Starling Fitness: Daily writings on Fitness, Diet, and Health

I saw this ad at the mall the other day and didn’t realize it was an advertisement for Nike.

I have a love-hate relationship with Nike. I hate that they only carry uber-small clothing sizes. I hate their website. I love their watches. I love their advertising. I love Nike+.

There’s nothing better than a motivating Nike Commercial to get me running:

My new mantra is: someone who is busier than you is running right now. No excuses for skipping my workouts.

In answer to the Question of the Week, here is an entry from Jank at the Complete Running Network:

• Running on the Run » Complete Running Network

Jank has some great ideas about exercising when you’re traveling. He has a “P” filled list to remind you how to do it:

• Pack it in
• Plan ahead
• Prioritize
• Plunder
• Postpone
• Proxies
• Promenade

To find out what each of these list items entails, head on over to The Complete Running Network and read Jank’s entry.

Photo Credit: chasing my shadow by DocMultimedia on Flickr

Sunday, I filmed another Starling Fitness walking video. I walked past Old Faithful and watched it go off like clockwork. I walked past a boardwalk full of small geyers and springs. I even climbed a mountain and looked over Old Faithful from the top.

The climbing part was hard and a surprising reminder that I need to get working on my endurance. See if you can hear me panting in this snippet from the video:

In the end, I don’t think my panting is that distracting and I’ll probably just leave it in the video. The tourists talking to each other while Old Faithful is showing its best, however, is another story…

Next time you think that you’re not fit enough to tackle a hill or thin enough to go hiking, remember me panting and puffing my way up this hill. If I can do it, you can do it.

If you like this video, it will be ready for purchase in a few months. In the meantime, you can look at what is available right now here:

• Starling Fitness – Fitness, diet, and health weblog » Walking Videos For Sale

Yesterday, Mike and I saw a black bear in Yellowstone and I got a pretty good video of him:

• Starling Travel – Black Bear in Yellowstone

When I saw that this video, A Fat Rant by Joy Nash, was 7 minutes long, I was pretty much unwilling to download it. Let me tell you. It’s totally worth the download time!

This girl is RIGHT on! Here are only some of the best quotes from the video:

Tell people how much you weigh! It’s just a stinking number. It does not reflect on your intelligence, your work ethic or your character. And protest with your pocketbooks, people! Shops in stores that sell halter tops in triple-X. Forget about tent dresses! Don’t even think about trying to “squeeze” into normal sizes!

If [they] won’t open their eyes and make clothing that fits me, they don’t need my money!

The secret to staying permanently slim? Choose two thin parents. Ideally, choose four thin grandparents as well.

Stop putting life on hold!

Fat is a descriptive physical characteristic. It’s not an insult, or an obscenity, or a death sentence. When you see a fat person, look at them, in the face and smile… you should do that to everybody, but don’t forget to do it to fat people too.

There’s a whole ‘nother world out there, baby! Get happy in that skin you’re in!

If you have been putting your life on hold, wearing clothes that don’t fit, or hiding in any way, STOP IT! Right now! Go to Torrid or Lane Bryant and get yourself some hot new clothes that fit and look good. You deserve it!

Via: A mile in my Birks » Blog Archive » A fat rant.

Not in the mood to exercise? Just watch this video for about 45 seconds and you’ll want to run. There is something really inspirational about watching other people exercise. It makes me want to join the crowd!

Via: Video of the Week: California Dreamin’ » Complete Running Network

Chicago is long behind us on the Race Across the USA! We are on the home stretch to New York now! We are currently at 2605 miles, so we are very close to New York. Start spreading the news!

These are the cities we are going to see along the way:

• Los Angeles, California – Starting Point
• Sacramento, California – 384 miles
• Salt Lake City, Utah – 1,036 miles
• Omaha, Nebraska – 1,971 miles
• Chicago, Illinois – 2,439 miles
• New York, New York – 3,227 miles

You can see the full route in detail here:

• Race Across USA Route

Don’t forget that there are prizes for the top 10 finishers:

• 1st place – Most miles run – Four DVD set of Starling Fitness walking videos: Swami’s Beach, Sugarhouse, Moab and the as yet unreleased San Antonio Riverwalk.
• 2nd and 3rd place – Choice of three Starling Fitness DVDs.
• 4th and 5th place – Choice of two Starling Fitness DVDs.
• 6th through 10th place – Choice of one Starling Fitness DVD

The current Top Ten are here:

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We are almost finished with this race, but we are doing another one some time in April. If you would like to be included, please go to this thread on the Nike+ Forum and I will include you in the invitation:

• Race Across the USA

This race has been so much fun, so I’m excited for the next one. I haven’t had one person guess where we are going to race next month. Here’s another clue: Sacajawea.

We just passed Omaha, Nebraska on the Race Across the USA! We didn’t even stop for a break! At this rate, we’ll be to Chicago in no time! The “Talk Trash” comments have turned hilarious. If you aren’t running with us, you’re missing out, so I’m sharing them with you!

Starling Fitness (3 days ago): 1612.63 miles! We’ve hit the 1/2 point in Nebraska!

krisjames (2 days ago): Man, that’s alot of corn!

krisjames (yesterday): Are we there yet… Are we there yet… Are we there yet??

morgan711 (yesterday): goodworkkris

LauraMoncur (yesterday): Quiet down or we are staying at the Holiday Inn without a pool!

SOKAR (9 hours ago): yeah kris don’t make us stop this car 😉

Starling Fitness (26 seconds ago): 2028.04 miles! We passed Omaha without stopping! You kids have been so good that we’re staying at the hotel with the pool AND the slippery slide!

These are the cities we are going to see along the way:

• Los Angeles, California – Starting Point
• Sacramento, California – 384 miles
• Salt Lake City, Utah – 1,036 miles
• Omaha, Nebraska – 1,971 miles
• Chicago, Illinois – 2,439 miles
• New York, New York – 3,227 miles

You can see the full route in detail here:

• Race Across USA Route

Don’t forget that there are prizes for the top 10 finishers:

• 1st place – Most miles run – Four DVD set of Starling Fitness walking videos: Swami’s Beach, Sugarhouse, Moab and the as yet unreleased San Antonio Riverwalk.
• 2nd and 3rd place – Choice of three Starling Fitness DVDs.
• 4th and 5th place – Choice of two Starling Fitness DVDs.
• 6th through 10th place – Choice of one Starling Fitness DVD

The current Top Ten are here:

The race is over the halfway point, so we are no longer accepting any new runners. If you would like to run the next race, please leave a comment here and you will be invited:

• Race Across the USA

I’m just going to give you a teaser for our next race: Louisiana Purchase. Anyone want to guess the route?

Since Nike’s system isn’t set up for a cooperative event like this, you will need to check here at Starling Fitness for progress and winners.

We reserve the right to limit participation in the challenge due to our time constraints or the limits of Nike’s system.

This event is not sponsored by Nike or Apple. Starling Fitness will choose the winners based on total mileage. Our decisions are final.

Cruising past Salt Lake City, Utah on the Race Across the USA! Despite the glitch in the Nike+ Website, we gathered enough miles to get us past Salt Lake and on to Omaha, Nebraska! Imagine yourself running past the mountainy forests of Wyoming and the vast sea of farmland that is Nebraska!

These are the cities we are going to see along the way:

• Los Angeles, California – Starting Point
• Sacramento, California – 384 miles
• Salt Lake City, Utah – 1,036 miles
• Omaha, Nebraska – 1,971 miles
• Chicago, Illinois – 2,439 miles
• New York, New York – 3,227 miles

You can see the full route in detail here:

• Race Across USA Route

Don’t forget that there are prizes for the top 10 finishers:

• 1st place – Most miles run – Four DVD set of Starling Fitness walking videos: Swami’s Beach, Sugarhouse, Moab and the as yet unreleased San Antonio Riverwalk.
• 2nd and 3rd place – Choice of three Starling Fitness DVDs.
• 4th and 5th place – Choice of two Starling Fitness DVDs.
• 6th through 10th place – Choice of one Starling Fitness DVD

Because of the glitch, the Top Ten have changed drastically. This race is still very much up for grabs. The current Top Ten are here:

There is still time to join up! To enter, you have to have a Nike+ and link it up to their online system. You cannot leave a message here to be sent an invitation. You must click on this link and ask to be added to the Race Across the USA on the Nike+ website:

• Race Across the USA

You will be invited to a Speed race of 3327 miles. We’ll add the miles of everyone together. I will check the mileage every day. As soon as I notice that we have achieved the goal of 3,227 miles, I will stop the race and prizes will be announced. The Race Across the USA started March 1st, so come walk across the USA with us!

Since Nike’s system isn’t set up for a cooperative event like this, you will need to check here at Starling Fitness for progress and winners.

We reserve the right to limit participation in the challenge due to our time constraints or the limits of Nike’s system.

This event is not sponsored by Nike or Apple. Starling Fitness will choose the winners based on total mileage. Our decisions are final.

Nike’s website decided that we had all achieved the goal, even though three entrants hadn’t run the minimum yet. I have no idea why they did that, but we have to start the Race Across the USA all over again. I resent out invitations to all the participants and I will start adding the mileage daily again. Yesterday, before the race had been unceremoniously “finished,” our mileage was up to 917 miles. I’m going to add that amount to our daily totals, so we haven’t really lost the progress from Los Angeles and almost through the Nevada desert.

I’m not going to keep track of the old mileage, so any advantage you had against your rivals is lost. Sorry, but we’re starting from scratch as soon as you join the new race. Nike’s website is cool, but it is REALLY difficult to deal with all this stuff, so I am just going to go from the ranking on the new race. Any mileage from the previous race is merely added to our group effort. The winners will be judged when I end the race after we’ve reached New York.

Sorry about the glitch, but here is a chance to start fresh. If you want to get a jump on the person who was kicking your butt before, now’s the time to do it!

Since Nike’s system isn’t set up for a cooperative event like this, you will need to check here at Starling Fitness for progress and winners.

We reserve the right to limit participation in the challenge due to our time constraints or the limits of Nike’s system.

This event is not sponsored by Nike or Apple. Starling Fitness will choose the winners based on total mileage. Our decisions are final.

We just passed Sacramento on the Race Across the USA! With only four days of running, that is freakin’ awesome!

These are the cities we are going to see along the way:

• Los Angeles, California – Starting Point
• Sacramento, California – 384 miles
• Salt Lake City, Utah – 1,036 miles
• Omaha, Nebraska – 1,971 miles
• Chicago, Illinois – 2,439 miles
• New York, New York – 3,227 miles

You can see the full route in detail here:

• Race Across USA Route

Don’t forget that there are prizes for the top 10 finishers:

• 1st place – Most miles run – Four DVD set of Starling Fitness walking videos: Swami’s Beach, Sugarhouse, Moab and the as yet unreleased San Antonio Riverwalk.
• 2nd and 3rd place – Choice of three Starling Fitness DVDs.
• 4th and 5th place – Choice of two Starling Fitness DVDs.
• 6th through 10th place – Choice of one Starling Fitness DVD

The current Top Ten are here:

There is still time to join up! To enter, you have to have a Nike+ and link it up to their online system. You cannot leave a message here to be sent an invitation. You must click on this link and ask to be added to the Race Across the USA on the Nike+ website:

• Race Across the USA

You will be invited to a Distance Goal race of 1 mile. You’ll be able to achieve that goal quite easily, but keep running. We’ll add the miles of everyone together. I will check the mileage every day. As soon as I notice that we have achieved the goal of 3,227 miles, I will stop the race and prizes will be announced. The Race Across the USA started March 1st, so come walk across the USA with us!

Since Nike’s system isn’t set up for a cooperative event like this, you will need to check here at Starling Fitness for progress and winners.

We reserve the right to limit participation in the challenge due to our time constraints or the limits of Nike’s system.

This event is not sponsored by Nike or Apple. Starling Fitness will choose the winners based on total mileage. Our decisions are final.