Thanks so much for checking in with me.  I hope you are staying warm wherever you are.  It has been a little cold up here in the Northeast.  I really don’t mind the cold, having spent two winters in Norway doing Arctic training with the British Commandos, I got pretty use to real cold.  The Norwegians have saying: “There is no such thing as bad weather, only bad gear.”  So, if you are cold, add some layers and ensure you are using quality cold weather gear. 

Enough on the survival lecture…

Go see Slumdog Millionaire if you haven’t see it.  It is a wonderful story and great movie but most importantly it helps you put things in perspective—seeing the slums of Mumbai really made me appreciate all that I have. 

And that’s enough on the movie critic lecture…

I often get asked about the keys to a successful fitness program.  I have touched on the key elements to a successful program in previous blogs - diet, strength training, and cardio training.  The cardio and strength pieces are both the actual workouts.  The diet is a learned habit. So if we drill down a bit, I think that you would agree with me if I stated that the workouts themselves are the foundation of the program.  Therefore, in order to make the program work, the actual workouts must be super effective and productive.  I’d like to now offer you my formula for making each and every workout count. 

I have a little thing I like to use with people.  It is four simple letters:  F F I C.  These are the keys to making sure you get the most out of every workout and thus the most benefit out of your program. 

I hope this year brings each of you peace, health, and lots of fun.  I had a nice vacation.  The family gathered on the west coast of Florida for two weeks.  We had amazing weather and were able to enjoy the holidays as well as the great outdoors.

When I got back to NYC, someone asked me what my New Year’s Resolution was. Call me an oddball (trust me, many people have!) but I am not a big believer in the whole Resolution thing. I just think that if something needs to be changed in your life then you should tackle it head-on, right then and there, and not wait until the end of the year. So, the answer is…I don’t have a New Year’s Resolution.   

But I do have my Super-Duper Mike Monroe Special 2009 Kick-Start Fitness Plan to share with you. (Like the slick title?  I thought of it all by myself). This is a VERY simple plan and if you follow it I guarantee you will start your year off right. It consists of three elements—Diet, Strength, and Cardio. Try it for three months and see how you do.

I hope this finds you happy and in the holiday spirit.  

As we close out another year, most of us are wondering “where did the time go”? Having two small children, my own business, my ultra endurance events (training, racing, and charity fundraising), and a very busy uber-executive wife, I totally understand the feeling. Seems like life for all of us is so jammed it is easy to get overwhelmed to the point where we can’t fit everything in. Something has to give and for many, that something is taking care of the mind and body.  

I remember an old car care commercial where the mechanic basically says “you can pay me now or pay me later.” He was referring to paying him now for some basic scheduled maintenance or you could pay him a lot more later for repairs resulting from neglect of the scheduled maintenance.  Our bodies are the same way. You can pay now buy working to get fit and healthy or you can really pay later with poor health and a deteriorating body.  We only have one body, and we only go around once.  Why wait to get in shape and get set up with a good fitness program and diet? 

Thanks for taking the time to check out my blog. I hope you had a good Thanksgiving and are enjoying the coming winter.  

Speaking of Thanksgiving, I was in Washington DC over the Thanksgiving holiday. I had access to a great running trail along the Potomac River. I haven’t been running much over the last year as I was mainly riding as I was training for the 508 mile bike race I did in October.  It was a very nice change to run and especially to run in the peace and tranquility of a trail in the woods. Have I inspired you yet to strap on your trail shoes and get outside? If so, great - but that is actually not my goal with today’s post…

My real goal is to talk about two basic things, both of which I was thinking about while I was running. As I was bounding up a short hill, I was hopping over some roots and rocks.  I became fixated on how easily my body would shift and accelerate to allow me to keep moving and not fall over. I started to think about the fact that we are made to move. Think about it.