Yesterday evening Ellie and I set out to the gym to get back on track after our Thanksgiving weekend off. Apparently everyone else in Buffalo had the same idea.

We walked in and were extremely fortunate to get two treadmills side by side. This is hard to do on a good day, so we did really luck out. As we were running, it was pretty amusing to see the different types of people milling about. The bodybuilders apparently came out in full force, all trying to set PR's on how much they could lift. (I distinctly heard one man say "I just made 225 my b*tch.") Maybe it was guilt-induced machismo, or maybe they just wanted to show off in front of the full rows of elliptical users. Who knows? It really reminded me of how busy it gets shortly after the holidays, right after New Year's. Maybe it's the stress of family gatherings, or seeing fifty people from high school out on the town the Wednesday "bar night" before Thanksgiving—whatever the reason, the normally peaceful gym was packed.

So, if you are one of the many people looking to survive the holidays without gaining a pound, here are a couple of training programs that I've really liked. We followed the half-marathon version and got through our race without a hitch! Keeping a schedule really does help a lot.

5K Training Program

5K Beginner Program!

10KM Training Program

10K Beginner Program

If anyone is getting started with one of these (or with exercise in general), feel free to post any questions to the blog, or send me a message. The holidays don't have to be a time to pack on the pounds, and you should be able to eat whatever you want! Solution: Exercise.