(3 Things) New Shoes, New Half Zips and New Strength Training

A couple of weeks ago, a shoe company tweeted a picture of a beautiful pair of tennis shoes, which got me thinking: I need a pair of comfortable non-running tennis shoe. Social Media Marketing- 1, Abby's wallet- 0. A little bit of back story: I am not a tennis shoe wearing gal. Before I started running, the closest I came was converse and those things are NOT comfortable. Nowadays, when I need kick around shoes with more support than flats, I usually just wear a pair of old running shoes, but they aren't that great either.

Enter my new New Balance 515

OMG. Where have I been?! Fashion tennis shoes. Who knew?! These are adorable and so comfortable. I never knew shoes could be like this! There is so much cushion, I feel like I'm walking on clouds. I don't want to take them off, ever. I was a tad concerned about wearing them to DC without breaking them in, but did it anyway. You can take the cute shoe wearing girl out of the shoes, but you can't take the cute shoes out of the girl. . . Anyway, they passed the test of walking around an expo for 4 hours with flying colors!

Sidenote: These were not the shoes that were tweeted. Those shoes, while SO cute, were not comfortable. I also bought some Saucony Jazz Pros that I can't wait to test out as well. Apparently, every shoe brand has some version of this "retro" look. So, pick your brand of choice and get a pair.

Speaking of the Nike Women's expo, I'm absolutely smitten with my Nike Half zips! I don't know what the material they're made out of, but I'm pretty sure it's silkworm and kitten's fur. SO soft and comfortable. A couple of the shirts were made out of the same material and I can't wait to test them for a run. I love my NYCM one and it was super comfortable to wear for the Hot Chocolate 15k, which is when I really notice how soft they are. They are my new favorite go-to long sleeve. Too bad I won't need to wear them until next season.

And some more news on Nike- Have you heard of the Nike Training Club app? A friend of mine mentioned it to me awhile ago (like before I thought strength training was a thing). I downloaded it onto my phone, but it's a pretty big app so when I needed more space, it was the first to go. BUT now I've rediscovered it- and put it on my ipad that has more space- and I think it's exactly what I've been looking for for strength training. There are TONS of different work outs on it, you can do in the comfort of your own home. They will even create workout plans for you depending on what you want to do. If you are having trouble figuring out how to work in strength training, I highly suggest checking this app out. I've created a workout plan that incorporates running, so we'll see how well it works!

Yes, I'm pretty sure I'm late to the part on all of these things, but that should be no surprise.
What's your most comfortable tennis shoes? Have any strength training tips?