Running Gadgets

I have been following another blog written by a lady who is doing the fabulous Couch to 5K (http://www.c25k.com/) program. Apparently there is an iphone app now and she loves it! Here are some of the things that she said on her blog:

The Couch to 5k (aka: c25k) app will ease you into running a 5k in 9 weeks! It is designed to be 3, 30 minute workouts a week, so it is easy to fit into your busy schedules. It’s a really easy app to use too. It integrates with the music you already have on your iPhone, iTouch, or Droid, so you can listen to it as you workout. It tells you when to start walking, running, and when to turnaround at your half way point too. All you have to do is get off the couch and get moving!

Each workout is timed, and it will alert you when you are at your halfway point. It gives you a warm up period and a cool down time too. You can record your workout history and update your results to Facebook (if you want it too).

I don't have an iphone but I thought this was a genius gadget. Two of my friends have bought the Garmin Forerunner GPS watches too and both love them. Think I'll treat myself to something when I've made some more progress - a nice little reward for myself to look forward to :).

Getting back into the running groove

Everything has gone a bit pear-shaped (including me) on the exercise front lately so I've decided that today is the day to refocus, reflect and set a new goal. I've realized that in just six weeks it will be a whole year since I did my first 5K, the Tampa Police Memorial 5K on Bayshore, so I definately need to do that one again and hopefully celebrate how far I've come:).

To get back on track I'm going to try running outside first thing in the morning when it's not too hot. I ran at 5:45 a.m. for the first time ever this week and followed the advice of a friend and ran laps instead of a run out and run back. It made a huge difference mentally since I wasn't constantly worried about getting further and further away from my house and not having the energy or desire to run all the way back in time to get ready for work!

Last October I was in a world of hurt when I threw up as I crossed that finish line...

Check out my face in the photo and the face of the lady at the front on the right hand side a little closer. Yep - I'm in trouble and she knows it...:)

Let's see if we can achieve a prettier 'over the line' picture this year shall we? 

Hiking out west

Despite the fact that I didn't see the inside of a gym or put on my running shorts for a week, we did manage to stay pretty active on our vacation out west. We got up early, went to bed early and hiked almost every day. Hiking is much more challenging than I thought at high elevations with that thin mountain air. The Navajo trail at Bryce Canyon was probably the most difficult - Maddy loved the trip down but was miserable on the way back up :(. After about a half an hour, she admitted that she was glad she'd done it though:)

I also managed to take 'that damn bike' out a couple of times before the trip and felt a bit better about the whole thing:). My goal for the month is to get to the point where I can do 10 miles on the new bike relatively comfortably.