The First Voyage of Garmin

I don't know what it is about running in the cold that makes me so much more tired than running in decent temperatures, but whatever it is, I'm exhausted. We had a group run this morning/afternoon for 10 miles. We started at Ladd and Marsha's house and hit some trails that I never new existed. They're perfect for riding! Straight and paved. I'll definitely be hitting those on my bike as soon as spring arrives.

The run went very well, considering that we had snow being blown at us by a very persistent wind. With very little in the way of cover I might add as well. I'm definitely thankful for being able to run with the group, because I would have had a VERY hard time getting my butt out the door by myself today. 24 degrees, snow, and wind. Not what I look forward to on a long run. We eventually turned around down in Chippewa Lake. It was nice and quiet down there with very few cars on the road.

But the big story today is that I took my new Garmin Forerunner out on it's maiden voyage. "Just what is a Garmin Forerunner?", you might ask. It's essentially a GPS receiver in the shape of a watch, as seen in the photo at the top. I went with the 101, which is the most basic model, but has all the features I consider to be essential. I love it! It not only shows how far you've gone, but what pace you're running at. And I can read it without squinting! A major plus. So according to the Garmin, we did 9.62 miles at an 8:21/minute pace. We started off a little slow and finished hard. Our last miles were around 7:50 or so and we hit 7:30 at one point. Maybe that's why I'm so tired.