Background
People keep responding to my running posts that they're proud of me and that they wish they could do the same. They are impressed that I'm going out, regardless the weather. Well it's not that hard to make small changes to your life and follow my footsteps, slowly.
This used to be me
A few months ago I wrote this post about how I got to start running. Well in this post I want to give you guys some ideas how you can change your life slowly, step-by-step.
Keep track
If you can keep track of your results and achievements you have a 'natural' motivator. The longer you go, the faster you go, the better your pace, these are all easy ways to motivate yourself and you don't need expensive watches, bands or other gadgets. Most people have a smartphone nowadays and there are plenty of apps that will help you keep track.
I have an iPhone and it comes automatically with the 'Health-App'. This app monitors your movements whenever you have your phone on you. It is also pretty accurate and Apple has been improving this app with each update. So if you don't mind carrying your phone with you whilst you go walking, running or do other exercises , this is the easiest and cheapest solution.
a Screenshot of the Health-app
This is what I did in the beginning, however for what I did, I felt it did not fully meet my requirements. Back then it wasn't as accurate and there was no Apple-Watch to use alongside. So I downloaded a running app. Again there are loads to choose from, but I used the Runkeeper one as for me I felt it did meet my requirements. Besides monitoring my exercises it also gave me motivational alerts and reminders.
About a year ago I learnt about the Runister app. You open this app whilst you go running and it pays you for your exercises, as long as you do it running/walking. I don't know what they do with the data they collect from you and where the money comes from, but for those of you who don't mind, this is an easy way to earn something whilst you work on your health.
Screenshots from the Runister app
Now as I got more serious about exercising and started running more often, faster and longer, I wanted more accurate data. So I did a lot of research and finally purchased my trusted Garmin Fenix 3. The reason why I bought it was that I wanted it to moniter ALL my exercises, so not just running but also swimming, langlaufen and anything else I might do spontaneously. It also has sapphire glass so it won't scratch easily and it came with a heartrate monitor band. This really helped me push my performances to the next level as the data is very accurate. When I track the route it's almost spot-on and it also recognises altitude differences. Garmin have many products that might suit any person and budget, but this watch has been with me for more than 2,5 years and I swear by it.
the Garmin Fenix 3, it is both elegant and functional with the interchangeable bands
At the point when I was really into it, I also used an app called MyFitnessPall to help monitor the calories I took in on a daily basis. If the product has a barcode you can scan it and most of the times it will find it. If it's not in their database you can add it yourself by using the data of the wrapping or comparing to what others have listed on similar products.
All these apps and products have helped me go out on a regular basis and work on improving my lifestyle. Now that I am preparing to train for a marathon, it will be even more important to be disciplined and use all the tools available to help me work on this.
... just steem about it 😉
I hope this helps you in starting to improve your lifestyle and as always, questions and comments are welcome. I will do what I can to help you and answer them.
Thank you!
Today I did another run with one of my neighboors and it was a huge improvement on last week, when I didn't feel well. We did the same course, but this time I was accompanied by my other neighboor. So I just wanted to share these stats with you, for those of you who want to see more stats in detail or in general are interested about the stats that my Garmin tracks when I exercise, you can see it all here.
By the way, this exercise was a 5/5 in Training Effect
Thanks for your support and good luck!
Doron
!steemitworldmap 47.334180 lat 8.386726 long Oberwil-Lieli, Aargau D3SCR