This year I decided to start keeping a running log again. I did for a solid two years in high school, and it’s been a lot of fun looking back and reading about my old runs and mileage ever since then. The reason I don’t always keep a running log is that if I’m not running as much as I’d like to, I get really depressed when I look at all the blank pages in it. This is also the reason I haven’t recorded anything in my current log recently – it’s no fun writing down tiny numbers and being reminded of all the days I didn’t workout. Today I decided to get over this and add everything up for the year so far. But only because I’ve run for the past three days, so things don’t feel as hopeless as they had been seeming.
Including my run today, I’ve run 197 miles so far this year. Last year at this time I’d run 395 miles, almost 200 more than this year. This would feel discouraging, until I look at my overall total of 536 miles for all of the year 2010. This means that during the first 5 months I averaged about 80 miles, and during the next 7 months I averaged about 20 miles per month. This year I’ve averaged 40 miles per month, which is nowhere near where I want to be, but taking into consideration that I’m practicing caution over high mileage, I think this year will end with better numbers than last year, overall. But who knows, I might start making really stupid decisions again, as I am wont to do.
I’ve been wanting an iPhone for a long time now, so I can use the Nike app that tracks your running. Today I tried out Adidas’ miCoach, and from what I can tell it was actually fairly comparable. The map doesn’t show mileage like the Nike one does, and it’s nowhere near as pretty, but it gets the job done. It also completely killed my Android’s battery, but everything does that. So I’ll still probably be getting the iPhone 5 when it comes out. If that ever happens. I don’t really like running with a phone, but as I mentioned earlier, running is way more fun when you can track as many details of your run as possible. Which is also why I keep a blog devoted almost exclusively to running (the main exception being my puppy).
Meet Grand, Pascal’s friend of the week.
4 Comments
i run with my phone because i also want to know as much about my run as possible. in fact, i just got a new phone yesterday (not an iphone, though it was close) so that i could have better gps to more effectively track my runs (amongst other things).
doggies!!
Here’s what I do, and it doesn’t involve a smart phone or a Garmin: I created a FileMaker data base with just the fields I want, I put on a $19.99 Casio stop watch, run, come home, plot my run on Gmap pedometer, then enter the data. Site = http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/
I can subsummarize any fields I want. By specific shoe worn or barefoot. Trail or paved or mixed. By week or month or year. I even have a field for # of rest days b/w runs. Also, I keep a Comments field: e.g, saw an eagle, dolphins off the shore, nearly stepped on a snake, left knee tweak, back still hurting, felt strong, cross-trained during interim, stopped for an icee half-way, muddy track, paved, deluge, hot, etc.
Interesting, I’ll have to check that one out and see what I think.