Are you in the market for fitness equipment?

If so, make sure to read this article. As many of us suspected, those very expensive and often bulky gadgets are not more effective than the old-fashioned (and much cheaper!) exercises we're familiar with. Don't get me wrong - there's a time and place for treadmills and the like. When the weather is terrible or it's too dark to run outside then running indoors is great. Some, like the article states, enjoy having a machine in front of them tracking their progress. I take care of that by wearing my GPS heart-rate monitor.

In my opinion, exercise equipment rates right up there with gym memberships. If you can commit and use the stuff, then it's worth the cash. If not, don't bother. Save your money for something else.

Training is slightly derailed but still happening

I was too busy to run Saturday, so I planned on running Sunday. Too bad I didn't bother to check the weather because it not only rained Saturday night but all day Sunday and a good part of today. Oh well. I will run tomorrow, and then it looks like Thursday is a wash. I've got an appointment with someone from school after work, and I'm not sure how long it will take. This shouldn't surprise anyone who works with me, but I am looking for a new job. With school wrapping up in 4 weeks and my eyes on a career that can't be advanced at my current company, it's time to start the good ol' job hunt. Career Services from Keller is helping me find something. Any help is good!

Anyway, it looks like I'll be able to keep up some semblance of running this week which is good. I'm planning on running after class Saturday, but if that doesn't work I'll go Sunday. My runs so far feel pretty good, and I feel like I'm making decent progress. I've quit focusing on trying to run the whole time I'm outside training, so a lot of pressure is off now. I'm okay if I have to walk some of the half marathon too. The goal is to finish!

Funny side note

So I was poking around my blog because I was bored, and I noticed a tab called Stats. Included in the stats are what countries readers are in (hi Russia, Ukraine, and Malaysia!), how many views your blog has received, which posts are the most read and which google searches bring up your blog. There are a lot of other things too, but those caught my attention. The most interesting section was what was deemed my most popular post. Can you guess what it was? My armpit hurts! LOL!!! I guess I ought to write more silly posts about how I hurt myself doing stupid every day tasks.

Why am I bored? I'm trying to work on a project for class. In fact, it's my FINAL project that is broken up into three sections. It's a fascinating project (opening an offshore manufacturing facility in Malaysia), but I'm having a hard time focusing. I can't think about writing RFPs and choosing vendors right now.

Anyhoo, I thought you all would find that funny. Maybe I'll hurt something else that sounds just as silly as my arm pit =)

2 Miles!

I decided to take advantage of my renewed motivation and extend my mileage today. Instead of my usual 1.5 miles of walk/run I did 2 full miles. I feel pretty good, and I think I'm on track to being able to handle 4-5 miles by the end of the year. I'm still getting the half-marathon training plan in my email, so I'm getting a good look at what kind of training I will need to do next year.

On another note, I saw a guy on the trail with no shoes on. I just don't get it. Isn't the ground nasty? I can't help but think of all the icky stuff we step on with our shoes on. All of that might get into your skin! EWW!! I hope he had a recent tetanus shot. Never mind the fact that this poor guy obviously can't tan so his legs and feet were like rods of glowing white light. Rough!

Missed training

Due to school work that had to get done and a migraine that decided to rear its ugly head, I didn't train at all Thursday evening or Saturday. But that's okay! I might go today, but if I don't I'll pick right up on Tuesday.

So my friends and I are already making plans for next year's Warrior Dash! Now that we have a better idea of what the course is like, the need for showers after the race, and the kind of trip involved, we're making much better plans this time around. Most of us look like we're getting hotel rooms for at least the night before so we can shower all the mud off after the race. Plus this saves us travel time that morning since we're looking at a 9am race time. It's gonna be awesome!!

More training

So I ran again today! The weather is so much nicer now, particularly in the shade. Running wasn't such a bear today like has been all summer long. Today was another 1.5 mile walk/run, and I'll run again Thursday. There wasn't anything spectacular about today's run, but it was nice to be able to say I went. Rex came with me, and it's always nice when someone runs with you.

I will say that knowing a race is coming up gives me a lot more motivation than just running for the sake of running. I know that without decent training I'll end up injuring myself, which I am really hoping to avoid. I don't mind a little soreness and fatigue, but I really hate honest pain. It means I can't run like I need to. Here's to good training!

Like it or not, I'm committed!

Well, unless I care to toss out a good chunk of change I am obligated to participate in the Georgia Half Marathon because I'm registered. It feels so official! I even got to enter what name I'd like listed on the race bib, which you never get with the smaller races. It'll be so much easier to identify me in pictures LOL!

Since we're talking about the race, I did get a run in (finally!). I hit the Greenway after class, and did my usual walk/run for 1.5 miles. I'll get out again Tuesday night whether I like it or not since I need to get a good foundation for at least a decent walk/run for this race. It would be terrible to get going and then to injure myself. It's still a bit hot and humid outside, but I'm very glad that the weather will be getting cooler soon. I'll be complaining about the cold soon enough, but that's another story.

Men, welcome to the crazy world of designer specific sizing

Oftentimes women think men's clothing is easier to buy because pants sizes are so clear cut. If you have a 36 inch waist and 32 inch inseam, then you buy a 36x32 pant. Easy, right? Nope!! Turns out that men's designers are adding "vanity inches" to make guys feel better about the jeans they're trying on. Women's designers have been doing this for years. A size 6 now is not the same size 6 from 20 yrs ago. Good luck finding the same size 6 across different stores. Ann Taylor Loft's size 6 is equivalent to a size 8 for other retailers. So much also depends on the cut of the pant. Where does the waist of the pant sit on you? At the hip? At the natural waist? Women - please don't let pants sit as high as your natural waist.

Enjoy!

PANTS!

How hot are you?

Evidently most of us think we're pretty good looking, if not hot. Woohoo! Score one point for healthy self esteem. This article from msnbc shows that collectively we're starting to look away from the false reality of television, movies, and fashion magazines and more towards our peers when judging our own looks. That's probably part of why we see obesity climbing (if a woman is a size 10 compared to obese coworkers, then she doesn't seem overweight when her health might tell a different story).

Another potential downer? Women are much more focused on muscle tone now. This is a tricky one. There is such a thing as exercise-related eating disorders, but it's good that we're beginning to shift away from just controlling weight with diet and incorporating more exercise. Sounds an awful lot like my own philosophy!

How hot am I? Well, I think I'm pretty darned cute if you ask me LOL!

Btw, there's a link in the msnbc article about an untouched Jennifer Aniston photo compared to a photoshopped version. Those Hollywood makeup artists are really fabulous!

Fast fixes or wastes of time?

There are some days when I'm tempted to try a diet drug to see if I could just lose a little weight. I think everyone has those days. I like to call them fat days because those days you feel super fat, no matter what you actually look like. It would seem that women feel this more than men do due to pressure to stay thin and attractive. As a result, there is a booming industry of diet pills and "quick" fixes to the obesity problems ravaging the United States and other developed nations.

Turns out none of them work. At least that's how I read the articles I keep coming across. Acai berry is a fad that not only doesn't work but is in the middle of some serious lawsuits and scams. Diet drug Meridia increases the risk of heart attack and stroke - neither of which are good for you!

What does work? Good ol' exercise and a healthy diet. Now I know there's a lot of debate over what constitutes a good diet, but we can all agree that cutting out candy and fast food might be a good place to start. A recent study says exercise can also counter the genetic tendency to carry extra weight.

Just a little food for thought.