Preparing for winter jogging and bad weather exercising

As I mentioned yesterday it was really cold while jogging outside. Same as today. With the sun shining it's not so bad unless it's in the evening. That being said I thought I would help prepare those who are beginning runners out there.

First off, the acceptable running gear for winter:

• Capris (knee length or lower) or Pants
• Under armor - helps keep your body temp up without too much clothing, but still wear a t-shirt, long-sleeve or sweatshirt over it.
• High impact sports bra - I like Danskin from Walmart (I am a size C-D depending on bras in case that helps put things into perspective)
• Gloves -  the cheap cloth kind will do
• Cloth elastic headband - keep those ears warm so you don't get an ear infection
• Some hair-restraint of course (ie. ponytail, clip)
• Invest in running shoes - not walking shoes or the cheap kind

I used to have a gym, but they recently closed and told me I could visit their other building 45 minutes north. (yea right..) so I am pretty much stuck with either running around my apartment complex or watching exercise videos on the TV. (Luckily I have OnDemand exercise videos. Netflix is another good option). So in case the weather looks bad or if it's dark outside (please don't go running by yourself at night), you can also do exercise videos. My favorite ones so far are Jillian Michael's DVDs. She will kick your ass! The only downside is if you are in an upstairs apartment, it's hard to do a lot of cardio without pissing off the downstairs neighbor. I will be looking for any videos that do not have a lot of jumping for those who are in the same boat as me. For now, yoga is a good option.

Once you are done with your workout, a great website that has helped motivate me in the past is Fitocracy.com. It is geared towards gamers and making fitness a contest. When you log a workout, it gives you points for difficulty, distance, weight or whatever depending on the exercise. Once the points accumulate, you level up. You can also interact with other members and give each other "props" or "likes" in facebook lingo. Give it a shot if it sounds like fun to you! You can also earn acheivments or complete quests by doing specific exercises or routines. I will try to put up a link to fitocracy once I figure out how to put links on here...