Running with my buddy in the mornings.  We took the winter off, but now she’s ready to get hopping again and I’ve been fighting some sort of illness for the past week.

I love running outside (the indoor track can sure get boring over the winter months), love listening to my ipod and making my friend take her earbuds off just so I can tell her which song just came on mine.  I love the mornings when we never even put our earbuds in because there is too much to talk about.  I love how I feel when I get home – I’ve already accomplished something that’s good for me (and everyone who lives with me), I’m full of energy and ready to face the day, and yet it all feels like such a treat because I got to do it with someone I trust, love and want to spend time with.

If you are feeling stuck in your exercise routine or having trouble starting one, I highly recommend finding a work-out buddy.  Find something you like to do together and schedule time for it.  This gives a different sort of accountability to your routine – you don’t want to let your friend down and because you have set time aside for it, you don’t have to try to squeeze it in when everything else is done (because that is never, right?).  And like everything else in life (for a lot of us, anyway) it’s more fun to do together.  Even if you are only sharing the ride to-and-from the gym, it makes such a nice addition – it’s the cherry-on-top for me.

Like my friend said when I was telling her how much I missed it and how happy I will be to start again as soon as I’m well:  ”Jessica, I just love everything about it.”