beast of a workout, we have to let you in on a little secret:

We don’t care.

It’s not that we aren’t open to a cool new way to shred the mill; it’s that there are two glorious things that have made treading the tread ’til spring downright bearable:

1. The temperature hit 50. Though it was only for a day, it’s enough of a whiff of spring to set our hearts aflutter. We now know that we’ll be regularly running in the open air in just a couple…okay, 3-5 weeks.
2. We stocked up on jams. No, not the delicious wares that made Smuckers famous, but rather those golden songs that cause an involuntary fist pump at the public gym.

It’s not every song that can bust the treadmill blues, so all winter long as we came upon a killer tune, we tucked it away for safe keeping. Now we plan to unleash this magic music on treadmills everywhere. Look for our Jam of the Day feature on our Facebook page (facebook.com/gomoji) and count down with us to fresh air freedom.

devnull/flickr

At Moji we’re fortunate to have loved ones that share our enthusiasm for athletic endeavors…at least enough to keep the eye rolls to a minimum. However, there comes a time in most relationships when a choice needs to be made between family time and workout time. Whether you forgo a favorite marathon for an in-law’s wedding or give up the gym for Gymboree. Your biggest fans sometimes turn into your biggest frustration.

The Wall Street Journal recently published an all-too-familiar account of this struggle in “A Workout Ate My Marriage,” which spurred an all-too-familiar argument about what’s fair when it comes to pursuing your passion for exercise over your passion for your spouse.

Clearly, if both parties in a relationship love athletics, exercise can only help. Our very own Fleet Feet Sports Chicago boasts over 20 marriages born from their running programs. (Take that eHarmony!) However, what happens when only one person falls in love with staying active?

While some of us here at Moji feel that personal exercise can only help a marriage, (through some sort of love yourself and get hopped up on happy endorphins rationale), others of us feel that too many miles is a selfish thing.

So we ask you, when it comes to exercise, is it healthy or harmful to a relationship?

Helga Weber/flickr

Taking care of your tootsies isn’t hard but it does require a little TLC. Here are six steps to healthy feet:

THE SIX S’s

1. SUPPORT
   Make sure that shoes have adequate arch support and heel cushioning. Maybe it’s time for new running shoes?
2. STRETCHING
   Stretch the arch of the foot, Achilles tendon, and calf muscles to help with flexibility multiple times during the day and before and after every workout. For added stretching benefits and pain relief, roll the arch of your foot over a round object (we love rolling pins and golf balls) for 5-7 minutes at a time.
3. STRENGTHENING
   Strengthen the muscles in your feet by using your toes to grab (and pull towards you) a pencil, pen, or hand towel.
4. SOOTHE IT
   Got pain? Ice your foot for 15-20 minutes post stretching/stregthening to alleviate pain and reduce inflammation.
5. STAY OFF IT
   Like most injuries, it is essential to rest the damaged tissue. Keep weight off the feet or do low-impact exercises, such as the stationery bike or swimming while your foot has a chance to heal.
6. STAY PAIN FREE
   Injuries such as plantar fasciitis is often due to running too much, too fast. Avoid overtraining and increase workout increments gradually. (Running lore says that you should increase you weekly mileage by no more than 10% per week.)