By most estimates, more than half of all runners become injured every year.  Some blame, particularly for ITB injuries, running on the one side of the road, a tight butt (not the good kind), or tight quads.

A new study from Harvard actually found that the way a person runs may affect whether he or she winds up hurt. The study found that heel strikers were 2x more likely to become injured than the forefoot strikers. Now, this may have more people turning to barefoot running to fix their strike, but the experts cautioned it wasn’t a fix-all.

I’ve been thinking about trying barefoot running for some time, but not sure it is really right for me. I do want to see if fixing my strike would help my ITB issues.  Any recommendations for changing your strike?

A full 2/3 of Americans say they have trouble getting enough sleep at least once a week. It used to be that I was afraid of missing something…there is a story about 3-year-old Laney screaming in her room that she couldn’t go to sleep because she had to do her homework. Now I think it is mostly stress related.

Nearly 1/3 of American women use some kind of sleep aid at least a few nights a week. I am one of them.

I recently read an article in SHAPE that provided a 12-step program to get back on track. Some of the items I already do kinda, but I am giving it a go at being more diligent. The steps are listed below. I’ll report back in a month about my progress.

1. Unplug: We don’t have a TV in our room, but I am guilty of bringing my laptop to bed. Since getting my Kindle I have become an avid reader, so I will aim to do that more.
2. Ease up on caffeine: This isn’t really an issue for me, but I will try not to drink any green tea after 4 pm.
3. Don’t over-hydrate: I keep a water bottle by my bed, especially when I am training. There are a few times that I get up in the middle of the night.
4. Build a great nest: Sheets and pillows are incredibly important to me. I recently purchased a new set of pillows because the feather ones my hubby likes just weren’t working for me.
5. Keep your cool: My hubby and I argue about the room temp all the time. I like it cold, windows open in the winter. Somehow we need to compromise on that 65 degrees.
6. Make your bed: Apparently 44% of people who make their beds daily report snoozing more soundly. This is an easy fix.
7. Hit the gym in the AM: Tough for me, I like training in the morning, but getting my cardio in at night. Research says that 7 AM workouts improved sleep quality more than late-day exercise. New move: take a steamy shower after that PM session.
8. Get up on Sundays: I sleep in a bit on the weekends. New move: sleep in within a hour of your weekday wake-up time.
9. Nix the nightcap: Not really an issue for me.
10. Swap warm milk for cherry juice: It contains melatonin and research shows that people who drink it regularly sleep an extra 25 minutes.
11. Follow your nose: Taking a whiff of lavender may help improve sleep. I have some aromatherapy lotion from Bath & Body Works that I will be utilizing.

The last step is seeking a professionals help. I am hoping it doesn’t get to that point. What are your sleep tricks?

I need more hours each day.

January 20, 2012 5:13 pm via webReplyRetweetFavorite

@KPCK

Kristie Coneys Kuhl

It’s a common wish. More hours in the day to get everything you could possibly need to do. Experts tell us to make time for exercise, which is nearly impossible.

As a busy working professional, it is really hard to make time. I already have things I must do in a day such as sleep, eat, brush my teeth, shower, cook dinner,  spend quality time with my hubby and oh yes, go to work for 8 hours a day (usually more). That said, I regularly take a look at my daily routine to identify where exercise can fit in.

Now that I am in full swing of half marathon training, my schedule is pretty laid out. Mapping out my workouts by day really does help me know exactly how much time I will need to get my workout in. The days for my long runs obviously need more time, yoga days just 50 minutes. I have DVDs that get me a great workout in 20 minutes for really hectic days and high intensity weight training that can be done quickly.

Some weeks it doesn’t happen, or it only happens twice. That is why I try not to freak out when the week doesn’t go as planned.

As part of its LiVe public service program, Intermountain Healthcare has installed a fake, talking vending machine at Rose Park Elementary School in Salt Lake City. The machine is filled with faux snacks and doesn’t take money. But when students press its buttons, looking for gooey, crispy or chewy goodies, they instead get playful nuggets of wisdom.

“I’m a vending machine and can’t move without someone’s help,” a cartoon-like voice says when a student chooses a Lava Cake. “Keep buying food like this and we’ll have that in common.”

The idea is to make kids think twice about their junk food choices. It reminds me of those posters NYC had around noting the pounds sugary drinks can add. They were really gross and even though my Cherry Coke Zero habit was minimal, I put a serious stop to it. Looking at those posters just made me squeamish.

Do you think just hearing what the junk food can do to your body will curb habits? Or do they need more visual reminders?

For whatever reason I thought it would be a great idea for my first half marathon in  a year or so to be in March. Unfortunately, that means training in the dead of winter. When it comes down to training, I tend to wear the same comfortable items…Sugoi MidZero Tights, Nike Compression Bra, Lululemon Cool Rackerback, a long sleeve shirt (either Lululemon Run Swiftly or if it is really really cold Craft Mock Long Sleeve), and a Mizuno wind breaker. I am not as you can see a brand loyalist. I spread the wealth depending on my needs.

A few weeks ago, I received an email from activewearusa asking if I’d like to review some of their products. New workout clothes? That are stylish? What girl could say no? I rationalize my need for more workout clothes because I work from home and these are in essence also my work clothes.

I received an all-purpose Stella Crossback tank, solid pink with white straps. They are not joking when they say it was great support. I was surprised at how high the neck came up, but loved the slimming fit of the top. The tightness and the color created a small exposure problem, so even though a second bra wasn’t necessary for support when I was doing yoga, I needed it for a little coverage. (I am thinking a darker color would be a different situation.)

When using it as my base layer for running, it didn’t ride up like some of my other tanks, which I loved. So now that I have told you all about the tank, would you like to win a little exercise style?

Enter by Saturday, February 11 at 10:00 p.m. Here are a few ways to enter, leave a comment for each of the ways you enter…

1. Tell me in the comments section your winter exercise gear routine
2. Make sure you follow me on Twitter
3. “Like” ActivewearUSA on Facebook
4. Tweet the following: Keep your exercise stylish giveaway from @lanes0220 & @activewearusa http://bit.ly/y2CnjU

Winner will be announced in one week!

Disclaimer: ActivewearUSA provided me with the tank free of charge, but I did not receive any monetary incentives and the opinions are my own. 

Management vs. leadership–it’s a distinction we all hear over and over these days. They are not the same, but must go hand in hand for a group to succeed. The question is can you do both?

Management focuses on getting work done on time, on budget, and on target. Management is in other words execution, while leadership focuses on change and innovation.

A few years ago management actually included leadership–along with motivating, planning. communicating, organizing– as one  of the many functions necessary to make groups of people productive.

One could argue that in the agency world you go through stages of being both a manager and a leader.

You can akin a manager to a very strong Senior Account Executive who works with the team to stay on track and deliver on the plan outlined. They are often asked for input and in some cases have the opportunity to develop the plan themselves.

As you move into the Account Supervisor role, you are still executing but at this point have given much of the tracking to more junior level staff and are heading toward the designing stage, the innovation. With the innovation and strategic vision becoming more important as you continue to move up.

Of course, in agency world EVERYONE is responsible for delivering the goods and doing it on time and within the budget. At some point everyone is still the manager. It really comes down to HOW you manage that determines whether you are a leader.

Luckily, a a little more than a month ago Revolve opened up around the corner from my apartment. I was DYING to check it out. The classes sounded interesting, but the cost was high, especially considering I was already paying for the gym. I decided to buy one class when they were offering their reduced prices.

I really wanted to try the Barre Class, which was a combination of cycle and barre exercises. Then came the second issue, the times of the classes were just terrible. Most were smack dab in the middle of the work day. I couldn’t figure out who they were targeting! Even their standard classes weren’t fitting into my work schedule.

With a day off from work I was finally able to get to Christianne’s Barre Ride. The studio itself was pretty nice, simple and clean. They use iPads for you to check yourself in and have lockers that you can store your stuff in. The shoe rental wasn’t terrible ($2).

Christianne was a pretty good instructor. The music selection was good, although really loud. The class was broken into 35 minutes of cycle and 25 minutes of the barre exercises. She really packed in the cardio and I have to say my heart was racing and the sweat was pouring.

The barre section literally destroyed me. We used a ball and light hand weights to do the exercises. I didn’t feel much when we were doing the light hand weights, but I literally wanted to die when we were in chair pose in eleve. My legs were shaking and there were points when I just had to come out of the pose.

Melissa Romero from the Washingtonian also took this class. See what she thought here.

I would be interested in testing out their standard ride and their complete body ride classes. They have added in more classes and better times making that a little bit easier. It might be something I treat myself to every once in awhile.

Prioritizing requires reflection, reflection requires time. And, well you just don’t have the luxury of that now do you? We are so busy trying to keep up that we don’t stop to think about much of anything.

Too often we default to “yes.”  Saying yes to requests feels safer, avoids conflict and takes less time than pausing to decide whether or not the request is truly important.

Many of us have become addicted, unwittingly, to the speed of our lives — the adrenalin high of constant busyness. We mistake activity for productivity, more for better, and we ask ourselves “What’s next?” far more often than we do “Why this?” But as Gandhi put it, “A ‘no’ uttered from the deepest conviction is better than a ‘yes’ merely uttered to please, or worse, to avoid trouble.”

Here are a few tips, so that you can schedule time to figure out how to say no. 

1. Schedule in your calendar anything that feels important but not urgent. If it feels urgent, you’re likely going to get it done. If it’s something you can put off, you likely will — especially if it’s challenging.

2. As your final activity before leaving work set aside time (about 10-15 minutes) to outline your tasks for the next day.

3. When you get in the morning, do the most important thing on your list first. Focus completely on this for 90 minutes, turn your phone off, silence your email. The more focused you are, the more you will accomplish.

4. Take scheduled breaks throughout the day. Working from home I have had to institute this into my schedule even more. I actually started doing simple yoga routines during my breaks to renew myself.

The class was led by ambassador Sima Tamaddon from Xsport in Alexandria.  Sima has a great vibe to her yoga class, she brings a serious level of fun making the practice more about enjoyment. She talked you through advance levels and made an effort to adjust participants as much as possible.

Down Dog for a cause

I have to say, her flow had me seriously working up a sweat, which she made a comment about “loving.” We went through each flow twice on both sides. There were a couple of moves (this being power yoga) that I had never done before. She had us go into utkatasana or chair pose and put our arms up like goal posts. Then we twisted from side to side keeping our elbows off our legs.

That wasn’t even the best one. Toward the end of the practice she had us fold up our mats and put them in between our legs and lay on the floor. We squeezed our thighs together, did some yoga abs and some lifts.

Best use of a yoga mat?

Lululemon is hosting a happy hour fundraiser at Liberty Tavern on Thursday. If you are around from 5-8, a $5 donation gets you a wristband that extends HH specials. All proceeds are going to the Children’s Tumor Foundation.

To make a donation, please visit https://grow.ctf.org/sslpage.aspx?pid=298.

A few weeks ago, she pointed me to a study that said a poor relationship with your mother can lead to weight troubles as teens. She apologized in advance and said she would feel guilty if I struggled with my weight. I told her just the fact that we were having this conversation meant she wouldn’t be the cause.

A day later another study came out saying that a father’s work schedule can influence a child’s weight. I sent the link to my mom, noting that if I got fat she could just blame my traveling dad (he actually didn’t travel when I was young, but does now…so yeah).

The studies while looking at separate emotional issues bring up an interesting point—focusing on the role a parent has on a child’s nutrition.  Since the parent, whether a mother or father, makes most of the decisions about meals their stress can influence that decision.

I still say it comes down to educating parents on how to make healthy choices, even when pressed for time. Meal planning, knowing which restaurants have the best options and making family time to be active together are the best places to start.

Growing up I was lucky enough to have a good relationship with both parents. My father was my basketball coach and my mother always made it a point to be supportive no matter what.  So hopefully I have a little extra defense against weight gain.

My family on my wedding day