New year, new focus, new name, new gadgets

This blog used to be called 'Fad Free Fitness'.  I changed it because, fickle as I am, I now have too many gadgets to truly call myself 'fad free'. Last year, my focus was on finding ways to stay fit and healthy without spending lots of money or going to the gym.  This year, it's all about eating and running to de-stress and be happy.  If I can add another marathon PB to that, all the better.

The fad free ethos still stands. I'm not starting the new year with a detox or a resolution to eat special berries or drink exotically named tea in a bid for everlasting health.  However, who am I to judge when I head out for a run looking like Inspector Gadget?

I've been known to run with my Garmin Forerunner on one wrist and my Polar heart rate monitor on the other.  I then head back to upload it all into Fetch Everyone.  I somehow believe that the more information I hoard about my training, the faster I'll run.  I'm not particularly scientific about it, but I do like to look at the pretty graphs and charts and find out how I'm doing.  I think the main reason that it helps is that it keeps me motivated and on track. 

That's why, come tomorrow, I'll be back to monitoring my eating on Daily Burn.  This latest gadget is an app that I found on iPhone.  I've used online food diaries before, but soon got bored with constantly having to update them.  The beauty of doing it on your phone is that it's always with you and always logged in, so it's much simpler and easier to do.  Food diaries are a fantastic way of keeping you on track with a healthy diet, not least because they make you pay attention to what you're eating.  I don't aspire to lose lots of weight, but I have had a few too many chocolates over Christmas, so it will be good to get back to feeling healthy.

Planning moves into the 21st century

At last! I'm finally getting to grips with all the websites and technologies that are available to help me with my training. Like twitter, I signed up for Fetch everyone a good 18 months before I actually started to use it. I just didn't have the motivation to figure out how it worked.

Until now, my training log was strictly low-tech - scribbled in diaries or on bits of paper. Not any more! This week I finally succumbed to the lure of Fetch everyone's gadgets and gizmos and put it all online. The site is great - I've mapped out a few runs that I do regularly, uploaded some recent runs from my Garmin, logged recent race times and prepared a plan for the next four weeks training.

The trouble is, I'm now addicted. Between Fetch Everyone, Facebook, emails and this blog, not to mention work, I've been sitting on my bum for an unhealthy number of hours every day. How do you know when to stop?

To compensate, this week I joined my local running club and I've also started daydreaming about entering a marathon later in the year. I swore I'd never do another one after being unable to walk for days after the last time, but it's been four years now and I'm in the mood for a challenge. I think I'll get next week's 10k out of the way first though.

All about the money

This week's training went well. My legs felt okay on Monday but I took a rest day anyway. Tuesday was a bit of a rubbish day at work and I was tempted just to have a bath and shop online for new running shoes to cheer me up. I realised last week that my weather beaten shoes definitely need to be replaced but I put them on anyway and decided to do what I could. Once I got out on the road, I felt much better and ended up doing my planned 4 miles after all.

I'm focusing mainly on running for the next few weeks but treated myself to a trial subscription to Triathlete's World to start planning for later in the year. I've realised that triathlon can be a very expensive hobby. It's so easy to get sucked into buying the latest 'must have' gadget. I've been there and have the Garmin Forerunner to prove it. Don't get me wrong, many of these products are fantastic but they don't get you fit... you do!

It can also be tempting to pin your hopes on a flashy new bike, so I was delighted that my second hand Rocky Mountain attracted a few admiring glances and 'nice bike' comments last weekend.

One thing that you can't economise on, however, is race fees. This week, a group of work colleagues agreed to enter the Great Edinburgh Run. £26.00 for the priviledge of running 10k and only a too-big t-shirt to show for it! So far, my races are adding up to be almost as expensive as my old private gym membership. I'm living without fad diets and fitness crazes but my bank account isn't feeling the benefit. I've got 3 more races coming up between now and May but really want to enter a couple more triathlons too. At this rate, I'd better choose them wisely.