Hi friends!

Welcome to a blog post that is not about Nordstrom Lol. It has been really fun to cover the Nordstrom sale and talk about some great Fall clothes and share them with you ladies! However, today we are covering some new ground. On July4th I ran the PeachTree road race. It is a 10K (6 miles) and I defiantly have a love / hate relationship with with running. I am not someone who it comes natural too, I have to really get myself pumped up to even run a couple of miles, so this race was a huge challenge but also a huge victory!

^^ I purchased the Apply Watch 38mm Series 3 without celluar about 2 months before. It was an expensive purchase that I really was not sure was worth it. I was super skeptical and honestly felt a little guilty buying something like this for myself. I originally ordered it from Macy’s. I waited about a week and a half for what was supposed to be free 2 day shipping, called the customer service number and realized my order was canceled! UGHHH then I decided to go to go ole Walmart. It wasn’t on sale but it got here in two days with free shipping and I started using it right away.

The watch is VERY user friendly, even though I run a Blog and am on Instagram pretty much everyday I struggle with technology. I usually break it or can’t figure things out for the first few minutes. However, the Apple Watch synced to my phone quickly and was easy to update with all my Apps. I will say the first night I went running with it was quite a challenge but I figured it out pretty quickly after that!

I didn’t do very well in the race last year, having never done a race like this I wasn’t sure what my goals should be or even what I was capable of. Last year I was so hot, a little miserable and ended the race thinking I would not never do that again! Honestly I did not run until March the next year because I just could not find motivation. I started Barre in January and have loved it, it got me back into working out, and reminded me how great I felt when I did exercise. The only problem was it doesn’t get you in good long distance running shape lol go figure! There really isn’t a way around it besides you just have to go for a RUN! Around March was the sign up for the race. I guess I was feeling optimistic and fit  (from all the Barre I was doing) and I signed up. I just used my old time from last year and was going to just hope things went better than last year.

Well the sweetest blessing came our way this year in form of one of my  MOST PRECIOUS friends moving in down the road, and get this SHES A RUNNER! In April we started very slow, I mean like I bought a running guide and started with Week One kind of slow which includs walking. She has been the best thing thats happened to my running game and my heart. We normally do about a mile walk to warm up and we catch up and talk about our weeks. Then we run! We started with running 1.6 miles and I remember feeling like we accomplished SO MUCH with that almost 2 miles. Just last week we ran three and we were able to talk pretty much the entire time! I never thought I would enjoy having a running buddy so much, she truly sees me at some weak points trying to fight the pain and power through and she is such encouragement.  If you can find a buddy to run with it really will help you push yourself.

Alright lets get into some details about the watch. I have enjoyed so much setting goals and seeing them get achieved. I feel like my biggest problem with fitness was that I had no idea what goals to set or what I could really accomplish when it comes to fitness. This watch tracks your steps, sets three different rings of goals each day. One is for Standing – Blue, the second is for Exercise – Green, and the third is for Move – Red.

Standing goals are for once every 12 hours. Exercise goal is for 30 minutes every day and my Move goal is based on Calories burned per day. They best part is all of this including a weekly recap is linked to your phone so you can see a summary of what you have done this week!

If you are a girl who likes numbers, gets satisfaction from completing list or just really enjoy setting little goals each day and hitting them then this watch really will help you do just that each day! It keeps tracks of all he numbers and you just get out there and MOVE!

Just a side note – I work as a nurse at the hospital and I will leave my phone on my desk and go work. I really like that I don’t have phone on me all day, it keeps me more present with patients and with work. But if I need anyone or they need me I can just call or text from my watch and don’t have to worry I am missing an important call!

Training – I was literally so desperate with where to start after the events of last year that I also purchased Emily Jacksons Running Guide. It was $25 and I loved that she maps out running guidelines for each week with a long run at the end followed by a break. She also allows for other exercises that you might enjoy like hiking, biking, walking and BBG. I am going to start the guide over and really work on not skipping any steps. 

I want to close with this, I don’t want you to feel like you have to spend a lot of money on an Apple Watch or running guide to get in shape or run a race. There are plenty of Apps out there that track your running and free running guides everywhere. To me both of these purchases were one time (not monthly) charges and really did help me set some goals and achieve them. The running guide was not too expensive and has some great diet tips along with additional exercises. The watch was something I have been wanting for while and I finally took the plunge to purchase. You can do the Series 1 for less then $200 and it will be a great Christmas gift! It is something I will be watching to go on sale for Black Friday.

My goal this year was to beat my time for last year AND actually enjoy the race! I am so excited to say I did BOTH! The morning of the race I had knots in my stomach I felt sick all week with worry I would just suck the whole thing up and be disappointed in myself. It was the best feeling to hit this goal and I was on a high the rest of the day! I hadn’t run in 9 months after the race last time, I have already signed up for one in August to keep me accountable and hopefully get a great time for next years race! The Vinnings Downhill is a 5k and my goal is under 30 minutes!

Xoxoxoxo

Mary Margaret