Soapbox

If you've been reading my blog from the beginning, you might know how much I love my Nike+ system (entry from March 23, 2010). So here is the next running product that I just have to rave about...."Runner's World" Magazine!

Joel just HAD TO HAVE ***AT THAT MOMENT*** the newest book from Jim Butcher when it came out in April. Since it was only $10 off Amazon, I made the click and put it into my shopping cart. But to get free shipping you have to order at least $25 worth of merchandise. Hmmm, what to buy, what to buy. "Runner's World" was offering a two year subscription for only $24, which comes out to $1/issue. Pretty good deal, so I clicked that and added that to my card as well. I clicked my way through the checkout, and was finished! The notice later told me to expect my first issue July 1...BUMMER!

However, it was a great surprise when I went to the mailbox one day and found the subscription had started two months early!! Merry Christmas to me! And to make things better, there were two issues in there...more reading to do!! But before I dive into my "Runner's World" reading, let me tell you about my habits with reading materials. When I get a magazine ("Newsweek", "Money" or "Good Housekeeping"), I tear through the whole thing in about 20 minutes. I scan the headlines of the articles, dog-ear the ones that look particularly interesting, and once I get to the end, go back and read those articles. 1 lunch hour---magazine done, ready for either Joel's reading pile or the recycling can.

"Runner's World" was different. It might be because I received two magazines on the same day, but I think it was more the fact everything was interesting and I learned a lot. It took me the rest of the day to finish those two issues. I started them at lunch, and finished at bed time. I will acknowledge that I was a single parent that day with two small, energetic children. But I felt that all the articles where thoughtful, entertaining, and full of things I felt kept me engaged. There was an article in which a runner wrote about his new GPS watch, how it tracked his run (mapping it out), gave him his average pace, heart rate, the distance of his run. (Sounds like my Nike+, but in a watch format and cost $400+ than the Nike+). Another article portrayed how one runner began his journey with baby-steps in his running program (he actually threw up AT THE GYM on his first day of a workout), and in less than 1 year he lost over 150 pounds and was running a marathon! Of course there were articles on the best running shoes and active wear, calendars of races all over the country, basic things you would expect to find in a magazine.

So next time you decide to subscribe to a new magazine, put down the cooking magazine and pick up "Runner's World"....it will definitely motive you!

P.S-I love them so much, these copies never reached the recycling can...they have their own place on my bookcase!