5 Ways to Extend the Life of Your Running Shoes

We know that you work hard for your money and we want to help you get the most "bang for your buck" as you can when it comes to anything from groceries, to workouts, to workout wear essentials. We all love athletic shoes, especially some of the beautiful new shoes touted just for running and for triathlons, but WOW! are they expensive!

5 Ways to Extend the Life of Your Running Shoes

1. Wear your shoes ONLY for their specified purpose. 

If you are racking up some miles running, save your running shoes for only running. Keeping them on to run errands and play at the park with your kids will cause them to break down faster. If you are headed to the gym for weights and cardio, stick with a cross-trainer shoe or take two pairs of athletic shoes with you - ones for lifting and ones for running. Hold on to your "worn out" running and athletic shoes for running errands and other activities that don't require the same amount of support and structure.

2. Allow your shoes to fully dry before wearing them again.

Don't throw your wet shoes in your gym bag and forget about them (and please, don't leave them to cook in your hot car). Take your shoes out when you get home and let them air dry. Take out the insoles in your shoes to dry separately and stuff newspaper or dry paper towels in your shoes to absorb moisture.

3. Track when you bought the shoes and your mileage in the shoes.

Let's face it, running in a pair of shoes for over a year isn't a smart option for your spinal health! The shoes break down with weight and sweat overtime and can't support your feet and your body in the way they were made as they age. Keeping track of the date of purchase of your shoes and the mileage that you put in while wearing the shoes will be your best bet in ensuring your feet and bones are well supported. NOTE: The rate at which shoes break down over time vary - keeping track of manufacturers and mileage is important so you can rate which are best for you. Typically, you can get about 200-400 miles out of your running shoes, but this will vary depending on you, your running patterns, running/weather conditions, your sweat patterns and how well you take care of your shoes.

4. Alternate 2-3 pair of shoes.

You probably have more than 1 pair of athletic shoes in your closet, right? Take advantage of those shoes and extend the life of them! Wear a different pair each time you run or workout, in a rotation to allow the shoes to fully dry and rest.

5. Don't wash your shoes in your washing machine or dry them in your dryer.

Your shoes will take a major beating in the washing machine - don't do it! If you decided to go all "Singing in the Rain" during your run and jump in puddles, or if you get stuck trail running in the middle of a rainstorm, hose your shoes off and gently brush off the dirt or mud with a brush. Allow them to air dry, with the insoles removed. You can also stuff the shoes with paper towels or newspaper to assist with drying, but don't put them in the dryer! The glue on the shoes will break down in your dryer and your shoe will break down much faster!

Need a little extra help with incorporating strength training with your runs? Don't want to think about your workouts? Let us be your personal trainers with our She Sweats 12-week Run Builder and decrease your mile time. It guides your workout each day and has everything you need! Find out more!

She Sweats 12-Week Run Builder

You read that right! It's our newest workout plan! 

If you love our She Sweats 12-Week Transformation, you will love our She Sweats 12-Week Run Builder workout, especially if you are a runner! We partnered with Moms RUN This Town to create a workout plan geared toward helping you build and maintain muscle while keeping your running shoes laced up. 

What You Should Know About the She Sweats 12-Week Run Builder:

1. The plan focuses on keeping you running while introducing strength training into your routine. You won't have to give up the miles and pavement (or trails) that you love so much for the sake of strength training. We suggest following the workout to a "T" to gain maximum value and allow your body to work to its full potential.
2. The plan is currently available in both a gym version AND an at-home version. We have eliminated your excuses!
3. Included in the plan are:
   1. 12 weeks of workout plans, including rest days, cardio/run training with mileage suggestions and abdominal training. The workout plans tell you exactly what exercises to do, the number of reps and the intensity to which you should be working at. 
   2. Our philosophy behind incorporating weight training alongside your run training.
   3. Logs for tracking both your strength and cardio training, as well as actual weight used and general feelings for the day's workout.
   4. What items are commonly on our grocery list and a sample for timing your daily meals.
   5. Information about what to eat before and after a workout.
   6. 4 HIIT Routines.
4. The strength training workouts are designed to be accomplished in approximately 45-70 minutes in the gym on strength days - time will vary based on day and segment. Run days will take you approximately 30-45 minutes with 15 minutes of abdominal/core training. 
5. Equipment required/suggested to complete the At-home version is as follows:
   1. Dumbbells of varying sizes - we recommend at least 2 different size sets.
   2. Stability Ball.
   3. Resistance Bands.
   4. Flat Surface or Workout Bench (Coffee tables work great with a towel to double as a workout bench.)

As with all of our workouts, the workout is available to you for download IMMEDIATELY. There is NO waiting for the program - NO waiting to reach your goals - NO excuses! 

Feel free to comment or ask any questions that you might have. We are so excited about this new workout and we hope that you are too!

Whitney

It's OK to Fall Off the Wagon

I recently received a text message from one of my best friends that went a little like this: "I need some motivation... I've fallen away from my workout and good eating kick!!! I need some serious accountability!!!!..." Want to know my response to her? "Don't worry. Take a deep breath. Do something right now that's good for you - even if it's a walk to the mailbox, and make good decisions from then on out!" I then when on to ask her what she has been doing and what does she REALISTICALLY have time to do going forward (

girl 

has 6 children to take care of - 

life 

definitely gets in her way!).

You see, it's one thing to try to back yourself into a corner of what you should be doing, but sometimes, when we box ourselves in SO much, we don't leave time or the ability to veer from our normal path. This is dangerous! Not really dangerous in a skydiving or a driving 100MPH in a 25MPH zone sort of way, but dangerous in a self-sabotaging way. When you fall off of the wagon from this, you are going to fall HARD! It's going to make it even harder to get back on. 

Let's talk about the wagon you are on: What does it look like? Is it realistic? Did you try to make yourself or your "goals" into something that you aren't or shouldn't be? Is it too far from what you feel you can actually accomplish? Did you set one big goal or smaller ones that will lead up to a bigger one? You need to evaluate this. If something doesn't seem attainable, squash it - you won't get there. SURE - Dream the impossible and reach for it! However, people don't accomplish the impossible by starting on a direct path to it first. They overcome little hurdles that ultimately add up to the big shebang! 

How about the road you are driving the wagon on? What does that road look like? Did you give yourself 3 weeks to run a half marathon? 1 month to lose 20 lbs? If your goal looks like that, you've set yourself up for failure before you even started. Think about your goals and the things it will take you to get there, what's going on in your life (vacation, obligations, responsibilities, time constraints, etc) and determine the road that looks best for YOU. Not a group of your friends, but YOU!

What happens if and when you fall off of the wagon? You see those posts on Pinterest and Facebook all the time - "So and so lost 75lbs in 3 months because they were FOCUSED." Um... first of all, that isn't healthy, but I digress... If it's actually true, do you not think they had times of self-doubt? Think they sneaked in a night of too many calories or drank a glass of wine? Most likely. If it's actually true however, they learned how to pick themselves up off the ground, get back on the wagon and move closer toward their goal. The OVERALL goal became BIGGER than their immediate desire (not need - if it's truly a need, don't ignore it). All you have to do is have the courage (and maybe "gumption" if you are in the South) to get back up, brush yourself on and persevere toward the finish line. 

What does your wagon look like?

Tiffany