I spent quite a bit of time on Thanksgiving and the weekend walking, getting ready for a half marathon next weekend. The training has put me back into touch with the joy of walking.

• I love walking alone: It's easy breezy to plug into your own tunes or podcasts or just the song going through your brain. Set your own pace, choose your own trail. One day I had to walk without my iPod (the battery was drained) and I found joy in checking out new areas along busy roads I avoid when trying to listen to the iPod or walking buddy.
• I love walking with a friend: My longtime walking buddy Nona and her doggies joined me on Sunday, and my buddies the Smiths joined me a couple of weeks ago. The miles seemed to fly by even faster when walking and chatting with them.
• I love the effects of training: At the start of distance training, it seems you'll never be able to walk more than a couple of miles. But with steadily increasing my distance week after week, once again I am confident with going 12 miles, 15, whatever the day requires.
• Walking is freedom. It is empowering. It is great to know you can go far on your own two feet. You can end a long day and upload your 30,000 walking steps with pride. You can earn that extra helping of turkey and stuffing in the calories you burnt off.
• Walking cheers me up in almost any weather: After the first half mile, I find my heart lightening and a smile forming. It feels so good just to be out walking. Over the past six weeks, I've walked in torrential downpours, been pelted with hail, blown by wind, and been encased in never-ending drizzle. But the weather is rarely as bad as it looks from inside looking out the window. Reconnect with nature and energize your spirit, get out in it.

Walking is joy. What do you love most about walking?

Don't let the Grinch of a bad economy steal Christmas completely. A gift that encourages people to walk more is both thoughtful and useful, and doesn't have to be expensive. I've been reviewing items all year and here are my favorites for gifts.

• Gift Ideas for Walking Women
• Gift Ideas for Walking Men
• Gift Ideas for Active Children
• Homemade Gift Ideas for Walkers
• Walking.About.com Store: T-shirts, hats, sweatshirts, and blank walking journals with walking designs and slogans.

Best Bet Gift: Starting Point: the AVA Guide to 1700+ Walking Trails in America will lead you to great walking routes almost everywhere in the USA. Enjoy walks in cities, towns, parks, countryside - anywhere the hundreds of AVA clubs found a nice place to walk.

Photo courtesy of Phyllis Markee

Some fitness retailers aren't even waiting for the Friday after Thanksgiving. One of my favorite online shoe stores, Roadrunner Sports, has a coupon for $25 off on a $150 purchase through Nov. 30, plus free shipping through Nov. 30 (Buy Direct). Or if you only want one pair of shoes, a 20% off $75 purchase with free shipping through Nov. 30 (Buy Direct)

Roadrunner Sports coupons.

New Balance Web Express has 10% off entire order plus free shipping through Nov. 29.

Browse the Deals and Coupons: BlackFriday.info has a Fitness category where you can browse deals from oodles of retailers offering Black Friday deals. They link to KeepCash.com for online coupons. Browse the sports and fitness coupons.

Big Box Sporting Goods Stores

• Sports Authority stores will open at 5 a.m. on Friday and hand out "Bonus Bucks" discount cards to the first 80 people who enter each of its stores. The "Bonus Bucks" cards will be worth from $10-500 toward any purchase in the store on that day only. They have a buy one/get half off second pair deal for all shoes.
• Modell's Sporting Goods open at 5 am and have a good Black Friday deal on Nike thermal mock turtlenecks at $25. Those are great for winter walking. Modell's coupons include one for free shipping and in-home set up of select exercise gear -- a great deal!
• Dick's Sporting Goods stores will open at 5 am, but their Black Friday deals haven't leaked yet. Their online coupons include $20 off any Timex item. I like the Timex heart rate monitors.

Outdoor and Running Store Coupons and Deals

• Foot Smart: For foot care and foot pampering items, Foot Smart has a Black Friday deal of 15% off with free shipping on purchases of $75 or more. (Buy Direct). Or save through Cyber Monday with $20 off a purchase of $100 or more (Buy Direct)
• Eastern Mountain Sports: Thanksgiving week through Cyber Monday (Nov. 30) deal of 20-50% off everything plus free shipping on purchase total over $100 (Buy Direct)
• REI: My favorite outdoor retailer has its Winter Sale through 11/30 (">Buy Direct) or coupons
• Finish Line
• Footlocker

Avoid Gift Cards: Gift cards and gift certificates are still iffy propositions in these times of economic turmoil. If a retailer goes bankrupt, the gift cards and certificates may not be honored.

Gift Ideas for Walkers.

The new Nautilus Mobia home fitness machine just debuted, and I had the chance to try it out at Nautilus headquarters. It is a new concept to give a higher intensity workout with low impact and a walking motion. How high intensity? It really had me puffing at a moderate speed and resistance, I had to slow it down and reduce the tension. But I was simply walking -- no strange motion to get used to like with an elliptical.

The Mobia employs two treadles, each with a moving belt, and they move up and down to meet your foot on the forward step. The result is a very low impact walk, yet you are going significantly uphill. I felt immediate engagement of my core abdominal muscles and hip and thigh muscles. This is a serious workout machine, although the top speed is only 4 miles per hour.

To top it off, it is designed to look good in your house, it's quiet and it takes up less space than a treadmill, although it doesn't fold up. I was impressed.
Nautilus Mobia Review

Photo courtesy of Nautilus, Inc.