Workout Inspiration

I started running in the mornings again this week. Note to self: taking two weeks off was a bad idea. I should have been doing something in those two weeks like yoga or riding my bike. But there's no point dwelling on the past. I can definitely tell my body needs to get adjusted to running again but I'm making progress. I also have to watch Bailey more now to make sure she isn't overworking herself due to her bruised heart. We are both taking our morning runs in strides! (Did you get the pun?)

I have to listen to music when I run otherwise I'll just walk the entire time. Music motivates me to run longer or faster depending on the song. I'll tell myself to run until a song ends or to sprint when a certain part comes on. Plus music is a great distraction from the soreness of my body or my lungs when running. My running playlist consists of rap, hip-hop, dub-step and alternative music. Really anything that is fast paced, energetic and that I can listen to loudly. Here's my running playlist that I put on shuffle.

1. Hanging On (I See MONSTAS Remix) by Ellie Goulding
2. Run Boy Run by Woodkid
3. In Distress (feat. Gesaffelstein) by A$AP Rocky
4. Can't Hold Us by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
5. Radioactive (feat. Kendrick Lamar) by Imagine Dragons
6. Pompeii by Bastille
7. White Walls by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
8. Monster by Imagine Dragons
9. Burn by Ellie Goulding
10. Geekin' by Will.I.Am
11. It's Time by Imagine Dragons
12. Killin' It by Krewella
13. Feelin' Myself (feat. Miley Cyrus, French Montana, Wiz Khalifa & DJ Mustard) by Will.I.Am

Another great tool I use for inspiration is workout clothes and shoes. If I think a design is cool or looks cute or comes in some fun colors, I will want to wear it and want to workout. I have a pair of Nike's that are pink and purple for indoor running and a pair that is black and pink for outdoor running. I wore my pink and purple pair basically every day for nine months in college so I think I'm due for a new pair before I go back. Here are a few workout clothes I want to get before going back to school.

I want to get the new Adidas Performer tights in these two colors. The Performer tight is supposed to lift your booty so there's another reason to go out and buy a pair!

 This is the Nike Free 4.0 Flyknit

And this is the Nike Free 4.0

Also on nike.com, you can customize your own shoe. I don't know what shoe or what type I'll get but I know a new pair of shoes and new clothes are always motivation for anything! Plus it makes going back to school a little more bearable. I'm looking forward to getting even more in shape this summer and to have some more fun before Summer ends. I can't believe how fast it's already going. I plan to get a few more things done before I start packing again. Oh, the struggle (it's a good struggle). 

Woman's Best Friend

No, I'm not talking about shoes or designer handbags. I'm talking about dogs.

Here's a little back story; My family and I have had dogs as far back as I can remember. Our first dog was a male labrador named Seamore. I don't know who named him or when we got him but he was ours. We had him until I was about 5 years old and sadly he ran away. But a great family found him and took him in. Then we moved into our current house and we got a new dog. A female German shepherd/husky mix whose fur was a white and cream colored. Her name was Star. We adopted her from an animal shelter in Bismarck. Star was the best dog and the reason all of our dogs after her were so great.

This photo really doesn't do Star's beauty any justice but this is what she looked like. 

About a year or two after we adopted Star, we then adopted Maggie. Maggie was a lab/pit bull mix. I think it's incredibly unfair that pit bulls get a bad reputation for being mean, ruthless dogs. Maggie was nothing like that. She was a sweet dog who's bark was the worst thing she would do.

As Maggie got older, she started to look more and more like a pit bull. But she was still incredibly nice.

Finally, we got Bailey. Bailey is a chocolate lab mixed with something else but we're not quite sure. We got Bailey from my Uncle John and he even told us he didn't know what she was. Bailey is just as sweet as any other dog we've had but she LOVES  attention. She acts as if we don't give her any love at all!

Bailey with one of her favorite treats because tasted like peanut butter.

Well, Star and Maggie have passed on but we still have Bailey. Bailey has proved to be to be just as loyal as she is sweet. When I started going on runs in the morning, I would take Bailey with me. I didn't need to use a leash and she stayed by my side the whole way. I told my mom that if I ever decided to walk across the country, I would take Bailey with me.

 This photo was taken right after we got back from a morning run. And Look how happy Bailey is!

Another thing to know about me is that my family has owned horses since before I was born. We have a horse named Soda Pop (my sister named him after the character in The Outsiders). Soda is not the nicest horse and on Friday, he kicked Bailey in the face and in the chest. Bailey started out with a popped blood vessel in her eye and sore shoulder. That turned into a swollen eye and an even more sore shoulder. We couldn't get her into the vet until Monday so it was a pretty scary weekend for my mom and me. The vet said her eye would be fine but she also had a bruised heart. :(

Now Bailey is home resting and she has to have this ointment put in her eye three times a day.  My family is so grateful to the vet who kept Bailey for a couple of days to monitor her. Hopefully she makes a speedy recovery! I can't wait to go on more walks and runs with Bailey :)