Run and Strength Workout and Some New Kicks

It's been a slow week, work out wise. I was traveling for work for most of the week. I managed one run before I left for DC but didn't have any time for the next three days (insert pouty face here).

Today I decided to amp it up a bit. Usually I run and that is it. This time around I am approaching things a bit differently. Enter strength training. Since I have a regular 9-5 now, I am able to join a gym. I went for the first time today. I arrived early to run 2 miles on the treadmill. It wasn't that bad. It maybe could have been better if I had been listening to some kick ass music the whole time. But no, I really wanted to watch some Gossip Girl (don't judge me!). Towards the end I switched it up to music and finished strong. It felt good.

After a cool down, I headed over to the Body Sculpt class. It was a total body strengthening work out that incorporated weights, resistance bands and the yoga ball for some core work. It felt great to be doing something other than running and while I was struggling through some reps I just kept repeating to myself "this will make you a better runner". It was a great class that will definitely make it into my regular routine. One setback however, after a particularly grueling set of side lunges with weights I felt my right hamstring totally tighten up. I tried to stretch it out right away but I feel the damage has been done. It has been progressively getting more sore throughout the day and has the potential to derail whatever plans I had for running tomorrow.

And now the really fun part...shopping. After the gym, I took my sweaty, smelly self over to my local running store for some new running shoes. My New Balances only have about 250 miles on them but every time I run I have been having to stop to stretch out my shins. Not fun. The awesome girl at the running store said that typically running shoes fade between

300-500 miles, but some can go earlier than that. She analyzed my gait and suggested stepping down from a motion control shoe to just a support shoe. After trying on three different types of shoes I finally settled on the Brooks Adrenaline GTS 12. They feel great and it doesn't hurt that they are a little bit cute! Hopefully the hamstring heals up fast, I can wait to try these babies out!