Fit Fare

It’s that time of year again: Holiday treats showing up on your way into the office, parties several nights a week stuffed with cookies, chocolates and eggnog, presents from your co-workers or clients of petit fours or chocolate truffles. And all this is merely a warm-up for the huge, calorie-filled feasts that come later on in the month. Counter-acting this onslaught of waist-line expanders is difficult, so if you’re shopping for presents for a loved one, you might want to consider gifts that can help her with her fitness goals.

Here is a list of gifts I, as a runner, would love to receive this Christmas:

* Shoe Pocket - Slips onto her sneaker and big enough to stash her ID, some cash and keys.

* Heart Rate Monitor - Wearing it on her wrist will let her keep track of how hard she’s pushing herself.

* HoMedics Food Pleaser Massager - Just the treat her feet will crave after a long run…

* The Runner’s Handbook - Excellent book for especially for beginner runners.

* The Complete Book of Running for Women - This is my favourite running book - packed with great information about all types of levels and training, and quite inspiring.

* Sassy running gear - A fabulous running outfit never hurts to motivate me to get out the door. Activewear created for women and by women, such as Lucy or Lululemon, have particularly fetching styles.

* GPS Runner’s watch - This gadget can make sure she never gets lost and knows exactly how long she’s run for, how many calories she’s burned, and the distance, elevation and grade of her run.

*The Nike + Ipod Sport Kit - My personal favourite. This combo tracks her mileage, plays her choice of music, has voice prompts that countdown to the end of the work out, she can even play her power song at any given time if she needs a little boost. When she gets home, she can dock her Ipod and download all the information of her run for journaling purposes.

For stocking stuffers or less expensive gifts, there are a variety of things that are great for runners, from Clif bar products such as gel shots for those longer runs when you need a bit of energy, to the newer Clif Shot Blocks, which serve the same purpose but taste like gummy candies. Clif products are great because they are all natural and usually 98-100% organic. Other ideas include sport water bottles and water bottle belt bags which can carry the bottles as well as a gel shot or another running snack, hats and gloves or fun sports socks (cycling socks have great designs and are great for runners as well). But the best gift of all is a running buddy or a friend to help her stay motivated despite the shorter darker days and cold weather!