FitSugar

On The Surface of Things: Where to Run

FitSugar — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 17:15:00 PDT

Cool Running, the web site that brought you the ever popular Couch to 5K running program, has rated running surfaces. Why? In an attempt to help keep runners free of injuries - that's why. Running on rock hard surfaces like concrete, like sidewalks, is hard on the body. To protect your joints you want to look for surfaces that have shock absorbing qualities for the majority of your runs. Also, you should try to be consistent with your surface choice, an abrupt switch can lead to injuries.

Here are the surfaces listed in order of best to worst. The number to the right indicates their "grade" with 10 being the best and 1 being just plain awful:

Grass 9.5
Wood chips 9
Dirt 8
Cinder track 7.5
Track 7
Treadmill 6.5
Asphalt 6
Sand 4
Snow 2.5
Concrete 1

If, after reading the list, you decide to move your runs to asphalt, aka the street - BE CAREFUL. Run defensively! Run towards on coming traffic so you can see what is coming at you. Don't listen to music (or at least keep the volume low enough that you can hear the environment around you). Wear bright colors too so you are easily seen.

Source

You Asked: What Should I Eat Before Running a Marathon?

FitSugar — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 03:00:00 PDT

You asked: "I am running my first half marathon in little over a week and I was curious to know your suggestion about what the appropriate dinner the night before would be and also what if any type of breakfast I should have before the race."

Thanks for the question. For the answer I looked to my friends over at CoolRunning.com, the authority on running marathons. To see what they recommend eating,

Week before: This is carbo-loading time. It is an important period to stock your energy reserves to their max, but don't make too much of the process. Some elite runners, for example, will race hard about seven days before the target race day to deplete their glucogen stores, then train normally for three or four days, eating mostly fats and protein to keep glycogen low. Then in the last few days before the race, they pack as many carbohydrates into their system as they possibly can. The theory is that their muscles are so starved for glycogen that they will soak up even more carbos than they normally would, giving them extra energy for the race. We do not recommend this for the mainstream runner -- certainly not without the oversight of a dietitian. Too often, this approach can backfire and leave you out of gas midway through the race. Instead, follow your normal balanced diet and kick in some extra carbohydates in the week before a race. Fruit juices and sports drinks are good carbo supplements if you're having trouble eating all that pasta. Try not to miss meals, but also try to avoid overeating. Balance and consistency are particularly important as the big run approaches. For the same reason, this is not a time to sample new cuisines or even a new sports drink. Eat foods that you know agree with you. Two days before: About two days before a race, particularly longer runs, start loading up on fluids. Sports drinks can kill two birds with one stone by letting you get carbos at the same time. Try to stay away from alcohol, however, since it not only dehydrates you but also interferes with proper storage of glycogen and undercuts your carbo-loading. In the last 48 hours, avoid high-fiber foods like beans, bran cereals, lettuce and broccoli to avoid an upset stomach or other gastrointestinal discomfort during your run. Avoid hard-to-digest foods like peanut butter, fried food and the like. If possible, cut back on dairy products, too. Some runners have a slight lactose intolerance; while they may not even be aware of the condition on a day-to-day basis, the strenuous effort (and constant sloshing) of a race can cause their bodies to rebel against the lactose in the milk, causing gas and bloating. Day before: By the end of the day before the run, your high-carbo diet should have worked its magic and topped off your glycogen stores. You should snack moderately and frequently on familiar, mild foods. Drink water and juice constantly. For your final meal that night, eat moderately and go for food that contains -- you guessed it -- lots of carbohydrates and only a little fat. Skip the beer or wine and get to bed early.

Source

Where to Start: From Couch to 5K in 8 Weeks

FitSugar — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 03:30:00 PST

Often when folks start a new training regimen they go all out and often go too far. In pain, wondering why they ever tried to exercise, they quickly abandon their wonderful resolution to workout regularly. This is the exact reason that Cool Running created The Couch to 5K running schedule.

The program eases you into running 3 miles by combining walking and running together. Over the course of 8 weeks you increase your running time and eventually run for 30 minutes straight - about the time it takes to run a 5K. It is a great way to start running and the schedule has you running only 3 times a week - so easy to fit into any busy life.

Check it out and try the program - chances are you will get hooked on running. My only caution is 5Ks are considered a "gateway" race to marathons and triathlons.

Kristen Stewart Talks Badass Fairy Tales, Bella Swan, and Her New Leading Man on Snow White Set Visit

Molly Goodson — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 10:01:00 PST

Last October, we were so excited to pay a visit to the set of Snow White and the Huntsman outside London. We got a sneak peek into the amazing world Kristen Stewart and her costars, including Chris Hemsworth, Sam Claflin, Charlize Theron, and more, inhabited while shooting the action-packed fairy-tale movie. We have tons to come from our day poking around the remarkable set and learning about everything from the costumes to the fight scenes. While we were there, we even got to see the aftermath of Kristen accidentally actually punching Chris Hemsworth in the face filming a scene. Check out our chat with Kristen and stay tuned for lots from the set:

Is there something you admire about Snow White?

Yes. It’s strange playing a character that you actually could never truly embody. Her spirit affects people. . . I can’t have Snow White’s effect on people. I can’t actually be completely selfless because nobody is. You can only really play a character like that in a fairy tale and play it with an awful load of integrity. She’s very fully formed, but very farfetched-from-the-reality-that-we-live-in type of person. She also is strong in a very different way than you’d expect. Strength, yeah, but also gusto. I mean, she’s strong. She can kick ass. It hurts very much to do so and so it’s not like you’re watching her go take down a kingdom. You’re not watching going, "Yeah! Kill him!" Really it’s more like you’re watching someone having to do something that doesn’t just go against your sensibilities or that you agree with. It’s gutting. It’s physically gutting, literally. A million reasons, but she’s special.

Do you like that she’s not like your prissy fairy tale?

Yeah, because that’s just a very surface, though she is prissy sometimes. That’s the other thing. It takes her the whole movie basically to become who I’m talking about now. I’m really sort of talking in retrospect. It’s strange. It’s a total identity movie. It’s all about not finding yourself, but actually just being OK with who you always have been and not being ashamed of being the only one who sees the light. It’s an enormous burden and she’s so stunted. She was put away when she was 7 years old and your mother and your father were killed basically right in front of you. We’re not doing the version of a fairy tale that wouldn’t deal with all of those things, where you just sort of skim over all those things, and it's like all of these things are actually really important to the characters. She literally bleeds for her land and her people, and that’s just such a cool concept for me because it’s other people caring about people. It’s very simple, but it’s so common. Every day all the time you see people not caring about each other, and this is just about that.

She learns to be a leader or she’s born a leader inside, do you think?

She’s definitely a born leader. I mean, it’s literally pumping through those veins, but it’s been taken from her. She’s been so stolen from.

To read the rest of the interview, including her thoughts on Bella vs. Snow White and what it was like to punch Chris just

read more. Is it helping you get into the character's mindset to wear those cool costumes? Absolutely. If you look down and something doesn’t feel like you would definitely be wearing it, or if you go to grab your knife and it flops around or - basically [Colleen Atwood] thinks about every detail. It’s so wearable. I also have puffy sleeves. Somehow she manages to make puffy sleeves look butch. I was always expecting to personally wind up in a - basically what I’m wearing underneath it, like that little blue dress, which is just thin and wispy. I was really happy that she’s got something heavy on - a bit of armor before she actually finds her own armor. How did you feel the first time you put on the armor? Did you feel more badass? Yeah. That’s the first thing you want to [pound your chest]. Also, my armor doesn’t have a huge top on it. All the guys, unfortunately, they [raise their arms] and they hit themselves in the head. I can run around in mine. Somehow the armor on the men - unless they’re on horseback and they look amazing, but there’s also something kind of dainty about it, too, like pointy toes. It fits a woman’s body better, I feel. I don’t know, the guys running around suddenly look like little toys - slightly feminine little toys. Both Snow White and Bella had traumatizing experiences in the woods - being led out to die or have her heart broken - compare those two experiences? Well, it’s funny. I think [Snow White] genuinely lacks that innate fear of death that we all have. She’s got a serious, fierce survival - not skills, but insights. But she isn’t afraid of anything. What’s harder is to have dreams and hopes that you lived your whole life sort of be just shattered in front of you. So I think probably it’s totally impossible to compare the two. And I know that doesn’t make sense, but I kind of can’t compare. Can you compare the movies in general? Are there similarities at all? Bella and Snow White both come to find that they’re leaders. I mean, that’s definitely a similarity. They’re different. They’re very, very, very, different people. Also, I guess in a very sort of righteous way as well it’s all very like - everyone’s telling them “no” and both of them I guess see the light. Both of them are sort of a little more intuitive and spiritually, for whatever reason, connected and their gut is always sort of dead right. What about working with Chris surprised you? Did you have any preconceptions of him? Before I met him, I was like, "gosh, so charming." You know what I mean? Like he’s so ridiculously, seemingly nice. Movie-star caliber nice. But he really actually just is. But then again, it’s strange working - cause I mean it’s not a secret. It was completely different part before. It was totally like a rethought. So when he came in it was like "Wow! This is f*cking interesting!" I mean, it was like they really elevated it. Chris is an amazing, nice guy and also [has] great instincts and he can roll with everything on set. He’s really relaxed, whereas I’m always like, "oh my god!" I use my anxiety to do this and he’s always sort of like - he’s a good energy for me. I really like working with him. You actually punched Chris filming a scene and gave him a black eye? It’s actually a very confidence building experience. I don’t like punching anyone. So, you know, when you dream and your hand just slides right down their face, it doesn’t do that in real life. It really works. God, that really made me feel horrible, though. I mean, like instantly hot tears and I was like "oops!" We were watching it. It looks - it’ll be in the movie. Favorite fairy tale as a kid? I honestly don’t - somebody asked this the other day. I wasn’t here til the end of fairy tales. I really liked The Jungle Book. I was obsessed with The Jungle Book. Chris said Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. He is obsessed with Lord of the Rings and he was always like humming Enya as we were trudging up the mountain. I was saying basically, "You should make a remake of Lord of the Rings. Why are you doing this? . . . We’re doing Snow White and the Huntsman, Chris!" Photos courtesy of Universal Pictures

HP Envy 14 Spectre Gets Priced at $1,400

Kristy Korcz — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 11:47:38 PST

The HP Envy 14 Spectre was arguably the most fetching ultrabook at this year's Consumer Electronics Show, and we finally know how much damage it will do to our bank accounts. The HP Envy 14 Spectre will be available Feb. 17 and priced at $1,400 to start.

The base model Spectre comes stocked with a 14-inch HD+ Radiance Infinity LED-backlit display and backlit keyboard, a 128GB SSD hard drive, Bluetooth connectivity, a TrueVision HD webcam, Gorilla Glass top fused to a black-and-silver aluminum body, and 9.5 hours of battery life. Supported ports include mini-DisplayPort, HDMI, USB 3.0, and an SD/MultiMediaCard reader. HP also developed HP CoolSense, which keeps your machine running cool even after long hours of use, so you won't suffer from the dreaded laptop burn on your legs.

What do you think of the HP Envy 14 Spectre - worth the price tag at first glance?

Gas Prices Are Up! What You Can Do to Save

Emily Co — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 13:20:33 PST

Unrest in the Middle East and the closing of American refineries have gas prices going up, up, and away for US consumers. Analysts are predicting that the prices may continue to rise.

But don't worry, there are a number of methods to save on refueling your car. Here are some tips:

Spend to Save: Look for deals around you that will help you save on your gas. For example, you can choose to frequent wholesale stores like Costco, which will give you a little bit of cash back on Costco gas. If you're a real gas guzzler, check out this full list of gas rebate cards on CreditCards.com.
Don't Top It Off: Topping off your gas may result in a higher gas bill, because you might be paying for gas that goes back into the station's tanks after your gas tank is full, says the Environmental Protection Agency. You can also ruin your car's vapor recovery system if there is no room for the gas to expand in your tank.
Smooth Trip: Starting and stopping excessively can shorten the life of your engine, transmission, brakes, and tires. Go easy on your braking and accelerating. Remember to also turn off your engine if you know you'll be waiting for a long while. Staying put without moving means you're getting 0 miles per gallon.

For more gas-saving tips, read on.

Love Your Lower Half: Your Go-To Wardrobe and Workout

Fitness Magazine — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 04:15:16 PST

We are excited to share one of our fave stories from Fitness Magazine here on FitSugar!

We've been thinking a lot about our backsides the past few months here at Fitness, as our team put together part one of our "Body Lab" to help you get a butt that defies gravity (see the February issue for more!).

While we work hard in the gym to sculpt a better behind, we don't complain when we get a little help from a particularly flattering pair of pants. The minute we slipped on the GapFit gFast Color Binding Leggings ($60, gap.com), we fell in love with their comfy fit and cute colors. And after testing them out in a strength class at David Barton Gym to celebrate GapFit's new line, we knew they would be mainstays in our workout wardrobes. The fabric is just thick enough for cool morning runs, but doesn't feel too heavy for the gym.

If you're feeling a bit timid about rocking these leggings, add these three moves from David Barton Gym trainer Meka to your workout three times each week, and soon you'll be loving your rear view! Get the details on these booty-toning exercises after the break.

How to Kick a Nighttime Cough Naturally

Jenny Sugar — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 03:05:23 PST

Whether it's because of a cold or allergies, coughing at night is not only annoying, it prevents you from getting the sleep you need to stay healthy. Before you down cough medicine (which often just masks the cough), you might want to relieve your nighttime cough with one of these natural remedies.

Steam up: Before hitting the hay, create a steam room in the bathroom. Shut the door, don't turn on the fan, and take a hot shower. Let the water gently run on your face, or if that's too intense, place a warm washcloth on your sinuses, allowing the heat and steam to help relieve sinus congestion. You can even use a neti pot in the shower - just be sure to fill it with warm distilled or sterilized water, not the shower water. Using a neti pot after you've breathed in steam can make it more effective.
Get moist: Since dry air can often cause a dry cough (especially in the Winter months when we crank up the heat), moisten the air you breathe by running a cool-mist humidifier on low throughout the night (I'm a fan of this humidifier from Crane). In the morning, be sure to wipe down your windows and windowsills as condensation tends to form, and you don't want this moisture to encourage mold growth, which can also aggravate a cough. Follow the directions that came with your humidifier when it comes to cleaning it, and disinfect it thoroughly at least once a week to avoid mold growth.

Keep reading for more natural ways to beat your nighttime cough.

What We're Packing for New York Fashion Week

Hannah Weil — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 17:25:27 PST

With New York Fashion Week only a couple of weeks away, we're admittedly preoccupied with what we'll be wearing. Sure, the runways take center stage, but killer street style is half the fun. To that end, we're handpicking our favorite pieces to pack for the action because you never know when you might get snapped. Here's a little fodder for your outfit planning and a peek at the essentials we'll be packing this season:

Keep your outerwear functional and stylish by investing in a go-with-anything anorak. A piece like this transitions seamlessly from day to night and pairs well with just about everything, trust us.
Look for added luxe in a great pair of earrings. High necklines and layers might cover up a pretty necklace, but a gorgeous pair of drop earrings will lend a glam touch that won't get lost in your look.
Ditch your blue jeans in favor of slick leather. A pair of leather pants looks infinitely more polished than your faded denim - think of this as your Fashion Week basic, then add on your cozy knits to contrast.
As far as footwear is concerned, keep it practical. A pair of strappy heels might look great, but chances are you'll be pretty chilly. Swap out stilettos for a bootie with a substantial block heel or a walkable platform. Keep a cool loafer or oxford on hand for staying stylish on the run.

SAG Awards Trendspotting: Prismatic Gowns

Marisa Tom — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 20:24:56 PST

A colorful, rainbow-inspired palette was no stranger to the SAG Awards' red carpet, and Hollywood's A-list starlets opted for a bevy of the most vibrant, striking kind. From warm fire engine red to shocking berry pink to serene Mediterranean blue, the gowns were jaw-dropping, not just for their artful cutouts and stunning owners, but for their playful, prismatic effect. If there's anything we learned, it's that these actresses can give the red-carpet hue a run for its money. Just look to Emily Blunt's diaphanous green Oscar de la Renta creation or Jessica Chastain's cool custom azure Calvin Klein column dress for proof that no color was too bold or too bright. Then, click through to see which other celebs got in on this technicolor trend.