Whether you're doing a triumphant triathlon, some soul-stretching yoga, relentless rock climbing or ballsy beach volleyball, play your best with KT Tape!  It's hard not to do a double take when you see athletes donning brightly colored tape on their toned bodies.  But what is it exactly?  How does it work?

It's Kinesiology Therapeutic Tape (KT Tape) and it's used for common sports injuries such as ITBS, runners knee, shin splints, hamstring strain, & many more. Ultra-light, elastic, and strong, KT Tape is highly effective at providing pain relief, stability & support, & faster recovery for injured or sore muscles and joints.

Sounds pretty sweet!  Be a Top Skimbler in September and score some KT Tape to wrap all your aches and pains away.

We had a great time stress-testing KT Tape, finding it to be the most flexible and durable athletic tape that we've ever used.

Ligaya happily recovers from a minor knee injury and gets her physiotherapy on:

Maria lifts (her own) weight at the gym in pink and black fashion:

Gabe sports the green and black combo on his back during a sport climbing session:

And if you're looking for some more wild success stories, we just came back from rock climbing Mt Whitney, the tallest peak in the contiguous United States.  We wore KT Tape on our knees to prevent injury and ensure we were able to to a little yoga and a lot of climbing up its 14,505 feet peak:

If you'd like more information about the tape, visit the KT Tape website.  Be sure to check out their blog and get tips for excellent adhesion, sports prevention and recovery!  If you can't wait, grab some KT Tape at a store near you.

Kerri Walsh gets ready to crush with KT Tape and so should you!

We're excited to announce that Kevin C from San Francisco is Skimble's August Contest Winner.  Kevin scores a big Back-to-School Prize Pack including a Mountain Hardwear Enterprise Backpack, Evolv Sports Climbing or Hiking Shoe gift certificate and a Skimble T-shirt + other goodies, valued at over $250 USD.

Kevin, keep crushing it with the new gear for your favorite sports!

 

What's your wildest dream?  It may be to simply stay in shape until you're old and grey, base jump off the rock walls of Yosemite, hike up Mt. Kilimanjaro or perhaps summit Mt. Everest!  Whatever it is, stay inspired to achieve your goals.  Watch the movie 'The Wildest Dream: Conquest of Everest' starring Conrad Anker and directed by Anthony Geffen, a captivating and vivid documentary about one of the earliest Mt. Everest explorers, George Mallory.

Click here to reserve your tickets to The Wildest Dream now!

Team Skimble got to check out a private viewing of The Wildest Dream a few weeks ago and really enjoyed it!  We met with Conrad and asked him a few questions:

• Q: Did you take any photos up during your trek? Did you take any other special item to drop off at the summit?
• A: I had two pictures en route to the summit of Everest. Always have them with me.

• Q: What's the next adventure for you?
• A: Studying glaciers and climatology. Sharing my knowledge of mountains with others.

• Q: Has anyone made a call or recorded a GPS track with an iPhone or Android phone at the summit of Everest?
• A: Maybe this year...

Anyone up for volunteering?

The Skimble iPhone App was launched earlier this year.  After 50,000 tracked workout sessions, Skimble now hits the Android Market!

Skimble Android App Features

✓ Track over 30 sports activities
✓ Share accomplishments on Facebook & Twitter
✓ Connect with active people near and far
✓ Compete on social leaderboards
✓ Win monthly prizes just for being active
✓ Record activity details like GPS path, difficulty & type

Get the app now for free - simply search 'skimble' in the Android Market.

Earlier today, Mashable shared the Skimble news with their community and deemed us a 'Spark of Genius' -  aww shucks, thanks guys :)

Skimble's August Contest: win a Back-to-School Prize Pack including a Mountain Hardwear Enterprise Backpack, Evolv Sports Climbing or Hiking Shoe gift certificate and a Skimble T-shirt + other goodies, valued at over $250 USD.  The prize pack is perfect for all your projects, whether they be in the classroom, on top a mountain or clinging onto a boulder!

Here's a little review:

Mountain Hardwear Enterprise Backpack:

Take this pack with you on your day hikes and urban walks to school or the office.  Consistently a best seller, this year the Enterprise has been upgraded with CoolWave Suspension for even better performance.  Equipped with all the essentials pockets, we give it an A+ for the attention to detail with the super soft pocket to store delicate electronics and the fully padded hydration / laptop sleeve!  Choose from five hot colors including Black and Jungle:

Evolv Sports Climbing or Hiking Shoes:

What's not to like about the most "vegan-friendly" synthetic climbing shoes around with TRAX Rubber performance soles?  Maria loves to wear the Talon G2s for her most overhanging sends including Tonsai Playboy (5.12a) in Tonsai, Krabi, Thailand and the Evo for more vertical sends like Threadfin (5.12b/c) at the Tsunami Wall in Red Rock Canyon State Park, near Las Vegas, NV.

Gabe digs the Optimus Primes (the Chris Sharma shoe), which is ideal for the wider foot and aggressive sport climber!  He's also excited to try the Predator G2 in the coming month.  What if you're new to climbing?  For an all-around shoe, go for the Pontas for guys and the Electra VTR for girls.  And if you're vertically challenged, slip into the Escapist hiking shoe and hit the trails.

Skimble Shop Tees:

For your inner outdoor shopaholic, the Skimble Shop helps you look stylish and buff in American Apparel t-shirts with flex printing.  You can wash these tees over and over and they'll continue to look and fit great.

How to win in August?

Just be active and track your adventures on Skimble.  Let's take a look at some active Skimblers:

• Into tennis and running? Follow Kenzo H because he's still undefeated and could use a little competition.
• Julia H's hand jestures make you want to bust a move during your yoga and aerobics session.
• Take a look at Scott N's running trails...see if you can run them as fast as he can.
• A fist bump goes out to John T for Crossfit training in Pasadena...Skimble's new Crossfit Champ, perhaps?
• Watch out for Raul G who may have clocked more hours in the gym than Arnold Schwarzenegger did in his prime.

Sports records are being broken left and right.  Usain Bolt stunned the world with his 9.58 second 100 meter dash and John Isner was left wondering when his 138 game fifth set at Wimbledon would ever end.  This summer track and share your own record-breaking achievements with Skimble!

High fives go out to Hannah B & David D who've both won a custom Avery Tennis Racket valued at $179.99 USD.  Whether you're a pure beginner, a weekend warrior or the social doubles player, an Avery Tennis racket will improve your serve, ground strokes and volleys.

Founder Tom Avery is a really sweet guy, he's over 70 years old and has over 35 years of tennis coaching experience...let him guide you with the racket of your choice:

• Avery M3 Control Mid +
• Avery M3 Power Mid +
• Avery M5 Oversize

Check out the Avery tennis racket reviews here.

Special thanks to our sponsor:

Stay tuned for more info about this month's Contest Prize Pack announcement...

CrossFit is the grueling exercise regimen used by many police academies, special ops units, martial artists and other elite athletes. Designed to be applicable to almost any athlete, each workout consists of both cardiovascular and strength training.

The 2010 CrossFit Games, going on right now, are billed as the "ultimate test of fitness." For three days, elite athletes from around the world compete in a series of events whose exact makeup is not released until the event. Just for a taste, last year's events included:

• 7km Hill Run
• Deadlift one rep every 30 sec moving from 315lbs to 505lbs in 10lb increments (women went from 185lbs to 375lbs)
• 170m Hill Sprint with two 35lb sandbags (women used a single sandbag)
• Row 500m, pound a 4' stake into the ground, Row 500m (women used a 3' stake)
• Couplets [3 Rounds for time of 30 Wallball / 30 75lb Squat Snatch (women used 14lb medicine ball and a 45lb barbell)]

And that was just Saturday.

CrossFit publishes a Workout of the Day online for free, designed to get anyone into fighting trim. In addition, they have a widespread network of affiliates, and are a great resource for all things fitness.

It was a long, ugly game, with almost as much yellow on the field as orange and blue. During the 120-minute World Cup championship, the referree gave out a record 14 yellow cards, dishing out two in the final minutes of play for poor conduct.

After missed opportunities by the Netherlands' Arjen Robben and Spain's Sergio Ramos sent the players back onto the field after 90 minutes of regulation play, it looked as though the match would be decided by penalty kicks.

However, in the last four minutes of overtime, Spain's Andres Iniesta scored the game's only goal to lead Spain to its first title.

Both teams will head back to their home countries in the early hours of the morning, but Spain will take with it the coveted World Cup.

Next stop, Brazil 2014!

In all the excitement of the World Cup, it's easy to miss the other major world sports event that's going on right now: the historic Tour de France. Just yesterday, UK cyclist Mark Cavendish of the Columbia-HTC team took the tricky fifth stage of the tour.

"It was hard this year," said Cavendish in an emotional interview on French television.  "Things didn't go our way yesterday. I let [the team] down massively, and it would have been easy for them to say, 'He hasn't got it,' like other people did."

He still trails Switzerland's Fabian Cancellara, of the Saxo Bank team, who currently wears the coveted yellow jersey.

Here's a video of Lance Armstrong as he talks about his Tour de France 2010 expectations:

Yesterday, the powerful Spanish team knocked off Germany to advance to the final game of the 2010 World Cup. Despite losing talented players to injuries, Spain managed to score a goal midway through the second half to emerge with a 1-0 victory.

They will face the Netherlands for the title of world champion. Though Uruguay tied the game 1-1 going into the half, Holland pulled away to establish the lead and held on to defeat their opponents 3-2. After Uruguay and Germany square off in a consolation game for third place, the two victors will face each other in the finals.

The consolation match will be on Saturday at 11:30A.M. PST, and the championship, the big one, the 2010 World Cup final game, will be on Sunday at 11:30A.M. PST.

Catch highlights, videos and the latest updates here or on ESPN.

Here's one to get you inspired:

Skimble's watching. Are you?