If this guy can make time for yoga, I suppose I can too.
Everyone I talk to about running says the same thing: Do squats. And then more squats. And then some more, while you’re at it. Agree that squats and strength training are important (take it from a runner who has/does everything wrong), but the answer may actually be in our feet:
“If we’re not using our feet appropriately, every time we strike the ground, we’re not supporting ourselves well,” he says. “So the muscles commonly associated with running—like the calves, quads, and glutes—can misfire. Some muscles will overwork, some won’t be used properly—and that’s the dysfunction we commonly talk about with running injuries.”
That ‘he’ would be celebrity run coach Eric Orton. And he knows his stuff. While slowly knocking out my “what not to do while running list,” I’ll add this to the “get your running ish together” list.
(via The super important training component most runners ignore)
I used to hate words. I thought words were fickle and futile. They insulted me by reducing my unique feelings and experiences — OBVIOUSLY only felt by me and me alone —to arbitrary sounds. But then I realized that it was only hard for me to verbally communicate because I was afraid. I didn’t hate words at all! I was just terrified that I’d never be able to find the right ones with which to truly express myself.
— Eden Sher
Meet the Emotionary. I personally like DINES.
Nom nom nom.
A house powered by exercise?
The JF-Kit House by the Spanish design firm Elii is an experiment in “domestic fitness,” rendering “the image of a possible future where citizens produce part of their domestic energy requirements with their own physical activities.” Each room features a fancifully named exercise station that would, theoretically, help create energy to power the home, including an “arm workout bureau,” a “spinning kitchen,” and a “triceps greenhouse.” A video shows the home’s imagined inhabitant lifting weights, cycling, and doing calisthenics as part of his house’s everyday upkeep and daily chores like cooking.
Amazing. Talk about workout motivation…
Find something you’re passionate about, and keep tremendously interested in it.
Julia Child (via thatkindofwoman)
(Source: theriverjordyn)
A Scientific 7-Minute Workout That Only Requires You, a Wall & a Chair
I guess I should maybe invest in a chair…
Common sources of protein, iron and calcium in a plant based diet.
And they say vegans don’t get enough protein. Tsk tsk.
Sometimes you just want to read something funny. Which is what this piece “I Tried Gwyneth Paltrow’s Diet” by Rebecca Harrington over at New York Magazine is. It’s not another run-of-the-mill making-fun-of-Gwyneth’s-expensive-savior-complex piece because, while Harrington has a sense of humor, she also has a genuine appreciation for the recipes and food and for the fact that Gwyneth is sharing them. Heidi and I both want to hang out with Harrington:
While making the meatballs, however, I can tell something is up. No. 1: They are green (they are made of arugula and turkey). No. 2: I can’t put them in tomato sauce because I have eliminated tomatoes from my diet. Instead, I am serving them with a broccoli soup that tastes mostly like water. What is going on? Yesterday was so amazing! When my guests arrive and I feed them the meatballs, I can tell that they hate them. One of them pulls out a huge bag of chips and starts eating them in front of me. Another one leaves to “actually eat dinner.” I am about to have a panic attack when I suddenly remember when Gwyneth went to a dinner party in America and someone asked her what kind of jeans she was wearing and she thought to herself, “I have to get back to Europe.” America is the worst. I say nothing about anyone’s jeans, even though I was literally just going to ask everyone about their jeans.
Image via Neurotic New Yorker
So good.
It’s easy to say, “I can’t,” and rest on your assumptions that you’re “not a runner,” or swimmer, or cyclist. But you’re often, if not always, wrong. Take Matt Lieto, for example. Prior to becoming a professional triathlete, he was a 250 lb boy who was relieved of his volunteering duties during an Ironman event because he couldn’t keep up.
Needless to say, it was a turning point in my life. I was dying, just walking 1.5 miles to the expo to get free candy bars. Around me people were smiling (like the year’s champion Natascha Badmann) through 140.6 miles. Seriously? I volunteered at mile 20 of the run and was soon relieved from water duty because I just couldn’t keep up with the leaders as they went by…“Water, water!” they yelled. Sorry fellas.
Matt is a testament to the fact that you can do anything you set your mind to. (You can, and should, read his full story here.) Are ready to sign up for your first race?
Marathon motivation.
Meet the amazing dancing treadmill man. In another life, I would be this coordinated. In the current one, I am far from it.
