Finally Took the Leap

I finally took the running plunge and got myself a GPS watch. About time right? I am just such a cheapo and kept telling myself I didn't NEED one. Well, then a youtube ad for the TomTom Runner got me.

I usually just set my goal for either time or distance and run, but this weekend I tried out the race feature. Oh my, if you have this watch and you are competitive, this feature will be your favorite! I got the watch in time for my first 10k at the beginning of the month. And since the second 10k was the same course, I set my watch to race mode. Throughout the race the screen showed two arrows one was me currently and one was where I would have been at the same race time in the race. At the bottom it displayed either or - the yards compared to your run you are racing. The watch vibrates to let you know when you move from 1st to 2nd place and vice versa.

From mile 1 forward, I was beating my original time. Then I started watching my yards ahead. I met a new friend during the race (don't you love when that happens??) and I ran intervals with her starting at mile 3. I was around 350 yards ahead of my previous self but we spotted someone that my new friend knew, Mrs Colleen. I have seen her at races before but never spoke with her. She is a cancer survivor and as she put it, she runs to beat her cancer. It was nice stopping to speed walk with her and talk for a bit. We pushed on through the last mile (with two hills, by the way) and I managed to beat my time by 2 minutes. I'll take it.

Next up is my 10 miler next weekend and two weeks after that. I wish I had already logged a 10 miler so I could use the race feature on my watch again. It has been such a big motivation for me! I can't wait to see what it's like using that feature next year during 5ks. 2014 is the year of distance running. 2015 is going to be the year for speed!

So tell me your favorite watch feature? Or what motivates you?