3 . A fourth-grade star athlete has made headlines for keeping up with high schoolers. However, it’s not for the honor. The selfless student is a guide runner for a blind autistic (患自闭症的) teen who needs a helping hand on the cross-country track.

Rebel Hays, 11, of Fayetteville, Arkansas, stepped up as a guide runner for a ninth-grader, Paul Scot, when West Fork High School put out a call for volunteers. Paul, their student, wanted to compete.

As they ran together, the pair became good friends. “Paul and Rebel’s story is so much more than running,” said Rebel’s mother, Lou Ann. “Paul doesn’t have many friends, so Rebel doesn’t just guide him a traces. They also spend time together,” she said, telling jokes. “Paul is grateful for his young guide’s direction.” “Rebel directs me whether there’s a ditch (沟)or there are hills, who encourages me to run faster.” Paul said.

In honor of their partnership, West Fork High School wrote a post on Facebook. Posting on Oct.6, 2021, after a 5K race at Chile Pepper where the boys achieved a personal record of 21 minutes, school representatives explained, “Rebel Hays has been helping Paul all season long. He is a promising runner, but more importantly, he has a huge heart! Thank you, Rebel! Thank you a lot!”

According to Mile Split Arkansas, Paul said that his goal this year was to break 21 minutes; however, they missed it at Chile Pepper but achieved it at Yan Buren Pointer Classic, finishing with a time of 20:59:44. With the help and direction from Rebel, Paul finished 59th out of 135 runners in the 3A boys race at the state Meet in Hot Springs in early November. Paul still has one more year of eligibility (资格) for cross-country and has now set a new goal of under 20 minutes.

4 . People refer to never forgetting how to ride a bike or throw a baseball as examples of “muscle memory”, the result of a motor learning.     1     It is a phenomenon that previously trained muscles acquire strength after a period of disuse.

Previous research has shown that the changes actually persist in the muscles themselves. In one study of mice, the results suggest that after nuclei in muscle cells multiply in response to an overload of training, those extra nuclei aren’t lost during subsequent periods of inactivity. They are retained (保留), essentially waiting to be reactivated. If you fell off the fitness wagon (马车) during the pandemic, don’t be frustrated. Once you have got additional nuclei, you are banking the capacity.     2     In fact, a recent study revealed that less than eight weeks of retraining were needed to regain your former fitness. It depends on how fit you were initially, how long the layoff was, how old you are and how long you’d been exercising.

    3     It means you still have a distinct advantage when it comes to regaining your former level of fitness. And the principle applies to both resistance training and endurance training. The best way to regain your muscle memory is to start at a level below what you were accustomed to doing, and then gradually increase in terms of duration, frequency, then intensity.     4    

Ultimately, muscle memory is a payoff for all the past work you put into learning a sport.     5     You will never know how much muscle memory you may have until you start training again.

5 . The Upside to Being Outside

Research shows that being in nature makes people feel good, whether they’re roughing it in the wilderness for days or just hanging out at a local park for a while. One study was conducted in the city of Birmingham, Alabama. Researchers found that most participants’ mood and well-being improved significantly when they spent time in urban parks, even though the average visit was only around half an hour.

    1     For example, scientists in the United Kingdom studied the impact of the “30 Days Wild” campaign. It challenged people to interact with nature for 30 days by enjoying earthy activities like feeding birds and planting flowers. Participants were measurably happier and healthier throughout the challenge…and for months afterwards, too.    2    

How does nature boost people’s happiness? Scientists say that spending time in natural settings reduces stress and anxiety, which benefits mental and physical health. Research shows our brains are more relaxed in natural settings.

To most people, it’s not news that nature can be calming. But multiple studies have found that spending time in nature also has some more surprising benefits, like improving creativity and problem-solving.     3     Another found that exposure to nature helped people score better on tests. That’s more proof that going outside is a smart move!

What accounts for the connection with cognition and creativity? It could be that a good dose of nature acts as a cure to information overload. Everyday life involves a lot of multitasking. Some scientists theorize that spending time in nature enables our brains to rest and recover from mental tiredness.     4    

Naturally, scientific studies don’t cover everything that’s great about the great outdoors.     5     From recreation and exercise to happiness and creativity, there are lots of upsides to getting outside.

Saturday afternoon came as usual, so did my football class. It couldn’t be more discouraging.

I didn’t like Saturdays! Even though it was a holiday for most children, it was not for me because I needed to go to the football club. Many kids loved sports, but I was not one of them. I would rather stay at home and read.

I didn’t like running at all, so I was a bad player in the team. The coach was fed up with me and my teammates sometimes laughed at me. I had no idea how to play football. Usually, after practice my teammates would ask me to stay out of the game and I would just nod.

Last Thursday, the coach told us that we would be competing with some other team in a month and many people would come to watch the game. Our opponents were the last winner and I froze at the thought of the embarrassment I would face if the team lost because of me. So I decided to practice hard for the match and I went to practice every single day in case I had to play.

A month later, when the game day came, my teammates were reluctant (不愿意的) to take me in the team, and I also wished to stay away from the ground as well. But as luck would have it, they were short of one player and had no choice but to take me in the team.

Our team was named the Big Blues. There was a great cheer on our arrival in the field. I got very nervous. The game started and within two minutes, I got a blue card. By the time I was allowed back, the score was two goals for each team and the next goal would decide the winning team.

Seeing the ball shooting towards me like a bullet, I froze in wild shock.

All my teammates ran towards me to lift me in the air.

I used to be very active in sports and games when I was in primary school. I won the B Division long jump and was a good sprinter (短跑运动员). As a result, I was chosen to represent the school in the long jump and relay events at the District Sports Meet. Before the sports meet, I had put in a lot of hard work and dedication during the training sessions. I woke up early every morning to go for runs and did countless drills to improve my technique. My teammates and I supported and encouraged each other during training, pushing ourselves to do better and achieve our goals.

The meet lasted two days, I had no events scheduled for the first day. So I kept myself busy by watching the others compete. Large tents were provided for the young competitors on one side of the track. Despite being assigned the last tent that was furthest from the track, I made the best of the situation by decorating it with our school colors and creating a supportive atmosphere.

The next day, I was getting ready for my events. The long jump was scheduled for the early afternoon, followed by the 8×50m relay later in the afternoon. I thought I was a pretty good jumper, but as the competition began, I realized I was vastly outclassed. We finished our jumps, and I came in fourth place, just missing out on a medal.

That was disappointing, but I reminded myself that we still had a chance in the 8×50m relay, for which I was assigned to run the fifth leg. The race date arrived. We filed into our assigned spots and prepared for the race. After a tense minute or so, I heard the starter’s gun go off. When the first runners took off, I watched nervously and excitedly as my team runners kept up with the others. As they got closer, I realized we were at least in second place.

My turn arrived and I took the baton (接力棒) cleanly and began my run.

As a result, I left the meet empty-handed.