We must, we must...

I've been wondering for months, what is with all the padded running bras?

I think I may have finally found my answer.

When I started running all I had in the way of sports bras were a fairly well aged three pack of Hane's cotton sports bras. These were pretty functional for yoga and belly dance practice, but as you can probably imagine not too awesome for running. The elastic had seen better days and the cotton held on to sweat like someone was gonna sell it on the black market afterward.

I replaced those early on with a pair of bras from Old Navy (this style in the colour shown and in a light purple with salmon accents) which I have been using regularly. I also bought a pair of bra core active tanks (this style but in black and grey - respectively) but for a couple of reasons I have not found them terribly useful up until, well actually today.

All of the Old Navy items came standard equipped with removable bust pads - which I promptly removed and shoved in the back of a drawer along with all of the pads I'd removed from my swimwear over the years.

source: http://www.wikihow.com/Wear-a-Bra-as-a-Male-Crossdresser

I've always been on the *ahm* petite side. Think J-Lo-esque... without the firming benefits of all the personal trainers and professional dance background and oodles of money and stylists.  While I admit I haven't always been utterly thrilled by that fact, eventually I stopped being a self conscious teenager and embraced the positive aspects of my figure. Either way I've never seen much point in artificially altering it. The American over the shoulder boulder holder industry apparently thinks we are all yearning to let loose our inner Christina Hendricks, but a) variety is the spice of life and b) I REALLY LIKE that I can wear slinky backless dresses without resorting to uncomfortable and expensive hidden scaffolding.

I got what I got and if you don't like it feel free to look elsewhere. Nyah.

That goes double for workout clothing. I try not to look too much like a schlump in any context, but by the same token amorous interest is just about the last thing I want to deal with while working out in the gym or on the street. I'm there for MY benefit so I don't see the point of advertising, much less false advertising. In truth the Old Navy stuff has about as much "padding" as the average tee shirt bra so given the compression the effect is pretty neutral, but still the idea of it bothered me. Anyway running is sweaty work, why add extra layers between me and the air?

A couple of weeks ago I found out that I had won a giveaway from For The Love Of The Run and part of the giveaway was a bra from a company called Handful. I chose their adjustable style bra in purple size XS (I typically wear a 30 or 32 band size) and received it by mail a few days later. It came with a lovely matching mesh washing bag and... matching removable bust pads! In this case the internal pockets do make a great deal of sense as they are approved as mastectomy bras but I opted to yank out the pads as with my other bras. The pads are slightly thicker than the Old Navy ones but again with the compression effects of the fabric the sum effect on my figure is pretty much nil.

I ran with the new bra last Sunday and didn't notice anything in particular about it, except that it's cut a bit lower than the Old Navy ones so in warmer settings I'll probably layer it with higher cut tank tops in the interest of modesty. I'm so swaddled in layers for outside runs at this point I can't say one way or another how good the sweat wicking and drying properties are until I get a chance to try it out at the gym. The colour is however LOVELY.

I did notice a funny thing earlier this week. I did my first run at the gym Tuesday wearing one of my Old Navy bras and I don't know if the bra has sprung, if I've lost that much weight, or if I was just feeling self-conscious enough to notice for the first time; but either way I'm glad those bras have a lot of coverage because the effects were positively... seismic. I can't say as I've ever cared about what my boobs were doing while I run, but I was AWFULLY aware of it then.

It occurred to me that the only way to salvage the situation without buying more bras may actually be to put all of the padding back in and hope it provides a bit more structure to keep things in place!

Structure overkill? source: http://organicarmor.com/

I've experimented with running padding-in for the last two runs, but to be honest I think running outside is too distracting (and swaddled) to compare properly so I think my next treadmill run will tell me more of what I need to know.

What about you?
Do you care one way or another about padding in your sport specific structure garments?
If you have a favorite sports bra brand; is it padded and do you think the padding adds to the function of the bra? 

Saturday's run - 5k to 10k wk1 d2 -street run
2 miles over 23 minutes at an average pace of 11:33

5 minutes warm up/cool down
10 minutes of running at an "easy conversational pace"
3 minutes "tempo" run (challenging but not exhausting pace)
10 minutes of running at an "easy conversational pace"

I aimed for 12:00 as the easy pace and 10:00 for the challenging pace and pretty much hit it, though I was keeping closer to 11:30 for the second set of 10 minutes. I think I could have even pushed that 10:00 a bit more but I'm not going to sweat it for now.

The run overall felt pretty good, however I did have to do a very sudden stop to avoid a car that apparently wasn't terribly interested in stopping at a stop sign, and that torqued my outer right shin a bit. It was fairly tight throughout the run but calmed down shortly after I finished.

Sunday's run - 5k to 10k wk1 d3 -street run
2.48 miles over 30 minutes at an average pace of 12:75 minutes warm up/cool down
30 minutes of running at an "easy conversational pace"

Again I aimed for 12:00 and did not have ANY trouble keeping my pace that slow since my right calf was still pissed from the hard stop I made Saturday. By the time the endorphins had kicked in enough to ignore the discomfort in the muscle I was already kind of gassed out and it was dark enough for me to full on collide with the end of a large invisible tree branch sticking out of a refuse pile. Based on the initial impact marks I expect a spectacular bruise by morning.

I think this might have actually been my first time running two days back to back. I'll have to check back through my past runs.

Interesting side note: my boyfriend decided to take a walk at the same time as I was running but due to the lateness of the hour (running was a very last minute decision) he ended up pretty much keeping up with me the whole way to make sure I was safe. He doesn't normally run so he was wearing his usual dark wash jeans, dark jacket, black gloves, and black stocking cap.

Apparently no one in my neighborhood thinks anything of a small woman out in fluorescent orange running gear being followed at about 20 to 50 feet by a man in all black, so that's good to know!

On the road again

Today was my first run post Sandy.

My last run was the Freaky 5K on Sunday so it's been just about a week. The majority of this time was spent sitting on my butt in my tiny apartment (being very thankful I had that option), checking in on friends and family, checking the latest news, trying to figure out when (and how) to return to work, willing the power to go back on, eating starchy pre-packaged foods, and drinking chardonnay.

There probably have been better fitness routines.

By Wednesday I had gotten pretty antsy but I had no idea of the condition of the local roads so I went on a walk with my boyfriend to check things out. We took a brisk walk through my normal running route to get some air, watch trick-or-treaters, and stop occasionally for pictures.

There was only one really hazardous spot on my normal path but it was a doozy. Even on the clear streets the roads were COVERED in shattered branches and other debris, there were many spots where I would probably have to run down the middle of the road to avoid breaking an ankle. Probably the most concerning thing was how many compromised trees and branches were clearly being held up entirely by power lines.

I would have loved to run Thursday or Friday but by then I was back at work and the traffic generated by the gas shortage meant I was leaving too early and getting home too late to run (especially given much of my neighborhood had no power) so Saturday it was.

I ended up going out in the late afternoon and since the street from the pic above was still blocked off I had to make one major detour, but otherwise my path was open. The ground was shockingly clear and there were very few areas with bad footing. I was also pretty thankful at the relative emptiness of the streets given I was in head to toe dark grey, but I feel bad that that is pretty much directly due to the gas shortages.

At 48° and windy (my clear streets came at a price) it was officially too cold for my tropical genetics. I was EXCEEDINGLY glad for my long sleeve Freaky5K swag shirt, leggings, and fleece vest, and I noticed that I'm no longer particularly bothered by being covered in sweaty clothing, so that's a plus... I guess?

The aim was to take an easy run but I did find myself pushing 10:00 a bit more often than I had wanted. It's getting harder to go as slow as I need to to maintain stamina, anything slower than 10:30 feels a little awkward, like I'm running through molasses. I guess it's more fun to focus on the burning in my lungs than whatever is going on in the rest of my body? The cold was a bit hard on my lungs and I was unexpectedly winded for most of my run, otherwise it felt great to be back out on the road. I was however VERY dizzy during cool-down and for a bit afterward, and it took a long time to warm up.

My Saturday run: a 5K run plus 5 minute warmup and cooldown walks and negative splits
3.11 miles at an average of 11:01 per mile -  total time of 34:18, max pace of 5:25 (???)

My Nike+Running app has completely lost it's little mind and somehow added an extra mile in to the first mile of my run.

Click image for the runNYC page

I saw this posted via DailyMile on FB a little while ago and as soon as they get their donation page working I'm signing up for the 5k

Per their page:

What is it?

It's a virtual race for those hit hardest by the hurricane. Choose your distance, decide on a donation amount, and lace up to race Nov 4 through Nov 11! Run loops around your neighborhood, through your city… anywhere you please. 100% of all money collected goes to the American National Red Cross relief fund. We'll have a leaderboard and printable certificates for all finishers!

Stranger Danger!

Well today was officially scary. 

I was a little under a mile into my run on a nice long wide  neighborhood artery type road when I noticed a newish dark blue Suburban style SUV slowing as it passed me. People seem to have a vested interest in not hitting me (which I appreciate) so that didn't bother me overmuch at first.... except that the SUV never sped back up. 

I noticed that the driver pulled to about 50 yards past me and started pacing me, and after about a block or two of pacing me they pulled sloppily off to the right side of the road, stopping (but not parking) less than two blocks south of a forced left turn with a lot of foliage and no houses right at the corner (the outside corner seems to be some sort of municipal property).

I maintained speed but made a sudden left turn at the next block I passed after I saw that they had pulled over, and watched from around the corner as they immediately pulled back into the lane and drove away.

Clearly, the picture of subtlety.

I keep my phone on my left arm in an armband so I immediately switched my phone to video camera mode and started recording. I described why I had the phone on record, what I had seen, and how I was changing my route to account for the scare and stuck to main roads for the rest of the run (which was pretty hard, and kind of owie). 

Of course I didn't realize until hours later that since the camera was on the *back* of the phone and the microphone was tucked in my bra along with the right earpiece, so I now have an excellent video of the inside of my armband with accompanying audio of my right boob.

At least the idea was there, and I will set up my phone better to account for that in the future. I've always been a bit iffy about that corner but now it's right out. I may also alter my route to avoid a couple of other less populated sections for a bit. Actually I can think of one route tweak which may also avoid a completely insane intersection I currently go through, so at least that's helpful.

 ******
Day 27 Do you use any meal replacements or shakes?

Does cheese count? I replace dinner with cheese on the regular, but other than that no meal replacements. I use Clif bars as midday snacks quite a bit though. I've calorie counted in the past to reasonable effect, but right now I'm finding I'm doing really well with just eating better food.

*******
My run today: 5K run with warmup and cooldown walks
3.17 miles at an average of 11:53 per mile -  total time of 37:42 

My right ankle and knee were kind of... tweaked? for much of the run. Not enough to effect me much at the time but now I'm noticing it in my ankle and I'm deeply annoyed to be missing a nearly full tube of Arnica gel. The weird thing is my right wrist is also hurting, so maybe I slept stupid or something. 

I spent so much time distracted by the creeper car and trying to work my phone without killing myself that I'd call this one of my worst days out. I also didn't cool down and stretch after as well as I should have today or Tuesday.

I wasn't sure when I went out I was even going to do a full 5k today but by one mile I knew I was committed, so there's that. I don't think I'm going to be able to run again until Monday due to my weekend plans which has me kind of annoyed, but we'll see if I can fit something in.

Patriotic or patronising?

While I was doing the cool down walk after my run today a car sped past me with a few teenagers in it. One leaned out of the rear window with an American flag do-rag on his head and yelled "USA! USA! USA!" at me, pumping his fists as the car passed.

I really don't know how to take that one. I'd like to think he was just being over exuberant about the Olympics in a mildly jerky way, but I have to wonder if it had something to do with my appearance.

I'm rocking an especially serious tan right now, and am what you might call "ethnically ambiguous" even at my palest. People have been asking me "what I am" my whole life and I've gotten a spectrum of guesses from Indian, to Polynesian, to Turkish, to Brazilian (for the record, I'm a complete mutt with a heavy dash of Latin flavor). Often in my teens and sometimes even now I get followed at a safe distance by concerned looking clerks in stores.

Ultimately nothing happened beyond some idiotic yelling and a withering look in response, but some people are not so lucky (I lived within miles of this incident at the time) and it's a good reminder that there are people out there that look for trouble. As things go NY is a pretty tolerant place to live if you're kinda brown, but it definitely has its scary moments, especially since 9-11.

Have you ever had a run in (ha ha) that spooked you a bit?

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September Blog Challenge Day 8
How many pairs of workout shoes do you own?

My preferred state is actually to be barefoot (though you wouldn't know that from the size of my high heel collection) so I initially gravitated toward minimalist shoes, but they mess with my knees something fierce. The orange ones below are Nike Frees but I no longer remember which version they are. I tried running in them the first time I tried to pick up running five or six years ago but it never ended well, I mostly use them for long days at amusement parks and the like as they are comfortable enough for walking. The toe shoes are Vibram Bikala LSs which I had a great deal of hope for, but the first time I tried C25K they left me practically unable to walk after week two in them. I still haven't decided if I'm going to try to use them for anything.

Once I recovered from that I went to a real running store and had them look at my gait. Turns out I'm somewhat flatfooted and compensate by being overly flexible, so I over-pronate. I also get ingrown toenails very easily so I have to wear shoes with a big toe box or it becomes very painful. This was actually one of the main reasons I avoided running for a LONG time and is another reason the Vibrams didn't work out well.

I walked out with what was probably the most expensive shoe in the store, the Saucony Hurricane 14. The price-tag was a bit shocking, and I was somewhat suspicious that OF COURSE the first recommendation was the newest, spendiest shoe in the store, but I have to admit they've worked out well and I also LOVE that orchid purple colour. My knees are now pretty much happy and I have never once had pain from my toenails. I'd like to get something more trail/weather friendly for the winter but I only have about 50 miles on these so for now I'm doing well enough with the one pair.

******
My run today: C25K week 7 day 3
3.09 miles at 11:20 per mile

Focused on slower pace and more breathing, and did soooo much better. No struggling to get breaths, no nausea. I have noticed a small ache in my right arch for a week or so but nothing terrible and I don't feel it at any other time so I'm just going to use my Foot Rubz and keep an eye on it for now.

I have no idea how I dropped 0:48 off of my pace from Thursday because I felt like a turtle. I'm totally jazzed to see I almost hit 5k during the timed C25K section.

With three more minutes of running per workout next week I expect to hit 5K before the workout ends and that has me REALLY psyched. Up until today the 25 minute no break runs were very hard on me and I was worried about making it on even a slightly longer run but now I'm pretty confident I can do it without stopping for a walk break.

Hair of the dog.

Today I had the pleasure of meeting a beautiful dog which looked remarkably like the one below, except with no leash, no owner in sight, and chasing after me on a busy street about twelve minutes into my run. Based on size I'm guessing it was a female.

I stopped to address the dog because I was pretty sure she was about to take a chunk out of my calf out of sheer exuberance for the chase. I also felt a bit like I was going to vomit becuase I couldn't breathe, so that was some handy timing!

Red Siberian Husky - very pretty when it's not about to hamstring you

While I know you're not "supposed" to approach strange dogs she did have visible tags and I am a total sucker for stray animals (not the first time I've done it this summer, or even sort of technically this *week* now that I think about it). I attempted to read the tag and sadly while she had no problem approaching me in a friendly manner she was having none of me grabbing near her collar and warned me off in no uncertain terms. Shortly after this she took off in the other direction after a SUV.

Once I was sure she was a couple of blocks away I resumed my run, (though I did take a moment to chat with another jogger that had been dodging her) and then once I returned home I spent about forty five minutes trying to find a phone line to report the dog for pickup. To top it all off the "report a lost or found dog" number I kept getting referred to is out of service so all I can do is spread the word via social networks, keep an eye out while I'm driving around, and hope for the best.

Technically one of the reasons I'm carrying pepper spray is in case I am attacked by a dog, but I honestly don't know if I could use it (not on a dog anyway, all bets are off for two legged predators).

Could be worse, could be this guy!
Team Jeep cyclist Evan Van Der Spuy meets an antelope, the hard way

Have you ever had a wildlife encounter? Story of my life. I'm actually considering a wildlife rehabilitation license but couldn't do something like that in my current place. I am that crazy woman on the side of the road about to get hit by traffic over a possum. One of my most cherished early memories of my father was watching him brave traffic to get a pigeon with a broken neck out of the middle of the road. It died in his hands moments later but he said he just couldn't let it die in the road like that.
Compassion like that leaves its mark.


Do you believe in "best left alone" or are you willing to risk the stitches and rabies shots in rescue scenarios? I have clearly come to terms with the fact that I am going to end up with rabies one of these days.

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September Blog Challenge Day 6
How do you log your eating and/or workouts?

I used to log my eating with the Lose It iPhone app. I would lose the weight and re-balance my portion sizes over time, but I was just paying attention to caloric intake and there was clearly something lacking.
I wasn't doing much in the way of exercise and I found I wasn't getting near enough protein. There are only so many times you can start drooling when someone walks past with a microwave lunch before you realize that there is a problem with the balance of your diet.

I went back and forth with that several times over the last few years and considered starting it back up when I started doing C25K, but I decided instead to tackle one thing at a time and focus on exercise. When you compare the caloric loss from a two mile run to the caloric gain from a bag of Doritos you get really depressed, or at at least I do, so instead I put my focus on gaining health and muscle.

I have lost about five pounds since I started, but more importantly I've lost a LOT of the excess squish I was starting to accumulate and regained a good portion of my wardrobe. My clothes are fitting as if I was ten or fifteen pounds lighter and I no longer need to check to see if a shirt is too tight across my muffin top! My legs are starting to look really nice and I'm almost at the point where I feel I can wear my goal garment (more on that later).

Added bonus: I have found that I'm naturally paying more attention to what I'm eating as a function of fueling my body, and because I'm eating better stuff overall I am not stressing my indulgences. I have a cheese problem, and by that I mean I'm seriously nearly a cheesatarian. So good!
I am so happy to be able to eat it again like I want to.

I track my running simultaneously with the Active Trainer Couch to 5k app and the Nike+ app. I lost some data when I restarted C25K, so I now also back up the basic info (time, distance, notes etc) for both programs in an excel sheet.

I actually just arranged today to buy a used Garmin Forerunner 305 GPS Receiver With Heart Rate Monitor off of The Cheerleader so I'm looking forward to keeping track of more stuff and geeking out even further with it!

******

My run today: C25K week 7 day2

2.88 miles at 12:08 per mile

Best moment of the run; a gaggle of pre-teens on bikes passed me when I was about 2 miles in and one boy yelled out "Woman! What are you, crazy???" and kept going.

I had social plans for later in the evening so I decided before I went out not to do the full 5K tonight and just stick to the C25K workout. This was a really good idea as trying to report the dog took up the majority of my post run free time and I was late to my evening plans. I also had a VERY hard time keeping going today. My legs were fine but my lungs were having none of it and I had a small side stitch for part of the run (this went away during the dog encounter).

I took one of those really flimsy 16oz bottled waters and drank half of it before I left. I squeezed the air out of the other half and shoved it in my belt. It stayed quite well and I was very glad to have the water during cool-down, though I would like to find one with a squeeze top so I could have some while running too. Eventually I'll get one of those belt thingys with the water bottles, but I am making do for the moment as I have some serious expenses to address in the near future and need to put a cork in the running-related cash hemorrhaging.

I am rapidly learning that I am not very good at keeping to a reasonable pace, even when I am feeling overextended. I may have to put together a specifically down-tempo running mix to keep me to a pace my body can handle.

Not according to plan

The intention for the day was to do whatever during the earlier part of the day and start C25K week seven around seven o clock. What actually happened was that I started feeling odd in the early afternoon, realized my stomach was totally grumpy for no apparent reason, and then fell asleep with one of my cats for about three hours. 

I woke up with a very slight temperature but figured I'd go ahead with my usual time table and see how I felt by the time I was ready to run. Unfortunately the nap threw off my day so badly that by the time I had hydrated, eaten, digested, dressed, stretched, and stepped outside... I realized it was way too dark due to the overcast conditions for me to feel safe being out and about. 

I did get a couple of running *related* things done though, so I can't look at today as a complete waste.

First, I made a really useful 80s-tastic eyesore!  

Don't let the flash wash-out fool you, this colour is about two steps away from being stabbed in the eye.

I don't have much in the way of reflective safety wear but I DID have this one XL tee shirt which was a volunteer freebee for I-CON,  a Sci-Fi convention I was heavily involved with through and after college. I based my tee shirt surgery on this video tutorial, but opted to do a braided back because I actually remember the 80s. 

Now the next time I start out running way too late I can wear this and be assured that I will be blinding all of the people in my path. I do want to look into getting some reflective material as I am good at sewing and bad at wanting to spend money on things I know I can make or alter myself.

 

I also did some mapping detective work based on a few things about my recent runs:

• the 2.2 mile route I have mapped out is too short for the distance I'm now covering
• I don't like repeating the same ground on a single run
• I don't like running on roads I haven't mapped out
• I have a couple of hinky 5 way intersections in my current route
• I'm still feeling like I could go further by the time I finish with the 5 minute cool-down walk

I have decided therefore to map out a shiny new 3.1 m (i.e. 5km) long route and do that route or a variation with every workout from here on in. I'm not covering quite that far during the timed C25K workouts at this point so I'll walk the rest until I am. My average speed on the Nike+ will be weird for a while with the extra walking, but I can live with that for a bit I think.

This fixes my route problems, eliminates guesswork about how far from home I am at any given time, gives me a better idea of what a 5K actually looks like, and gives me an easy way to gauge my week to week progress as I'm actually running.

What run-related things have you found yourself doing in your non-running free time?

September Blog Challenge Day 3 

Do you take any vitamins or supplements? If so, which ones and why? 

I am sooo bad about this. Seriously, I'm still working on drinking water daily, never-mind regular supplements.

Loud and clear?

Catcalls completely freak me out when the person is standing right there. 

But from moving cars? Hi-larious. I'm not even kidding.

There's just something about that heartfelt expression of...

 aaaaAAAAAAAAAAEEAASADFJHDFAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!

It cracks me up every time.

I often worry that they are going to turn around to address the matter more fully so I do try to keep track of what kind of car it was and stay on the lookout for anyone who pulls around for a second bit of interaction. It's a bit unnerving but usually the absurdity that someone actually tried to express any concept more linguistically sophisticated than WOOOO! at 45mph wins out over any lingering fear.

This post brought to you by the guys in the dark blue Nissan last night
the letter "L"
and the number... um... "-oosers"

I fear change but I love new toys, it's a conundrum.

Today's run was all sorts of fraught with new stuff!

New stuff the first:
My RoadID arrived Thursday so I got my account all set up online, this was a bit long but in all fairly easy. I also got a new pair of socks by DeFeet, but I haven't tried them yet so no comment on those for now. I'm not really used to wearing things around my wrist so I decided to wear it to bed to get it all broken in and comfortable before I took it out running. That seemed to do the trick pretty well and I quickly forgot I even had it on. I have extremely small wrists and there was not a lot of extra room in mine, so if you have any question about fit do not go for the small size.

The second:
I had to get a flat tire fixed so I spent a bit of time wandering the mall while I waited. I had a coupon for Sears and needed some new run shorts (I'm tired of hand washing the one pair every time) so I beelined to the sports gear *cough* after a quick jaunt through the shoe section *cough* and picked up a couple of pairs of Everlast Mesh shorts at 50% off (the piping on mine are hot pink and aqua, respectively). They have a nice reasonable rise and a comfortable loose fit, though I was a bit more aware of what my underwear was doing than I am used to.

These do not have the lower back pocket that my previously singular pair of shorts has, so I had to figure out a new way to carry my house-key and in doing so remembered this "travel belt" thing my parents had given me several years back. At the time I declared it irretrievably dorky and promptly threw in the bottom of a drawer, but it seemed like just the thing for the job and I actually remembered where it was, so I dug it out. Neoprene straps, nylon and mesh construction... no brand name on it but I do believe this thing is made for sports in the first place! I had always assumed the middle part was a cell phone pouch but it appears to be made to hold tubular objects, so I finally gave in to my Boyfriend's wishes for me to carry some sort of offensive safety measure and strapped some pepper spray into it.

Much like the wrist band I promptly forgot all about it the minute I started running. I thought it would bounce or make my shorts feel bunchy but it was really quite unobtrusive. I am looking forward to the point in my running where I will have to start putting some sort of fuel thing in that other pocket!

I did also do some changes to my audio setup but more of that with one of my coming posts, wherein I discuss music!

How do you handle your sundries?
What do you consider your baseline running kit?

******

My run today: C25K week 5 day 3

2.24 miles at 13:24 per mile

20 minutes of running with no walking pauses!! Holycrap!!
Not only did I do it, but I did it without wanting to stop or die or anything! I even felt good enough to break out into a full on run for the last minute and a half (ok, I wanted to die or really mostly just hurl a little bit once I stopped running and started cooling down... but I was already walking by then so I knew it was only going to get better).
The app would have me believe that week six is the scary week, but I think this was the big hurdle for me. There doesn't seem to be anything in week six I feel like can't handle after that 20 min run.

I want it *NOW*

Waiting for the Bia: Multi-Sport GPS Sports Watch with SOS Safety Alert to exist is cramping my style.

Today marks the official halfway point in my Couch To 5K journey (well, workout-wise, hopefully not time-wise*) and I've started thinking just a little bit about where to go after it is done and what tools will be best for me at that point.

I've been using the Active.com mobile iPhone app in combination with the Nike+ iPhone app and they are both lovely, but I can't help but wince every time I take my darling, expensive, still fairly new phone out of my sweaty sweaty arm band at the end of a run. With the end of the C25K training I no longer have to use that app, but I'm still tethered to my expensive phone if I want the GPS information and the safety of having a cell phone at hand. I have also started looking a bit at heart rate monitoring because it looks cool, makes sense to me, and also toys.

That's where this lovely Bia watch comes in. I dig out my old iPod and I'm set! It has an emergency contact mode, GPS capabilities with syncing to a number of popular fitness sites, and heart rate monitoring, I've already paid for the watch part (hooray Kickstarter!) and...

And of course it doesn't hit the market until next spring.
 

Waley, waley, waley!

So in the meantime if I wanted to leave my spendy phone at home I could get a cheap heart rate monitor watch, dig out my old iPod, buy a cheap prepaid cell phone and still be short the GPS info.

Okay, so I get a GPS watch that does heart rate, dig out my iPod, get a prepaid phone, also I may need a rucksack for all of this stuff. Wait, so how am I protecting my financial investment again? By spending money? How's that work?

Though it just occurred to me that there's no reason my phone shouldn't be able to handle the signal for a wireless heart rate monitor *pauses to hit google* and a quick google search tells me that there are a number of options in this direction!

I think I have a research project for tomorrow!

Are you into the toys and gadgets? If so (or if not!) how do you prefer to keep track of your fitness?

******

My run today: C25K week 5 day 2

2.25 miles at 13:46 per mile

I have been trying to start out easy and accelerate toward the end, so far I've had negative splits in all but one of my runs so this seems to be working out well, but in the end felt like I could have pushed myself much earlier. I was a bit worried about my knee this morning and my hamstring has been tight the last couple of days, but any particular discomforts during the run were fleeting.


*My first attempt at Week1 Day1 was May 4, 2012. More on why I'm not already done in another post, wherein you learn about how my body totally hates me.

Wearing it on my sleeve

I have never felt like I was in any specific danger while out on a run, but the conditions Wednesday and today (it was so humid I went out at dusk again) really highlighted my need for a better visibility and emergency ID setup.

I've been carrying an expired driver's license with me which has my old address blacked out and my mother's contact info taped to the back. Unfortunately the only place that really makes sense to carry it is shoved in my armband in the pouch behind my phone, not exactly the most obvious or accessible place on earth. I try to wear bright colours (in Wednesday's case a *fluorescent* yellow extra large tee shirt) but the only reflective item on me is my shoes. I have my mother set up in the ICE slot in my phone, but my phone auto locks, so the info on it is useless to me in an emergency. Either way, as poster c o o k i e monster points out in this thread, EMS providers don't have time to futz around with phones looking for your info.

I've been digging around the internet for a while it seems the consensus is that the Road ID products are solid and dependable, and given the relative lack of price difference in the various brands out there I figured I might as well go with those. Road ID lays out a pretty straightforward case for getting one of their IDs and if that isn't enough convincing you can also check out the hundreds of testimonials on their site. It also did not hurt that I found a coupon code for a touch more than the base shipping cost in the Runner's World post above ($2 off with ARR8627 until 1/31/13).

Even leaving accidental situations aside, I have approximately ZERO illusions about the goodness of a portion my fellow Earthlings when presented with an opportunity for wrongdoing. This attitude came from my own academic background and upbringing, but for those of you less naturally wary please consider the cases of Sarah Hart and Sherry Arnold before trusting your life to random strangers. I am an extremely petite, fit(ish) woman, running around in spandexy clothing with a very expensive phone strapped to my arm (attached to those tell-tale white headphones no less). While I'm running in a pretty good neighborhood, I really might as well have a target taped on me.

I went for the Wrist ID Sport in the screaming yellow, with update-able online database option.

Funny, my cats' microchips also have update-able online database options!

I was originally considering the ankle version as I thought the wrist band might get annoying, but in the end I went with this one for a few reasons;

• it has reflective stitching and a pleasantly eye-searing colour. There is saddening lack of neon on their site for a safety product company, besides, neon is so in this year!
• it could be worn over sleeves when it gets colder (whereas I feel the ankle one would be too well hidden by pants)
• The silicone options would probably feel yucky (technical term!) once the band got sweated up
• shoes get knocked off too often in car vs pedestrian incidents to go with the shoe tag
• The interactive ID provides the opportunity to attach a whole giant load of info to your ID
• I move every couple of years and I like that I can update my address info without having to get a new band

I'm expecting my Road ID sometime next week, at which point I'll weigh in on how awesome/annoying it is. For now I'll have to make do with a hidden, half blacked out, expired driver's license with a picture so out of date I actually get hard stares from bar bouncers when I get ID'd.

My run today: C25K week 4 day 3

2.24 miles at 14:02 per mile (vs 2.25 miles at 14:00 per mile on June 26th)

I should have eaten more and earlier, I also should have stretched more as my calves, feet, and left hamstring  were very tight and complainy for the first mile. On the plus side I ran for the first time in a WHILE without any sort of knee braces and I felt totally fine in that regard. 

It's good to see I'm about exactly on par with where I left off nearly two months ago, I think I'm actually looking forward to trying out week five!