FitBit Blaze

I have been the very happy owner of a FitBit for the last year and a half or so.  I've had the Charge the whole time and loved it.  I'm completely conscious of how many steps I am or am not taking each day and even challenge myself to see how soon I can hit certain amounts.  There are a few days at work I can hit 10,000 steps before lunch which I get really excited for!

However, my last Charge had some band issues and what I thought was a little tear that could last till the new year I discovered to be a big tear and what looked like band disintegrating on the inside.  Luckily I had a warranty through Best Buy (always buy the warranties...) so I decided to take it in and upgrade to FitBit's smart watch, the Blaze.

After one day... I'm even more in love.  I have a different clock face on mine (there's 4 you can choose from) and I have a black band because work is a bit picky on that.  It also gets call notifications and full text notifications.  Pretty much I can see who is calling, I think I can trigger my phone to answer the call from my watch, and I can read text messages (still have to reply on my phone).  In other words, I've been having a ton of fun with it.  The heart rate is cool, not sure how accurate it is, but as long as it is in the general range I'm happy.

I wore mine at the gym today for an elliptical workout and the heart rate was only a few beats off what the machine was claiming my heart rate was.  It also seemed to be more accurate in understanding my workout than my old Charge was.  It logged mileage, heart rate, calories burned, and steps.  Before I would have to alter a few things, but this time I just finished my workout and kept going!  I went in and started the workout, telling my Blaze I was on the elliptical, but there is also a smart workout feature that is supposed to tell when you're working out so I'm going to try that out tomorrow on my run.

There is also a feature called "FitStar" that is supposed to give you a workout if you need one.  Things like crunches, pushups, and other body weight exercises.  So essentially I will always have a workout with me regardless of where I am.  I guess this means I have no more excuses...  I'll report back on FitStar after I've been able to test it in the next week or two.

I also need to start saving up for the different bands you can get for the FitBit.  There are a few I already have my eye on, and while they aren't expensive (like $15-20), I think I've spent enough this weekend...

Medal Envy

I have medal envy... and the race hasn't even happened yet!  Regardless, I won't be running it and won't be earning this lovely medal that runDisney just released a picture of.

Yes, that's the castle to Chateau medal for those running a race in the US and the inaugural race in Paris.  I'm jealous...  I knew that race was a little out of the price range for me as right now my money is going to my new car, school, and an Alaska vacation in 2018, but that doesn't stop me from wanting the medal.

Maybe some year I'll be able to find a reason to go there for the run, or use the run as an excuse to go to Paris.  I mean, I took 3 years of French in high school and have been trying to relearn it... I should have a reason to right?  For now I'll just watch online at those lucky enough to go.  My mind will stay focused on Lumiere's challenge and all the other races I have coming up!

Water: Plain vs Enhanced

It's hot right now... really really hot.  Living in Florida is great in the so called winter because it's usually a comfortable 75 degrees or so.  However, in the summer it feels like the surface of the sun.  Working outside only makes me realize that every single day.  And running... ya running is done either really early in the morning or inside now.

Recently I was reintroduced to a hydration problem.  It's not hydrating itself as I drink plenty of water, usually 64-72 oz a day.  However, a lot of it is plain water.  I'm not sweating plain water though.  I'm sweating out salt and electrolytes as well as water.  So while I was rehydrating the water aspect, I was still getting depleted in electrolytes.

Thus last week I had what I thought was an exhaustion headache, which then led to some annoying cramping.  I was still able to function, but I was always uncomfortable.  I talked to my dad, who was a cyclist for a long time, and he mentioned he suffered the same issues when he didn't replenish his electrolytes.

I didn't want to admit that after my long athletic history that I didn't know how to properly fuel my body.  Still, I went to the store and bought various enhanced waters and electrolyte water enhancers (I bought Mio specifically...).  I started using these additions at work and guess what... no more issues!  I've felt good, definitely hydrated, and I might even get one or two more cups more of water since I've inadvertently added flavor as well.

 I don't add the Mio electrolytes to every refill of my water, but I try to get one or two a day.  I have a Propel or VitaminWater at lunch and so far it's been good.  It has also helped lessen my coke cravings since I have something tasty to drink (speaking of, that addiction has lessened quite a bit and I'm done to two or three cokes a month!).

So it goes to show, there's always something to learn and something to adjust.  My Mio drops are always in my pocket in case I need a little extra boost in the middle of the day and I have other enhanced waters ready to go after runs or at lunch.  It'll be hard to continue in winter when I don't drink as much, but hopefully the taste and the addiction to feeling good will keep me drinking plenty of water.

New Work Schedule, New Training Schedule

My work schedule varies by the day, with late starts on my Mondays (which in the real world is a Sunday), and my early days are my Fridays (also known as Thursday).  Well with an additional product my late days are getting later, but that has been a blessing in disguise.  I have more time to work on homework and I have more of a chance to workout without worrying about when I have to leave for work.

Before I had to worry about how far I was and what time it was and that's a level of stress I just don't want on my run.  So luckily now I can get away from that and just have my morning to myself and run or workout.  This morning it was a run on a treadmill.  The speed was great, the distance was great, everything was just great!

I did go farther than the picture... I just chose to take the picture at the 5k part... 3.5 miles today, we'll see where I get tomorrow!

Also, remember that time I signed up for the runDisney virtual run series?  Ya, I totally forgot about that until last week.  I have been running 5ks the whole time, but forgot to hashtag or log them as the virtual series run.  I did go into today's run with the mindset that it was for the series so that helped me get through the treadmill workout.  So I guess today was my White Gloves 5k race!

I guess I would want runDisney to send out reminders for the different starts, especially for those signed up for all three.  I think they would probably get better tags online of people completing the runs... Otherwise, I'm excited to get my medals.  Since I signed up for all three races I have to wait for the end of the series (June 30th) before all of my medals will be sent.  Still, can't wait... More medals, more bling!

Lucky 7

For the last few weeks I have been plagued by my inability to complete my 7 mile run.  I've hit 6 a few times, run multiple days in a row, but 7 miles has always had something come up that prevents me from finishing.  A hard night the night before, what seemed to be shin splint, life in general... all prevented me from getting to that 7 mile mark.

Yesterday I woke up not feeling well at all.  I stayed in bed for a few minutes to see if my stomach would calm down, but it just didn't want to.  I decided to just go out regardless and I wouldn't care about the 7 miles and just get out for a run.  A run is a run still, regardless of the distance.

I started my run before the sun even started breaking the horizon, even though I realized that was the most humid part of the morning.  However, when that dropped it felt great.  You want to know what else felt great?  Me!  My stomach wasn't the happiest, but didn't get in the way of my running all that much.  You know what that means?  I ran 7 miles!

It's amazing how even when you don't feel well you can do more than you think.  I definitely needed more water, was a bit shaky, but I did 7 miles and that put me on a high.  Plus I got to watch a beautiful sunrise and even saw a few armadillos.

After a relaxing ice bath at home and then relaxing I felt great.  I was able to walk later that night with my roommate and today I have no feelings of soreness in my legs.  That means I did a circuit workout with some pretty decent weights and it all felt great.

Now on to miles 8 and 9 I guess...

Running At My Happy Place

It just happens that my happy place tends to also be considered one of the happiest places on Earth.  My family and I spent a few days last week at the Boardwalk resort so I have been waiting anxiously for the chance to get out and run at one of my favorite places.

I love the scenery, the peacefulness, and just the whole environment that is the Epcot Resorts, especially in the morning.  Mainly to avoid the heat, but there were some epic sunrises while I was there and they tended to happen right when I was running.

The other great part of the weekend was that I was able to get out 3 out of the 4 days we were there.  I was planning on doing all 4, but we were out pretty late that last night and I could not get out of bed for the last run.  I'll make up for it in the weeks to come.  Still, the 3 runs felt decent.  My shins and knees weren't the happiest towards the end, but I was also lacking on stretching.  I also splurged on some new shoes that I was breaking in.

I also used the first run as my virtual runDisney 5k.  That run felt the best and I actually rivaled my time from the Busch Gardens 5k that I did last November.  Now I just have to wait patiently for my medal! Of course I had to take a character picture since it was a Disney race...

My running is getting stronger and faster... I just need it to get longer and with summer setting in I think that's going to be getting harder and harder.  Hopefully I have a few more weeks before I'm really sent hiding from the humidity at the gym...

Sprinklers... A Runner's Best Friend

They're always somewhere on the run, waiting for you, and when you find each other it's the best 3 seconds of your run... until you find the next one.  

There was a time when I didn't like running through sprinklers but now I look back at those times and I roll my eyes.  The avoidance was for stupid reasons too, like not getting my shoes wet.  Ya, I definitely don't care about that anymore.

On these hot summer days, I look forward to running next to some sprinklers.  It really is one of the best parts of long, hot runs.  The relief doesn't last long, but luckily I have always liked running in the morning which means there are a lot more sprinklers going.

I do wish I could just sit in some of the sprinklers and cool down in the middle of my run, but I don't really trust myself to get back up and keep going.  I guess a jump in the pool will work at the end of my run...

Here's to sprinklers!  The best little break from the heat a runner can get!