Get an exercise buddy

A big tip from many health gurus and health magazines is to find an exercise buddy. Working out with someone else increases your commitment to exercise because of the social aspect so that you are more accountable. Plus, an exercise buddy can also challenge you to workout more intensely. I have never been very successful at finding an exercise buddy. For the most part, I often exercise alone. Mainly because I haven't found anyone who wants to exercise with me (or maybe it is really because I am a little more obsessive about exercise than most people I know).

Well, I have finally found a running buddy. She is my running buddy for the 10K that we are running in 2 weeks! We just began running weekly, we ran together for the first time last week and again yesterday afternoon. As I mentioned before, I have never exercised with a buddy so let me tell you: a running buddy is great!!! It makes the time go by so quickly and I feel like I can run for longer lengths of time and distances than I usually am able to when I run by myself. She also keeps me motivated and challenges me to run longer. I actually enjoy running and I look forward to our weekly runs. Since we chat about different things while we run, I am learning to keep a comfortable pace and learning how to breathe better so that I am not so out of breath all the time. This has been a great experience. We haven't been tracking our miles but we have been running a little over an hour or so each time. I am guesstimating that we have been running about 5 miles. Not bad for this non-runner. Maybe even after the 10K is over, we can continue to do these weekly runs. I may not be a runner but I am enjoying running more than ever before with a running buddy!

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