Anyway, I thought I would do my 7 Quick Takes about running since it is the new year and it seems that everyone loves to talk about exercise in January.
1. We don't normally exchange gifts but my husband surprised me with one of these for Christmas:
It's a GPS watch! I run laps through the neighborhood and now I don't have to count them anymore! I can just hit start and the GPS tracks my miles for me and tells me how fast I have run each mile. I can also download the information onto the computer and track it that way but I haven't done that yet.
It's a little big - I guess because it has a GPS in it - but it feels very light on my wrist so I don't notice it when I am running.
2. One of my running goals for this year is to run a 10k. I've done 4 5ks since I started running almost 2 years ago. I regularly run 3 miles with no problem now so I have decided it's time to set another goal. So, next up, 6.2 miles.
3. Last year, I stopped running after Thanksgiving and due to cold weather and using that as an excuse, I basically took the winter off and didn't start running again until last March. During my running "vacation", I gained 5 pounds. I stepped on the scale right before Christmas and have finally, finally, gotten those 5 pounds off.
I am determined not to let that happen this year so even though it was 23 degrees on Tuesday morning, I ran anyway. And even though it was 19 degrees yesterday, I ran anyway. So this morning, when it was 33 degrees, it felt balmy and I didn't even need to wear a jacket when I ran anyway!
4. The following items help me to stay toasty when I am running in the cold weather:
5. I am a very slow runner. When I am doing my morning runs through the neighborhood, I do about a 12 minute mile. However, when I do the 5k races I usually run about a 10 minute mile. Not much better but it is still an improvement.
During the races, my adrenaline is pumping and I just automatically go faster. Also, there are always slower people ahead so I spend a lot of time speeding up to get past them. And then, there is the fact that it is a race and I want to post a good time.
I know that I can do better. If I am going to do a 10k without being the last one to cross the finish line, I need to work on my speed. According to what I've read, running sprints (speeding up and then slowing down, speeding up, slowing down, etc). is supposed to be a good way to train your body to get used to running faster. I'm giving that a try to see if that works.
6. I saw this on Pinterest and this is my new running motto:
(photo courtesy of www.lifes-a-journal.com)
7. And as a little inspiration to run or to work out or to eat healthier foods, here is another great thing I saw on Pinterest:
(photo courtesy of muffintop-less.tumblr.com)
No excuses!
For more 7 Quick Takes please visit Jennifer at Conversion Diary.
1 comment:
I like both the quotes from Pinterest! The GPS looks great and so do the hat and gloves. Cold weather always quenches my desire to exercise. :( I did pretty good at walking at least 3 times a week till December hit, then Christmas and I still haven't got back to it. I'm excited for you that you are persevering through the cold temps! yay!
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