Nike apps Archives - The Blonde Side

Ruby & The Blonde Side

This one time I went running with a dog.

That was the last time I went running with a dog.

Her name is Ruby, and she’s a golden retriever and lab mix. She’s cute, but still a puppy. I should remind you I have a 23lb teacup chihuahua, so running with a dog is not really my thing. For obvious reasons. I’m not sure if my pup is 23lbs because I choose not to run with him or if I choose not to run with him because he’s 23lbs. But that’s neither here nor there.

Ruby’s owner, Sally, said she’s “good to run with,” so naturally I took her word for it. Here’s what good ole Sally forgot to mention:

1. Dogs (not unlike humans) poop when they run. Thankfully Sally had a poop bag tied to the leash, but when I went to pick it up pushing my hand through one side, there were holes in the bag (yup, visual). And there were six construction workers standing by staring at me. That was awkward for multiple reasons. Oh, and there wasn’t a trashcan to be found anywhere.

2. As a puppy, Ruby liked to bite her leash, pulling it away from me, thinking it was a game. I’m not the best runner to start with so all my focus needs to be on actually running, not an animal. This in turn, shortened the leash, making it an awkward length between the two of us causing me to stutter-step behind her. Perhaps ideal for cross-training, but nothing else.

3. Running on the bike path in South Lake Tahoe, it never failed that when a bike passed in either direction, Ruby tried to chase it. The same went with squirrels, leaves, trash, and so on. I guess the bonus here was that my pace was quickened against my will.

4. We ran across a homeless man laying in the bushes and in true Lassie form, Ruby ran over to him, before I had even noticed there was in fact a human on the ground. I’m not sure who was more frightened by this act, him or me, but it surely wasn’t Ruby.

Ruby’s clearly in charge here

5. If there is anything, I mean anything, interesting on the ground (say like a half eaten apple), Ruby will swiftly veer to one side pulling you along just to eat it, without warning.

[Today’s running accessories: I ran in my favorite New Balance 1400s, my lululemon speed shorts & my #nolimits tank, listened to the “No Doubt Radio” station on Pandora to kick it old school, ran a 8.3mph pace and finished 1.75 miles using the Nike+ running app before promptly returning the animal back home. Ruby however made a bigger mess drinking her water when we got home though. Go figure…]

The Blonde Side’s Running Game(s)

I do not like running. Let me start there. I am at best, an average runner. As I was debating an afternoon run a few weeks ago, I realized I needed some form of motivation. Something way beyond my usual Google search of hot and athletic chicks, so I turned a little impromptu game, making my run interactive by posting questions and polls on my social media channels. Once people started paying attention and providing feedback, I was pretty much forced to run. Which really was my only goal.

Here’s a look into my interactive running game:

1. I posted a poll on my Facebook page, asking friends/fans where I should run. I gave them two options – 3-mile loop around Memorial Park or running up and down my parking garage and stairs for 30 minutes.

The trick here was I gave everyone only 30 minutes to respond, that way I wouldn’t lose steam and could still manage to push my self out the door. As soon as the responses were in, I’d tie my Brooks Pure Flow shoes and take off. The poll semi-backfired because out of 64 votes, about 30 of those were for new options I didn’t post including suggestions of new running trails, a running club, a local CrossFit gym, etc, so it kind of skewed my results.

The awesome part about this? When the founder of Brian O’Neill’s Running Club suggested I head out to his club later that evening, another avid runner saw the post. She had never heard of BON, so I had the easy chance to introduce her to one of my favorite local running clubs. The power of social media and network sharing.

The other awesome part? One of my friends, a much better runner than I, suggested I run around the Bayou, a place I had never really heard of. Once I checked it out, I quickly added it to my list of local places to run. Not a bad FB survey, right?

2. I played a Pandora gamewith the Justin Bieber channel. My game went like this: every time a female artist came on, I had to

The Blonde Side’s Interactive Running Game with Justin Bieber

pick up the pace and run closer to a 7-minute mile as opposed to my 9-minute regular pace. But the joke was on me – only onemale song came on throughout the course of my 30-minute run. I guess it was a sweaty blessing in disguise. I posted this tidbit of hilarity on Twitter and got a ton of responses from other Pandora miscues. Apparently Biebs sounds more like Carrie Underwood, Ke$ha, and Demi Lovato than any of his male counterparts.

3. Instagrammed a collage of photos with the caption, “where did I run today?” Of course leave it to the blonde to run somewhere other than the 64 votes suggested, but I chose to head to Rice Village (it made more sense traffic-wise at that time of day).

The collage wasn’t entirely recognizable since I went through campus as opposed to staying on the regular runner’s path, but a number of people quickly guessed my spot. The post had over 20 comments and a few were from past Houston residents who had moved away saying how much they missed it here. A few of my followers asked if I was in need of a running buddy, so another plus!

What weird things do you do to help you get through a run?

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The first picture above is from the Nike+ app – I highly recommend it for a multitude of reasons.

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Running with Ruby