goanothermile Member

Visiting some local bike shops is a good idea. As others have mentioned, it really depends on where (surface and terrain) and how (distance and speed) you envision riding. For an all-around beginner bike, I suggest either a mountain bike or a hybrid bike. Both are somewhat similar, except the hybrid will have thinner tires…

Some of that after-work drink routine is about habit and the ritual of relaxation. You fix your drink and sit down for a few minutes, fix dinner, or whatever your routine is. You need some strategies to change that habit. Here are my tips: (1) Have your drink ritual as usual. Substitute something special, but…

I used chucks for a while. My ankle flexibility isn't great and I couldn't get as low as I wanted. Using 5 lbs plates under my heels helped, but never felt very good. For the last six months, I've been using Inov-8 Fast Lift 335 shoes. Picked them up on from Amazon for <$100 USD. Squats are more comfortable due to the…

My New Year's resolution was 30 days without drinking. I hit that milestone and decided to keep going. I'm a couple of weeks shy of 90 days at this point and wonder what a full year would be like. (I haven't mentally committed to the year yet, but I sure am curious about it.) There have been tough days/nights. However, I'm…

Just a thought... Since you are about to graduate, think about how likely your living situation is to change over the next few years. I moved a few times during the years following graduation and also got married. It would have been a pain if I had a load of gym gear to move around. Moving that stuff isn't easy and then…

You can't maintain a significant calorie deficit and plus do cardio, yoga/pilates, and weights. You are trying to get your body to go in several different directions at once. You have to figure out your priorities. Here is what I do: I keep yoga as a pretty constant 2-3 times per week. In the Spring and sometimes Fall,…

Good advice above. During taper, run the mileage in your plan. Keep your pace on the slow side. Resist the urge to crank up the tempo on the shorter runs. For cross training, limit yourself to what what you've been doing during the training but at a lower intensity level. Don't start something new. Stretching or yoga is…

I assume that your PT thinks that you could use that 30 minutes a day on an activity that would burn more calories than walking, which would allow you to reach your goal more quickly. While that might be true, this is the part that caught my eye: Your walking group is doing something healthy, you like the people, and…

Calf muscle problems can be a real plague. Tight is a problem. However, if you strain or tear one... it becomes a bigger problem. Last year I spent some rather painful time with a physical terrorist... I'm mean therapist trying to recover from strained calves from running. The biggest problem was lack of flexibility. Foam…

Hard to say without knowing more about your overall training plan. Sometimes I've struggled with this. It can be hard to tell whether I'm just physically tired or just experiencing low motivation because I'm a little burned out. Here are some general recommendations that have worked for me:* The suggestions above about…

I have tight calves also and can relate to your struggles. I was training for a half marathon last year, had tight calves, and ended up straining both calves. I had to go to a physical therapist work through it and it was painful. (I did complete the race.) Search the internet for "calf heart attack" and you'll find…

Sometimes people use "squat rack" and "squat stand" interchangeably. I wouldn't consider anything that did not have spotter arms for safety reasons. Don't buy just a squat stand.

Don't try to accomplish too many goals at once. Focus on the mileage for now and work on speed later. You can build from 10 miles to finish a half in 8 weeks. However, you should consider the week after this race as recovery and the week prior to the half as pre-race taper. That cuts down the number of full training weeks…

In my mind, inside a power rack is the safest place to OHP. I've never seen someone actually drop the bar on accident, but I know it could happen. If I fail on a rep, the rack provides the best protection for me and anybody else who is nearby.

Good for you! I don't know how much prior running experience you have, so don't know if this will be helpful. I've done quite a few half marathons, but only one full. I think marathon success primarily depends on two things - (1) putting in the training miles and (2) keeping injury at bay. For me, being fully committed to…

If the mattress is in good shape, try putting a mattress topper on it. We got a 4 inch memory foam topper and it made a huge difference.

Fantastic story. Congrats on all the progress. If anybody every tells you that you have a nice rack, you should totally assume that this is what they are talking about. I've been thinking about buying one instead of trekking to the gym. Which one are are you using? Happy with it?

I've been doing it for a few months. Definitely get the smartphone app and the warm-up addition. The app recommends adding weight every workout until you fail, then you deload, and work back up. I used the recommendation at the beginning. I have taken a more cautious approach as weight gets heavier. I stick with a plateau…

I have used yurbuds with inexpensive earbuds. Stayed in well, but I often find that they pick up a lot of wind noise when running outside. On the other hand, if you keep a reasonable music volume level you can still hear what is going on around you. I recently bought the Jaybirds Bluebird X. Being wireless is awesome.…

Sure... you can drop 1-2 workouts a week and still lose weight. Maintaining the calorie deficit is the biggest factor. If you're going to keep the weight off long term, you have to find that sustainable balance between calories coming in and burning. If you've lost 30 lbs in 4 months, that means 1.875 lbs per week (on…

You can cut that down even more by using club soda (0 cal for 8 oz.) rather than tonic (130 cal for 8 oz.). A lime wedge adds negligible calories. It doesn't have exactly the same taste as tonic, of course, but you get used to it. Diet tonic is an option also... but I'm not a big fan of the artificial sweeteners either,…

Same here. Had the Blendtec for probably 5 years or so. No particular problem with it, but I think the Vitamix is probably a better unit overall. I think the Blendtec is more complicated than it needs to be. All those different settings are just confusing.

I was about 206 lbs when I started a program similar to C25k. That was 6 years ago. I've run several 5ks, 9 half marathons and one full marathon since. You can do it! My pieces of advice: - Before jumping straight into C25k, I'd suggest spending a couple of weeks with simple 20-30 minute walks at a steady (maybe even brisk…

Ideally, I'd rather alternate days or at least separate the two by several hours. Schedule and other priorities sometimes makes it necessary to do both in one session. That means a compromise has to take place. Strength before running works better for me. I also limit the running pace and distance to something very…

I got an occasional comment around 15 lbs down. I think it depends on your body shape and size as to how much really makes a visible difference. When you start moving down in clothing sizes, it becomes more noticeable. The old stretched out T-shirt that you've worn for years still looks the same. More form fitting clothes…

Good suggestions above. I do most of my yoga with our local YMCA. Doing it with an instructor is really helpful. Before I started yoga, I was intimidated by the thought of the class. Figured it would be a bunch of hyper-fit contortionists who would laugh as I tried to figure it out. A co-worker that I respect recommended…

StrongLifts 5x5 has an app that with a progressive set of simple exercises. Here is a good summary: community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/560459

I understand. The pre-race excitement makes you want to go! Play it smart. Resist the temptation. Conserve your energy for race day. Your training for this race is complete. The extra 3 miles you're considering the day before your race will not help your conditioning at all. That would be 2/3 of your longest run ever, so…

I replaced my wedding band with a 1/2 size smaller so it didn't fall off. Disclaimer: The one I wear daily is super cheap and couldn't be sized. My original band is safely at home.

I had a calf strain injury back in the spring while training for a half marathon. Took some physical therapy to get me up and going again, but I was able to run the race. See if this link sounds familiar: runnersworld.com/injury-treatment/calf-heart-attacks?page=single