Well today sucked…This is my first solid week of doing both insanity AND running so I’ve been extremely sore, especially yesterday. I made the BIG mistake of not stretching nearly enough and paid for it today. I went out to do my 4 miler, usually an easy run for me. I made it 2 miles. My quads had such an intense ache!!! Played it smart and cut the run in half. Tomorrow is a rest day and sunday is a scheduled 7 mile run. I am contemplating taking sunday off as well and doing the run on monday. We will see how I feel tomorrow. In the mean time, I am using a foam roller and stretching A LOT to get this junk loosened up. Crossing my fingers!

Sure enough. My hamstrings are sore as can be today! I decided to play it smart and take a rest day. Going to be doing lots of stretching throughout the day to get ready for the 4 miler tomorrow. Hopefully the weather won’t be too bad that way I can go for a quicker time!

My diet is 110% on target. The only bad thing I’ve eaten in 4 weeks is the chinese food I had last night. Although I did keep it as healthy as I could with a shrimp/chicken/veggie mix in a white wine sauce. Was delicious! My energy is amazing. I don’t have to be to work till 11:30 today so I set my alarm for 9 thinking I could sleep in. Nope. I woke up at 7am wide away! Haha, which I’m not complaining about. It feels fantastic to not need energy drinks or coffee to have the energy that I have naturally now!

Wow. So today was a 4 mile run. First time that I have run without having a rest day first. I did Insanity-Pure Cardio and Cardio Abs yesterday. Hamstrings are SOOORRRRE today. I thought my quads weren’t too bad till I hit the end of mile 1. The whole run was very difficult today because my quads were very achy from yesterdays workout ONTOP of the weather which was very cold, raining, and wind. First time running in the wind and it was definitely against me today!

I still managed to keep an 11 min pace which is a bit slower than my average but I did the best I could for what I had to work with! Tomorrow is another day of insanity but I have the feeling that I will be VERRRRY sore haha. Probably going to do upper body weight lifting so we will see! Thanks for reading and I’ll catch ya tomorrow!

Shoes are the key to an amazing run!!! I have never owned a pair of shoes that were over $50. The best pair I’ve had are my Nike Shox. I thought these shoes were amazing, and I still love them. BUT…I have always had aches and pains when I run especially in the quads and shins. I decided I needed to invest in some new shoes. After doing some research I found out they have RUNNING shoes! Shoes specially made just for running.

I had no idea that there were SO many different styles of shoes! Stability, control, support, cushioning, the list goes on and on. So I went into a local running store, The Portland Running Company, and got fitted. They had me run up and down a matt so they could watch my stride and how each foot lands. Turns out I have very low arches and am a severe over pronator(When the foot twists outwards and causes the arch to be over stretched).

After trying on a few different pairs of shoes and running in each one up and down that mat, I found the perfect pair. The Asics Evolution 5. It was like running on a cloud! This shoe is amazing. I have been running in these shoes for a week now and these have been the best runs of my life!

The 2 key parts of this shoe that make the biggest difference for me is the heel and the arch support. I have had heel pain for the past year because of my low arches. The heel on this shoe is more of a V shape rather than the typical U, meaning it cups the heel fairly tight and has lots of cushion underneath. I feel NO pain at all in my heals with these shoes. The 2nd part is the arch support. For those of us with low arches, when our foot strikes the ground, the arch collapses in order to absorb the impact. The support however, minimizes that impact by having a denser material underneath the arch to stop it from fully collapsing.

These shoes also have other key factors such as ACTUAL gel cushioning rather than air! Also the shoe has an outter lining that is VERY breathable and lightweight. Simply an amazing shoe and fantastic brand, Asics!

I highly recommend getting into a specialty running store, getting fitted, and making the investment in a GOOD pair of running shoes. The Asics Evolution 5 is perfect for anyone that over pronates or has low arches and needs that extra support.

You can see these shoes and my video review on www.Youtube.com/Betterlife90

Hey all! So the new year is finally here! As some of you may know, I am now a runner! A little history on my running….In highschool I would do a slow jog for 1-2 miles a few times a week. That was it. I stopped running once I graduated highschool because that is when life got in the way and I was lazy! So now that I have done p90x and insanity, my body can do WAY more than its ever been able to do!

A co-worker of mine, Ava, knew I was into fitness and always looking for a good challenge so she invited me to run a half marathon with her. Then I found out that is 13.1 miles!!! This was the perfect chance for me to have a solid goal so of course I accepted the challenge:)

I started running 3-4 weeks ago. Day 1 I decided to do a running “Fit test”, so I just went out and ran as far as I could. I walked a lot, way more than expected, but I managed to do 8 miles total. Now I knew what I had to train for. So from there I would run 2-3 times a week just to get in the groove of things.

Now that I know my limits, I know my pace, and I know what I want to achieve, I have put together a training schedule for myself. I got the nike plus sensor which tracks distance, time, and pace. The nike plus website has a coaching program so I am following that.

So here is my schedule. I run 3-4 times per week. Typically 2 shorter runs at 3-4 miles, and 1 longer run at 6-8 miles. Each week that long run will increase by 1 mile. To get my endurance and speedwork in, I am doing an insanity workout 2x per week. With all of that, every other day I am doing a pushups/pullups program!

Now the purpose of me posting all of this is because since I am bran new to running, I want to document it so I can look back a year from now and see how far I’ve come:) I also want to post updates every single day for those who are new to running so they can follow my progress!

This concludes it for today! Everyone take care and thank you all for your support and motivation!