Just Do It...ghetto style

Today I did my first run with my Nike Sportsband. Let me just say- I don't have the running shoes that are "compatible" with the sportsband but as my sister can attest- there are ways of getting around that. Unfortunately I didn't know the proper "way" and cheated myself out of a mile or two I'm almost sure of it!
The sportsband comes with a small sensor that you are supposed to slip down into the Nike compatible shoes. My sister said she took an xacto and after tracing the sensor shape she cut into her regular non Nike running shoes and made a hole for the sensor and then put her shoe insert over it. Easy.
But I just got my pair of New Balances not too long ago so i wanted to see how it would work without cutting a hole and just sliding it under my insert. I couldn't feel the sensor after about two minutes but I'm fairly certain I placed it in the wrong part of my shoe. ;-/
This was further confirmed after I went to the sportsband site and saw the sensor going in...in...up to the ball of the foot part, not the heel as I had thought.
Call this a ghetto experiment. I can't afford Nike runners right now. I may be busting out the xacto just like my sis did.
Did a test run at the park and came back, slipped off the interface and slid it into the USB and now chilluns- you can see what a lame duck I am....I burned all of 49 calories in about 30 minutes! Like I said- I had the sensor in the wrong part of the shoe. At the gym on the elliptical- 30 minutes is just shy of 3 miles for me.
Loving the sportsband- just need to do it the right way next time....

The sportband logs your runs and even has an easy way to share your graphs with your friends on myspace. It tracks your miles, your pace and the calories burned. Which in my case today- was like...one cup of coffee. One...small....small....cup of coffee. ;-) Wanna keep up with my sister on the run? Check out her blog here for inspiration by the Bay...
run rene run

Park Life

I'm steady on my goal of dropping 5 more lbs, this is in conjunction with the 8 I already lost. Some things you lose and don't ever want to find again. So it's back to scribbling what I ate that day, buying healthier choices and rearranging my days to fit in 30-60 minutes of exercise. I've started using a step counter and my goal is 10,000 steps a day. It's actually not that easy to make that goal unless you really focus on it and don't cut corners. I feel at my peak in the energy department though, and that's a far cry from the depressing sadness and pain and ill health I was in before. Everything is all tied in together, your creative spirit, your health and the way you view the world and your actions. So if I'm cleaning up this aspect of my life I'm also cleaning up all the others.
I love being able to walk to the park on the weekends and get a little nature in while I run and walk. It's much more enjoyable than the gym. I am constantly mouthing the words "EW!" when I see some beefcake leave the machine all wet and sweaty or give it a cursory towel down with his already sweat soaked towel. Um, dude? That's not really helping. It's time to start planning my next hike out!