Bondi Band

So I'm a little bummed right now. My training has been going really well for my half-marathon coming up on the 18th. A couple of weeks ago I tweaked my left hamstring doing some walking lunges, and it has been bothering me ever since. The pain isn't bad enough to quit running, but it is a nuisance. I am trying to stretch it out everyday and am just hoping that it will survive long enough to go 13.1 miles next Saturday. We shall see...



Ever since I cut my hair short, I have had a ridiculous time trying to find a way to keep my hair out of my face when I exercise. When it was longer, a ponytail would usually suffice but even then I would sometimes get some fly-aways that would bug me when I was doing an intense cardio session. I tried many different kinds of bands to try to contain my short locks but I hated how they would ride up my head, slip off or were just too tight. And bobby pins just weren't cutting it anymore. Then I saw an advertisement in Runner's World Magazine about these new headbands called the "Bondiband." Their motto is "No Slip...No Drip" and I have to whole heartily agree. They stay in pace, are comfortable to wear, and even prevent a lot of the sweat from pouring down onto my face while I workout. I got a few different ones, including the one below...



I really love these bondibands and I am now giving one lucky reader a chance to win one too. Just leave a comment telling me why you would like one of these bands (or you can just tell me why you think this blog is sooooo amazing!!:)



Just make your comment sometime before Monday morning and I'll be picking a random reader comment who will then win this...

(If you're not a "Runner Girl," maybe you can give it to someone who is!!)

Talking Point: Have you found any cool workout gear recently that you would like to rave about? I always love finding new products that actually work as advertised!!

New-To-Me Food Tracker

I found this website recently that allows you to download a free fitness and food journal. It has some pretty neat tools to use and it really helps to keep everything organized in one spot. You can set goals, see your progress, track your calories, protein, fat and carb intake, etc.

The program is called "Fitness Assistant 1" and can be found here. Hope you like it!

In other news...how many of you started out this year with a resolution to either lose weight, exercise more or get healthy? A lot of people start each year with high hopes that this will be the year that they will finally get in shape. Gym memberships soar, diet programs make bucket loads of money and everyone is excited and motivated. Usually this phenomenon lasts about 3-6 weeks before most people fall off the healthy-living bandwagon.

If that was you though, you still have time to make 2010 the year you reach your goals. Tomorrow marks the first day of September, giving you exactly 4 months to get back on track and reach some of those goals you may have set for yourself at the beginning of the year. If you start now, you can look at yourself on 01-01-11 with pride, knowing that you don't have to start the year proclaiming your new fitness resolutions but you can simply maintain the healthy lifestyle you've been leading the last four months. This also may give you extra motivation to endure the eating pitfalls that occur during the next few months...Halloween candy, lots of Thanksgiving stuffing and all those endless Christmas goodies.

So are you ready to look and feel your best on one-one-one-one? (01-01-11)

Talking Point: Did you set any resolutions this year that you've been able to meet? Any others that you are still working on? My main goal for this year was to learn how to eat properly. It's definitely a work in progress, but I'm getting better!

New Gadget

I love finding new fitness gadgets to experiment with. They bring a certain freshness to what can sometimes become monotonous workouts. The best thing about the fitness gadget that I discovered this week is that it was free! In fact, most people already own some of these fitness gadgets and don't even know it. Can you guess what they are?


Washcloths!!


Yup, I had my first experiment with these this last week and I am in love. They definitely work muscles in a different way than I have experienced and after doing some of the exercises, my hamstrings were sore for days. So what exactly do you do with these washcloths? Well let me explain...(Note: You will need to find a hard surface to perform these exercises. Both hardwood floors and linoleum floors work great!)


1. Alternating Slide-Outs (a great core/upper body exercise)

Start in push-up position with a washcloth under each hand. Your feet should be hip distance apart with your hands slightly wider than your shoulders. Reach your right hand forward, sliding the washcloth along the floor while stabilizing your core muscles. Reach out as far as you can while holding your body in a straight line. Bring right hand back in and repeat on the left side.


2. Reverse Lunges (a new twist on a classic move)

Place a washcloth under each foot and stand with feet slightly separated. Slide your left foot along the floor into a rear lunge, making sure that your right knee does not go in front of your right toe and go down until your right thigh is parallel to the floor (your left knee should be close to, if not touching the ground.) Slide your left foot back up and repeat on the right side.


3. Mountain Climbers (more engaging than regular ones)

Again start in push-up position with each of your feet this time on a washcloth. Slide your right foot forward while drawing your right knee into your chest. Slide the right foot back to the starting position and repeat on the left side. You can alternate back and forth with this move or you can "run" your knees in so that as your right foot goes back into the starting position, your left foot moves forward at the same time. This will give you a good cardio-blast too!


4. Glute Bridges (these are killer -- I could only do a few before my hamstrings were on FIRE!!)

These are HARD (just thought you should be forewarned!) Lie on your back with your knees bent and each of your feet on top of a washcloth. Keep your hands on the ground slightly away from your body and try not to let them press into the ground. Lift your hips into the air as high you can and hold them there throughout this exercise. With your hips lifted, slide both feet away from you as far as you can while still keeping your hips in the raised position. Then slide them back in to the starting position. You should feel this working your hamstring muscles (on the back of your thigh) right away! To make this a bit easier, you can alternate between the right and left side rather than pushing both feet in and out together.

5. Pikes Peak (if you can do these, you must have abs of steel!)

Start in push-up position with both feet on a washcloth. Use your core abdominal muscles to draw your feet in towards your hands while keeping your legs straight (at the top of this move, your body should be in a "pike" position with arms and legs both as straight as possible.) Hold for a few seconds before sliding feet back into the starting push-up position.

So you see, a lot of times you don't need fancy equipment or luxury gyms to get in a great workout. A few washcloths and you'll be well on your way to "making IT fit!"