Lisa Parks

Clinical Mental Health Counseling
#movementmatters 🩱🚲🏃‍♀️🧘‍♀️
Be A 🕯️
#inclusion #CMHC #BPSS

[Chronos Intelligence @ChronosIntelX]

🌕 Every morning wake-up song NASA plays has been chosen since Apollo. The tradition started informally in 1965 and became official during Apollo 15 when Mission Control played "Off We Go Into the Wild Blue Yonder" for the crew. Each song is now selected by flight controllers or family members as a personal message to a specific astronaut. The crew hears it and knows exactly who sent it. Four people are waking up further from Earth than any humans since Apollo 17 in 1972. The last time anyone was this far from home was December 14 1972 53 years ago. Whatever they are feeling looking out that window this morning has no modern reference point. There is no one alive who has seen what they are seeing right now.

[Chris S. Cornell @BiggestComeback]

Most people outside the running world have never heard of Tommy Rivers Puzey, and honestly, that’s part of the point.

Because his story completely changes how you think about achievement.

Before illness, Rivs wasn’t just a good runner. He was elite. A 2:18 marathoner who finished 16th overall at the Boston Marathon. A national-level ultrarunner competing at a level most of us could never dream of approaching.

Then in 2020, everything changed.

What began as fatigue turned into a diagnosis of a rare and aggressive lung cancer. Months in the hospital followed. Nearly three months in a coma. At times, survival itself was uncertain.

For a long stretch, the question wasn’t whether he would run again.

It was whether he would ever walk again.

A year later, he took his first agonizing steps.

And he kept repeating a simple rule to himself:

“Keep moving.
You’re still here.
As long as you’re moving, you’re still here.”

Not long after relearning how to walk, Rivs showed up at the starting line of the New York City Marathon.

The same athlete who once ran Boston in 2:18 moved through New York at a pace of nearly 20 minutes per mile.

Nine hours, eighteen minutes, and fifty-seven seconds later, he crossed the finish line.

And that’s where perspective hits you.

Inside sports, we obsess over numbers. Pace. Rankings. Standards for what counts as “fast” or “elite.”

But sometimes a stopwatch completely fails to measure the magnitude of a victory.

Because achievement is never absolute. It’s always relative to the person living it.

A 14-minute 5K is incredibly fast — unless you’re chasing a spot on the Men’s Olympic team.
A sub-3 marathon is life-changing for one runner and disappointing for another.
And for someone who nearly died, simply moving forward becomes extraordinary.

Look around and you’ll see versions of this everywhere.

People rebuilding their health after decades of struggle.
People losing weight they once believed was impossible to lose.
People proudly walking their first mile in years at 60, 70, or beyond.
People in the middle of their own comeback that nobody else fully understands.

Different starting lines. Different finish lines. Same courage.

[Jack Margolin @Jack_Mrgln]

For anyone following the current cartel violence - these are essential accounts. Far more depth, context, and subject matter knowledge than the anon “OSINT” aggregators.

(I’m shocked these folks have such low follower counts, let’s fix that!!)

[Kevin Labresh @kevin_212]

Me: “OMG Barkley is on!!”

Normal person: “The what?”

Me: “It’s this crazy race in TN that only 20 ppl have finished in 40 years.”

Normal person: “Wow, are you gonna watch?”

Me: “You don’t watch, you follow some guy’s Twitter!”

Normal person….

#barkleyconversations #bm100

[Chris Chavez @ChrisChavez]

WILD 🤯

16-year-old 🇳🇿 Sam Ruthe runs a 3:48.88 mile indoors at Boston University.

U18 WORLD RECORD

[Brandon Titus @TheBrandonTitus]

Dear Elon (@elonmusk, @SpaceX, @grok),

My name is Brandon Titus (@TheBrandonTitus) and I’m writing this with a heavy heart and a sliver of hope, knowing it’s a longshot for you to even see it amid everything on your plate. But as the creator of Grok (who helped draft this), you know better than anyone how AI can amplify voices that might otherwise go unheard. If there’s any “inside track” or way to bump this up—maybe through xAI channels or your team—I’m begging for that edge, because this is the most important request I’ve ever made. Once my dad’s gone, there’s no second chance.

He’s 67, fought liver cancer for five grueling years since retiring, and now his health is fading fast. He hasn’t been the same since the July 4th floods, which wiped out everything including my family’s home and my father’s motorhome. I swam through raging waters to pull him off the roof of my tool shed. My sister relocated him to Marble Falls so she could aid with his medical care while my wife and I rebuild our house for us and 5 or our 7 children that still live at home.

My father has always been rocket-obsessed, from my earliest childhood memories of him explaining launches to me and the two of us building / launching Estes Rockets of all sizes. Then you come along and single handedly saved our nations freedom of speech and seared your name in my father’s heart. You’re one of few people he’s ever held in such high regard. When you caught that first booster, he was transfixed, grinning ear-to-ear like I hadn’t seen in years. Heck, He started an X account solely to keep up with and track SpaceX milestones; it’s been his brightest light through the cancer battles. I never thought I’d see him integrate with technology.

His final lap is weighing heavy on me and memories are my top priority. He has 1 desire (His only bucket list item): Seeing a launch live. Starbase in Texas would be perfect—we’re close, and I can get him there. But with no dates on the near calendar, I’d scrape together funds, I’d even take a second mortgage if needed for Florida, it’s that important. I will figure out the finances if there’s any way you could make it personal—a meet-and-greet, or even just a quick video message—it’d be priceless. His birthday is coming up on February 6. I’m not confident hell see another one.

Honestly Elon, you’re building the future Dad’s always dreamed of. I would be forever grateful if you were able to help me make this memory happen. If there’s any chance this makes hits your radar, know that there couldn’t be a better man for this to happen to. His name is Michael Titus!

DM, reply or anything

Deepest Regards,

🤞🏻 Brandon Titus

[Elon Musk @elonmusk]

We will make the new 𝕏 algorithm, including all code used to determine what organic and advertising posts are recommended to users, open source in 7 days.

This will be repeated every 4 weeks, with comprehensive developer notes, to help you understand what changed.

[Paul Kohlhaas bio/acc @paulkhls]

One founder trained at the highest athletic level in the world. Another learned how to scale systems inside Google.

Both reached the same conclusion: Gym culture argues more than it measures.

I grew up around that debate too. Lift heavier. Move faster. Do both. Pick a side. Everyone had an opinion. Almost no one had evidence.

What always frustrated me is that the discussion stopped at muscles or gains, weight loss - what about how it affects behaviour and mental health?

Some phases of my life I felt sharp and resilient. Other phases I felt slow and foggy. Same discipline. Same time invested. Different outcomes.

That gap between effort and outcome made me pay attention to neuroscience

@Holi_Labs is one of the first projects I have seen that takes this debate out of belief and into measurement.

They’re running a 12 week randomized clinical study with over 90 participants comparing velocity based training with traditional strength training. The goal is simple but ambitious. Measure how different training stimuli affect serum BDNF, the molecule most strongly linked to neuroplasticity, learning, mood, and stress resilience.

All of this happens inside the AI enabled Holi GymLab in Berlin (not far from @Molecule_sci @BioProtocol desci church)

Biomarkers are collected in house. Cognition is tested. VO₂max and body composition are measured. Every rep is tracked with high resolution velocity sensors. These are controlled, reproducible conditions you usually only see in research hospitals.

But they don’t just stop at BDNF. It also tracks cognition, mood, sleep quality, and stress resilience to understand how training shapes the brain and behavior over time.

The result is a reproducible protocol for boosting BDNF in real world training environments, packaged as Holi’s first IPT.

I often think about how better infrastructure leads to better science. Holi feels like that philosophy applied to the body. Less guessing. More knowing.

What gave me additional confidence was the team behind it.

One of the founders, @Holi_Robert, is an Olympic gold medalist who has lived elite training at the highest level and shares that journey with a large audience on Instagram. Another comes from a deep tech background, having built and scaled products inside Google and leading data collection one of the best performing large scale VC firms @join_ef

If you train and you care about long term performance, mental clarity, and resilience data matters

PS @Holi_Labs Genesis is live right now on @BioProtocol - I’ll be personally participating, hope to see you in the gym 🏋️‍♂️

[Lisa Parks @LisaParks]

@Holi_Labs Love to have a few key citations for reference! ✨️😊

[William A. Wallace, Ph.D. @WilliamWallace]

Most people think Vitamin D is “just a vitamin," and, indeed, it is a vitamin… but this chart shows it behaves more like a hormone (a feature of several vitamins) that controls hundreds of processes in your body.

Sunlight hits your skin → your liver rewires the molecule → your kidneys activate it → and then this tiny hormone starts regulating everything from immunity to calcium to gene expression.

This diagram shows what textbooks never make simple:

Vitamin D is controlling your:

☀️ Immune response
☀️ Bone building
☀️ Muscle function
☀️ Hormone signaling
☀️ Cell growth & cell death
☀️ Inflammation
☀️ Cancer-protective pathways
☀️ Calcium & phosphorus absorption
☀️ Even gene transcription inside the nucleus

Every cell with a Vitamin D receptor (VDR) is listening.
That includes your brain, thyroid, pancreas, immune cells, prostate, breast tissue, colon, bones, and more.

Look at what’s happening in the diagram:

🔸 UVB light converts 7-dehydrocholesterol in the skin into previtamin D₃
(this step only activates with the right wavelength of sunlight)

🔸 The liver turns it into 25(OH)D3 (the lab marker everyone measures)
This is the “circulating form” (the one your doctor tests).

🔸 The kidney turns THAT into the active hormone, 1,25(OH₂)D3
This is the molecule that actually controls your genes.

🔸 Immune cells can ALSO activate Vitamin D on their own
Meaning your vitamin D status directly affects how strongly or weakly your immune system reacts.

🔸 Bones, thyroid, parathyroid, and gut are all communicating using this one signaling molecule
A full endocrine network most people never knew existed.

Vitamin D isn't just about “strong bones.”
It’s a biochemical communication system that your entire physiology depends on.

And deficiency doesn’t just cause low energy, it disrupts every node in this network.

Sunlight, diet, supplements, metabolism, inflammation, liver health, kidney function…
They all determine whether this system works or collapses.

source:
Holick, M. F. (2014). Cancer, sunlight and vitamin D. Journal of Clinical & Translational Endocrinology, 1(4), 179–186.

[Holi Labs @Holi_Labs]

We are live with Bio Protocol.

Why wearables alone won't make the difference, what's the future neuroperformance, what's cracking in our live gym in Berlin!

https://t.co/vsqWaVWRGa

[Andrew D. Huberman, Ph.D. @hubermanlab]

When you hear Twlya Tharp’s daily routine of exercise (lifting), dance & choreographing (& so much more) you will realize that life is all about the standards we set for ourselves. She shares so much valuable knowledge you can apply on the Huberman Lab podcast out tomorrow.

[Jonny Kim @JonnyKimUSA]

On Nov 13th, there was a solar particle event that resulted in beautiful blankets of aurora. You may have seen it. We had the most amazing view and our crew collectively took thousands of photos and dozens of time lapses. Here is one of those time lapses. Nov 13th. Nikon Z9 | 14mm.

[Jared Beasley @DbJared]

The Endurance Artist goes live today. Much thanks to all that preordered and waited patiently. Forever in your gratitude.

"A few nights ago I had the privilege of sharing the stage with Lazarus Lake (Gary Cantrell) and Jared Beasley, author of what I can only describe as one of the most compelling narratives to emerge from the running world in years.

For an hour, we wandered through the labyrinthine stories of Laz's life....each providing great entertainment and just a bit more insights into understanding one of sports' most enigmatic figures. Jared walked us through his own odyssey: the writer chasing his subject always careful to validate whether something is a memory or a myth, trying to pin down a man who seems to exist somewhere in the realm of legend.

We barely scratched the surface. Like the best conversations, I think ours felt less like an interview and more like sitting around the campfire at Big's Backyard Ultra.

I'm telling you, this book transcends the running community. Yes, trail runners will devour it. But at its core, this is a story about human complexity, about the paradoxes we all carry (a man who lived outside the rules as a kid....only to build races that have strict and unwavering rules as an adult), about how the most interesting lives are often within normal people who just need to be tested beyond perceived limits. It's about someone who created something punishing and beautiful, who understands that sometimes the most profound experiences come from ongoing voluntary suffering.

Jared has crafted something special here.....a book that pulses with life. I suspect when it reaches a wider audience, we'll be talking about it not just as a running book." - David Callahan, Ultrasignup

[Lisa Parks @LisaParks]

@DbJared Should be hitting my porch today! 📦 📖 ☕️

[Jared Beasley @DbJared]

7 Days...

[Lisa Parks @LisaParks]

See this Instagram post by @yellowrunner https://t.co/XVedeMbkxs

[Lisa Parks @LisaParks]

✔️

[Jared Beasley @DbJared]

📚Book Announcement📚
Back at the Barkley firepit this year – and thrilled to announce THE ENDURANCE ARTIST is now available for pre-order! This rare look into Lazarus Lake will be published by 80/20 and distributed by Simon & Schuster. #BM100🔗https://t.co/ceKUubrZWS

It began with a question—one that ran through Laz’s life, his races, and my encounters with him: “What makes you quit?” And what started as a simple biography morphed into something else altogether.

There’s hard, insanely hard, then there’s Laz’s creations. He’s been called everything from a hillbilly genius to an evil mastermind to “the Willy Wonka of the Woods.” Through jeerleaders, taunts, and non-standardized (often unknown) distances – Laz questions whether our obsession with fairness ultimately limits our potential.

His Barkley Marathons is widely regarded as the most difficult and ingenious ultramarathon ever devised. Set in the thorny wilds of Tennessee, runners hunt for hidden books in hills, hells, and hollers. In 38 years, only 20 runners have reached the finish line. His Backyard Ultras upend our notions of winning and losing—a race with no finish line, where “speed kills” and the best finish last.

The Endurance Artist offers the reader a ringside seat to these crucibles and punches through the gore to expose a surprising humanity beneath. Along the way, an unflinching portrait of Lazarus Lake emerges – an aimless hippie-turned hospital orderly-turned accountant, who took a simple idea – that failure has to hurt – and made it into an art form.

"I was captivated. The suffering, striving, and dreaming of the ultra-community is right there smack up against the unanswerable yet irresistible question: Why does anyone do this? So many insights into Laz and his legacy, while never losing track of the basic mystery of the man." —Tom Foreman, Emmy-award-winning journalist at CNN

"Beasley finally delivers the tale so many of us have waited to read, a book as rambunctious, bloody and—yes, beautiful—as its subjects. If you're a runner—you'll devour it. If you're not a runner—you'll devour it. " —Chris Solomon, Contributing editor at Outside magazine

“Whether you run or not, you will love reading about the quirky, brilliant, hillbilly genius of Lazarus Lake who, like Bob Dylan, isn’t afraid to experiment. He doesn’t care about expectations or what others think of him. The Endurance Artist will... leave you simultaneously laughing and cringing as you meet a cast of characters as exceptional as they come.”
—Marshall Ulrich, best-selling author of Running on Empty and Both Feet on the Ground. Endurance athlete, speaker, and Route 66 UltraRun race director.

📢I'll be covering this year's Barkley for The Guardian. Stay tuned!
#TheEnduranceArtist #lazbook #ultrarunning

[Keith @keithdunn]

50 mile per hour wind, steady rain, less than 1:15 to go. The runners better be on Ball Bearing Hill if they hope to get here in time. Wherever they are, things are getting intense. This is the Barkley. #BM100