Thursday 30 August 2012

Technical help

I have been utterly rubbish at running recently. My heart is not in it in the same way as some of my other activities, but it is the sport that keeps me most healthy and in shape - ballet and swimming are fabulous but they don't have the same calorie burn!

Yesterday I headed out. I didn't want to run continuously because I knew I'd get tired and demoralised quickly (it's been a while...), so instead I decided to cover a longer distance with 4 minutes walking to 1 minute running. It went well, except for taking a wrong turning and cutting about a mile off the route, and has boosted my confidence to go out again.

What amused me was my technology usage on this walk/run:
  • garmin - for recording the route and my pace (didn't bother with the heart rate monitor seeing as I wasn't running most of it)
  • interval timer app on my phone - this is brilliant! Gone are the days of peering at my garmin repeatedly to work out if I've run the required distance/time. And it buzzes/bings over whichever music or podcast I'm listening to.
  • samsung hope relay app - if you haven't already signed up, please do! Basically, for every mile you walk/run/cycle/skate/etc, Samsung donates £1 to charity. And as an added novelty, you get to make your own mini-runner character and every now and again a recording of a sportsperson wishing you well!
  • podcasts - I love Marathon Talk podcasts and feel like a loser if I listen to them and haven't run in a while. Much better to listen whilst running.
my samsung hope relay character

3 comments:

Rachelle Q said...

That Samsung hope relay sounds awesome! I will check it out:) love your character!

RainStorm said...

It is really clever :)

Making the character is harder than it looks - it's surprisingly difficult to find a picture with your head facing directly to the camera!

Christy @ My Dirt Road Anthem: A Runner's Blog said...

I will have to check out marathon talk. I love marathon training academy right now. They have really helped me.