Fat-Blaster Fitness-Walking Workout Group!

Do you live in the Triad, NC area? Are you a stay-at-home mom or dad, retired, or someone who just happens to have mid-mornings free and you want to lose weight and get in shape? Then check out RunnerDude’s Fat Blaster Fitness-Walking Workout Group! This 4-week high-intensity fitness-walking workout group will get you well on your way to losing weight and getting into shape, just in time for the holidays!

Each 45-minute walking session (beginning at 9:30AM) includes intervals consisting of low intensity, high intensity, and lower-body exercise moves to tone your lower body. You’ll be slimmer and stronger in no time! The 4-week program includes

• Information packet containing the walking/workout plan & other helpful fitness & weight loss tips
• Five 45-minute group walks each week
• RunnerDude’s Fitness/Off’n Running Sports Technical T-shirt
• 10% Off Coupon for Off’n Running Sports
• 15% Off Coupon for any RunnerDude’s Fitness services or programs (You can use it for a second round of the Fat-Blaster Fitness-Walking Workout Group!!)
• Motivational Emails

The Fat-Blaster Fitness-Walking Workout Group begins with the first walking workout on Monday October 4th. Register by September 30th!

Not in the Triad area? No problem! Ask me about purchasing just the 4-week plan with online support!

No Time for Exercise? Check out TrekDesk!

You've probably heard of people walking to work. But have you heard of people walking while working? And, no, I'm not talking about the mail carrier! A good writer-runner-blogger-buddy of mine, Dena, sent me a link to an article about the TrekDesk. Yep, it's a desk and a treadmill combined into one!

I checked out the TrekDesk website to get a better idea about the thinking behind this unique desk and discovered it was invented by Steve Bordley who was the victim of a disabling accident. Upon returning to work and his traditional desk, he suffered severe back pain and gained a lot of weight. He decided to create an alternative to help alleviate both. Tah Dah! The TrekDesk.

The benefits of standing desks have been known for years. One main benefit of standing at a desk is that your hip flexors don't get tight. Ever been sitting at your desk for many hours and when you finally need to get up, you can hardly stand up straight? Tight hip flexors are the culprit. Years of tight hip flexors can lead to a forward curve to your posture. Not good. Also, because you're seated all day, you're burning very few calories, so weight gain can be a problem related to sedentary jobs.

Well, the TrekDesk helps to alleviate both. According to the TrekDeck website, 84% of all medical claims in the US are directly related to lack of exercise, poor nutrition and lifestyle. They go on further to say that using the TrekDesk treadmill desk (along with adherence to dietary guidelines) could have the following results:

• 33%-70% risk reduction in rate of major cancers
• 90% reduction in number of initial heart attacks
• 50% reduction in risk of developing Type 2 Diabetes
• 70% reduction in risk of stroke

Why such radical risk reduction? A few of the reasons sited include, increasing the metabolic rate therefore burning more calories (helping with weight reduction), stimulating the lymphatic system helping to ward off disease, increasing blood flow and improving circulation, improving lung capacity and strength, improving blood lipid profiles, etc. The increased blood flow also helps stimulate brain function, improving memory as much as 15% in 6 months!

These are not new findings. We've known for years that walking and regular exercise provides all the aforementioned benefits. The problem is that people, no matter how often told, either don't have the time to get in the needed exercise or they're not motivated to get in the needed exercise. Enter the TrekDeck. It helps remove the excuses. It provides you with ample time to get in the exercise you need because you don't have to make extra time to fit it in. It's the ultimate in multitasking. Of course, not every work situation will lend itself to using the TrekDeck, but it yours does, it might be worth checking out. If you work from the home, it may be the perfect solution to getting in that needed exercise.

So, while I've not personally tested the TrekDeck and can't attest to it's construction or effectiveness, it may be worth further investigation. If TrekDesk is listening....I'll be more than happy to give it a thorough testing for an official RunnerDude's Blog review! I was surprised that the price of the TrekDesk is under $500. For a walking treadmill and a desk, that's not too bad.

It's Okay to Walk!

It took me running the same 30K three times to finally learn that it's okay to walk. It's been a while since I've run the Salem Lake 30K, but each time I do, I act so surprised when I reach this fairly big hill towards the end of the race. The first year I ran it I wasn't properly trained for the race and I was really feeling it by mile 17. I'm usually good on hills and often if I speed up on a hill, it helps me somehow recoup and get beyond the fatigue. That strategy, however, only works when you've done your training. I hadn't, so when I reached the top of the hill, there was no recouping, just visions of my impending doom. Instead of getting a bit of a respite, I was in the first stage of bonking. It goes with out saying that the last 1.5 miles of the race was no picnic.

The second year I ran the race, I had a similar experience. Again, I found myself completely pooped after running up that dreaded hill. This time, however, I noticed that the walkers I passed running up the hill were now flying past me on the downside. Those guys finished the race well ahead of me. Then it finally hit me and I kicked myself in the butt (well I would have if my foot would have reached). I finally realized what I was doing—using up my last bit of fuel 1.5 miles from the finish by running up that hill. I should have walked up that hill, saving my energy and I probably would have avoided bonking and ended strong.

For so many years, my only goal was to finish a race as fast as I could without walking. It never occurred to me that by walking (just a little) I could possible finish a race stronger and maybe even with a faster time. After the Salem Lake 30K epiphany, I was able to make myself walk a year later during the hardest marathon I've ever run—Chicago '07. Yep, that's the year they closed the course after 4 hours due to heat and lack of water. Luckily because I recognized the signs of dehydration and fatigue setting in, I began to intermingle the last 8 miles with some walking. I didn't make the 3:30 that I was shooting for, but I did PR with a 3:42. Given the race conditions and the fact that I walked a fair amount in the last leg of the race, I don't think I did half bad. I know without a doubt, that if I had let my "runner's ego" take over and had not allowed myself some walking breaks, I probably would have been one of the many runners bused back to the start.

Many beginner as well as long-time runners find themselves feeling discouraged if they have to walk. I know of one runner, who stopped running completely (really, I mean completely), because she started out way too fast and had to walk the last part of the course. She felt defeated and demoralized. She never ran again after that race. Sadly, she never realized that she had just made a tactical error. We all have bad races and when they happen (after you've had some time to recover) you need to evaluate what went wrong. Was it the weather? the temp? a stomach issue? starting out too fast? Learn from it. Then move on.

Not only is walking a great way to help your fight fatigue in a race, it's a great way for beginners to ease into running. If a beginning runner (especially one who has never run before) starts by adding 30 secs of running into a regular walk, they'll more than likely notice that it wasn't that hard. Before long the beginner can increase the length of that "walk" as well as increase the number of 30-second intervals of slow running mingled throughout the walk. Gradually the beginner can turn those 30-second intervals into 60-second intervals. As the beginner becomes accustomed to the 60-second intervals, he/she can begin decreasing the walking so that eventually the walking becomes the 60- and then 30-second intervals and the running becomes the majority of the activity. This slower transition helps ease the beginner into running allowing him/her to see progress and helps keep the discouragement at bay.

Walking in marathons has also become a standard practice for many long-distance runners. Programs like the Galloway RUN-WALK-RUN™ method use walking throughout the running of the marathon. Don't be fooled. Runners (beginners and experienced) who use the Galloway Method, consistently run great marathons as well as injury-free marathons.

Jeff Galloway's quest for the injury-free marathon training program led him to develop group training programs in 1978, and to author Runner's World articles which have been used by hundreds of thousands of runners of all abilities. His training schedules have inspired the second wave of marathoners who follow the low mileage, three-day, suggestions to an over 98% success rate.

So, it's okay to walk. You may or may not be interested in using a complete run-walk marathon training plan, but know that walking is viable tactic (a tool in your running toolbox) that you can use during a race to help you recoup from fatigue or maybe even help to prevent fatigue from ever setting in.