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Blind Bulgarian Runner Defies Sleep and Exhaustion in ‘Everesting’ Climbing Challenge 

Victor Asenov, a visually impaired ultramarathon runner, walks next to his guide dog Taddy as he attempts to cover the same elevation as Mount Everest, an activity known as "Everesting", by running up and down the Black Peak summit of the Vitosha mountain, to raise awareness of a guide dog school, near Sofia, Bulgaria, March 21, 2025. (Reuters)
Victor Asenov, a visually impaired ultramarathon runner, walks next to his guide dog Taddy as he attempts to cover the same elevation as Mount Everest, an activity known as "Everesting", by running up and down the Black Peak summit of the Vitosha mountain, to raise awareness of a guide dog school, near Sofia, Bulgaria, March 21, 2025. (Reuters)
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Blind Bulgarian Runner Defies Sleep and Exhaustion in ‘Everesting’ Climbing Challenge 

Victor Asenov, a visually impaired ultramarathon runner, walks next to his guide dog Taddy as he attempts to cover the same elevation as Mount Everest, an activity known as "Everesting", by running up and down the Black Peak summit of the Vitosha mountain, to raise awareness of a guide dog school, near Sofia, Bulgaria, March 21, 2025. (Reuters)
Victor Asenov, a visually impaired ultramarathon runner, walks next to his guide dog Taddy as he attempts to cover the same elevation as Mount Everest, an activity known as "Everesting", by running up and down the Black Peak summit of the Vitosha mountain, to raise awareness of a guide dog school, near Sofia, Bulgaria, March 21, 2025. (Reuters)

Blind Bulgarian ultramarathon runner Victor Asenov defied sleeplessness and exhaustion to repeatedly scale Vitosha mountain near Sofia non-stop for nearly two days last week, climbing the equivalent of the height of Mount Everest in one of the toughest challenges of its kind in the world.

With his guide dog Taddy, Asenov, one of a handful of blind ultramarathon runners in Europe, set off from a mountain hut for the Black Peak summit of Vitosha, some 2,290 meters above the capital, at 0932 am (0732 GMT) on Friday to raise awareness about the training of guide dogs.

Going without sleep for 46 hours and stopping only for food, he climbed 8,848 meters in total - the height of Mount Everest - by running up and down to the peak 19 times, before finishing at 0740 am (0540 GMT) on Sunday.

"The requirement is not to sleep, so you can't do it by climbing once and then (continue) the next day. You have to do it 19 times in a row," Asenov said before his endurance challenge raising funds for a guide dog school at the Eyes on Four Paws Foundation in Sofia, the only school of its kind in the Balkans region.

Asenov says Taddy was trained for the city, but he has taught her how to help him navigate treacherous trails in the mountains. "I have already shown her how she can guide me when I am not running, when I am purely hiking in the mountains."

Pacers escorted Asenov throughout the challenge, and their encouragement helped him to fight off the physical and mental fatigue and make it to the finish line, he says.

"Sometimes I even have these moment of weakness, I want to give up and just at that moment I need the person who is with me and who is running, who is my pacer - to give me some support, to tell me: Vicky, come on, you can do it."

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‘Wellness Rooms’ Are Claiming Space in Many Homes

This photo provided by Thermasol, shows a Total Wellness Package Steam Shower. (Thermasol via AP)
This photo provided by Thermasol, shows a Total Wellness Package Steam Shower. (Thermasol via AP)
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‘Wellness Rooms’ Are Claiming Space in Many Homes

This photo provided by Thermasol, shows a Total Wellness Package Steam Shower. (Thermasol via AP)
This photo provided by Thermasol, shows a Total Wellness Package Steam Shower. (Thermasol via AP)

Our homes have been multitasking for a while now. They may be where we work, they are certainly where we play, and in today’s stress-filled world, they’re often the place where we feel most at peace.
Spurred by the pandemic, dens became offices, extra bedrooms became workout zones, dining rooms morphed into multifunctional creative spaces.
Often, we’re seeing rooms transformed into sanctuaries of self-care: welcome to the “wellness room.”
“Small sophisticated home gyms, music rooms, meditation rooms and Zen gardens are some of the wellness spaces we’ve designed recently,” says designer Gonzalo Bueno, who owns the firm Ten Plus Three in Dallas. “Spaces for wellness, retreat and recharging are all really popular right now.”
Bueno and his team combined several of these ideas in a home renovation in Austin, Texas. There is an outdoor Zen garden, flanked indoors by a meditation room on one side and the soaking tub of the primary bath on the other, with both facing a serene green space.
Holistic high and low tech “Soundbathing,” where you immerse yourself in soothing instrumental and natural sounds, has become popular at many professional spas. Now, companies are making versions for the home, or you can set one up yourself.
Create a low-tech soundbathing studio with some comfy pillows, yoga mats, essential oil scent and dimmed lights or candles and then either play or use recorded sounds of chimes, singing bowls and gongs. You can find links to meditation sounds online.
There are full-size beds available that use low frequency sound and vibrations, or you can find cushion-y mats with some of the same features, far less costly.
Traditional saunas use steam, but infrared light saunas are an easier-to-install alternative for indoors. Several makers offer single, two-or three-person versions made of wood or just an insulated fabric. Fancy ones come equipped with Bluetooth audio and color-changing lights.
If you really want to splash out on an in-house, multi-sensory, luxury experience, there are shower units integrating tech into customizable water, steam, lighting and music.
Quiet and maybe deep Jack Ovadia, whose eponymous design firm is based in New York, created a one-person onsen, the Japanese deep-soak-style tub, for a Phoenix client. The cocoon-like space has a contemplative wall of terrazzo pebbles and a pretty, petal-bedecked chandelier above.
But he also is doing wellness rooms that can multi-serve with a sauna and then an invigorating cold plunge tub. In his own home, he has an area to practice yoga and Pilates.
“Having a private space is essential," Ovadia says. "A wellness room should be a space where the outside world dissolves; no background noise, no movement beyond your own. This is where you go to let go; to drop into something quieter, something deeper.”
Celebrating creativity solo or with your peeps Your ideal wellness room might be a little more energetic than the serene, spa-like versions.
“We’re designing more music rooms,” Bueno says, “which isn’t surprising since music is so healing. “
He notes how much fun it is to work with clients who have a passion — “art, yoga, music or entertaining” — and design spaces to help bring that passion home.
“Recent clients had an extensive vinyl collection," he says. "Others have wanted a room to enjoy music during large family gatherings.”
Materials and accessories to set the mood Make sure the size of the space suits your activity and you use materials to set the tone.
“Bring in warmth and a sense of calm with things like natural tan oak, cork, bamboo, neutral tones and organic textures,” Ovadia says.
Small table lights can be set on a timer to play calming nature sounds. Some offer a soft amber glow or an array of soothing day-to-evening hues. Invest in a comfy sectional if you have space, or look for flop-worthy giant beanbags and squooshy oversize chairs.
If it’s an energy-filled space you’re after, Bueno has some suggestions for lighting that kicks things up a little, or a lot.
“We did a home gym with red accents, to bring in passion and motivating energy,” he says.
Engaging art can add to that vibe. Bueno mounted a clubby neon work in a large music/family room that says, “This Must Be the Place.” In the red gym hangs a contemporary piece that reads, “Keep On Keeping On.”
And for the quiet well room? Dreamy nature photographs, prints or mural wallpaper would be the chef’s kiss.
If you don't have room for a wellness room Nowhere to stake out a wellness room in your own place? You might have something similar in your hometown.
Public wellness spaces are becoming places to jive and gather as well. So-called social spas offering traditional spa services, as well as group hangout spaces and social activities, are popping up around the US.
“It’s the new nightclub,” Ovadia says. “Self-care is evolving into a shared experience, becoming a prominent scene rather than just a side routine.”