Daily Loaf

520+ – Miles Ran
16+ – Weeks of Training
10+ – lbs lost
8 – Toenails Lost
2 – Pairs of Shoes
1 - Bra Size
1 – Officially diagnosed reoccurring injury (ITB)

All this to run 26.2.

Leaving my hotel race morning, I stepped out onto an all but deserted street and began my lone pilgrimage to Grant Park, my heart all aflutter. Turning onto Michigan Ave I beheld the most amazing view of the city all aglow in the early morning, the street lined with runners, looks of determination, anticipation and a healthy dose of fear across their faces.

Start Corral - Upon arriving, I quickly found the open start corral and fell into the mid-nine-minute mile section. It was a balmy 33 degrees and this Florida girl was not prepared for the temps. I shivered and tried in vain to stay warm by chatting up the other runners. As the gun went off the crowd surged forward and “throw away” clothes exploded into the air and rained down around us. It was GO time.

Start – Mile 5 – As I crossed the start line I couldn’t help but get caught up in the moment; I screamed, I jumped up and down and I waved my hands up in the air like I just didn’t care. 26.2 lay before me and I was awestruck by the sights and the sounds of the city before me, the spectators all around. It was sensory overload and I relished in every moment of it! As we entered a tunnel, the sound of runners screaming and feet pounding the pavement was deafening. You could power the world over for days with the energy bouncing off those walls. By chance alone I managed to see my cousin Michelle and Beth around the two mile mark and it fired me up 10 times more than I already was; I was really doing this, I was running the Chicago Marathon. In that moment I realized Read the rest of this entry »

Welcome to On the Radar, where we preview up-and-coming arts events to mark your calendar for. The City of Tampa’s fiendish plot to have you get up at an insanely early hour of the morning and groggily lace up your sneakers continues next Saturday with Keeping Tampa Fit.

The biannual event is devoted to increasing awareness of personal health and the city’s numerous parks, while also offering the chance to keep up stride-for-stride with Mayor Pam Iorio, who plans on strolling four miles. As if that weren’t incentive enough, the first 200 registrants get a free Read the rest of this entry »

The study of yoga was first brought to the Western world by Paramahansa Yogananda as a way of spreading enlightenment.  He popularized yoga and meditation through his autobiography, Autobiography of a Yogi which was first published in 1946.  This ancient tradition offers many esoteric and physical benefits with regular practice. 

Some of the physical benefits include increased toning, flexibility, improved posture, improved lung capacity, as well as lowered blood pressure.  Yoga can also assist with many chronic conditions such as back pain, arthritis, asthma and insomnia.  Yoga also brings in a state of calm which reflects stress build up in one’s life.  We all know that stress effects your entire being, especially your physical health, as the emotional and mental create the physical health.
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According to the September 2009 edition of Playboy, watching porn boosts your testosterone levels as effectively as hormone therapy drugs.

Men lose and average of 1percent of their testosterone levels every year starting at age 30, and 5 million American men suffer from low testosterone. Among the array of detrimental effects this has on your penis, low hormone levels can cause you to shrink and become depressed. Read the rest of this entry »

I get tired of seeing people caught up in these diet fads that amount to unrealistic starvation and improper nutrition and an absence of physical activity.  Unless you seriously get into modern pharmaceuticals (another post) you just can`t sit around and lose weight on diet alone. Not healthfully, at least.  It is important to make your diet work for you instead of against you, and one such way is to look for certain power foods  I love supplementing my major meals with small snacks that are high in protein, such as yogurt.  Yogurt, with its fats and proteins is a good way of both staving off your appetite and improving your probiotic health. However all yogurts are not equal. Read the rest of this entry »

Dream Momma, In my dream my daughter Helen was living in Paris and my friend John and I went to visit her.  We went to a concert in someone’s home where John and I sat on the balcony to hear the music.  The next day I called the hostess to ask her a question, but by the time she got to the phone I forgot what I wanted to ask.  Instead I asked in which arrondisement she lived — I told her I wanted to look it up in my ‘plan de Paris.’   I felt very stupid asking such a lame question.

This dream is about aging. Sitting somewhere special to hear the music, forgetting the question, the plan de Paris that I suspect, is a plan for retirement.

Unsure what the last sentence is about, as the question doesn’t appear to be “lame.” Read the rest of this entry »

What’s the buzz on the latest issues in the Green Community? Check out what you may have missed this past week:

Stretching your diet and exercise comfort zone: moving through a plateau: contributor Kelly Rothwell lists a few ways to work through your diet and exercise plateaus.

Greenpeace comes to Tampa with bad news about Florida’s emissions: Joshua Michael Poll takes a look Greenpeace’s report that Florida is one of the biggest emissions producers in the world.
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Life is for learning and growing. As we go through the many lessons that are presented to us daily we grow or expand multi-dimensionally. Sometimes we take the easiest road, while other paths take us up above and over the most challenging mountain peaks imaginable. Considering what growing and expanding brings us in the long run, let’s focus on stretching our comfort zones in all we do. You can stretch your zone in baby steps or take giant leaps by trying new foods or activities or facing your fears head on.

Have you ever reached a point during a diet or exercise program where your progress ceases completely? This is a natural progression that occurs when your body has reached a maintenance point where you are able to stay at your current weight doing exactly what you have been doing. It can be very challenging to work through these plateaus especially when you have a long way to go to reach your ultimate goal. How can you get through a plateau?  Stretch your comfort zone! Read the rest of this entry »