Is it possible to actually LOSE weight during the holidays/winter/off-season??  You bet it is!  Keep reading for some tips on how to shed the pounds this holiday season.

10. Go Shopping – Walk at indoor locations like shopping malls or a grocery store. Avoid escalators by taking stairs. The more you walk the more calories you burn. Walk with a friend or spouse to keep you motivated.

9. Drink More (Water) – Just because you don’t feel as thirsty in the winter it doesn’t mean you aren’t dehydrating yourself. Drink about 1 liter of water daily for every 50lbs of body-weight and even more on days you exercise.

8. Soak up the Sun – A day without sunshine affects your mood. Studies show almost 4 times more anxiety and irritability in people on cloudy days which can lead to lethargy and depression.

7. Shovel off the Pounds – Shoveling your own driveway is a great physical activity giving you both a cardio and strength workout, burning roughly 500 calories/hr.

6. Set up a Home Gym - This isn’t expensive. For as little as $50 you can purchase a set of weights, resistance ball and jump rope to keep you active indoors.

5. Stay Cool – Keep the temperature of your house at a moderate 68-70°. The warmer your surroundings the lazier you will feel and more tired you will become.

4. Skip the Double Helpings – Skip that extra piece of pie.  Keep that refrigerator and pantry on the empty side (giveaway leftovers!) and you won’t be tempted to raid the fridge when your company leaves.

3. Winter Wonderland – Building a snowman or making snow angels will have you burning over 300 calories/hr. Dress warm and join your kids in the backyard.

2. Proud to Be American – Enjoy the winter sports our countries have to offer. Whether it’s playing a game of ice hockey or hitting the slopes for some skiing/snowboarding, get out there and stay active.

1. Hit the Gym - Lift weights and stretch to keep your muscles strong, agile and flexible. Use cardio machines to keep your heart and lungs well conditioned throughout the winter.

Make this the year you do not shut your mind and body down for the long winter haul.  Maintain your cardiovascular health and start 2011 healthy and happy.

Happy Holidays Friends!

Race morning I awoke at 5am and took some time to shower, stretch, shave and get some coffee and food in my system.  I was glad that we got an extra hour of sleep – thank you daylight savings time!  The days leading up to the race had been jam packed with work.  I put on my race gear – the orange ING Run For Something Better race shirt and plenty of layers preparing for the freezing temps and wind over on Staten Island.   Knowing that I had four hours until we started I snagged a Red Bull and some Raisinettes from the mini-bar at the hotel, threw them in my bag and was off to the start area. An ING employee named Joe was also running so together we caught a van from Manhattan over the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge just as the sun was starting to rise.  I looked up at the American flag whipping in the wind and I knew we were in for a chilly wait.  Getting 45,000+ people to the start of a race on an island is mighty challenging and I give credit to the New York Road Runners for pulling it off year after year.  As we entered the pre-start area we could see people everywhere clutching sleeping bags and blankets, just trying to stay warm.  Joe and I spotted Race Director Mary Wittenberg with her award winning smile and endless energy, and said hello.  “Today is going to be an epic day”, she said.  She pointed us in the direction of the hospitality tent.  Inside were my friends Ryan and Trista Sutter.  Ryan was running for the charity, First Descents, which helps children with cancer participate in outdoor adventure camps.  Check it out at http://www.firstdescents.org.  Also in the tent was Jared Fogle (the guy who lost a lot of weight by eating Subway sandwiches), Anthony Edwards (Goose, from Top Gun), and Al Roker (The Today Show weatherman).  I chuckled because Jared had an entourage of bodyguards around him dressed in Subway outfits.

The media folks took us over to a row of cameras to do some interviews with the various news networks. Ryan, Trista and I did an interview with the ABC affiliate and then I did a live shot interview with NY1.  Live shots are always fun, as you can get all your messages across and they can’t edit anything out.  The news anchor kept asking me who I was planning to give my Orange Shoelaces to and if they were replacing the Roses. I just laughed it off.

From there we proceeded over to the ING Run For Something Better charity tent, which was packed with first time runners!  There was a DJ inside blasting upbeat tunes.  I grabbed the microphone and gave a pep talk to the crew and thanked everyone for the incredible $250,000 we had collectively raised for establishing running programs for young kids in underprivileged areas of the United States.  You can still donate by going to http://www.orangelaces.com/andybaldwin. With a $10 donation you can support the cause and get your own orange laces for your shoes showing you are “tied in” to the cause.

The ING team and I then went up to the Sky Box bleachers at the starting line to watch the female elites start (they go off about 25 minutes before the elite men and the rest of the field).

It’s always important to use the restroom before the start of the race, but there were only two bathrooms in this converted trailer, so it was a long wait.  I had almost reached the front of the line when I turned around and came face to face with Edison Pena, the rescued Chilean miner.  Buenos dias!  I spoke Spanish with Edison the rest of our time in line and tried to tell him to smile and relax.  The guy was like a deer in headlights.  We also talked about…our mutual connections to our country’s Navy and experience with Hyperbarics. He said the Chilean Navy was first to respond to aid in the rescue of the miners.  I wished Edison luck and he gave me a hug and then kissed me on the cheek.  What a guy!

A few minutes before start time we shuffled out into the starting crowd of runners. The sun was beaming down at this point, and the line of buses blocked the wind.  We listened to the National Anthem, Mayor Bloomberg said a few words and Edison Pena gave a quick motivational speech in Spanish. Shortly after, the gun sounded and BANG we were off!

Out of the blue I spotted my high school friend and first time marathoner Mike Montgomery in the pack to my right.  What are the chances out of 45,000 runners!  It is always fantastic to have someone to run with, especially a funny guy like Montgomery.  The first mile of the marathon is uphill over the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, and it is important to not exert too much energy and cash in your legs on the first hill!  Mike and I took it really easy and let the others go ahead.  Due to working so much in the hospital I had not been able to get as many long runs in as I had wanted.  I wanted to be disciplined on maintaining a decent but comfortable pace early on.  The crowd of runners was so huge at this point on the bridge.  I found myself being trying to run up on the median and curb to bypass this mess of strewn clothing.   When I could, I glanced left and caught a spectacular view of Manhattan way in the distance.  See you in 15 miles I thought to myself!

Once off the bridge you enter Brooklyn where the stretch of miles 3-8 is flat with few turns.  I told Mike as we were running that this is the part to conserve energy and just flow with stride, keeping arms loose and breathing controlled.  Endurance sport is all about conservation of energy, good pacing, and steady nutritional/fluid intake.  So for me that meant holding a 7:50 pace, having a cup of Gatorade and water at each aid station and taking a Clif Block energy burst every two miles starting at Mile 6.  Around Mile 5 the sun began to beat down harder and I realized I had too many layers on, so in stride I stripped down on the course and was able to get my long sleeve (under my short sleeve) off all while running.  I saw a nice little kid on the side of the street there in Brooklyn with his hand held out, so I ran over to him gave him a ‘high 5’ and gave him my shirt and also my hat.  As I ran away he had a big smile on his face.

Brooklyn always strikes me as having the most little kids of any of the boroughs.  I’m a sucker and love to slap their little hands and take the orange slices that they hold out.  So around Mile 6 I started doing this, and Mike said to me “Hey Andy, didn’t you say we were supposed to conserve our energy?.”  “Yes,” I replied, “but this gives me energy!”  Enjoying the marathon experience is more important to me than a few seconds added here and there.   For the past two years my sister and parents have been positioned at mile 8 where you make a sharp 90 degree turn after the giant Academy of Music Building in Brooklyn.  It has become something that I always look for to gain strength about 1/3 through the marathon.  As we passed through mile 8 I scanned the crowd, but no family!   Oh well, they must have gotten stuck or drank too much the night before.  After you take that right turn at Mile 8 there is a progressive uphill, but for some reason with the giant cheer zone and blaring music at that point, you don’t realize you’re going uphill.  There is a house on the right hand side of the road, and every year I seem to hear the song “Love Shack” by the B-52s playing.  I swear they must have it on repeat all day long.

Miles 9-13 go through Brooklyn and Queens and I felt good and on pace with nutrition.  We hit the half marathon at 1:43, definitely slower than I had gone out in the past, but I kept urging myself to stick with a comfortable pace.  Right after you hit the halfway point there is a hill that hurts and is demoralizing, and the Queensboro Bridge looms in the not-so-far distance.  This is the part of the race where you have to stay strong because there are few if any fans in this stretch.  What you have to look forward to is the roar of the crowds of 1st Avenue coming up soon!  Before we hit the bridge at mile 14-15, I did a mental check and physical check.  My hamstring injury wasn’t bothering me and I felt pretty darn good, breathing was comfortable, and stomach was not upset.  So I was optimistic going into the silence and mile long hill that is the Queensboro Bridge.  After seeing so many fans along the way and having the sun on you, it definitely is eerie to suddenly be in the metal enclosure of the bridge with almost complete silence, except for sounds of heavy breathing and footsteps.  I had been telling people in the Expo sessions that they should psyche people up around them if they felt they were dragging on the bridge.  So I tried to do that shouting “Good job everyone!”, “We got this bridge”, and “Viva Italia!”. Needless to say I didn’t get much of an answer but then realized the group around me was from France.  I also didn’t get an answer from my running partner and high school buddy Mike.  He was starting to struggle a bit. This was his first marathon and I knew that the bridge was affecting him.  I kept telling him, just wait for 1st Avenue, it will energize you!  And it did, for a bit.  Coming off of the bridge right after Mile 16 is by far my FAVORITE part of the ING NYC Marathon.  You can hear the crowd screaming while you are still over water on the bridge and the downhill off the bridge just shoots you out around a curly Q and down the wide street of 1st Avenue Manhattan.  I like to slap peoples’ hands along this route.  I finally caught sight of my folks and it was a huge energy boost!!!  I think I must have picked up my pace and slapped about 1,000 hands in the two miles between miles 16-18, because I was starting to get loopy, tired, and my breathing was heavy.

I decided to take it down a notch and put “the blinders” on as I call it.  I also call it “Tired Efficient Running.” Focus on form, using arms to pump in steady motion, maintaining stride length, and smoothed breathing (nose inhalation, with mouth exhalation).  Lean forward and let gravity do some work for you.  I continued to pop Clif Shot Blocks at this point and take in extra water and Gatorade.  I was officially hurting and needed to stay hydrated and electrolyte balanced, otherwise I was going to cramp.   Although my pace slowed a bit I was still trucking along when I reached the Bronx at mile 20 marking the time to really dig in and be tough – the FINAL 10K.

The Bronx always makes me smile because it has such character.  I looked down at my watch after mile 22 and realized that I had turned off my stopwatch by accident!   I must have bumped it.  Now came the time for some mathematical calculations.  Based off of the time clock at the last mile marker, minus my delayed start time, plus the time my watch had been stopped, ah crap!  Doing these calculations while running on fumes and willpower is tough!   Somehow I think it helped though because I was determined to get in to the finish close to 3:30.  I calculated that I had to run 8:15 miles the rest of the way, and knew that meant doing a charge up the “never-ending hill” of mile 23 and 24 heading into Central Park.  I can’t remember much of that hill as I am typing this, but somehow I found the top of it and at mile 24 read the time clock to be 3:13.  Perfect!  17 minutes to go 2 miles and I’d make a 3:30.  I continued to chug along through Central Park and past the throngs of fans.  The final stretch of the marathon goes along Central Park South, past the Horse Drawn Carriages, the big Ritz Carlton Hotel, and the Essex House.  Ahead I could see the fountain at Columbus Circle and broke into the best sprint I could manage.  At the 26 mile marker the clock read 3:30 I realized my mistake and that I hadn’t taken into account the final 0.2 in my exhausted calculations.  Doh!  Rookie Baldwin!!  On the last 0.2 I took my time and found my parents and sister in the crowd and went up and gave them and others big hugs. What a fun race, on a beautiful day, my 30th marathon and my 3rd and most fun experience doing the ING NYC Marathon!

P.S.  Edison Pena was trapped in a mine for 69 days, finished the marathon in 5 hrs and 40 minutes. He now has Orange Laces.

This weekend I will be running in the NYC Marathon (decked out in orange and wearing orange shoelaces) as Ambassador for ING’s Run for Something Better Program.  The ING Run For Something Better Program funds free school-based youth running programs for kids nationally and teaches them the benefits of leading healthy lifestyles.  Two years ago when I was working with the former U.S. Surgeon General fighting childhood obesity, we honored ING with a Champions award for their commitment to this cause.

Why orange shoelaces you may ask?  Well, first of all it is ING’s color.  And orange stands out!  The reason I love the orange shoelaces is that when you donate to the cause, you actively put something into the shoes you use every day to stay active yourself, and show others that you are committed to being a role model for health and fitness.  I love it!  If you want to get your orange shoelaces and support my run please visit www.orangelaces.com/andybaldwin. Make sure to leave a message too!

I have had the opportunity to run the ING NYC Marathon the past two years and each time I am amazed at the number of people that fit on the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge during the first mile of the race.  Even more amazing are the sheer number of people who come out to cheer.  There is not a spot on the course (save for the bridges) that is not filled by screaming fans, kids with hands outstretched, local bands, gospel choirs and stereos pumping “Empire State of Mind”.  This is the Big Apple.  The energy in the air is infectious and I know that energy will carry me and my fellow runners to the finish line. My hope and dream is that this same energy will light a spark in the child who never thought he or she could run, that child who has never had a pair of sneakers but is given the opportunity to through this remarkable program.  Let’s get them some orange laces and show them how far putting one foot in front of another can take you in life.

Meet up with me in NYC and show me your orange shoelaces!!! I’ll be in Central Park on Friday, November 5 for the first-ever NYRR 5 miler, a race for friends, family, and fans of marathoners. All entrants are automatically entered into a lottery that will be selected on race day to win guaranteed entries into the 2011 ING New York City Marathon.  You can register at www.ingnycmarathon.com (after you get your orange laces of course).  Do it for the kids!