Food & Fitness

Pretty Magazines and The Benefits of Walking

Yesterday I had the day off work, so I slept in until just before 9am and decided that I was due for a good run. In the warmth of the sunshiny day, my intentions to go for six miles were exceeded… first with seven, then eight, then nine, and then, yes, I managed to reach 10 miles.

A couple of months ago I succeeded in running seven miles and that was a huge accomplishment; I’ve never topped that. So an additional three miles on top of that is awesome! It was so satisfying and felt amazing. I didn’t even know I had it in me. Granted, my legs were pretty jelly-like afterwards, and my left knee is a bit sore today, but other than that I just feel great.

A brief review of Best Health magazine, plus why walking is awesome and a great way to cross-train when you're a runner.

I’m pretty sure that it’s the amount of walking that I’ve been doing that has just increased my endurance dramatically (in the past week I logged over 12 hours of walking alone—that’s not included any other running, belly dancing, or strength training). So if you’re looking for a way to cross-train with long distance running, I highly recommend just doing a lot of walking. And the benefits to your mental health is just about incomparable!

In other news, I picked up a copy of the premiere issue of Best Health this weekend as well, and I am very impressed with it. It’s more geared towards women in their 30s and 40s, but it covers so much information and I think I might start subscribing to it. Not only is it associated with Reader’s Digest (so it’s both Canadian and reputable :)), it also mentions the super cool Leslie Beck, discusses trans fats and banning them at length (hear hear!), offers some tasty-looking recipes (including one for sushi), has a brief article on Istanbul (one of the most beautiful cities I’ve ever been to), and is just all-around very informative. Plus, it’s really thick and has nice pages with a matte finish. And we all know how important presentation is!

Now it’s time for some last-minute studying for my Politics exam this afternoon, and then afterwards it’s off to belly dancing class and then playing the PubStumpers trivia game. Even though I’m really bad with trivia, it’s lots of fun to go and play the game anyways. I learn so much random information from it (and people always have great stories behind their own quirky bits of knowledge, so it has the effect that you learn more about the people you’re playing with, too).

Just for something different, try bringing out the old games you used to play when you were younger—whether it be cards, board games, or something like trivial pursuit. I guarantee you’ll get some good laughs, enjoy the nostalgia, and expand your knowledge. Have fun!


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