Awesome NSV

Yesterday when I went to work out, I was feeling very motivated. Maybe I still had some endorphins left over from my tattoo. But as I started walking, I felt strong. When I finished & looked at my Runkeeper app to see my stats, I was shocked at my pace. What was it? A little bit of background first...

Back in September 2010 when I first started WW, there were times when my back would hurt from walking even a block. Now that I really think about it, it was a pretty sad way of living. I started out working out doing the 1 mile Walk Away the Pounds DVD. It's 20 minutes of low impact cardio. At first, I couldn't even finish it. As time went by, I was able to complete it without feeling like I was dying. Then I moved on to the 2 mile, then 3 and 4 mile. The 4 mile is basically one hour of cardio.

I started getting bored with the DVDs and since I lived so close to the Golden Gate Bridge, I decided to walk it. Whenever we had family, this was something that I always avoided. I always dropped them off and picked them up on the other side. I remember the first time I walked it it took me close to 30 minutes to walk a mile. It's embarrassing to even say it but it's true. I was so out of breath and my heart felt like it was beating so fast. I was constantly stopping. However, I started to walk more and it started to get easier. I wasn't feeling so out of shape and a mile didn't seem like that long of a distance.

I was looking at some of my Runkeeper history and back in April I was walking a 22 minute mile. So slow but for someone who walked the mile in 30 minutes that's an improvement right?

Well, yesterday my app said that my pace was 17:01 miles per minute. Say what? Again to most this is slow but for me it's a HUGE improvement. I couldn't believe it. At first I thought my app was incorrect. I did pause the app during the walk to take a picture so I thought maybe that had something to do with it.

I went back today to the same location and walked trying to see if I could replicate yesterday's results. My pace was 18 minutes today however I think I would've walked faster if it wasn't for the heat. Where I walk is right next to the water so I had a jacket with me. After my walk today, I looked like a bright red sweaty tomato. I had to stop my brisk walk after 40 minutes because I felt like I was going to pass out. The heat was too much and I got to the point where my mouth was dry and I felt sick.

But that means that my app was right yesterday. In the right conditions, I can walk a 17 minute mile. For me, that's something to celebrate. I decided that I would do the 5k Your Way plan again and try to beat my previous time from the past 5 weeks.