RunningAhead.com

If you exercise regularly (or are planning on starting, is a site that allows you to:

Record your workouts
Log all your workouts such as running, cycling, swimming, and weight training. Create custom workouts to track your other activities in your active lifestyle.

Create running routes
Measure your running routes and create elevation profiles. Our mapping tool is easy and fun to use. It is an excellent alternative to the expensive GPS devices.

Analyze your data
Visualize your training progress through colorful graphs. Find specific workout entries using different criteria. Track your shoe mileage to reduce injury.

Join or start a training group
Whether you just started running or training for another marathon, there is a running group in RunningAHEAD that can help you achieve your goals.

Share training experiences
Meet other fellow runners in the RunningAHEAD community. Exchange running tips, receive answers to your questions, or talk about anything else.

Registration is required, but membership is free.
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The Custard Principle

What follows is a story about Mary and Michael. They're not really called Mary and Michael. In fact, they're completely made up people. But we're going to call them Mary and Michael.

At the beginning of this story, Mary and Michael have just got married. One day while they're eating dinner, Mary asks Michael,

"What is your favourite dessert?"

Without hesitation, Michael replies,

"Apple pie and custard, I LOVE apple pie and custard."

On their next shopping expedition, Mary purchases the most expensive brand of apple pie she can find (Mary's not much of a cook) along with a tin of Bird's custard powder.

The following evening, Mary pops a couple of pre-prepared korma curries in the microwave. While they are being nuked, she heats some milk on the stove and prepares a pint of custard. She leaves this to stand, and puts the apple pie in the oven to warm while they are eating their main meal.

When they have both have finished their curries, Mary dishes up the apple pie, and pours custard on each portion. Michael notices that she has left the custard skin on his portion. He hates the skin on the custard and he wonders whether to mention it, but decides not to make a fuss and eats it, even though it ruins his enjoyment of the meal.

Years go by, and many more apple pie desserts are served. And Michael always gets, and eats, the custard skin.

On Mary and Michael's 20th wedding anniversary, they visit a small restaurant for a celebration meal. When it is time for dessert Michael orders apple pie and custard. (Mary orders profiteroles, in case you were wondering.)

When the apple pie and custard is served, Mary nudges Michael and whispers "What a shame, they haven't left the skin on your custard".

Well, three large glasses of expensive burgundy have loosened Michael's tongue. He gently holds Mary's hand, looks her in the eyes and says,

"Mary, I've never told you this before, but I HATE custard skin."

Mary stares at him flabbergasted, before exclaiming,

"You mean, for 20 years, I've been sacrificing the custard skin, which I LOVE, and you haven't told me!

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There is a fine line between tact and stupidity. Kindness and unnecessary people-pleasing. And often, being honest about what you do and don't like means more people get to do the things they really want to do, rather than the things they think they ought to do.
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Suck it in

Our stomach muscles are composed of the internal obliques, external obliques, rectus abdominis and the transverse abdominis.

Their main job is controlling the 'hinge' between our legs and our upper body and protecting the various organs that exist behind them.

Western society has become obsessed with possessing a flat stomach. However, a much more important thing is to have strong, controllable stomach muscles. Our lower back relies on our stomach for support, and a lot of back problems are a result of poor posture caused by weak stomach muscles.

A simple exercise that will strengthen your stomach muscles and improve your posture, is to breathe out, then 'suck in' your stomach towards your backbone. Hold this posture for a few seconds, then gently relax. Repeat this as many times as you can before getting dizzy!

This exercise can be performed when sitting, standing or walking. The male of the species performs it instinctively upon sighting a human they find sexually attractive.
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Communication

This one's so basic that you probably know it already. However, it is one of those things (like breathing) that I find myself having to learn, and re-learn, then re-re-learn again.

You need to talk to someone about something. You've spent time thinking about it. You're sure you need to talk with them. But it's not something you're looking forward to saying to them.

If possible, find an opportunity to talk to them one-to-one, face-to-face. Firstly, this is the best way. Secondly, you're going to make sure that this is something you really need to tell them!

Second-best, 'phone them.

Third-best, a hand-written note, requesting a one-to-one meet.

Don't email, memo or fax them.

And definitely, DEFINITELY, never, ever, EVER tell someone else about it so that the person gets to hear about what you think second- or third-hand. Trust me, it will end in tears.
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Grill it, don't incinerate it

Grilling meat is an easy way of saving calories. However many people associate grilled food with dry, tough and tasteless food.

There are two ways of ensuring that grilled food tastes great:

1. Preheat the grill for at least ten minutes.

2. Time the cooking of the meat.

I find that boneless/skinless chicken breasts require about 10 minutes, and sirloin steak as little as 6 minutes (turning the meat over half-way through the cooking time).

If these times leave the meat too rare for you, put it back under the grill for a minute at a time until you find the 'done-ness' that suits you. Record the total grilling time, and use that in the future.
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Aide memoires

The human brain is a strange thing. You'd think that something with over a 100 billion neurons would be capable of remembering a few important items that you are meant to take with you on your journey. Or even one.

And, of course, it can. And it does. However, my brain (and I suspect I'm not alone here) tends to wait until I have not only embarked on a journey, but have travelled a significant distance before moving it from the 'stored' to the '!!@£*?!' area of my consciousness.

I'm sure there are all sorts of very clever ways of becoming more conscious of the 'stored' area. However, the lazy way is to put the thing you need to take with you somewhere where you can't avoid noticing it before leaving your house.

Alternatively, put it in the bag you will take with you, or the vehicle that you're going to use.
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Fast food #1

Using an electric kettle, boil enough water to three-quarters fill a small pan. Pour the boiled water into the pan, place the pan on a gas/electric hob and bring the water to a steady, rolling boil.

For a soft yolk and firm white, gently lower a large egg into the water and leave for 4 minutes 30 seconds. Remove from water and decapititate the egg. If it is too runny for your tastes, put the top back on for 30 seconds, and next time increase the cooking time by 15 seconds.

A large boiled egg provides less than 100 calories, but supplies your body with 8g protein and 7g fat, along with significant quantities of vitamins B12, B2, D and A.
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Pizza

Pizza is one of my favourite meals. Nutrition-wise, there is a fair balance of stuff. One slice of a large Pizza Hut Deep Pan Pepperoni Feast (assuming 8 slices) will provide you with 18g protein, 33g carbohydrate and 20g fat. However, it is one of the most calorie-laden concoctions you can purchase. That same slice contains nearly 400 calories. That means 4 slices provides an average, physically active woman with her entire daily calorific requirements.

Throw in garlic bread, chicken wings and an ice cream dessert, washed down with a couple of glasses of wine, and you can see why pizza should be a treat, rather than a regular part of your diet.
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Prioritising

You've got a number of things to do. One of them includes mowing the lawn. It is dry outside, but clouds are looming.

All the other jobs can be done while it is raining.

Mow the lawn now. Not later.

Yes. Now.
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A brace of brilliant books

I became a Christian nearly 30 years ago. One of the books that influenced my decision was 'Mere Christianity' by C.S. Lewis. Despite being written nearly 40 years before I read it (it was adapted from a 1943 series of BBC radio lectures, originally printed as three separate pamphlets, The Case for Christianity, Christian Behaviour, and Beyond Personality), I found it spoke to me more clearly than many more contemporary 'apologetic' works.

Perhaps there were resonances with Lewis' struggles with accepting the existence of a personal, loving creator God. I still remember smiling as I read the words of his own conversion experience:

“In the Spring term of 1929 I gave in, and admitted that God was God, and knelt and prayed: perhaps, that night, the most dejected and reluctant convert in all England.”

Recently I was corresponding with a woman who is working on a thesis exploring the beliefs of individuals involved in a conversation between Christianity and contemporary culture. One of the questions she asked me was how I thought Christianity interprets the world.

This is a massive question, and I began to think of books I had read that might help to answer the question. 'Mere Christianity' was the first book that came to mind, not because it deals directly with that question, but because it goes straight to the root of what Christianity is.

I then began to think about whether there were newer (better?) books available. One that sprang to mind was Tom Wright's 'Simply Christian', which has often been branded as the 'New Mere Christianity'. Certainly Tom Wright possesses a similarly powerful intellect, and his writing is never less than readable. So this Saturday, I made myself a double-strength latte, settled myself down into my comfy sofa, and worked my way through it.

It is an excellent book. One I would recommend to anyone thinking about spirituality of any kind. And having read it, I thought I would read through Mere Christianity again, to compare and contrast. It made for a fascinating study.

'Mere Christianity' remains a fresh and contemporary work. Lewis couldn't write a bad sentence if he tried, and his determination to focus on the essentials of the Christian faith means that not much of it has dated. His arguments for the uniqueness of Jesus, and the necessity of God when arguing for morality are still compelling and succinct, although I'm sure that they would make Richard Dawkins' teeth itch.

However, Wright's book is (not surprisingly) a far more contemporary presentation of the Christian faith, especially in giving a holistic overview of what the Christian belief system entails. It deals with subjects that Lewis didn't have to, such as postmodernism, pantheism and Islam.

Wright spends far more time with the Bible than Lewis does, and presents a masterful precis of it, and why it is central to the Christian faith (albeit reflecting his particular interpretative biases). He also deals with the Church as a worshipping, human community in a way that Lewis doesn't attempt.

In conclusion, they're both worth reading. But if I had to choose one book for someone who was keen to gain an understanding of what the Christian faith was about, I'd buy them a copy of 'Simply Christian'.
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