The winner of the 2014 Med City Half Marathon was Mark Bolster, coming in at a speedy 1:15:51. His speed doesn’t concern me. The fact that I will never be that fast does not bother me at all. In fact, I am pretty proud to have completed in less than double his time.
Less than double was my goal entering this half marathon.
I doubt the accuracy of the distance estimate for the track at my fitness center.
It’s possible I’m slower outdoors than indoors. Maybe the Earth’s yellow sun saps my energy and weakens my muscles. Possible, but not likely. I’ve always felt energized by its cancer giving rays.
“I don’t have all day,” says the electronic Runkeeper voice in my earbuds. “Start running whenever.”
I am running, and she does have all day.
Every year I sign up for a healthy living rebate at work. I record when I exercise or what I eat and at some point I get an extra pile of money. It’s a pretty good deal for me, but I can’t say it’s actually impacted my level of activity.
This year there is a new program which a person can sign up for instead of getting the money. They send a Fitbit for free. I wear the device at all times and presumably at some point I earn points and get rewarded. I’m hoping for little bits of cheese.
I like the program. I’m not thrilled about the Fitbit.
So here are my thoughts on the FitBit Flex:
My schedule feels busy.
Unlike summer, winter has me working five whole days in a row pretty much every week. Insane, right? What’s more, I’ve been training for that half marathon. Running four times a week at three to five miles per run is taking up a pretty solid chunk of my time. It only grows from here until May.
Then there’s the boys’ schedules. Isaac is in tennis, getting better at it and enjoying it. Gabe is in a dance and tumble class, though he admits that the tumble half is really the better part. Twice a week I find myself sitting at the Rochester Athletic Club waiting for a class to finish. Often, I write during this time, but it’s a small piece of writing time and there are plenty of distractions.
Mondays and Wednesdays I write during my lunch break. Soon, Wednesdays will be consumed by the running schedule.
There is no doubt in my mind that marathon runners are awesome.
The physical stamina and mental determination needed to accomplish such a thing easily qualify a person as very seriously awesome. Even the slowest marathon runners gain a sort of amazing glow in the eyes of lesser men such as myself.
I don’t believe I will ever run a marathon.
