"What doesn't kill you makes you stronger."

With only 4 hours of sleep to run on, I rolled out of bead with eyes barely open wondering how I was going to make it through an hour of boot camp this morning. To give myself a kick of energy I took 2 large chugs of coffee leftover in the pot from yesterday and headed out the door. Out of no where a huge burst of energy came over me and I was PUMPED to workout. It was actually a decent temperature at 5:30 this morning as opposed to the half frozen weather I normally have to deal with. To keep up this new jolt of energy I turned up some motivating music in the car and found my mojo ;) I was ready to rock this workout (with some inspirational words from my amazing boyfriend). Once the workout started I felt so much better and alive. Like the saying goes, "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger." Sometimes you just have to bite your lip and put on a good attitude. Most of the times when you fake a positive attitude you actually gain one. It is amazing how the brain works like that! Another little thing that has kept me excited for workouts this week is my NEW SHOES!!!

When I saw these at the Nike Outlet I instantly wanted them. The colors are so vibrant, which is something I love. They are a real eye grabber as well :) Although I instantly wanted them I had to be sure that they were the right shoe for me, despite how totally amazingly perfect their style was for me. When picking out the right kind of shoes many people go for style or brand over other more important factors. It is important to categorize what kind of physical activities you will you performing with your new shoes: cross training, weight lifting, running, etc. Next you should figure out whether you are a pronator, supinator or neutral. There are a couple techniques to figure this out; one is to lay your shoe flat on the ground, pick up the toe of the shoe so that it is sitting on its heel and gently let the shoe drop. As the shoe drops back to the ground from the heel, watch to see if your shoe turns inwards (pronates) or outwards (supinate). Depending on which one you are and to what degree it is better to get a shoe that will help prevent it. There are many shoe stores, such as Fleet Feet, that will do this for you as well. Fleet Feet as well as some physical therapy offices will also do a gait analysis of your running/walking stride either on a tredmill or walking through the store. People are trained in biomechanics to analyze the way your foot strikes the ground and the best type of shoe to accomodate that. Yes, these kinds of things can end up being expensive but in the scheme of things it is worth it to have proper shoes than to deal with possible injuries or long term pain due to having the incorrect shoes.

Check out Fleet Feet's FITLOSOPHY. (Also many towns have local shoe stores who now do this as well)
FITLOSOPHY