I was lucky enough to get asked to do a survey for Google last Friday, where they showed me all of the new features they are looking to add to Fitbit. It, honestly, was very promising, and if they implement it, may cause me to start using my Pixel Watch again. Can’t go into too much detail because I basically signed an NDA, but I probably can say that they are trying to get Fitbit to compete with Garmin in terms of the amount you can do with the app and your smartwatch in relation to specifics, like running. Everything they showed me was very cool and even a little surprising, so we’ll see if it works or not. If it does, my Forerunner might become the paperweight.
That said, Fitbit’s premium stuff costs money while Garmin Connect doesn’t, so in the end, cost may be the limiting factor. We’ll see.
This past week has been interesting. New PB! The fastest I’ve run since 2013! New shoes that rule! My only running mileage this week was parkrun, as part of my knees and IT band recovery. Overall my IT band feels better but my knees themselves feel a little weary. I think I’m getting Runner’s Knee. Just a little ache behind the patella, nothing more. I’m hoping some regular walks and strength training will help offset it.
My nutrition has been better as well. Not great, but leaning more into that 80/20 mindset than before. Meal prep has helped a lot. I thought I would get sick of that Lime & Pepper Chicken but I really didn’t, even cold. I never eat cold chicken but it was good! And this week I’ve got more sitting in a marinade as I type this as well as some ground beef and preferred veggies for burritos.
So now this week is for upping my mileage again, slowly. If I run 5k on Saturday (parkrun 10!) then I want to hit 6 miles overall, for starters. One mile on Tuesday, two miles on Thursday, 3 miles on Saturday. A gentle ramping up for the sake of my legs.
The week after this one is the Lacamas Hop Hop, the start of four 5k races in six weeks, including my first real traveling race, where I drive up to Long Beach, WA over my birthday weekend for the Pacific Coast Running Festival’s 5k there. I really went all in, folks and I desperately need to increase my mileage so that I can finish the Foot Traffic Flat 10k in July. Thankfully, all of those races except for the Pacific Coast one are on Saturday mornings, which mean I can judge whether or not I can run an additional long run on Sundays. Probably not, at this point, if I’m doing a “30% of your weekly mileage” type of long run.
This week will definitely be the one that shows me how well I’ll be able to run for the next few weeks. Judging by my recovery from last Saturday’s parkrun, I think I’ll be alright.
