Running

Remember this post way back in January? The one where I ran my first ever mile and had the goal of running the Blue Bell 5k . Well, that never happened. We ended up having a conflict with the date and a few others in the area. Boo.

However, I am happy to announce that last week I ran two miles straight. I didn't think I would EVER get to two miles!! The first mile is killer for me and all I want to do after that is stop and walk/run the rest of the workout.

I can't tell you how good it feels to meet a goal! I hope it doesn't take another three months, but next up is 3 miles.

For anyone interested, here are my recommendations:

• Mix it up to figure out what works best for you. Try running at different times of the day. Also, try eating a snack before or running on an empty stomach. For me, I run better on an empty stomach in the morning.
• Make a playlist of your favorite music or download some podcasts. I like to use upbeat music to start with. One of my favorite songs to start off listening to is Diverse City by Toby Mac. It's just plain ol' fun and I bought it off itunes for 69 cents. The big problem I have with upbeat music is I want to run to the beat. This can be a problem since I run s-l-o-w. I also listen to podcasts by David Platt sometimes. He is the author of Radical and if you need some meat to chew on while you're moving, listen to him.
• If you have a smart phone, get a running app. I use one by Nike and Richard uses Run Keeper. I love my Nike app because it tracks my run, talks to me, integrates my music, and keeps a history of my runs. Also, when I start a run, it posts to facebook and everytime people like my post or comment, my music stops and I hear cheering and clapping. I love this feature.
• Buy a good pair of running shoes. I bought mine at Academy, but next time I am going to a running store to get some advice on what kind of shoe to buy. I didn't want to spend a great deal of money at first in case I absolutely hated running. Since I have stuck with it for this long and actually enjoy it, I am ready to spend a little more and get a really good shoe.
• Don't run in your "booby pad"! Wear a sports bra. For us girls, this might be more important then good shoes, lol.
• Make sure to stretch before and for sure after. It boggles my mind that Richard hardly ever stretches. I have to stretch, I guess it's the dancer in me.
• Drink water. Personally, I can't drink much before and since I do not run long distances, I don't drink it while I run. However, when I am finished, I load up.

Hope you can use one of these tips. What about you? I can always use advice in this area. Do you have any favorite running/workout songs or tips? I would love to hear them.