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!

It's All Mental (and my new Fitbit Flex)

I know that many people say that with running it's all mental. I agree with this, to a point - for people that are convinced it's ENTIRELY mental they should see my out of shape ass with my heart rate so high that I feel like the dang organ is going to jump out of my chest... they'd probably change their mind. But I definitely think that the mental aspect has a lot to do with it, and I really struggle with that.

Every once in a while I will get lost in thought while running, and just get into a groove and suddenly I will notice that five minutes have passed and I break out in a huge grin. I end up in that zone on accident, by chance, and it doesn't happen often. I wish there was a way to get into that mode more easily. Sometimes a really good song will do it for me (I like the new Fall Out Boy song - go ahead and judge), sometimes I start thinking about actually running in a 5K and what it will feel like, and sometimes I just get lost in thought thinking about the things I have to do that day.

Most of the time though I am very present in the moment. Thinking about my running form (is it bad? How should I adjust? I wish I had a trainer) or my breathing (will I ever find a breathing rhythm that I can stick to? Why is it so hard to breathe in through my nose?) or the time ticking on the treadmill (Can I make it another 30 seconds?). Will I ever get better at this? I know that consistency is key and I just need to stick with it. It would just be super awesome if I saw more progress.

My brother-in-law is on some hardcore new diet and is doing P90X and lost 6 pounds in a week already. I should feel happy for him (I do) but I'm also jealous. Not gonna lie. Check out my green eyes (okay, they're really blue-gray). I want results like that.... but I'm still trying to figure out what's right for me.

Check out my spaced out look.... LOL. I do not sweat pretty. I get red faced and gross. My headband is super cute but I've decided I'm not a huge fan of sweat dripping all over my face and prefer the awesomeness of the Bondi Band. Every time I get on the treadmill I say I'm going to go longer than 30 minutes with a 5 minute cooldown but I never do. I think it's because I keep trying to push myself harder during those 30 minutes so by the end of it I'm always totally worn out. I'm just winging this here, input is appreciated.

I picked up the new Fitbit Flex at Best Buy the other day and was crazy excited about it. Could I afford it? Of course not, but I'm considering it my Mother's Day gift to myself since I know Pete won't get me anything. I gave Pete my Fitbit One so he can see how many steps he takes at work - so yay, I actually have someone on my Fitbit friends list, finally! So far I really like the Flex - I constantly left the One clipped to clothes and then had to dig through my dirty clothes basket for it, and I hated wearing the big velcro wrist band at night. I thought the altimeter (that logged stairs) was really inaccurate so I don't miss the fact that the Flex doesn't have it. The Flex is much easier to use for logging sleep, and I never looked at the One screen so I don't miss having a screen at all - I always use the app on my phone.

This is a screen shot from Saturday. Brady and I walked to my mom's house and back and I was pretty psyched to get over 10,000 steps - it is more of a challenge than you think, at least for me. Even when I was working, my job was rather sedentary and unless I exercised I would only hit 5000-6000 steps in an entire day. If I'm at home being a lazy bum I'm lucky to hit 2,000. The Fitbit motivates me to get off my ass.

There are a LOT of complaints about the Flex right now. Fitbit never gave a solid release date and Best Buy jumped the gun and released it early. People that have pre-ordered it are livid. I canceled my BB pre-order and picked it up at the store (no I could not wait, I'm not big on self-control). People say that it's logging steps when you wave your hand around and that it's NOT logging steps when you're pushing a stroller or grocery cart. I am wearing mine on my non-dominant hand (you can set that in the settings) and it seems to be pretty accurate for me. For example, aside from a tiny bit of walking around the house I did 2.65 miles on the treadmill today (see above) and right now my Flex is saying I've gone 2.67 miles today, or 5,006 steps. Sounds accurate enough to me! You can further calibrate it by inputting your stride length and all that on the Fitbit website, but I haven't found that necessary. Plus, I'm keeping in mind that this product was just released and technically wasn't even *supposed* to be released yet - I'm sure with all the feedback pouring in that a device update will be coming soon. For what I use it for it is (knock on wood) working great. They say you can even wear it in the shower, but I haven't been that brave. This little piece of tech wasn't cheap, yo.

I had a great weekend with Brady. Aside from the nice walk on Saturday (we stopped for ice cream, I had a few bites of his but did NOT get my own - hooray for tiny victories!) we worked on a school project together. I had to help him make a turtle out of clay. I think we did a decent job! He has to write his turtle report tonight but I'm not allowed to help him with that. Yesterday we saw Iron Man 3 in the theater (I admit it, I totally had movie theater popcorn and only felt semi-guilty) and we both liked it - Robert Downey Jr. is my dream lover. Seriously. My friend even made a photo years ago of people having a double wedding and she stuck our faces on the brides and the grooms were RDJ and Jude Law. No joke. If I could find the picture I would show you. I am trying the new Vine app and posted a few cute vid clips of Brady because he's my favorite person in the world. If you follow me on Twitter I posted a few links to some of the videos.

This is getting entirely too long and now I'm just rambling. To sum it up: Good weekend, liking the Fitbit Flex so far, need to work on my mentalness. Hahaha.