I initially got into running because of the Race for the Cure. After walking it for a number of years, I decided to start running it. I didn’t run fast, but I could run a 5K. After a couple of those, I decided to run my first half marathon last May. For some crazy reason, I signed up for it again this year. Just as I was starting to tire of my training, a great new opportunity came along to turn my runs into money for charity.

Affiliate Summit has started a Nike+ Challenge in which they will donate $1 to the Avon Breast Cancer Crusade for each mile run in the challenge (up to $5,000). When I saw this, I immediately hit my local running store to buy a Nike+ tracking sensor and wristband. I then visited the Affiliate Summit East 2010 Challenge page on Nike’s website and set up my account.

Now when I run, I have a higher purpose. I logged a little over 13 miles last week interspersed with my Zumba days. During each run I kept telling myself that each mile was more money being donated to help fight breast cancer. Hopefully this challenge will keep me running well past the Indy Mini and into the summer up through Affiliate Summit in New York in August. If you are an affiliate marketer and are up for a little fitness challenge (whether you walk or run, the sensor works the same), you should definitely check it out. If nothing else, help cheer the rest of us on!

Thanks to the Affiliate Summit Feedfront Magazine, I decided to give a treadmill desk a try. I was never keen on the idea before because I like my exercise time to be my head clearing time. But I got tired of sitting in a chair all day. And I figured that I could combine my “work walks” during the day with some cardio walks and runs and night.

My husband and I set out to rig up my existing treadmill into some kind of desk. I won’t bore you with details, but we were lucky that we had some great things on hand (first…a treadmill! Then other handy items like a docking station). We bought a shelf and two shelf racks at Lowes and built the “treadmill desk.” I put a cordless mouse and keyboard on it and tested it out. After some trial and error, it seemed perfect. I started using it for a couple of days, but the kids were still home for summer break and I was getting ready to head to Affiliate Summit.

Fast forward a bit and I have now completed my first full week of working on the treadmill. Pretty decent stats. I walked just over 16 hours during the day between Monday and Friday. I burned 3730 calories (over a pound!) and walked 34.5 miles. In addition to the obvious calorie burning benefits, here were a couple that I didn’t plan on:

• I drank a lot of water. I hate drinking plain water but was so thirsty that I more than tripled my daily water intake.
• I ate less snacks. Between the time that I spent on the treadmill and the fact that I wasn’t near the kitchen, I just wasn’t thinking about food.
• I slept like a baby. Combine the mental exercise of working with the physical exercise and I was worn out each night!

I’m hoping to get back to running at least a few days a week in addition to the treadmill work. I know that I need that cardio, and I just need to keep running to stay trained to be able to run the mini marathon again next spring. I hope that this is the first of many posts about my treadmill desk!

If you’ve seen pictures of me over the last few years, you know that I struggle with my weight. In fact, I’ve struggled with it since I went away to college. In law school I joined Weight Watchers for the first time. Over the years, I experimented with pills (all legal…but still bad ideas!) and lots of different diets. When it came down to it, I learned to love Weight Watchers. It’s kind of like a challenge to me to arrange the puzzle pieces every day…how do I make the points fit and still eat what I love?

Inspired by Shawn Collins and his Fatblogging, I’m going to start posting a little about my trials and tribulations. I will NOT be disclosing my weight though. It’s just too personal for me.

I’ve belonged to the WW online program for years. Maybe 6? Even when I fall off the wagon, I keep my subscription. I know that it is always waiting for me and I have to be accountable and go back and weigh in again. Since I am on the computer all day anyway, it’s convenient for me to use the online tracking.

I had done a great job of getting in shape before our Sunshine Rewards cruise last October. It was the best that I had felt in years. But then the holidays came and I gained about 7 pounds. I started training to run the mini marathon and stopped counting points. I thought the running alone would keep me in shape. Wrong! I gained another 5 pounds! So I found myself up 12 pounds from the fall. Disappointing for sure. But I’m back on the points and the tracking and know that I’ll turn things around by varying my exercise routine and making better food choices.

Have some Weight Watchers tips and tricks? Leave a comment. Over the coming weeks, I’ll post some of my own. First tip? Record as soon as you eat. In fact, if you know what you are having for lunch, record it before you even eat it so you can see how many points it is going to be. You’ll be less likely to get a second helping or dessert if you already have committed to the points in your tracker.