New Toys!

post-run on Friday...so humid!

What a humid and hot weekend it has been! In Ohio, we have barely had any hot days (only a few in early June) and so this 90 degree weekend with a lot of humidity has been hard! I'm not nearly as adapted as I should be and have even had to run in long-sleeves and long compression pants this summer! Lots of water this last few days to help with the heat.

Friday was a quick run/walk. It was extremely toasty and I walked a few minutes longer than I wanted to, but hey, it's important to just get out there, right?! I hope it's true what they say-running in the summer makes for a great fall runner.

Saturday was 3/1 (3 minutes running/1 minute walking) with my No Boundaries 5K group. I really enjoyed this run despite the heat and part of the trail by the river getting washed away by all the rain-I have lived by this river my whole life and have never seen that. It has really been a rainy summer!

Today I went to a festival near Cleveland and walked it for nearly two hours. Of course there was some stopping involved, but luckily I was so hot I couldn't eat! There was so much good food there put out by the amazing restaurants in the city. We did find a juice station - real fruit and fruit juice shaken up "with a show." It was absolutely delicious and refreshing!

I promised a review on S Health. I haven't used a whole lot on the app, and every day there is something new they suggest I add to it, but I'll tell you what I know so far. There are many great apps within S Health. I tried Coach by Cigna. It is an app where you choose your health goal and doctors take you through daily challenges to improve your health based on what they feel your highest need is after a short quiz (food, getting active, sleep, etc). It is a great idea in theory, but needs more to it. None of the programs really seemed to fit what I'm looking to do now.

S Health can track your food, water, and caffeine intake and if I wasn't already so invested with My Fitness Pal, I would use it. I think S Health needs to collaborate with more apps (like Fitbit and My Fitness Pal) so everything is in one place. They do work with Nike+.

While searching around the app, I found the Samsung play store and download a new circuit training app. Nike+ Training Club is great and I love it, but my sister (the trainer and coach) said that it is mostly leg work and she's right. Now I'm trying Skimble. Much more variety in your choices and many more exercises, plus the ability to create your own! There is a huge community attached to it (much like My Fitness Pal or Fitbit) and when I signed up many people commented on it (which was cool, yet creepy, there is a way to make your profile private). Many of the exercises are free, but to access the whole app, it is $6.99/month (still cheaper than the gym-I'll take it!)

I also received my Fitbit Surge in the mail yesterday, but haven't had a chance to run with it yet. I plan on doing that tomorrow, but I already love it! I'll update you on the watch later this week.

fitbit surge! also notice, i'm comfortable enough to wear jean shorts in public!

I start back at work on Tuesday, so I'm feeling a little blue that my summer is over, but happy because I think that will offer my structure back to my workout plan and my life. I have not been able to follow a training plan AT ALL this summer! I just get out there and do what I can, when I can. With school back in session and being at work, I should be able to better plan out my evenings (maybe even mornings?!) to fit in more runs and get back to training for a 10K! We'll see how it goes!

Until next time!
-Liz