If you’re at all interested in health and fitness, San Luis Obispo is the place to be this weekend! The San Luis Obispo Health and Fitness Expo starts tomorrow with a 5K, and runs through Sunday at the Alex Madonna Expo Center. Doors are open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. both days, and it features dozens of local vendors, free health screenings, performances and more. I have to work but I’m definitely going to try and swing by at some point this weekend. Hope to see you there!

January 16, 2010

5k Run/Walk, part of the Health and Fitness Expo at the Alex Madonna Expo Center!

Castle to Coast Fun Run in San Simeon, CA

 February 7, 2010

Super Bowl 4-miler in Goleta, CA

February 14, 2010

Montana de Oro Trail Run

Chains of Love 5K, 10K, 15K in San Luis Obispo, CA

I went to the gym this morning hoping to conduct my own little spin class again. I was pretty excited, until I got to the gym and realized I forgot my Ipod! If you read the blog often you know how much I rely on my tunes to pump me up and get me through a workout. I was pretty disappointed, but decided to head downstairs to what is called the “Cardio Cinema” and try my luck at cardio down there. It’s a great concept. It’s basically a giant room, equipped with a giant projector screen, movie-style speakers and rows of cardio equipment. There are stationary bikes, treadmills and ellipticals lined up wall to wall, and you basically watch a movie while you workout. Today the movie Benchwarmers was on. Not the best movie in the world but it definitely keeps your mind off of what you’re doing. I’ve seen some pretty good ones in there, including The Dark Knight, Marley and Me (thank goodness I didn’t watch the whole thing in there, that movie made me cry so bad!), Shawshank Redemption, the list goes on and on. I spent a good 50 minutes in the Cardio Cinema today, logging 30 minutes on the treadmill and 20 minutes on the bike. I felt great and it’s another “X” for my kitten calendar! Not bad considering I left the Ipod at home!

In life, we are often faced with the decision of taking the road less traveled, or continuing along a familiar route. That ever-present fork in the road analogy if you will.  Opinions differ on what one should do when standing at that fork. For example, Robert Frost once said, “I took the road less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.” Then again, Jerry Seinfeld once said, “Sometimes the road less traveled is less traveled for a reason.”

I know, I know, comedians may not be the best people to consult when it comes to life choices, especially since my “fork in the road” has more to do with my running routes than life-changing decisions.

When it comes to personal preference, I like running the same route over and over. I think it helps me gauge my fitness level and if I’m feeling tired, I know exactly how far I have left to go. For example, I decided not to set my alarm clock this morning so I could have the joy of waking up “naturally.” Well, I woke up “naturally” at 11:45 a.m! I had just enough time to hit my quick 3-mile route and still have enough time to get ready.

With that said, I also know how refreshing it can be to discover a new trail. Like when I did the Bob Jones trail for the first time a couple of weeks ago. There’s an element of surprise, w hich can make the run (or walk, or bike) go by faster.

Either way, does it really matter in the end what route you take? It’s just great to be out there, right?

Feel free to pass along your thoughts on the matter, and if you have any good running spot recommendations pass those along too! I suppose I can take the road less traveled from time to time

I am happy to report my exercise “tracking system” is working very well! I used to log all my workouts in a small, spiral-bound notebook. After about two weeks I noticed that small notebook spent more time in my purse or work bag than in front of my face. So, I decided to literally put the writing on the wall! (Okay, not exactly LITERALLY) I dug out a kitten-decorated wall calendar my mom sent me a while back, just as a fun gift, and tacked it up on a highly-visible portion of my wall. Now, each day I workout, I put a red “X” and a short description of what I did on that day. So on a good week, my calendar has lots of “X’s.” I am shooting for 4-5 days a week, whether it is running, hiking, going to the gym, you get the point. It proved especially motivating this morning, when I looked at the calendar and saw 3 days without an “X.” It was the kick I needed to get out the door for a nice and easy 3-miler. It’s a simple and easy way of keeping track, but in the end, I really think it’s helping me stay on track!

Danielle Here:

During my last few long runs I’ve found myself walking, or wanting to walk, from time to time. It’s never for very long, I try and keep it between 30 seconds and 1 minute. However, I find that once I walk the first time, I find myself wanting to walk again not too much later. I walked .25 miles during the half marathon back in October, and I really think that small break helped me finish strong at the end. But just from my own experiences I’m starting to realize that walking can either help or hurt your run. On one hand it can re-energize those tired legs and help you regulate your breathing, but on the other hand, it can make you think about nothing BUT walking for the rest of your run! So, how much is too much when it comes to the walking break? Is there a set amount of time or distance that works best? Feel free to pass along your own experiences with “the walking break” and let me know what you think. Until then, happy running and/or walking!

Danielle Here:

I am very proud of my Turkey Day dinner! I had to cook the stuffing and the turkey ahead of time, but I was able to zap it all in the microwave before sitting down for a great meal and part of a movie on my dinner break. This was my first time “preparing” Thanksgiving dinner for myself, and while my mom still has me beat when it comes to all the trimmings, it tasted pretty darn great! It tasted so great that I ate way too much and am currently dealing with that post-holiday full feeling. Now that the holidays are in full swing, the balance between working out and eating usually ends up tipping towards the eating part for me. However, I’m determined to turn that around! I’m all signed up for a spin class at the gym tomorrow and I’m determined to have at least one great run this weekend. I’m also still logging my workouts which is helping to keep me on track! I’ve never been the type to just totally deprive myself of those holiday treats, so I figure I need to step up the workouts now so things don’t get out of hand once Christmas and New Years go by! Any of you have special holiday workouts or routines? Hope you had a wonderful holiday and have a wonderful weekend!

Danielle Here:

Today I decided to do nothing, that’s right, NOTHING before work. Normally I am either working out or running errands until my shift starts (when you work the 11pm newscast not too many places are open when the shift is over), but today I decided to put that habit aside and just relax.

Let me tell you, it was actually pretty tough. I sat there watching TV and browsing the internet for about an hour, but my mind was still racing with all the things I COULD or SHOULD be doing (like running, scheduling appointments, checking my work email, organizing my room or cleaning the house). I’m a huge advocate of being productive, but every now and then I think we owe it to our bodies, and our minds, to take a breather. It’s a tough job, but someone’s got to do it!

Danielle Here:

Ouch. That is one of the first thoughts that went through my head when I got out of bed this morning. My calves are killing me, in a good way of course, but it’s all because I decided to change things up a bit yesterday. As I was looking over my workout calendar it was clear I needed to do a run of some sort, but I didn’t feel like doing my regular 3.5 mile route. So, i jogged about a half-mile to a good size hill and decided to do hill sprints instead. It’s a pretty long hill with a steady incline, until you get toward the top, when it goes real vertical, real fast. I sprinted up and jogged down three times and felt like my chest was going to cave in! I then jogged/walked the half-mile back home and called it a day. I felt really good the rest of the day, but boy am I feeling it now. Still, I know it’s a good kind of sore. It means I’m not only working different muscles, but I’m also working on my endurance and lung capacity- things that can only help on my future runs. Plus, I’m planning to go for five trips up and down the hill next time around! So while it’s definitely a challenging, somewhat painful experience, I highly recommend taking on the “uphill battle” sooner rather than later. Anyone know any good uphill sprinting spots in the Pismo Beach/San Luis Obispo area?

Danielle Here:

That’s the question I kept asking myself as I huffed and puffed through my 3.5 mile run this morning. The half-marathon was almost three weeks ago and I’ve only been running twice since then.  I haven’t posted or run in a while because I’ve been in South Bend, watching the Notre Dame football team beat Boston College for the first time since 2003!!! GO IRISH!

My friends and I at Notre Dame stadium! It was 40 degrees and rainy!

With everything going on it’s been tough to get my regular runs in, and I’m certainly paying the price. My first post half-marathon run was 5 miles and I had to walk after about 2.5. Today, I did 3.5 miles and had to walk twice. I mean I heard it’s easy to lose the endurance you’ve built up but my gosh! In three weeks??!!! Needless to say it’s been a wake up call. I don’t want to digress to the point where I don’t enjoy running anymore. I figure I’ve worked too hard to build up my endurance. I plan to do another half marathon sometime in the next few months, but until I lock one down I guess it’s going to take lots of self discipline and will power. Mind over body! I figure if I just keep hitting the pavement on a regular basis I’ll get back to my 5 or 6 mile runs soon enough. I guess that’s one of the great things about running… improvement can come as soon as tomorrow! Happy running!