Another busy week and I only got to run one day. I did make the best of that day but I will tell you about that later in this post. The last couple of weeks I have been telling you that I was going to write a product review and I guess that time has come.
The product/device is called Fitbit Ultra. I have been wearing one since the last part of June and I love it. I have seen other reviewer call this a high-dollar pedometer but I say that it is much more than that. It can record so much more that just a $30 pedometer. As a disclaimer, I did not receive this unit from Fitbit. I bought it with my own money. Now that that is out of the way.
Fitbit Ultra (Fitbit for the rest of this post) records your steps and converts them into miles and calories burned. It has a built-in accelerometer and altimeter. The accelerometer allows that Fitbit to sense when it is moving and how fast. The altimeter in there to determine high many floors of stairs you climb. It comes in two different colors: blue and plum, which is really purple if you ask me.
All of the specs can be found at fitbit.com. I want to tell you about my experience with it. I have only worn it one time during a workout and the mileage was pretty accurate. I no longer carry it while running because I sweat a lot and water is not the Fitbit's friend.
One thing that I don't enjoy about using the Fitbit is that when I'm driving a tends to count bumps and any movement as steps. That also makes my mileage go up too. I use the iPhone app to record my driving and that deletes any steps and floor climbs during that period. The only other way around that is to keep it plugged in or completely turn it off. The turning off and back on is a pain so I just write down what time I started driving and then for how long and that evens things out.
One of the pros of the Fitbit is the number of other services you can connect it too. Mainly the previous two sites I talked about and also my favorite site for losing weight, LoseIt. When you connect it to MapMyRun it will record all of your days steps as a walk for that day. In earndit.com, you will receive points based on your activity level for that day. With LoseIt, it will give you extra calories for the day based on that activity too. I don't use my Fitbit with MapMyRun but do with earndit.com and LoseIt.
How well are you sleeping? Fitbit can help you with that too. You have to wear it on your wrist with the supplied wrist strap. Press the button for 2 seconds and then go to sleep. When you wake up in the morning, press the button again and it will tell you how long you slept. After it uploads the information to the website, you can see how many times you woke up, how long it took you to go to sleep, and how long your were actually asleep.
The two best things about Fitbit are that you don't have to charge it everyday and your data is uploaded automatically without wires. As long as you have the charging station plugged into a computer that is running the Fitbit software, the Fitbit tries to upload it's data every 15 minutes. I only upload mine once a day and then everything gets sent at once. I have been four days without putting it onto the charger. The Fitbit website says it should last atleast three days and up to seven. If you don't come near the charger for a few days that is alright too because it can retain the minute to minute data for seven days. So long as you upload the data once a week you will have all of the data that was recorded.
You can get the Fitbit Ultra from fitbit.com or you can get it from Amazon. I have seen it as low as $85 on Amazon but most of the time it's the same price ($99.95) at both places. I picked mine up at Target and some Best Buys carry them too.
All things considered, I think with the amount of data that the Fitbit records it is worth the price and it will keep you motivated to move more so you can reach your goals.
Now back to my running week. I did have a busy week and my only day running was a 12 miler. I've been having some bad blisters on the sides of my feet and I think they are caused from my socks getting too wet. I really do sweat a lot and by the time I have finished the first five miles, I'm soaked. When I do my next long run, I am going to carry and extra pair of socks and put them on before I feel the blisters coming on and see how that works.
Thanks for stopping by again this week and I'll see you again next week.
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
Monday, July 30, 2012
I Think We Missed a Turn
This was a great running week for me because I finally hit over twenty miles for the first time in five weeks. I'm not saying I haven't had any good weeks but this one was really good. Sometimes my job keeps me from getting a run in on the days I know I need to get one but we won't go into that.
To start my running week off, I ran from my house to the TN state line and back on Wednesday morning for a total of 7.1 miles. That was my longest distance for a middle of the week run. Most of my midweek runs are 4-6 miles. This was also a different route for me too. I thought there would be lots of traffic down there road but there really wasn't. I ran to where the "Tennessee" sign and just past it but when I imported my data into MapMyRun I was just a little shy of the line. It could have been something to do with the GPS data.
I didn't run on Thursday but the next three days were running days. On Friday, I ran the Nightcrawler down in Tupelo. Before the race, I ran 2.7 miles because Ballard Park is one of my favorite places to run. As I was approaching the water stop, I could hear the volunteers shouting, "We are out of water! Sorry!" The last cup of water went to the lady that was about three seconds in front of me. Then as I came upon the 5K mark, I knew something must be wrong. I asked a guy if we had signed something to keep the distance secret from next year's runners. Apparently, when we crossed over onto the dirt again we were really supposed to go left and stay on the pavement. This stretched a lot of our runs into 3.7 miles. Mistakes were made and I heard that some of the runners didn't get a shirt because they didn't preregister. This should be a reminder to preregister if you want a shirt from the event.
My next run was less than twelve hours later. I had a meeting down in Verona and had left some dry clothes with someone that was going to be at the meeting. Since we stayed the night in Tupelo, I decided that I was going to run down to the meeting. Some people thought it was 10-12 miles but when I was all said and done, it ended up being 6.2 miles. It was hot but well worth it. It was a great way to start off my birthday.
Jeff and I went to the cross country course on Sunday morning and I only ran 3.8 miles because I just wasn't feeling it. It was still a good run but my legs were tired. After this long week (23.4 miles), they deserve a rest.
I was going to review a product for you this week but I'm going to put that off until next week since this post was so long. Have a great week and hope you will stop back by again next week. Just 89 more days!!!
To start my running week off, I ran from my house to the TN state line and back on Wednesday morning for a total of 7.1 miles. That was my longest distance for a middle of the week run. Most of my midweek runs are 4-6 miles. This was also a different route for me too. I thought there would be lots of traffic down there road but there really wasn't. I ran to where the "Tennessee" sign and just past it but when I imported my data into MapMyRun I was just a little shy of the line. It could have been something to do with the GPS data.
I didn't run on Thursday but the next three days were running days. On Friday, I ran the Nightcrawler down in Tupelo. Before the race, I ran 2.7 miles because Ballard Park is one of my favorite places to run. As I was approaching the water stop, I could hear the volunteers shouting, "We are out of water! Sorry!" The last cup of water went to the lady that was about three seconds in front of me. Then as I came upon the 5K mark, I knew something must be wrong. I asked a guy if we had signed something to keep the distance secret from next year's runners. Apparently, when we crossed over onto the dirt again we were really supposed to go left and stay on the pavement. This stretched a lot of our runs into 3.7 miles. Mistakes were made and I heard that some of the runners didn't get a shirt because they didn't preregister. This should be a reminder to preregister if you want a shirt from the event.
My next run was less than twelve hours later. I had a meeting down in Verona and had left some dry clothes with someone that was going to be at the meeting. Since we stayed the night in Tupelo, I decided that I was going to run down to the meeting. Some people thought it was 10-12 miles but when I was all said and done, it ended up being 6.2 miles. It was hot but well worth it. It was a great way to start off my birthday.
Jeff and I went to the cross country course on Sunday morning and I only ran 3.8 miles because I just wasn't feeling it. It was still a good run but my legs were tired. After this long week (23.4 miles), they deserve a rest.
I was going to review a product for you this week but I'm going to put that off until next week since this post was so long. Have a great week and hope you will stop back by again next week. Just 89 more days!!!
Monday, July 23, 2012
Foam on the Legs
I didn't get much running in this past week but ended the week with 14.4 miles. I got home on Thursday and decided I was going to tackle the heat. I wen town to the city park and the heat beat me. I only got in 1.5 miles but I guess that's better than nothing.
Saturday I went out to highway 350 again with the group. It was humid but a little cooler than the previous Saturday. I finally got to the water stop in record time and decided I was going to turn around there. I was still about 3 miles away from the start when I looked down and saw white foamy stuff running down my leg. It scared me at first and I just wiped it off and went on. At the time, I thought it was just soap from my shorts not getting rinsed good enough. I searched for "foaming sweat while running" and came up with this article. It doesn't say if it was bad or not but it could explain why I didn't have any fuel left when I did finish my 7.8 mile run. the best I could gather is I was dehydrated.
I went out and ran 5 miles Sunday a little later than normal and it was still hot. The important thing is that I got it done.
I told you I was going to tell you about a site that was similar to another one I still use but only so it last week's website will retrieve my runs and give me points. The old website is RunKeeper. This week's website is MapMyRun. it basically does the same thing as RunKeeper but the site has a lot more features. The one I like the best is that you can see a calendar view of all of your workouts and it will tell you how much of a difference you have had from week to week in percentage.
Let say you ran 25 miles last week and only 20 miles this week. It will show you as having a -20% difference. You can also choose what day of the week your running week starts on. My running week starts on Monday.
One of the best things about the site is the fact you can import from different sources. You can use a file or a device. I can speak to how the Polar import is but with the Garmin you don't even have to export your run from Garmin Training. It takes it directly from the program that receives the run from the watch so it's one less step than RunKeeper.
The reason I think MapMyRun may be better is that RunKeeper tends to give you a lot more distance. Also, after importing your runs into RunKeeper, you should be able to see them on your smartphone. For about two months now, the RunKeeper app only shows straight lines for your run and doesn't follow the actually path. I thought they would have fix it in the app by now but they haven't. Old runs still have the path but newer ones have straight lines.
That's going to do me for this week. Next week I will be reviewing a device I've been using for over a month now and it's a great tool to use if you want to lose weight. You can also use it in conjunction with Earndit.com, MapMyRun and my favorite weight loss site, LoseIt.
Saturday I went out to highway 350 again with the group. It was humid but a little cooler than the previous Saturday. I finally got to the water stop in record time and decided I was going to turn around there. I was still about 3 miles away from the start when I looked down and saw white foamy stuff running down my leg. It scared me at first and I just wiped it off and went on. At the time, I thought it was just soap from my shorts not getting rinsed good enough. I searched for "foaming sweat while running" and came up with this article. It doesn't say if it was bad or not but it could explain why I didn't have any fuel left when I did finish my 7.8 mile run. the best I could gather is I was dehydrated.
I went out and ran 5 miles Sunday a little later than normal and it was still hot. The important thing is that I got it done.
I told you I was going to tell you about a site that was similar to another one I still use but only so it last week's website will retrieve my runs and give me points. The old website is RunKeeper. This week's website is MapMyRun. it basically does the same thing as RunKeeper but the site has a lot more features. The one I like the best is that you can see a calendar view of all of your workouts and it will tell you how much of a difference you have had from week to week in percentage.
Let say you ran 25 miles last week and only 20 miles this week. It will show you as having a -20% difference. You can also choose what day of the week your running week starts on. My running week starts on Monday.
One of the best things about the site is the fact you can import from different sources. You can use a file or a device. I can speak to how the Polar import is but with the Garmin you don't even have to export your run from Garmin Training. It takes it directly from the program that receives the run from the watch so it's one less step than RunKeeper.
The reason I think MapMyRun may be better is that RunKeeper tends to give you a lot more distance. Also, after importing your runs into RunKeeper, you should be able to see them on your smartphone. For about two months now, the RunKeeper app only shows straight lines for your run and doesn't follow the actually path. I thought they would have fix it in the app by now but they haven't. Old runs still have the path but newer ones have straight lines.
That's going to do me for this week. Next week I will be reviewing a device I've been using for over a month now and it's a great tool to use if you want to lose weight. You can also use it in conjunction with Earndit.com, MapMyRun and my favorite weight loss site, LoseIt.
Monday, July 16, 2012
Get Out & Earn It
Last week was certainly a busy one, I only had time for two runs but they added up to over 16 miles. I got in a nice recovery run Monday morning of 6.2 miles and then I ran with the group on Saturday out on Highway 350. Jeff wasn't able to make it but Jamie did. It wasn't raining when we first started but it wasn't long that the weather made us think that we were going to have to run in the rain. The rain was light and would have been welcome but it decided to wait until later in the morning.
After stopping at the water stop, we went and took on the first big hill and then turned around at 5 miles. When we got back to the water stopped, I decided to try and dry my shirt a little. I was really just eying to make it just "less wet". I took it off and squeezed a lot of sweat out of it. I don't know how much sweat I got out but you could see it.
We finally made it back to the starting point and had in our 10 miles. It was a great run and I enjoyed seeing all the other runners too. After finishing, I took my shirt off again and squeezed even more sweat out of my shirt. The humidity was worse then than it was the week before.
One of the benefits of running is, of course, a healthier body. I found a web site a few months ago that lets your earn rewards for doing activities. You can't just out your workout into the site and them give you points. It got to be verified with a GPS. You can link several other sites to your account and earn the points that way. The name of the site is earndit.com. I use my RunKeeper account to get my points. You can earn as many as 60 points a day and you can get that by running or walking 6 miles. Anything over that and you still get 60 points. Points can be redeemed for a variety of things like so much off on your order or entries into drawings. Most are for energy bars and things that athletes would buy but there are some for like casual clothes and such.
Thanks for stopping by this week and hope you will come back next week. I'll be telling you about another web site that is similar to RunKeeper but might be better. Have a great week!
After stopping at the water stop, we went and took on the first big hill and then turned around at 5 miles. When we got back to the water stopped, I decided to try and dry my shirt a little. I was really just eying to make it just "less wet". I took it off and squeezed a lot of sweat out of it. I don't know how much sweat I got out but you could see it.
We finally made it back to the starting point and had in our 10 miles. It was a great run and I enjoyed seeing all the other runners too. After finishing, I took my shirt off again and squeezed even more sweat out of my shirt. The humidity was worse then than it was the week before.
One of the benefits of running is, of course, a healthier body. I found a web site a few months ago that lets your earn rewards for doing activities. You can't just out your workout into the site and them give you points. It got to be verified with a GPS. You can link several other sites to your account and earn the points that way. The name of the site is earndit.com. I use my RunKeeper account to get my points. You can earn as many as 60 points a day and you can get that by running or walking 6 miles. Anything over that and you still get 60 points. Points can be redeemed for a variety of things like so much off on your order or entries into drawings. Most are for energy bars and things that athletes would buy but there are some for like casual clothes and such.
Thanks for stopping by this week and hope you will come back next week. I'll be telling you about another web site that is similar to RunKeeper but might be better. Have a great week!
Monday, July 9, 2012
Soaking Wet Humidity
This past week was the easiest I've had in a while. I went to the gym on Tuesday and it reminded me of why I don't like the treadmill. I guess I need that reminder every once in a while.
I ended my running week on Saturday so I can take Sunday off and then run again this morning. I ran again with the group out on Highway 350. Jeff was getting some speed work in too and was going to run the first 4 at a faster pace and then we'd finish the rest of our run. Turns out that he had a blowout on his sandals. He tried to fix them with a can tab but I don't think that worked out very well. I ran on out to 5 miles and then back. Enjoyed the whole 10 miles and was soaking wet by the end because it was so humid.
I looked back over my logs from last July and it surprises me how far I've come in twelve short months. My average long run back then was 4-5 miles and now that is usually my minimal distance. When I started this journey almost two years ago, I never thought I'd be running 10 miles.
I do most of my running in the morning and have a hard time getting into it during the afternoon. My next race is the Nightcrawler down in Tupelo on July 27th. This race starts at 8pm and it will be the latest that I've ever ran. Do any of you have any tips on how to fuel for a late run like this?
Thanks for stopping by this week and I hope you'll visit again soon.
I ended my running week on Saturday so I can take Sunday off and then run again this morning. I ran again with the group out on Highway 350. Jeff was getting some speed work in too and was going to run the first 4 at a faster pace and then we'd finish the rest of our run. Turns out that he had a blowout on his sandals. He tried to fix them with a can tab but I don't think that worked out very well. I ran on out to 5 miles and then back. Enjoyed the whole 10 miles and was soaking wet by the end because it was so humid.
I looked back over my logs from last July and it surprises me how far I've come in twelve short months. My average long run back then was 4-5 miles and now that is usually my minimal distance. When I started this journey almost two years ago, I never thought I'd be running 10 miles.
I do most of my running in the morning and have a hard time getting into it during the afternoon. My next race is the Nightcrawler down in Tupelo on July 27th. This race starts at 8pm and it will be the latest that I've ever ran. Do any of you have any tips on how to fuel for a late run like this?
Thanks for stopping by this week and I hope you'll visit again soon.
Monday, July 2, 2012
Not Letting Them Have All the Fun
I had another great week of running but because I was working only got three days of running. I decided to go to the track Thursday morning to pass the 1000 mile mark and got in only a 5K.
I had decided I was going to do my long run on the track Saturday morning to but the more I thought about it, the more I kept saying to myself, "I can't let them have all the fun out there on 350.".
That is where I ultimately ended up and we had a crowd! We started at 6 am and I ran 8 in 1:33:14.
Finally, Jeff and I ran just shy of 6 miles on Sunday morning and I think both of us decided before we finished that we probably should have waited and rested a little more.
I posted this on Facebook earlier but wanted to share it here too:
"We run, not because we think it is doing us good, but because we enjoy it and cannot help ourselves."
-Roger Bannister
I had decided I was going to do my long run on the track Saturday morning to but the more I thought about it, the more I kept saying to myself, "I can't let them have all the fun out there on 350.".
That is where I ultimately ended up and we had a crowd! We started at 6 am and I ran 8 in 1:33:14.
Finally, Jeff and I ran just shy of 6 miles on Sunday morning and I think both of us decided before we finished that we probably should have waited and rested a little more.
I posted this on Facebook earlier but wanted to share it here too:
"We run, not because we think it is doing us good, but because we enjoy it and cannot help ourselves."
-Roger Bannister
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
My First 1/2
This past Monday, I registered for my first half marathon. It's not until October 27 but I still wanted to go ahead and get committed to doing it.
Since my last entry, I have accomplished so much with the help of a bunch of my running friends. I ran the half marathon distance for the first time on June 2 and followed that up with 10, 9, and 7 miles on each of the following Saturdays.
With my next run I will have reached the 1,000 mile mark and for me that is a big accomplishment. I would've never thought that when I set out on this journey twenty-one months ago that I'd make it this far.
I will continue to update this blog during my training and hopefully give you some encouragement and motivation at the same time. Thanks for dropping by and I'll see you here again soon.
Since my last entry, I have accomplished so much with the help of a bunch of my running friends. I ran the half marathon distance for the first time on June 2 and followed that up with 10, 9, and 7 miles on each of the following Saturdays.
With my next run I will have reached the 1,000 mile mark and for me that is a big accomplishment. I would've never thought that when I set out on this journey twenty-one months ago that I'd make it this far.
I will continue to update this blog during my training and hopefully give you some encouragement and motivation at the same time. Thanks for dropping by and I'll see you here again soon.
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