PDF printable food diary

I was looking around the other day and I found this great hubpage about why someone would want to keep a printable food diary. Turns out there are several reasons, including reducing your risk of health problems (such as cancer, diabetes and heart disease). The right diet choices can even improve your mood.

The other thing I like about this article is the fact that they provide links at the bottom of the page to sites that have recipes, calorie calculators and even a site that will tell you how many calories are in that Burger King Whopper you ate last night.

Have a look at it. There's a link in the printable food diary PDF that shows you where you can suggest changes to the food diary and make other comments about it. Remember that if you don't take the initiative to watch what you eat, no one else will either. The chances are increased that you'll eat junk and feel like it too.

Get some free running speakers

I've just posted details about a contest to win some free running speakers on Maintain Fit. It's super easy, and super short. You only have until July 17th, 2008 (this Thursday) to enter. Here's the link...

Win a free pair of running speakers!

If you missed some of the videos, go check them out on my exercise blog, or use the links below:

Run with Music - Safety Speakers
Mountain Bike with music too (helmet cam)!
Fit for Life half marathon with safe Running Speakers

Do you listen to your iPod when you run?

I recently asked members of Maintain Fit it they listened to music, like on an iPod, when they run. The survey results were great, and it turns out that 85.7% of the people that answered the survey do listen to music when they run. I thought that was a pretty high number...

The other side of the conversation was whether or not it's safe to run with headphones in your ears. A lot of people pointed out that running with headphones in makes it more difficult to hear cars and hazards and increases your risk of injury. But, despite the increased risk, a lot of people find it worthwhile to run with music.

Here are some of the reasons that people love running with music

• Music is motivational
• Music helps establish and maintain a good pace (cadence)
  
• Music is entertaining
• iPods are becoming more affordable and are easy to take along (especially the really tiny ones)
• Running can be boring (haven't we all felt that at least once)

Well, those are some of the highlights from the survey. I didn't post the entire thing on my site, but my blog contains a good summary of the information that I got out of the survey.

I also included a link to the original survey, so that you can go and add your two cents (or just post a comment on my blog). Here's the link:

Do you listen to music when you run

That's it for now... Get out and RUN today!

Ironman Triathlon

My buddy Jeremy posted on my blog about the Ironman Triathlon held in Boise a few weeks ago. He got some great pictures of the racks and transition areas. There are even some action shots right there on my fitness blog at Maintain Fit.

I've never run a triathlon, but after the triathlon guest expert call with Jim Mishler focusing on everything triathlon (from a guy that as run over 170 triathlons and even been race director), I'm getting motivated to try it out.

The transitions and the "bricks" as Jim called them are two things that I'd never thought about before our teleconference. It's really interesting to hear about how difficult it is to go from biking to running, and I imagine that it just gets more difficult for longer distances. If you combine that with the problem of trying to find your rack in a sea of transition racks, I'm sure it can be a bit daunting.

Jeremy's triathlon write up is right on my site. You can see the rest of the details on my blog using this link.

Ironman Triathlon 70.3 Comes to Boise

He points out that the ironman triathlon course went from Lucky Peak Reservoir, continued near Sandy Point Beach and ended up with the bike/run transition in downtown Boise. If you were in the triathlon, stop by and post a comment at my blog, and CONGRATULATIONS!

Buy the best running shoes

A few days ago I posted a short video about buying the best running shoes. I made the video with a world class professional runner who really knows his stuff. He actually ran for Nike's team, Athletics West all over the world.

Now Rich Harris owns a running store in Boise ID and he shares all his best secrets. The video focuses on how running shoes fit your feet and which running shoe is best for you. The short video clip actually shows you some of the key differences between shoes. Check it out here:

Choose the best running shoe

After making the video I actually had Rich do an interview with me about running shoes where we answered some of the questions that people on my www.MaintainFit.com list had. The interview was really fun (we did it live from my home office). I streamed it live with video.

I'll be trying to find some time to edit the running shoe interview soon and post it on my blog too, but right now you can go and watch the shorter video on my blog.

Buy the right running shoe

I love fitness

Fitness has been a part of my life for many years. I love running and built a website to track my running back in 2001 (www.maintainfit.com). I'll post some of my thoughts here in this blog.