{Monday Runday} No one nearly died this week!

Hey! It’s Monday Runday!

And for once, I don’t have anything to terribly exciting to report. Nothing was broken and no one nearly died this week while running with me. That’s success in my book!

Well, maybe there is something a little exciting to tell you. I got a Garmin!! You have no idea how awesome this is (unless you have one!) On our last 5 mile run, Taryn showed me her garmin and all the awesome things it does. It is a MUST for a runner, at least in my books. I had previously been using mapmyrun on my phone, but everytime I would use it and compare its mileage to googlemaps, it was always off. The garmin, however, uses several satellites and everytime Taryn has used it and compared it to googlemaps, it is dead on. It is so important to me, especially as a new runner, to know exactly how many miles I have run as I am out there running. Sure, I could map out my run before I go out, and know exactly how many miles I am doing. But I am an adventurous runner. I just get out there and run. I don’t have a plan on where I am going, which turns I am going to take, and how far down the trail I am going to go. I just go. So this is awesome for me! Plus when you run with the phone app and say you have to stop for a wardrobe malfunction- like shoes need tightened or your fuelbelt needs adjusted, you have to take out your phone and hit pause, which takes time and messes up your pace. With the garmin, you simply push a button. It does so many things on connect.garmin.com, like generating reports, analyzing your runs, setting goals and tracking goals in both list and calendar form…it’s just so right up my alley. And no I was not paid to write about this. I just think it is that awesome!! Thank you Taryn for once again improving my running life!!!

I tried it out for the first time on Tuesday. I wore all my running gear to my STL home church for a Beth Moore bible study with the women’s ministry on James: Mercy Triumphs (Sooo good!), and I am sure I looked fashionable with my bright pink compression leggings. I ran 3 miles home, testing out the garmin. Totally in love! Although I wasn’t in love with the number of hills on my chosen route 😉

In other news, Saturdays have officially become my “long run” days as they are for most marathon trainers. Wait. Did you hear that? Marathon trainer. I’m a (half) marathon trainer! Never would I have imagined using those words to describe myself. Crazy! I ran 5.09 miles on the Monarch Chesterfield Valley Levee Trail last Saturday. It is 6 mile stretch that will eventually become a 17 mile loop that is connected to even more trails. I love Missouri and all of its glorious trails! This trail is exactly as it is named. A levee. I remember back in 1993, the great Flood of 93, (I was 8!) when the levee broke and the Missouri River came flooding into the valley. Since then the levee has been rebuilt, 3-6 feet taller in some areas, and you can now run atop that levee. It’s pretty cool!