Last night I went on a first date … with my little Green Garmin. We walked together slowly and then thought it was time to see what kind of trouble we could get into. It sat quietly on my arm and beeped a few times at me….

I started my run last night and within 60 seconds I had to stop because I had something in my shoe that just had to come out. Still not sure what it was but my head wasn’t too happy with my foot because it was interfering with my first date. Shoe off, fixed foot, shoe back on and we were back on our first date.

Usually when I run my normal little route I have targets that I like to run to: a house, a driveway, the school parking lot etc. However, I found myself looking at my Garmin and seeing the time, the distance (or lack of), I even managed to take a look at the calories burned. Yeah, don’t do that until you finish your run – it’s kind of irrelevant at the beginning of your run.

I found myself running faster than I normally do, especially since I haven’t been out running in a little while. There were lots of people out walking, kids getting their last bike ride in before bed time and even one other runner along my short little running route.

My watch beeped for “Lap 1” which meant 1K finish … that was fun I thought, let’s make that beep again! So off I continued and decided a little walk was in order just before 2K. Bad idea. It made my time go over 7 minutes for 2K two. What was I thinking? Obviously I am a GPS/Garmin virgin and I need to learn to take my walk breaks either well before the end of a kilometer or just after I finish one (after it beeps at me).

I really wanted to get 3K in so I ran a little extra. Here are my details:

I have to admit, I’m really happy with my time. I ran fast for my fitness level last night and I loved it. I pushed myself more then I normally would on my short run. Last night’s run reassured that I want to challenge myself and that taking my running to a new level for me is just what I want to do.

Since this was my “first date” with my Green Garmin (ps – you need a new name), I have a few other details to share:

Longest Run: 3.08 kilometers (yeah, I’m Canadian and use KM not Miles)

Fastest 1K: 6 minutes and 39 seconds

Fastest Mile: 10 minutes and 56 seconds (1.6093 km)

I have to admit, it was quite a nice first date with you Green Garmin…you did not disappoint. I look forward to our next date and see how good/bad I do 🙂

Do you run with a GPS? 

Did it help you improve your running?

Did you give it a name?

Some people name their bikes, cars (mine is Murphy), so I thought I’d ask if you’ve given your bike, car, GPS etc., a name?

Happy Running!