No More Excuses
Did you make a New Year’s resolution to start walking but still haven’t ventured out the front door? Maybe the weather has kept you under the covers, but it will soon be spring. There are no more excuses.

Online Coaching
If you don’t want to walk alone we have many choices here in Portland, OR. There are groups that are coached online. You can solo train and only be accountable to your computer, phone, or Blackberry. Online groups support event training, speed walking, and more. Go online and visit Ellie Hodder’s  www.everything­4walkers.com for more information.

Group Therapy
If you need a group there’s a plethora to choose from. First you need to decide your goal. Are you going to train for a marathon this year? Then you need to find an event six to eight months from now and start training.

Portland Fit is in its 11th year and has trained many walkers to walk their first marathon. New to their program are the half mara­thon training, the one-hour walk, and the wogging groups. Wog­ging is an old concept just resurfacing. It is a combination of walk­ing and jogging. Children naturally do it — they walk for a bit, and then start to run. Portland Fit meets on Saturdays, and the treks take you to the waterfront and around Portland. For more informa­tion visit www.portlandfit.com.

Also new this year is Get Fit Live Fit. This group meets in Port­land and Vancouver on Wednesday and Saturday. This is a 12 week program in which you will train in a group atmosphere with a pace leader. Train for a 5k,10k, half and full marathon. For more infor­mation visit to www.getfitlivefit.org

Foot Traffic University has a great walking group. This group trains for a half and full marathon. It meets on Saturdays and main­tains intimate small groups lead by walk leaders. For more informa­tion visit www.foottraffic.us

Be Seen in the Dark With Crashwear
In celebration of people on the move, Crashwear has designed unique bright reflective vests in a range of styles and colors to fit men and women. The vest comes in a choice of four colors and two designs.

The circle vest has a bold circle design on the front and back. The flower vest has a retro-inspired bloom design on the front and the back. They are both made of high quality reflective material. The circle on the front is 4" in diameter and the circle on the back is 8" in diameter.

Additional features of a Crashwear vest:
• Each vest is 100% nylon rip stop and is water resistant (This garment is not waterproof).
• Each vest is trimmed throughout, 360 degrees in reflective material.
• Inside pocket with Vel­cro closure that holds keys, cell phone, or iPod.
• Outside pocket with Velcro closure that also holds keys, cell phone, or iPod.
• Unique reflective art for fun, visibility, and safety.
• Preshrunk.
• Each vest comes with a matching 8.5 inch by 11. 5 inch nylon rip stop pouch for carrying and storage.
• No other product on the market like it.
www.crashwear.net

Plug-in or Drop Out
Last December the UST&F Long Distance Running Committee passed a rule banning nearly every type of electronic device from use by a participant in a road run or walking event. This includes MP3 players of all types, iPods, headsets, Walkmans, and even cell phones. Many marathon and half marathon event directors have followed suit and will disqualify anyone finishing with headphones and have even banned them from future participation.

Why such a drastic rule you ask? Safety is one reason. It is easy to understand this rule in an event where cars or other vehicles sharing a road might impact runners and walkers. Another reason many events ban the use of headphones is the participant may not be able to hear race officials, the bands along the route, and cheering. This rule has greatly affected many walkers in these events because walkers are out there for six or more hours and a lot of the time the bands have stopped playing. So by using common sense and listening to race officials there should be no problems. Again this is the UST&F rule and not all race directors have chosen to adopt the rule. If you plan on entering an event and you have to plug-in, check the rules before signing up and paying.

The Portland Marathon declares itself not only the most friendly walkers marathon but also MP3-player friendly as well. The Portland Marathon is a closed course. Race director, Les Smith states, “We have had no problems on the course historically when our partici­pants have worn player’s or used cell phones. So we are officially declaring the Portland Marathon as the MP3-player friendly mara­thon. Our motto for all this is: “Plug-in!” There will be no draconian measures taken against runners and walkers who train with player’s and want to use them in our event. Spread the word: the Portland Marathon is the “Plug-in” marathon and is MP3-player friendly.”www.portlandmarathon.org