Happy Birthday to Me!

Garmin Forerunner 10 - green, of course!!

My birthday is not until July 1, but I am super excited about my early birthday present. I have been walking consistently for a little over a month and have been frustrated by inaccurate measures of progress. Several times I have tried to time myself with my cell phone. At the end of my walk I find the timer was inadvertently turned off by my pocket. I have tried to measure distances by getting in my car and using the trip odometer after my walk. That makes me feel a bit like a creeper walking through a neighborhood then driving through it. I thought the Garmin watches were more than I would want to spend just because, so I asked my husband for an early birthday present. He thought it was a great idea. I confess I did also tell him I will also need a little something else for my actual birthday :)

This morning I wanted to walk on our most frequent loop to get an accurate measurement. Turns out we were pretty close with our car calculations.

My second goal was to walk hard for two miles to see what I could really do and have two miles to compare to each other. My husband took Millie to run with him, so I could fully focus on walking at my pace and play with my watch.  My earlier calculations indicated that I've been walking about an 18:30 minute mile. I could definitely tell I was walking faster than normal.  But I was very surprised to walk the first mile in 16:30 - 2 whole minutes faster!  I was cruising along on my second mile when my husband came by on one of his running laps. I think he must have seen the determination in my stride and face because he continued on with a wave and didn't slow to talk to me like he normally does.  I was shocked by the time of my second mile 15:00!!!

It is so good for me to see these actual numbers. I was becoming disheartened about the upcoming race thinking my times were closer to 18 minute miles and that I might be the last one to finish the race.  It also lets me know that I've not been walking to my potential.  After the two miles I walked much slower for a half mile.  That pace was about my usual pace and it felt so slow after pushing it.



I can't resist a little bragging on my husband. He ran for 3 straight miles this morning...his best yet!  Way to go, honey!! I think he might need a watch too.

My Garmin stats for today's walk:

Split	Time	Distance	Avg Pace
Summary	41:17.7	2.53	16:18
1	16:30.7	1.00	16:30
2	15:00.7	1.00	15:01
3	9:46.3	0.53	18:22