Death is a reality that we all must face sometime in our lives. It will take place around us, in friends and loved ones and acquaintances and family. We will watch it happen to our icons and our trusted role models and our enemies if we have them. It is something that, if you live on the planet long enough, will enter your world. As the saying goes, there are two things that you can guarantee in life – taxes and death. Death knows no boundaries, Democrat or Republic, Christian or Muslim.

Sadly, it can take a death for many of us to fully realize the beauty that is our own life. It brings a focus on the power of love for those around us, something that can be lost at times in the reality and distractions of our day.

Once again, I was reminded of the fragility of our world and our tenuous hold on that which we call life. In its sadness, and in the memories that are surely stirred up within, I was reminded of the importance of – now.

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April 20 was the one year anniversary of Texas HB 637 receiving a public hearing – the first ever for a bill related to direct access to physical therapy - with the House Public Health Committee. Actually, it was more like the wee hours of April 21. Close enough.

The committee finally listened to the voice of patients and physical therapists across Texas, although it was a very brief and albeit unsuccessful listen. A one hour hearing at 2:00 am doesn’t tend to attract the general public that are up in arms over these sorts of things, but I digress. With that said, we are now one year later and a mere 8 months before the start of the next legislative session.

Last week there was an interesting editorial piece in the Austin American-Statesman entitled “Texas GOP's health care bill isn't like Obamacare”. It was written by Senator Jane Nelson, author of SB7 (the bill in question) and chairwoman of the Texas Senate Committee on Health & Human Services. If words and espoused principles mean anything at all, and oftentimes they don’t in politics, then we might actually be able to envision Senator Nelson supporting the efforts of physical therapists in the Texas Senate this upcoming session.

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The end of football season is almost upon us. In a week’s time, the Green Bay Packers will face off against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl Wow-That-Is-A-Lot-Of-Roman-Numerals. I have to go back to high school math to remember what Super Bowl number we are up to anymore. Not that it typically matters, because I can count more lousy Super Bowl games than I can count good ones – roman numerals or otherwise.

Today’s Rhubarb has a football slant to it. It’s a deep slant, just like a good post pattern – all puns fully intended, of course.

1. This year’s AFC and NFC conference championships featured games that were completely “old school”. You had some of the classic NFL teams of a bygone era – Green Bay, Pittsburgh, New York, and Chicago. With that goes some legendary rivalries. But best of all, you had games played outdoors without the perfect conditions that dome stadiums bring with them. You had game-time conditions that conference finals should be played in – snow, wind, and cold. Ah “the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field”, as NFL Films calls it. Get muddy, get dirty, let the strong survive. Now THAT is football.

2. In the “focus required” category, there is the inimitable Bud Adams. Remember, he’s the owner that moved the Houston Oilers to Tennessee. That was a decision that I could never understand, but I also don’t have millions of dollars to throw at football, either. They drafted Vince Young as the savior of their team – and rightfully so when he was, without a doubt, the greatest college football player of all time. He is a natural winner. Somehow, that was hampered by his “relationship” with Coach Jeff Fisher. One spat turned into another, and head games seemed to be the norm. Young was never given an environment in which he could excel. Fisher never did really build an offense around this franchise player on whom Adams was spending a lot of cash.

So then Bud Adams decides to let Young go. How a team could ever get rid of Vince Young, I’ll never know. But wait, the story  gets better.

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This is the 14th in a series of RunSmart videos. The series is on-going, with a new video released on a biweekly basis. These videos complement the material presented in the book “RunSmart: A Comprehensive Approach To Injury-Free Running”. The full series of videos can be found here. A compilation of the first 10 videos will be available on Vimeo as well.

For those of you that are interested in a more interactive learning environment, consider attending a Level One (half day), Level Two (one day), or Level Three (two day) RunSmart program. The Level One program is 4 hours and focuses on basic training principles, running mechanics, and injury prevention. The Level Two program is 8.5 hours and focuses on performance optimization and training program development. The Level Three program is a two day, 15 hour program that includes a comprehensive approach to running injuries. The next Level One program will be offered in Austin on June 3, 2012. The next Level Three program will be offered in Reno, Nevada on May 5 – 6, 2012 at the University of Nevada.

In this video, I discuss the issue of beliefs and science in the world of running. Much of what is done in the running community is driven by beliefs more than science, which becomes problematic from not only a performance perspective, but also from the perspective of injury prevention and injury recovery as well.

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