I’ve been running a lot lately and have realized I no longer hate it. In fact, the longer I’m out running, the longer I want to run. A 30 minute run turned into a 50 minute run. Next thing you know, I finished 5 miles and felt good! Granted, I don’t run very fast or jump high, but I think God designed me to run longer distances. And I’m okay with that.
One of the main reasons I’ve loved running (besides being out in the sunshine!) is because of the help of Adidas’ miCoach app that I’ve been using. You select a plan that you want to do and just follow along, speeding up or slowing down when they say so, which allows me to zone out and just do what I’m told. The app is free (with the purchase of a smart phone) and you don’t have to buy anything else to have a productive workout. Heart rate sensors, stride rate monitors, and other add-ons are available, of course. But for the last 8 months or so I’ve run with just me, myself, and {my} iPhone. It uses your GPS to track your pace/speed and coaches you through your run based on that.
A few weeks ago B-money surprised me with the heart rate monitor (and a dongle that plugs into the base of my iPhone) and I’ve loved running with it. Coaching by pace zones is great until you encounter a hill. Heart rate-based coaching has made running the hills around here more manageable for me. It’s also funny when, hypothetically, a bird flies out of a bush beside you and startles you and you can see your heart rate jump a few beats per minute. And then you can flip the bird at the bird. Hypothetically.
Here’s what I especially like about miCoach:
There are so many plans! This is the Running Plans page, but there are so many others to choose from: sport-specific, de-stress, loose weight, etc.
Plans within the plans! In addition to coaching you as you run, they offer different workout plans to help you get lean, strengthen up, or run stronger.
It keeps track of EVERYTHING for you; routes you run, all of your stats for each individual run, any notes you take, shoes you used, calories burned, etc. I can look back to the very first day I downloaded the miCoach app.
It’s handy to be able to add your shoes to your run so you know when it’s time to replace them. I’ve run 119 miles since I got my New Balance shoes (last fall, don’t worry).
All of the previous screen shots have been from the website, this is from my iPhone. If you’re as competitive as I am, you’ll love/hate this part of it. Today my score was 50%. Meh. (To toot my own horn, it’s usually between 80%-90%) Today’s run was a doozy with eight 25-second sprints. Anyway, even though it wasn’t best, they still offer encouragement.
Probably my favorite part, Reggie Bush is my coach. Every day when I press ‘start workout’ he says “Let’s do this.” And I get it done.
And here’s today’s run:
The blue zones = heart rate b/t 129-146 bpm. That means a quick walk or very slow/silly looking jog for me. The red zones = hr b/t 174-180 bpm. That means lean your head forward and run like a kid chasing an ice cream truck. I barely made it each of the 25 seconds I had to sprint. But I was impressed that my fastest time was a 5:39! It was downhill, but still.
Maybe you noticed, but the plan I’m doing is prepping for a half marathon. I think I’ve been too afraid to officially allow myself to think of myself as an athlete. And I’ve told myself only athletes can run half/full marathons. Ergo, not me. I haven’t officially signed up for a half… yet (my bff offered to run one with me…). But we’ll see. Why else would someone be doing this plan, though? 😉
fowlerama 