I ran outside tonight. I was so excited to get back outside to stretch the legs and feel the fresh air. Too bad it didn't feel as good as I wanted it to.
Blah.
Heavy legs, heavy stomach (Chinese food for lunch), shin attack. Hmm...not fun. It was one of those runs where I was asking myself the whole time, "Why do I do this again? I think I'll give up this running business now."
Turns out I didn't actually do too terribly bad, at least according to my iMapMyRun app. Not good, but not as bad as it felt. I ran the whole first mile, aside from a brief stop to tie my shoe. Second mile, some walk breaks.
Anyway, as mediocre as it felt and as "meh" as the results were, I just had a little fun playing with the stats on MapMyRun.com. (The iPhone app stores your run info on their site. You should definitely sign up. It's FREE!)
Mark it in your record books, I'm about to say something earth-shattering.
I've lately been enjoying--wait for it--data. Analyzing data.
What what?
Analyzing data. Me. A writer. Creative-type person. Numbers frighten me.
Somehow, though, when numbers are about me, I can dig it. For example, playing with the analytics tools on Blogger to see how many visitors I get and where my visits come from...fun. Looking at the data about my workouts. FUN! Especially since the data on MapMyRun.com includes maps and graphs that move and stuff. Ooh, shiny!
Data. I'm slightly ashamed of myself. I know a few of my friends who will be ashamed of me to.
Bah, anyway, here are some screenshots from my latest run on MapMyRun.com. Exciting stuff!
Oh! And before I forget, I went ahead and set up a fancy-pants Facebook account dedicated to More To Love Running! So, you should definitely go to the page and click "Like." It's a work in progress, but it'll likely be updated more frequently than the blog. And you know, pictures and stuff. Wheee! www.facebook.com/moretoloverunning
I'm the same way about data -- hate it typically. But when we were doing a step-counting challenge at work, we got pedometers that tracked the number of steps, when you took them, charted them over a period of time, etc. For some reason, when it comes to exercise, being able to see how you're doing is pretty appealing. I guess because the physical results of exercise are glacial and often unnoticable for months. If you see a two-minute improvement in your run, though, that's measurable progress and can be pretty encouraging!
ReplyDeleteI think you're right on how seeing it is important. It's funny that something as small as two minutes can make you feel so much better, but it's true. I figured that out in running 5Ks. You'd think that a 2 minute improvement over the span of 3 miles wouldn't mean much, but it does. it certainly helps you keep going. Speaking of 5Ks, when is your next race, sir? =)
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