Pay attention to directions!

I finally got to try out my new Under Armour cross training shoes. According to my half marathon schedule, I was scheduled to run 3 miles this past Monday. Usually on the days, that I run 3 miles, I like to do one of my Gold's classes so that I can hurry up and fill out a card for the fitness challenge and hopefully win the raffle for the free massage. So, this past Monday I ran 2.25 miles on the treadmill. I figured I could finish up my 3 miles after my step class. My boyfriend already warned me that I shouldn't use my cross training shoes for running long distances. I said, "I'll be fine, 3 miles isn't long." My face even looked like this.
(Note: I just wanted to use this picture so I figured I'd try to incorporate it any way I could. This is actually me imitating what my dog looks like when she lifts her head up and her hair on her face is all messed up.)

Anyways, back to when I was running my 2.25 miles on the treadmill. Right when I was at 1.5 miles, I said to myself, I feel like I'm getting blisters on the arches of my foot. But like a solider, I trudged on and went to my step class. While I'm waiting, another girl who is doing the step class asks me how I like my new Under Armour shoes because she was looking at the same exact pair. Do I tell her other than the blisters that are forming, the shoes are fantastic? I told her I would let her know after step class to give more accurate feedback. I continue with step class and can honestly say that the shoes were really great at absorbing the shock of continually jumping up and down on the platform. My knees, ankles and lower back all felt great. I usually had issues with them after step. I meet up with the girl after class and I tell her that the shoes really did their job but, don't tie the shoelaces too tight, a reason I had been contemplating was the cause of the blisters. We'll see next week if she shows up with the same shoes.

I finish up my 3 miles, running the 0.75 miles that was left. (See, I'm not letting the Tech math classes go to waste.) But this time I try to run more on the outside of my foot as not to put more pressure on the blisters on my arches. I may have just invented a new running style.

I get home from the gym and tell my boyfriend he was right about not running in the Under Armours. Then he goes on, I believe to rub salt in the wounds, and says, "Remember the Dick's Sporting Goods manager said don't run more than a mile a day in those shoes because they aren't made for running." I don't know how I missed that but, I wish I would have listened. The manager must have said that while I was busy admiring the shoes in the mirror, picturing myself jumping more powerfully during step, kicking higher in kick boxing class, lifting weights twice as heavy as last week - all of this due to my new Women's Under Armour Proto Speed II trainer shoes.

The next day, I broke out my Band-Aid blister block. This has helped me on many new high-heeled occasions. It's like a small deodorant that makes a barrier against your skin and whatever is rubbing on it. I apply the blister block to the blister on my left arch. Then decide to read the directions.




Directions: Do not apply on already formed blisters or broken skin.

So, I wipe it off my left foot and never apply it to right foot.

Moral of my very long story: Pay attention to directions!

Note to self: Do not run longer than a mile in your Under Armour CROSS TRAINING shoes. Read directions before you try to medicate/fix yourself.

Images courtesy of:
http://images.eastbay.com/is/image/EB/00280161?wid=300&hei=300
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51sxuW4F8TL._SL500_AA280_PIbundle-4,TopRight,0,0_AA280_SH20_.jpg

What Would have been my MAC Hello Kitty and Creme Team haul

I've been avoiding the MAC counters on purpose. I know whenever I go to a MAC counter I usually end up getting at least one item. Sooo, I've just been appreciating the MAC Hello Kitty and Creme Team collections from afar, mostly through everyone else's blogs and hauls.

Another reason I haven't bought any MAC items is because I'm on this workout gear kick. Whenever I get into a new hobby, I tend to go all out, wanting to buy everything related to my new hobby. For example, when I started getting into MAC again, I would buy something from MAC almost everyday to build up my collection as fast as I could.

Without further ado..drum roll please..the following is why I cannot go to the MAC counter:
I ordered the Garmin Forerunner 50 bundle (pictured on the right) from Costco because it was being offered at a very good price. However, I was disappointed to find out that the calories you burn were calculated through your footpod, which attaches to your shoe, that measured your distance not by the heart rate monitor. Basically the heart rate monitor on the Garmin was useless to me. Yeah, great, I know my heart rate while I'm exercising but, I would have rather known what were my calories burned at different heart rates instead.

And that is why I also have the Polar F6 watch pictured on the left. That's actually a heart rate monitor that calculates your calories burned by weight, height, gender, and heart rate. Both the Garmin and Polar heart rate monitors use a strap that goes around your chest while you workout. Not too inconvenient but does take some getting used to. In the beginning, I kept on adjusting the tightness of the strap to a point where the strap isn't falling while I'm working out or leaving indentations on my body because it's so tight.

So, there was my dilemma. Which one do I keep? You want to guess which one I picked...BOTH! I'm so bad. I told myself I NEEEEDED both. I need the Garmin to measure my running distances outside and help me improve my running time, especially since I'm trying to run longer distances. I need the Polar for when I do the classes at Gold's. I'm so envious after class when everyone's doing a roll call of all their calories they just burnt during class. I tried to wear my Garmin to Turbo Kick class and was freaking out because the heart rate monitor wasn't working. Come to find out, it didn't matter if it was working or not because calories weren't being calculated by the heart rate monitor like I said above.

This also brings me to my next argument for my workout gear haul. I NEEEEED two different types of shoes - one for running and one for the classes at the gym, usually Step class, Body Attack, Turbo Kick, etc. Basically classes that cause a lot of impact and shock on your body that running shoes aren't really good for. So, my generous boyfriend, bought me Under Armour Proto Speed II Trainer shoes. Under Armour just recently released their line of running/training shoes this past January. In the picture, you'll also see my gloves and headband for running in the cold. I'm hoping to get new running shoes next weekend.


To complete by cold weather running gear ensemble, I bought the tightest outfit ever. And by tight I don't mean "cool", I mean actually physically tight. I've never tried on cold weather running gear before. My, is it snug. I ended up getting black Under Armour tights, long sleeved blue Under Armour shirt, and a lightweight grey Under Armour jacket. Under Armour is quickly becoming my favorite brand.
And that folks is why you aren't seeing my MAC haul and my reasons why I NEEEED all that workout stuff. I feel a little bit less guilty about buying workout gear. It's for my health right? Even if if I don't do well in my upcoming races, at least I'll be a well dressed runner with some high tech running gadgets crossing the finish line last.

P.S. Next on my wishlist are running shoes, insoles that the manager at Dick's Sporting Goods was showing me, and Oakley sunglasses.