Magical Garmin Watch

Ok so for my birthday I got a WONDERFUL gift. A Garmin Forerunner watch. Now for you non-runner folks out there...this watch uses satellites to track

the distance I have run and keep the time I have been running and let's me know the pace I am currently running at as well. Additionally it has a heart rate monitor that I can put on and keep track of my heart rate during my run as well. Truth be told, I was looking to buy a simple GPS watch for myself...but this is SOOOO much nicer!!! And apparently it is also magic :)

Magic? Yep! Today was the first day I could use my new training tool (not a toy - ok so it is definitely cool enough to be a toy). I got home from work and changed into my running gear as quickly as possible. The weather was just slightly cool and overcast. A very nice evening to get a run in. As I headed into the run, I felt good. My last couple of runs both outside and on the treadmill have felt pretty good actually so this wasn't too big a surprise. After almost a mile I looked down at my new cool watch....and could not believe that it said the time it said! How could that be? How was I going to have run a mile in less than 9 minutes? Even better...as I finished the run (some 3.5 miles later), it was just over 31 minutes since I started!! My pace was 8:54 min/mi!!!! I have NEVER run that fast!!! Love love love my magical Garmin watch and can't wait to get in another outdoor run to use it again :)

XOXO - Jenn

Life is NOT a Dress Rehearsal

This weekend I celebrated my 36th birthday. That's right, I am NOT afraid to admit that I am now closer to 40 than to 30. I am also not afraid to admit that I have learned a LOT about myself, life, happiness, and love in the last few years. Probably all of those pieces of information might have served me well during my first 30ish years of life. But I am so happy with where I am in my life and who I am, that I would not give up any of the experiences I have had....they helped make me who I am :) As a part of my birthday, I got a LOT of email from various organizations I belong to wishing me happy birthday. Most of these are nice gestures but have little or no substance (except for that great Red Box coupon) with one very big exception.

A few months back I started using SparkPeople to help me track my mileage and fitness in general in hopes of dropping some pounds and getting in better shape. The email they sent to me for my birthday was inspiring and possibly habit changing. The message they sent was a reminder of the old saying that "life is not a dress rehearsal". But it begged the question, they why do we treat it like it is? Why do we put business ahead of balance or working ahead of wellness? This message asked me to think about my life in this exact moment and shuffling my priorities this year to put health and happiness ahead of other goals that might not be as important. That really spoke to me. Late March and April were NOT good training months for me. My mileage suffered. I have been down on myself for that suffrage and losing sight of the bigger goal of the half marathon on June 2nd. The only things about running that have been positive lately are the outdoor runs I am able to do now that it is warmer and the fact that my pace time continues to get smaller even in spite of the lack of total miles. I needed a reminder like this message to give me a little push. So that message, and the gift of my new Garmin Forerunner watch (a special shout out to my amazing friend to thank you for the incredible birthday present!!!), have flipped my motivation switch. Last night I got in a great 7 mile run at a pace I am proud of (9:53) and felt fantastic! I am looking forward to the next 5 weeks of training and I head into my next half marathon. Looking to reduce my PR in the half by another 5-10 min and I now feel an increase in motivation to do it. So bring on tomorrow and my next training run! My dress rehearsal is officially over, its time for the real deal. Get busy living! :)

XOXO - Jenn