Mama plus

There's no way to break this gently - not only did I buy a pair of Nike Frees, I also bought a Nike+ sportband. I'm not crazy about being so branded, but I can't deny Nike had products I wanted. I needed a better way to pace myself during runs, and to track my runs and be accountable. I nixed the newest Garmin for only showing average pace. And I nixed the older ones for being not only overkill for my purposes, but also too huge for my little bird wrists.

So yesterday morning I woke up super early, put the transmitter in my shoe and the band on my wrist, pushed the button and... nothing happened. Popped the transmitter out of my shoe, pressed the button again, and, as commanded by The Band, started walking. And nothing happened. Popped it out, pushed buttons, walked in circles in the driveway like a madwoman, and still, nothing. So I took off, just me and the road as usual.

I did a little over a mile, in somewhere between 10 and 12 minutes. I felt good. Every time I get up early to run, I wonder why I don't do it more often.

So this morning, I did it again. Pushed some buttons, got an "OK," pushed another button, and the clock started ticking. Success!!

I ran a measured route, and did it in a suprisingly fast (for me) time. It was fun to look down and see my pace - it wasn't super accurate, but gave me confirmation that yes, I slow down going up the big hill and speed up going down. It's a much improved tool compared to the watches I've had in the past. Which is good, since Max has now claimed my watch as his own. He can't yet tell time, even on a digital, but he delights in telling me the time - usually it's in the neighborhood of twenty-seven thirteen or forty-two eight.

The jury is still out on the shoes, but I think I really love them. I'm an overpronator, and have always had very stable shoes. So it is a truly different experience. I'm trying to concentrate on using my toes more - in my regular shoes, I tend to clench my feet, and let the shoe do all the work. In these, I have to let my foot do the work. I'm still pronating, but I'm trying to work with it rather than against it. I LOVE how light they are. It is a breath of fresh air not to be spending so much energy hauling my shoes around.

But more than that, my mind is a little more in the game. And that has nothing to do with Nike.