This post is going to be more about where I'm at physically, instead of emotionally, at this point in my life. This past Sunday I ran 9 miles without needing to stop to walk...just to see if I could. I've been pushing my distance further over the past several weeks, not needing to walk during a run for over a month (I think) except for once when I ran the day after a snowstorm and got stuck in an area where I could choose between mud and snow, so I chose to walk until I got back to sidewalk.
Then on Tuesday, I ran 3.7 miles, finishing off the run with hill repeats (for the first time in my life) at the end of the run. Basically you run up a hill faster than normal, then walk or slowly jog back down, then run fast up. I chose to walk down but I ran up that hill as fast as I could, three times in a row.
Today, even though I almost couldn't find time to fit it in, and it was cold and snowing out, and I forgot ear muffs or a hat even though I know my ears get really painful when I run in the cold...I still ran 2 miles on the track at the gym, which was my goal (didn't have much time before having to get the kids from daycare). I was so proud of myself!
Unfortunately, it was too cold for my watch to get a reading on my heart rate (the underwhelming Microsoft Band...that'll be a post on its own, maybe combined with a post on the even more underwhelming Android phone I have)...GPS worked though and I did the 2 miles in just under 20 minutes. 9:55 mile avg pace...super exciting bc I'm usually between a 10:30 and 11 minute pace.
The reason I'm disgruntled with the watch: it has been underestimating my daily burn by a lot. After this run, I'm certain of it, because even though it tracked my pace and the amount of steps I took for that run, it calculated that I only burned 100 calories. I know it had to have at least been double that amount. So this has to mean that it was wrong on all of those days where it said I burned 1500 total even after cleaning the house, bathing the children, running up and down the steps to my office all day...not to mention the fact that I weight lift and exercise regularly, which should help me burn more all the time, right? Muscle burns calories faster...or so I've read in every single fitness and nutrition magazine.
Another, more undeniable reason I know my watch has been significantly under-calculating my calorie burn is the fact that I've been tracking my intake since Sunday. I've dropped a few pounds already which is probably not true weight-loss but I can feel/see a difference. The deficit according to the watch was not significant but I think the true calorie burn this week was a lot higher. For instance, on Sunday, even after running 9 miles and burning 1,000 calories...and spending 3 hours that morning cleaning my house...and bathing the kids...and taking the girls for a walk...my f**ing watch calculated 2,400 total for the whole day. That's 1,400 if I didn't run 9 miles...so 1400 calories burned all day...for breathing and cleaning and walking and playing with the kids and basically being really active all day. What the hell am I supposed to eat? According to this watch I'd basically have to starve myself to lose weight. Such bullshit.
Okay, so this post turned into an 'underwhelming watch' post after all. Guess I'll change the title. And I'll stop here and head to bed...after some Facebook scrolling and new watch browsing.
No comments:
Post a Comment