Running

Hi,

Now that the new year has started, many people probably have the resolution of going running more often, getting a better condition or maybe even losing weight. Unfortunately, many of those people don't carry on with it. So we're here to help!

Both of us go running very often, at least once a week. If you didn't know it yet: running is the fastest way to see progress on your body. Maia has followed some running programs last year and to be honest, this helps a lot. She always felt more obligated to go when she was following a program, and it's also good to make sure you make progress. Of course it isn't possible for everyone to go running or walking every day, but we think you can also put some rest days inbetween your program. After all it's still most important that you like what you do, not how much progress you make.
It's of course important to have the right running program, so here you have the two programs Maia followed last year:





As you can see they both come from Neilarey.com. That's a website Maia found through Pinterest. It's a great website for people who want to get started with running or working out.
This year she'll probably do that last one again, or follow another program from Neila Rey.

Femke doesn't follow any programs. When she started running two years ago, she builded it up herself by running as long as she could, then walking 1 minute, running again and repeating the same steps over and over again till she was really tired. Even though this worked out great for her, she still recommends to use a program for the first months you go running. Afterwards you can just go running as often and as long as you want, just like Femke does now.

Apart from a running program, good music will also keep you going. It'll help you stop focussing on how tired you are.
Some of Maia's favorite running songs are:
- 'Roar' by Katy Perry
- 'The Miracle' by U2
- 'Waves' by Robin Schulz
- 'Hey Brother' by Avicii
- 'Don't Stop Me Now' by Queen
Some of Femke's favorite running songs are:
- 'Hey Now' by Martin Solveig
- 'Give Our Dreams Their Wings to Fly' by Tim McMorris
- 'Work Bitch' by Britney Spears
- 'Nobody to Love' by Sigma
- 'Ugly Heart' by G.R.L.
You can also listed to an audio book or radio play when you're going on a long run.

It also helps to look for inspirational quotes sometimes. We Heart It's full of them! You can also print some of them out and stich them to your mirror. Or choose a quote as you background picture on your phone. This way you'll be reminded of it every day.

You hear quite often: 'no pain, no gain', but we think this isn't entirely true. Of course muscle pain indicates that you've worked hard, but it might also indicate that you don't stretch enough (or not at all), that your posture isn't right or that your running shoes aren't good enough. Now for this last thing, keep in mind that it has to be the exact right size and that the soles have to be thick enough. By the way, expencive shoes don't mean good shoes. Maia's got very cheap ones, but they're great and she never had foot pain with it. Now for the stretching and the posture we also found something at Neila Reys website:





And last but not least: too much is also not good. It's also okay to stop in winter when it's too cold or in summer when it's too hot. Just make sure you don't make up to many excuses for not going, because after all, it's something you have to do for yourself. You'll thankful to yourself later :)

xoxo
Maia & Femke

Sources: We Heart It, Neilarey.com