Week in review- Sunday, January 10th

I hope everyone is having a great year so far! Yesterday, it was back to Sac Fit running/walking club for the new training season! I am pleased that some of my co-workers and friends signed up this season. The more the merrier! Yesterday, the group met for our orientation and one mile pace run/walk. I was absolutely thrilled to walk a 12:22 mile. Now if I can only keep that up for 13.1 miles! I am setting my goal this year to hopefully walk the Parkway half marathon in under 3 hours. I am hoping with the right training and mind-set it is an achievable goal as it means cutting 11 minutes off of last year's time. We will see!

Yesterday's orientation program was great! We listened to a variety of speakers including an ultramarathon winner talk about goal setting, a PT talk about avoiding injuries and strength exercises, and a local author who completed a 153 mile race across the Sahara. Talk about inspiration and a wealth of information! It was extremely motivating and surely provided everyone in the room with a great kick start for the new year. I look forward to next week's training!

Now that my cold is better I am back to the gym tomorrow to start the weekly Sac Fit training schedule, which involves three shorter training sessions during the week and the one longer Saturday session. I want to say kudos to my co-worker and her husband (you know who you are) who are training on their own for the Parkway half. I am so proud of them and wish them and all of you the best of luck with your training. Although it is difficult sometimes to get these mid week training sessions in, our Sac Fit director reminded us yesterday what critical building blocks they are for the longer Saturday training sessions. We just do the best we can but having a set plan and a goal to achieve seem to make those training sessions much more "doable."

Product of the Week: One of the most important things is to stay hydrated when running and walking. Therefore, you need a good waist pack or fuel belt to carry your liquids. I actually seem to have a pack for everything. You name it I have tried it! From a single shot pack to a hand carry bottle (which strangely enough many ultramarathoners seem to use) I have tried them all! I finally found the perfect pack, which is versatile enough for any distance walk/run. It is lightweight and ergonomically fits your back so it is very comfortable and doesn't bounce. It comes with two 16 0z bottles so you have one for H20 and one for electrolytes and the nice thing is you can actually buy little accessory pouches as add ons in case you want to carry something extra like a cell phone or lip balm that you need easily accessible. It is easy to get the bottles in and out of the pack while still running/walking and the single pocket is large enough to fit your necessities but still keeps the pack small and light. This amazing pack is the Amphipod Profile Lite 32 which retails for about $48.50. It is available at some Fleet Feet and REI stores but you can check amphipod.com to find a location near you. It is literally one of the only packs I use now. It is a little pricey but worth every penny!

Have a great week! Remember to run your own race!

-Lisa