Losing my Mojo

In case you haven't noticed from my lack of posts - I've lost my running mojo. I don't even know why really! After the Electric Run and around my birthday (August 7th) I just kind of... stopped running. I still participated in a run I signed up for on August 17th, and I just participated in a fun run last night - but other than that, nothing. Needless to say, since I haven't been running in a while last night was quite the challenge. Who am I kidding? Running is always a challenge for me. I do want to start trying to get into a routine again though - I really think I'll love running in the fall. Here's hoping!

For those of you wondering, I returned the TomTom Runner. It definitely had potential - I loved the look of it and the fast GPS - but I wasn't willing to wait around for the software updates for it to be the watch I wanted. I want to know lap pace, how fast I am each mile. I want a detailed website for the info (the TomTom website leaves a lot to be desired at the moment). I can't have the signal drop out when I'm running my favorite route by my house. I'm thinking of trying a Forerunner 10 next (the purple has been calling my name) but not sure when/if I'll get one. My online friend Cynthia (shout out, hey girl!) got a Forerunner recently so I'm waiting to hear her thoughts on it. Please feel free to share thoughts/opinions in the comments!

Last night was the Runnin' for 'Rissa glow run - it was to honor a sweet girl that passed away after a long battle with cystic fibrosis. This was the second annual run but the first time I participated - last year they did a color run.

I caved into peer pressure and wore the shirt they provided for the run (which I normally never do) and I will NOT do it again. It wasn't breathable at all, and obviously not moisture wicking - by the end of the run I was a sweaty HOT mess. Yuck. My mom participated in the walk/run as well - she runs at the beginning and the end and walks the rest. :) Here we are before the run.

Brady ran ahead with his friends and actually finished the run before me this time! Whenever he runs with me my time is always so much slower - but apparently his friends give him the proper motivation to get his butt in gear. He had a total blast and was running around before AND after the run too.

Here are my Endomondo stats from the run. I question the accuracy because dude - check out that second mile. I know I was trying hard but I really don't think my pace was that good! It sure felt AWESOME to hear the Endomondo lady say that though. I basically want a more accurate version of Endomondo in watch form... can I get that somewhere? :)

  

Despite the fact that I haven't been running, my time was still better than it had been when I started my running journey earlier this year. Yes, I'm still taking walk breaks so I'm really not that impressive - but I'm improving, and I'll get there someday. I'll share one more picture - it's a sweaty picture, but I'm not shy! Here's my Brady and me after the run... his isn't all sweat, I also let him pour water on his head afterwards. It was really warm despite the late hour! Couldn't have asked for better weather for the event.

 

Still Torn About The TomTom Runner

I got a chance to take the TomTom out on another run yesterday... the best part? PETE actually came on the run with me! I'm not making this up! He wanted to get more sleep so we started about 1 1/2 hours after I wanted to - but he learned pretty quick that he shouldn't have done that because it was hot and we ran in full sun which sucks. I much prefer the cooler early morning runs. Unfortunately I have no photographic evidence that Pete ran with me because I think he would have been angry if I had taken a picture of him breathing heavy and sweating profusely... so yeah, just avoided it.

Now I'm not the most coordinated person so I didn't spend my entire (short) run looking at the watch, but I'm happy to report that it didn't drop signal this time - at least, not for any significant length of time. Here is the watch results vs. Endomondo:

 So there you have it - still a distance difference but not as huge as the first time I used the watch. I know that watches are supposed to be more accurate because they use GPS satellites vs. cell towers - but I've used Endomondo in multiple 5Ks and it has always been accurate? For the Wolverine 5K it was a perfect 3.1... at the Electric Run last week Endomondo said it was 3.09. It measured the Ella run as longer but everyone stated it was longer than a 5K and someone had a map on MapMyRun that stated it was longer as well. I know I'm not fast so the watch is probably more accurate but I don't want to give up Endomondo. I like the lady telling me "one mile in 9 minutes blah blah seconds" and I like how the app shows my pace for each mile. The TomTom doesn't let you set up intervals (although it's rumored that we will be able to in a future update).

I've been leaning towards returning it but I'm still on the fence. Honestly, I'm going to carry my phone on my runs no matter what. I'm klutzy and I don't want to end up in a ditch with a broken ankle and no phone. So why do I need the expensive watch?  I decided I needed to try it out with my treadmill to see the accelerometer feature.

I haven't been on my treadmill in ages - what for, when it's so nice outside? But I live in Wisconsin so I NEED that treadmill, because this girl won't run in the snow. I always feel like I'm running faster than what the treadmill says I am so that bugs me, lol. I set the treadmill on an incline of 2 and set the speed at 5mph. Which is a 12 minute mile... yet feels at least as fast as I run outside and I run around a 10 minute mile on average outside so UGH I just don't understaaaand lol.

Why such a short run? Well, I have a clear holder on my treadmill to hold my iPad and I kinda banged into it while adjusting the volume, which made it hit a button and stop my workout. That totally pissed me off and I decided I was over it for today. Since it shut off my workout I don't have a screen shot of the treadmill screen - but if I had the treadmill set at 5mph that's a 12 minute/mile pace, correct? So why is my TomTom Runner saying I was running an almost 9 minute/mile pace? Is it just THAT inaccurate? Does my treadmill need to be calibrated? Is it a combination of both? I wouldn't know the first thing about calibrating a treadmill so if you do, please share. The watch has a feature at the end of the treadmill workout to calibrate it to the "known" distance, but I'm not sure where the treadmill was at so I left it as is. I know the last time I checked the distance on the treadmill, it was less than the watch. Looks like this first attempt was a bust and I should probably attempt it again.

So where am I at right now? Well, I'm going to Green Bay today and I had wanted to make my decision on the watch by now so I could return it if necessary (I live about an hour away so I don't go there that often). However, I might have to hang onto it for a while... I still don't know. Should I try running with a different app and the watch? I've always been meaning to try Runkeeper. Does someone want to come over and calibrate our treadmill? LOL I just want to know what the most accurate numbers are! I have a feeling I will never know and I'll just give up in frustration because I'm too dumb to figure all of this out.

Any suggestions, thoughts, opinions?? PLEASE share! Help, lol!

First Run w/the TomTom Runner - Uh Oh...

I attempted my first run with my new GPS watch this morning and came home disappointed. Everything was great for the first half mile, but when I turned onto a different street it continued to record time but not distance. I thought GPS satellites were awesome, and the only time it couldn't get a signal was when it's in a tunnel or something? When I reached the end of the street it started recording distance again but by then it said my pace was ridiculously slow - don't get me wrong, I'm slow, but not THAT slow. So why did this happen? I'm hoping it's a fluke, I'm going to go for another run on Thursday I think and I'll take the same route so we'll see what happens then.

This is the road where it didn't record distance on the way down, but it did on the way back... hmm.

As you can see, there are a lot of trees on both sides of the road once you get farther down there but that really shouldn't affect GPS satellites, right? I did run my trusty Endomondo app as well - proven to be accurate because I've used it in multiple 5K runs. Here are the final results:

My adorable watch says I only went 2.31 miles. I beg to differ.

I stopped the app at 3.1 on purpose and walked the last little bit to the house. I was SO close to getting it in under 30 minutes (yes, still taking a few short walk breaks too). The watch and app are off by 5 seconds but that's because I started Endomondo first, shoved my phone into my Flipbelt and then started the watch. I will try to start them at the exact same time on my next attempt.

I'm really hoping this was a one-time thing because I'll be bummed out if I have to return the watch. I will let you know how things go after my next attempt! If anyone has a logical explanation for this feel free to share as I'm still new to using running tech.

Ella Smetana Memorial Run

I've been a bad girl. I haven't been eating as well since the holiday... I do pretty well on the days I work, but on my days off not so much. I hate humidity so I often use that excuse to avoid my running. Normally I wake up really early so the humidity isn't so bad - but I haven't been sleeping well lately so when my alarm goes off I stay in bed. None of this makes me feel good about myself but I'm being honest... I just haven't been feeling it lately.

Before today, my last run was July 7th - six days ago. I only made it 1.57 miles and finished the rest of my route walking. I had been taking too many walk breaks during the running portion and just didn't feel up to it so I bailed. It sucked.

Today was the Ella Smetana Memorial Run/Walk to honor a little girl who died of cancer. I very briefly entertained the thought of not doing this run because I've been so off routine lately, but then I realized that was awful and I needed to suck it up. A sweet girl died of cancer and damn it, even if I had to walk the whole thing I was going to do it - all proceeds from the run go to the American Cancer Society which is really important to me. So I woke up this morning, got my gear on and hit the road.

It was only $12 to sign up for this run and I got a t-shirt (white with pink tie-dye), granola bar, drink packet and an herbal foot soak sample, which I thought was pretty generous considering the low cost! At the finish there was water and Gatorade, orange slices and bananas, cookies and bagels - the usual spread but a nice selection.

This was considered a fun run, no timing chips - just a lady with a stop watch at the finish shouting out times. I used my Endomondo app and my time was consistent with her watch so that's good enough accuracy for me! I started off not knowing how I was going to do or what to expect. I took my first walk break just before the first mile marker - I definitely felt more fatigued than usual - but I did my first mile in 9:30 so that was a pleasant surprise. The second mile sucked because we were running directly into the sun and I do NOT do well running in hot weather. I run at 4:30-5:30 in the morning to avoid the sun, lol.... so this was brutal for me. Lots of running/walking/running/walking. I have been known to pass out on hot summer days (I passed out on a person in church once) so I made sure to hit both water stations and not push myself too hard.

I hate being passed though, so that kept me motivated lol. My friend Catherine and her buddy Matt met me towards the end to cheer me on and keep me going - but I still walked quite a bit at the very end because like I said, passing out would NOT be cool. The run was longer than a 5K which was frustrating for me but I actually STILL beat my last 5K time even though this run was 3.27 miles! What the heck! I'm still getting consistently better even though this last week was full of fail. Here's my stats:

 

Needless to say, this was pretty awesome. Even though the run was really hard for me I am STILL showing improvement - and what better motivation is that to stick with it? My next two 5Ks I'm doing with my son, so that will definitely affect my speed but I still want to practice as much as I can to keep improving my stamina/endurance. The picture on the left was my view after the run.... not bad!

Sticking With It

Went for a few runs this week - I have a preferred course mapped out near my house that I prefer to use now. My first one was basically 1.55 miles to a yellow sign, then turn around and come back but that one is pretty boring so I like this 3.1 mile course better.

I still can't run the whole time, but I'm showing overall improvements. I just pray that I stick with this motivated streak so I keep getting better and better. Here's me today - for you guys I'm even posting the pic without a filter:

I got caught in the rain for the last half mile which actually made me feel kind of badass. It was a cold rain too so it motivated me to run the last bit moreso than I would have otherwise I think. I'm still taking walk breaks but I know that if I could just be really consistent with running at least every other day that I'd be taking less walk breaks in no time! I work a lot next week so I'm really nervous about keeping up with my running. I am always worried that no matter how early I wake up, I won't have enough time to run, shower, blow dry my hair, get ready and eat something before I have to make the 30 minute drive to work. I stand the majority of the day at my new job and running after work is full of suckage. I've tried it. Just yuck. I've always preferred mornings for my running anyway.

Note my new band for my Fitbit Flex! I may have made a special trip to Target (the nearest one is an hour away) to pick up the 3-pack of accessory bands. My Best Buy pre-order for them got cancelled, and they're backordered on the Fitbit website as well as Amazon. WTF, Fitbit? Why have you been so lame about all the Flex stuff? Did you seriously not have a clue how high the demand would be? Also, the bands are a pretty cheap material - how can you not make them in bulk, and also offer other colors? I'm thinking silver, lavender, yellow, pink... come on now!

I should really get rid of a bunch of the other running apps on my phone because I always end up using Endomondo. I've found it to be very accurate and I like all of the details it gives. I'm showing today's details because I actually managed to keep all three of my miles pretty consistent! That's the first time I've ever done that. I had been listening to an audiobook on my last few runs which I've enjoyed, but today I listened to music. I also ran faster than I did on my Wednesday run. Coincidence? Maybe... but it was also hotter out for my Wednesday run. It was a lot better to run this morning when it was all overcast.

This was also my first time running in my Pro Compression Trainer Low socks. I have their marathon socks and I like them, but I wanted to try out their ankle socks as I have huge issues with most ankle socks out there. Any socks I've bought from a store tend to slide down my giant feet, which means my heel is rubbing against my shoe with nothing staying in between. I found a winner with Feetures socks - they're made a bit higher in the back which solved my problem, but I wanted to see if I could find a compression version that would work.

These socks FTW. They give just the right amount of compression and they stay on my feet like they're supposed to - perfect for me when I'm running. I can also order size S/M when I get these socks - which make me feel good because I really do have big feet and ordering that size makes me feel smaller and more feminine. LOL. The best part is that Pro Compression has deals going all the time - over Father's Day weekend they had 40% off and free shipping, which was when I got two pairs of these. One of these days when people start commenting on my blog (instead of just lurking... hi, I see you!) I will do a giveaway because Pro Compression socks are awesome.

Another running item that continues to prove it's worth? My Flipbelt. Seriously people, I can't recommend it highly enough. I don't have much music on my phone and hate to drain the battery any faster than I already do, so I just use my phone to run Endomondo and tuck it in my Flipbelt. I use my old Nano (the square one with the touch screen - like a Shuffle only a bit bigger) and clip it to one of the other openings on my Flipbelt for my music. During my races I also tuck my car key in there, sometimes a chapstick. The thing does not jiggle at ALL (oh, how I wish I could say that for the rest of me). Everything stays put and I don't even notice it's there.

So tell me, what's your favorite running gear? What about your favorite running app? I love hearing other peoples' opinions!