Today's run

Last time I tried to add a post after I got back from my morning run, it got lost in cyberspace and I cracked a tantrum. If it happens again today, this might just be the last you ever hear from the Sheep...

So, today's run. It was awesome. I love love love running with the Garmin, getting my km by km summaries as I go along. Today was the first time in a long long time that I have run without a HRM. It's all in the mind I suppose, but I felt a lot more free to just "run" without the monitor on. That's actually a ridiculous thing to say, because I very often wouldn't look at my heart rate stats until I finished my run anyway. I don't know, can't explain it, but I liked running without the HRM. I'll have to think about whether I do away with it for all runs or just short runs, or use it intermittently for a while.

But back to how awesome today's run was. Here's the stats from my new friend the Garmin:

Distance 5.01km
Time 30:26
Average pace 9.9km/hr
Maximum pace 12.4km/hr

1st km 6:02
2nd km 5:55
3rd km 6:07
4th km 6:14
5th km 6:04

I am actually most impressed with that last km, which is uphill until the last 150m or so.

I've got another 5k scheduled for tomorrow, I just have to work out if I follow the same route or try something different. There are a LOT of 5k runs in my programme, so I've mapped out a few different routes to give me some variety.

Having this sort of accurate data though is pretty exciting. My goal over the next couple of weeks will be to do a 5k in under 30 minutes. Watch this space.

Evening update

I didn't quite get to the blog this morning, but I have an excuse. The internet was buggered at work this morning, and by the time it was fixed I had some other stuff that I had to do. You know, the stuff I actually get paid for doing at work.

Anyway, I have two significant things to report this evening:

• I bought a fuel belt at Joggers World yesterday after I finished at the seminar. It cost $70 which kinda sucked, but I got the 4 bottle one and I can't wait to try it out for long run Saturday.
• I ordered a Garmin 310XT today. This one's really exciting. I got a bargain too - I saw some recommendations for Highly Tuned Athletes on Cool Running forums, so I gave them a call. They had the 310 advertised for $429 on their website (RRP is $450), but they sold it to me for $399 including postage because of the Cool Running reference. I hate making those phone calls, but it's time to suck it up, because that's a decent saving. They're sending it express tomorrow so I should have it on Friday. Can't wait.

I gotta log on to work and get a couple of things sorted, so I'm over and out tonight.

Two days in a row, I'm on a roll

What is it they say, 3 weeks to form a habit? What do you think my chances are of blogging every day for 3 weeks to ingrain it as a habit? Hmm, me neither LOL. But I'll give it a go.

I went to Step last night, but the usual instructor is away. The fill-in lady seemed really unsure of herself, and I guess it would be hard to figure out how to structure the class when you don't know what the regulars are used to. I'm not sure if the same lady will be there for the next 2 weeks as well, but if so, hopefully she's learned some lessons from last night's class! This is the advanced step class, so we're used to a long and fairly complicated routine, and no scheduled drinks or recovery breaks. I think she was expecting us to take a lot longer to pick up the routine than we did, so we had put it all together and run through it about 8 times consecutively (which was getting a little repetitive), and there was still 15 minutes to go. She just added in some strength work, squats and lunges, to fill out the time which was ok (although it made me nervous... I didn't want legs that were too sore to keep up my running regime during the week!)

We shall see what next week brings, but I'm looking forward to the usual instructor being back. Her routines exercise my brain as much as my body most of the time. That's what I love about it actually - I'm not massively coordinated, so I have to concentrate damn hard to get the steps right. In doing that, I sort of forget that I'm exercising and don't pay any attention to the huffing and puffing and sore muscles. Tis awesome.

This morning I was back on the streets (in a good way of course). 5.2km run this morning, 33:30 to complete. I felt pretty good today, and had plenty left in the tank. Running up the last hill I felt strong rather than weary. I love those moments. I tell you what I hate though - extended daylight saving. It's not only dark when I leave at 6, it's still bloody dark when I get home at 6.30, and we still have more than a month til the clocks go back? WTF?

I have to go to a software seminar/sales pitch this afternoon from 2-4, and I have made the executive decision that I'm not coming back to work after it. The session is in town, so I'm going to take a walk down to Joggers World and see if I can spend an obscene amount of money on some running accessories. I'm a little bit excited about the idea of a fuel belt (thanks for the ideas girls!)

I've also convinced myself that I really do want to get the Garmin. I just need to decide between a 305 and a 310XT. From what I can gather, the selling points of the 310 are that it has double the battery life, and is 50m water resistant. The 305 has a 10 hour battery life, which in reality is more than sufficient for me, I'm no ultramarathoner. I also don't have any love for swimming (mainly because I suck at it of course). But somewhere in the back of my mind I'm thinking that I might want to try triathlon some time in the future. Do I make the extra investment now for something I might want to do in the future? Dilemmas, dilemmas. Any suggestions?