marathons

We all enjoy a good marathon, right? A movie marathon, or a tv show marathon, maybe a dance marathon, you know the fun marathons.

Well, if I add up all the miles I have run in 2013, I have run 13 and a 1/2 marathons. Yes. I kept track and counted up all the miles I have run since January 1st. I ran 350 miles.

I could run to Cincinnati. I could run to Milwaukee and back. Which means I could stop off in Chicago. I could run to Buffalo, New York! That's how far 350 miles is from Grand Rapids.

Does it mean I'm going to run a marathon any time soon? Nope. I have my sights set on an actual, legit 5k. And the annual .1k but as far as running 26 miles all at once, like in one day. No thank you. Running the 3.1 miles is enough. Halfway through mile two I want to stop. I cannot imagine doing that twelve more times.

Now, to put a finer point on it, I also kept track of how much I have shoveled (and when I didn't do either of those and I ran inside, but since it was in place, I kept track of time, and that isn't impressive).

Are you ready?

925 minutes.

That's over fifteen hours this year that I shoveled snow.

Isn't that crazy? Half of that has been during this month. The other minutes added up in November, January and February.

I won't have to write it down on a calendar anymore. There's an app for that. And there's a fancy device too. It's called the Nike Fuel Band.

This is the Christmas present I received from Greg. It counts calories, steps, Fuel (Nike's version of keeping track of my activity), it has a clock on it, and when it syncs to my phone I can log specific activities, like shoveling! It's meant for full-body motion, so while I can wear it during yoga, it's not going to respond the same as when I shovel snow. It's the newer, updated version though, it noticed when I ran the vacuum! 

I'm really excited about this gift. And, as Greg pointed out, it was serendipitous because my phone died last week and now I have an iPhone. I can use the app and sync activities, which I would not have been able to do on the old phone. 

It's all about staying active. You don't have to have a fancy Fuel Band to do so. Make it your goal or resolution, just get moving.