Pinterest and running

If you've talked to me at all in the last month or two, you probably know how addicted to Pinterest I am. Pinterest, for those of you who don't know, is like a virtual corkboard website. Essentially you can find pictures of anything online and "pin" them to a board under your account. So, if you want to look for gifts, home decorations, quotes, exercise gear, school supplies, etc., you can pin it all to your boards. See Pinterest here: http://pinterest.com/journalismteach/

I have lots of boards, but it's my Exercise board that keeps me motivated to run. When I feel like it's tough to get out the door, or when I feel like I can't quite remember why I want to do this, I check my board.

Now, as cheesy as it may be, I'm all about the inspirational quotes. I know, cheesy. But, I really do love them! Things like, "Yesterday, you said tomorrow" (thank you Nike) or, "You have a choice... You can throw in the towel, or you can use it to wipe the sweat off your face" (thank you Gatorade), give me the motivation to go out and do it. Because even when I'm feeling slow or lethargic or tired or like I can't do it, Pinterest reminds me that, "No matter how slow you go, you're still lapping everyone on the couch."

I also like the Exercise board because I'm able to pin gear I plan to get for the half marathon on there. Ultimately, I want to make my own shirt for the race, explaining why I run, but some of the training shirts I've found are fantastic. I mean, I would appreciate it if I saw someone running in a shirt that said, "Does this shirt make my butt look fast?" or, "I thought they said 'Rum.'" Humor, baby, even through pain, is what it's all about.

I'll use any tools I can to help get me motivated to run after a long day of work, a hard day with myself, or a bad run the last time around.

"I choose to be healthy, to grow stronger, to be as alive as I possibly can. Who's with me?"