Sandy Creek Park: Lakeside Trail

I decided to try a new trail—the trails at Sandy Creek Park. I've been meaning to try them for a while. (Did them after work on a warm day.)

I decided to try the long one—Lakeside Trail. (It's 6.5 miles + walking back to your car) I'm tough, right? Haha. I definitely bit off more than I could chew.

Sign #1: I brought mismatching grey Belega socks to run in. They have slightly different padding. Oh well.

Sign #2: Getting texts driving to my run about work drama. Ugh. And all the more reason to run.

Sign #3: Falling and skinning my knee within the first quarter mile. The trail wasn't especially bad. I just fell. And got dirt all over my arm and shirt. I can't remember the last time I fell running a trail. And I fell again mile three or four. TWICE. I fell twice. But I didn't sprain anything. I was pretty worried about putting a hole in my Lululemon crops :( But I didn't. And I survived.

Fall #1. Scraped my knee. Was happy to walk away intact.

I skinned my other knee with fall number 2.

Knee. Two days later. Black and sore. 

I just didn't have 6 miles in me today. My legs felt tired in the first mile. The trail was NOT EASY. It wasn't as bad as the White Trail. But I needed to stop and walk a lot. And my ankles kept trying to trip me. They do this on occasion when I need to stop running.

I haven't had to walk this much in a year. MY SLOWEST RUN IN A YEAR. I should have quit after mile 3 but it's a loop. I had to make it back. And I wanted to finish. So lots of walking. Which is fine. I was scouting a new trail.

I wanted to run 7 miles today. But that didn't happen.

That said I did like the trail.

The trail is REALLY WELL MARKED. Way better than the botanical garden. I got confused about 3-4 times. The first time was at the beginning of the course. But if in doubt—GO LEFT. And the next few times I should looked around until I figured out which way to go (usually left). One time there were actually purple signs that I think said WRONG WAY. I figured it out in a few seconds. I just needed to stop and look around. So easy to find your way. I completed the trail I wanted to (unlike the white trail, which I didn't.)

It was pretty. Pretty views of the lake. The trail was well maintained.

On the downside:

Hills. A little hillier than the IM Fields, but not AS BAD as the Botanical Garden. And definitely some steep, narrow parts.

Mud. There were a few jumps across streams and mud puddles that took some figuring out how to maneuver. Maybe 3-4 of them that you couldn't just leap over. You had to run through or jump and run. Totally fine. Wasn't expecting it. Don't wear new white shoes.

I saw 3 people on the trail while I was running. So not too many people. (Good and bad?)

I'm trying not to feel too bad about this run. It wasn't great. But I was trying a new course and it's okay to have a slow day!

I'd definitely run this course again. I need to get my time down!!

January workout highlights

Workouts: Month in review

13 runs for 61 miles

4 yoga classes

3 BodyPump class

3 pilates classes

2 gymnastics classes

2 home workouts

6 off days 

January highlights

The month started off a little slow with me in holiday mode—but with some double workouts in, I'm definitely back to gym rat status. I'm doing the same classes that I like. I haven't tried any new classes, but a few highlights for the month.

• Signing up for races Will race in 2017. At least twice as much as 2016 ;) 

I know I'm doing 6.6 miles in the Chick-Fil-A half in April and a trail race March 19 I have a bunch of others I'm thinking about including a 10k in February. 

• Completing the Lululemon Strava challenge for a free Swiftly shirtsleeve (and guacamole!)

• Increasing my weight in Bodypump. Woot! 

• Increasing my distance! I have been gradually increasing the distance I run. This time last year I was running 3-4 miles. I don't see a run over 4 miles until July. I've increased from 4 to 5 and change. I finally got to 6 miles this month and can do a 10k. Which is awesome.

(Running longer distances = blood blisters on my feet. I'm between shoes. Retiring old and breaking in new) 

Blood blisters

Just leave them if they're under a callus. They're fine.

• Finally running at Sandy Creek Park. I should make a list of area trails to try.

• Also, I was pretty good with meal prep. Definitely makes a difference!

Goals for next month: 

1) Mileage up to 7 miles

2)  Run better at Sandy Creek (less walking! less falling) 

3) Try a new trail if the weather (maybe make a list of trails in the area to try. Can you tell I love lists?)

4) Stay healthy! 

2017 fitness goals

#1 Stay Healthy. Do what I love while avoiding injury as best I can.

Classes to try
1.  Try an Orange Theory class
2. Try a Fuel yoga class.
3. Try more classes at Ramsey
4. Maybe try swimming (not necessarily a class)
5. Take a yoga workshop on something, like hand balancing or inversions.

Running goals.
1. Run a 10k or half the Chick Fil-A half marathon
2. Still would like to run a 5k under 23 minutes
3. Look into group work or morning speed work
4. Botanical garden trail without walking
5. 10k at 8 minute mile pace
6. More 5ks? Can I run on the road?

Tumbling goals:
1. Connect fly springs.
2. Walk overs.
3. Touch my feet to my head
4. 10 second handstand.
5. Practice handstands at home.

General goals
1. Conquer the Ninja course at Rush.
2. Try another flying trapeze place.
3. Get a body composition test done.
4. Stay on budget with fitness clothes.

Trampoline birthday party

I love trampolines. Love! And since I needed something fun to do for my birthday I invited a bunch of my friends to the trampoline park Tuesday night.

It was great workout and my friends had a lot of fun. My husband might have had the most fun.

We went to the local trampoline park. It has lots of trampolines, with some tumble tracks, a foam pit, dodgeball courts, a small dunk trampoline and a ninja course with a rock climbing wall.

Flip!
I've been able to flip now for a year and a half. But I flip into the foam pit or a gymnastics mat. I have never tried flipping landing on a trampoline. I was scared of rolling my ankle. I tried flipping on the Olympic trampoline at TSNY. I was feeling brave at the end of our jump time and I tried it when no one was looking.

Jump. Wait. Flip.

And I landed on my feet. First try.

I didn't hit my head and my flip wasn't too low.

AND my husband tried a front flip for the first time. He got it on his second attempt.

To outdo him, I tried a handspring to front flip. I almost got it. Not quite, but close enough to want to go back immediately.

I didn't turn the workout app on my watch on, but I burned at least 250 active calories and had so much fun. I should really start going back every other week or every two weeks.

Throwback Thursday: Running—Then vs now

I'm 32. Half a lifetime ago I was running track for my high school. And running has changed a lot in the last 16 years. I was thinking about what's different in running for me now.

1. Running by myself
The biggest difference is that when I was running in high school someone was telling me what to do. And I had team mates. Now I run by myself. I make up my own workouts. There's no team (and I do miss this). I've thought about getting a coach or even looking into online training plans. For now it's just running three times a week—2-4 miles. I'm not really training for anything either.

2. Frequency

I ran six days a week in high school. Some times twice a day. Now, I run three times a week now, and never on back-to-back days. My knees and joints don't like running consecutive days. I feel like three times a week is enough to keep my endurance without overexerting myself. (I do teeter on the verge of over-use injuries. I battled tendonitis in high school.) It's just enough to push myself without breaking myself. This could change if I wanted to train for something in particular, but for now I think three days a week works for my body.

3. 20 pounds
I'm 20 pounds heavier than I was in high school. My thighs are bigger. My arms are bigger. I have more upper body strength. I might have been a tad slimmer then. But there's not that much difference. I could probably fit into a lot of my high school clothes. At size 4-6, I think I'm doing just fine.

4. Supplements
I'm sure supplements were around when I was in high school. I remember my mom gave me health bars for races. (They tasted terrible.) And some of the guys would take yellow jackets (caffeine pills) before races.

But now supplements are so much more common. There's pre-workout shakes and post workout shakes and all sorts of stuff you can take to enhance your performance. My routine is usually to eat a banana or a granola bar an hour before I workout—if I'm hungry. I like a shake after gymnastics, because it's so late and I'm usually too tired to eat (but usually it's almond milk, a banana and some fruit. No synthetics here).

5. Watches
I used to run with a purple Timex. I could see my running times. I could see my splits. I loved that watch (it went over a waterfall in North Georgia when I was in college.) Now, watches are crazy advanced. I run with an Apple Watch. Watches have GPS, heart rate monitors, sleep trackers, step counters, calorie goals. Some can compare your pace. Smart watches can get text messages. Watches are so much more advanced now.

6. Heart rate monitors
I don't think I'd heard of a heart rate monitor in high school. We just ran. And if we felt dizzy, maybe we sat down. Now, all serious athletes wear heart rate monitors.

7. Shoes
I ran in Nikes or Addidas in school. I hadn't heard of Brooks or Asics. Now, you can go and get your stride measured on a treadmill with a gait camera. I think I remember FANCY sporting goods stores having the tiniest indoor track you could run on. Now, you can find out exactly what pricey brand of shoe you need to wear.

8. Popularity
In high school, my cross country team was TINY. Most years we didn't have enough girls for a team. I was the only senior on the track team, my year. No one ran in high school. Now, I see so many of my high school friends posting about races on Facebook. Now, everyone runs. Which is great. Except they thought I was weird then. I guess I was just ahead of my time :)

9. Music
Running to music? Some times they played music at my high school meets. I remember running a 3,200 meter to Destiny Child's "I'm a Survivor." We didn't run with music. I used the quiet to reflect on my day or plan. Now, I run with wireless earbuds to songs with good beats.  (iPods and iPhones didn't even exist then).

10. Running clothes
In high school, I ran in T-shirts and Umbros. I had a few tank tops and shorts. Dry-wicking shorts came out my senior year of high school (at least that's when I noticed them at Target). Running clothes are so much more IMPORTANT now. Crops with compression. Sports bras with pockets. There are so many choices. There are so many high-end lines—Lululemon, Lorna Jane, Sweaty Betty, Koral, Athleta. I could have had screen printed panther leggings for my mascot. But that wasn't around then. Now, I am so addicted to workout clothes. I love wearing workout clothes and picking out my gym outfit is usually the highlight of my morning. (As opposed to mindless throwing a T-shirt and shorts that smelled clean in my backpack.) Clothes for working out are fun now.

Also new: running skirts.

I guess all of this means that one day I can reminisce to youngsters about the time when we ran without earbuds or heart rate monitors—and didn't know the exactly mileage we ran when we ran for 45 minutes.

I sure am glad I learned to run when I was young. It makes it so much easier now.  Thanks coach!

At the state cross country championships.

Handstand progress

I've been working on a handstand for forever. (A year and a half.)

I started doing handstands at the trampoline gym and circuit training class. That progressed to wall handstands and gymnastics classes and finally taking a handstand class.

Progress is slow but I'm getting there.

My husband snapped this one of my at gymnastics tonight.
1. Straight up and down. (I tend to tilt my hips and not form a line. Or arch my back)
2. Toes pointed
3. My hands might be a tad wide, but it's okay
4. My head might be a tad out.
5.. Fingers are tented.
I'll take it. I can tell the difference between my handstand now and last summer. 

The goal is a 10 second hold. This picture was like a 2 second hold. I have more 5 second holds now.
I've got a better idea where my balance point is and more holds and fewer junk handstands. (Still plenty of those.)

I still need to work on
• Really squeezing my quads and butt to straighten my handstand out
• Entries. Getting me head between my arms and not out.
• Holding longer. Finding that balance point and holding it—instead of kicking up too hard and falling over.

Super happy about my progress on handstands and hope to be able to hold it longer each month.

Goal: Practice at home.
I don't have a lot of space to practice in my townhouse, so I take a Sunday handstand class and Wednesday gymnastics. That's twice a week. If I can get a few handstands in at my house or at the student gym, I think I'll make more progress. I've really just been doing them once a week and that's not enough.

(What I wore: Glyder Mosiac crop and Athleta PR tank. I like tanks with built in bras that won't come up like a loose tank might for gymnastics. )

Bonus: My husband came with me to my adult tumbling class tonight  :) It was awesome. He had a blast. He said "that was a lot of fun for $10. They have all the toys. You can pick want you want to do. And there are coaches around to help you do it." He wanted to play on the bars. So Robert worked with him on basic bar work. I think he wants to do a kip.

We walked on the balance beams. I showed him the cheese wheel for back handsprings. We played on the tumble track. He played on the parallel bars and had a bar set up for him on the floor.

Lesson: You're never too old for gymnastics. (My husband is 35.) And it is fun!

Things I've learned running in the last year

Today is my one-year anniversary. Kind of. We were on a break for 13 years. (I ran in high school and haven't run consistently since.)

Me running back in 2000. Totally won this race.
Ran this 5k in 20 minutes and change.

I think I decided to go running last January because I couldn't get into a Saturday Pure Barre class. I figured I'd burn my calories running. So I bought a membership to the university gym. $15 a month (total deal!). And to make that $15 a month work for me I decided I should run on their indoor track at least once a week for the next year.

Only, I liked running so once a week became twice a week.

And then I took some of the summer off for IT band issues. I tried to increase my mileage too fast. The time off and stretching helped and in the fall I started running three times a week. I'm not a daily runner. I like mixing up my routine with different workouts. For now, running three times a week makes me happy and healthy.

Running has also slimmed me down like nothing else. I'm the skinniest I've been in five+ years. Skinner than when I was working out two hours a day. Skinnier than when I was doing barre five times a week.

So here's what I might have told that girl struggling not to walk a year ago:

Before my wireless headphones.

1. Run with music. It's so much more awesome.
I started running before iPods existed. (I think I had a diskman in high school. You couldn't run with those!) Then, I saw the runners with their earbuds and brushed it off as youngsters being young. Then I started seeing studies about how exercising with music makes a difference in performance. I tried running with my iPod and then my iPhone and haven't looked back. It DOES make a difference. Running is such a mental sport. And with the music on, I just run. I'm not fretting as much over splits and other people. It keeps ME out of my head, which is much needed. It also gives you a beat to run to. At first, I tried iPod playlists. There's not enough free memory on my iPhone to keep playlists on it, so I do a workout station on Pandora and that's worked for me.

Gym bag essentials. 

2. Take your inhaler before you run
I have asthma but I like to use my inhaler as sparingly as possible. I noticed that when I took my inhaler before my run, I felt better. (I tried the inhaler after a few runs where I felt like I couldn't breathe.) My doctor approved this use for me. And now it's standard to take one puff, not two, about 15 minutes before my run. Open lungs = better runs.

Heat rash.

3. Wash your face after you run
My skin changed this year—and my face started breaking out after sweat sessions. My back too. (Gross.) So I always wash my face and try to wash my shoulders, where my sports bra sits, if I don't take a shower immediately afterwards.

Gym bags that double as luggage ;) 

4. Keep a spare pair of underwear in your gym bag
Occasionally I'll go running on my lunch break. I keep gym clothes with me. The one thing you don't want to forget is undies. Because you definitely don't want to go around the rest of the day in sweaty undies. So gross. (It's not hygenic and sure to give you a yeast infection). So if you ever ride in my car and eyeball and extra pair of hipsters—it's probably from gym bag.

Sweaty sports bra. It has three pockets.

5. Invest in clothes with pockets 
Crops and sports bras with pockets are awesome for stashing keys and iPhones when running. (I've tried two tops with low back pockets that might be good for gels but are awful for phones while running.) I prefer the pockets higher up on the leg or hip to keep from hitting you. I prefer this to arm bands or God forbid carrying your phone while you run. (Don't buy crops that don't have pockets!)

Favorite Lulu crops, sports bra and UA tank.

6. Lululemon Love
My favorite thing to run in is Lululemon. They make the best crops I've found. Favorites: Run Top Speed crop, Run Inspire, Kris Kross Crop and Stash it crop. Their crops have pockets. They're also made with wicking fabric that feels slick and sporty when you put it on. These crops hold everything while making your butt look great. For tanks, I'm not as picky. Lulu makes good ones, so does Under Armour (the tops with vents and mesh backs are my favorite.) Don't waste your money on Fabletics and other brands. You won't like them as much.

Run socks. Fun colors.

7. Wear fancy running socks
I started buying running socks to run in—instead of my 14 year old gold toe socks. These socks are padded for runs, sweat wicking and stay up in your shoe (there's nothing worse than a droopy sock halfway in your shoe screwing up the middle of your trail run.) I have socks from Lululemon, Asics and a few other brands. Guess which are my favorite. (Hint: the Asics haven't held up and I need to toss them.)

8. Don't run in shorts when you're already sweaty
Honestly I prefer to run in capris. The few times I've run in shorts I've chafed my thighs. Once I did a 30 minute body shred class and got sweaty. I decided to run two miles after that. Mistake. I was wearing shorts and my thighs chafed. So I should just run in capris from now on. Maybe save the shorts for body shred or sweaty indoor classes.

9. What times to run at the track 
I've never tried going to Ramsey at 6 a.m., but so far my favorite times to run are
• 9 a.m. Saturday when they first open. No one is there.
• Noon Sunday when they first open. No one is there.
• Lunch breaks are less crowded than after work.

The outdoor track is closed to the public from 2-6 p.m. on weekdays during the school year.

Post workout stretch and snack.

10. When I run best.
I've had my best times running at lunch. Never first thing in the morning. Occasionally at 5:30 p.m. I think this is because I need food in me to do better. If I'm running first thing in the morning, I probably haven't had that much to eat. I like to eat after a run. Not before. But I do better at lunch because I'm fed but before my body is tired from the day.

11. Flying solo
I prefer running by myself. I go running occasionally with my husband. I always obsess over if I'm faster or if he's faster. It's not good. So I'll usually do a different workout than him. Sure, I'd love a running partner so I could get faster. But I think I need the right running partner.

12. Faster than the boys
The indoor track seems to be mostly walkers, slow runners (11-minute miles) and people that sprint a lap before working out. So at the track, I'm usually one of the faster ones. I'm faster than a lot of the boys. (Seriously, lapping boys who think they're fast is awesome.) I don't consider myself fast at my current pace, but I guess I'm not doing bad.

13. How to count laps
I hated running the 3200 meter in high school. I couldn't keep up with my 8 laps. Running took all my attention. When I run at the indoor track, 8 laps equal one mile, so 24 laps equal 3 miles or 32 laps equal four. That's a lot of laps to remember. I try to start running when the overhead clock is on 0, so then if I run 8 minute mile pace the time on the clock should be about equal to what lap I'm on. The same goes for the timer on my watch. So if my timer says 12:56 when I finish a lap, I've just finished 13 laps. And I try to say the lap over in my head. I get confused when I start thinking 3 to go, etc. I'm still not great at counting laps, but knowing what my time should be helps.

Blurry because I took this while running. See how
 little room I have to pass these ladies.  They were clueless. 

14. Obstacle Course Navigation
Running at the indoor track can be like running an obstacle course race. Some days there are swimming moms walking five wide at the track only for sorority girls to be blocking the outside lanes. The track can be pretty busy—and a lot of the people have no idea about track etiquette. It can be hard to pass a group. In January, it's especially bad. I'll give them until February and then I start elbowing.
If you go to an indoor track, read the rules. The rules at this track are to walk and run single file. Walkers on the inside and runners on the outside. So don't walk five wide. It's hard to pass you. Harder still, when you're oblivious of other people. So be aware of your surroundings.

15. Other people's ticks
I watch other people a lot at the track. I see people that run too heavy, people that lean to one side when running, people that hunch when running, people that are exerting too much effort. The other day I saw I guy that ran pigeon toed. His legs swung out instead of forward.  I've seen a guy sprinter in loafers. I want to say something, but I'm not a running coach. It would be rude to say something so I keep my mouth shut. I just think as loud as I can "Bless your heart."

16. The importance of stretching 
I do like to stretch but I'm always in a huge hurry to get my run in. If I go to run on Saturday, it usually takes me 90 minutes. A few minutes to walk into and get into the gym, to warmup stretch, run for 30 minutes, stretch and recover, maybe wash my face. If I take a shower definitely 90 minutes. When I'm in a hurry I tend to cut corners. And it's easy to cheat and not stretch. This is a great way to be tight the next day or get an injury. I missed six weeks of running from an IT band injury. Now I make sure to stretch my IT band, calves, hamstrings, achilles, back and more before and after I stretch. I will on occasion just run—but make sure to take extra time to stretch afterwards. Skipping stretching doesn't work for me.

The trail by the river at the botanical garden.

17. Running outside
I definitely prefer running trails to running 30 or so times around a track. I tried trails at the IM fields and trails at the Botanical Garden. I'm not tough enough for the White Trail hills, but that's something to work towards. I tend to send a minute goal—say run 32 minutes at the IM fields since I don't know the exact distance. I am slower on uneven surfaces, but it's more fun. I always keep my phone on me while running trails—and usually run into someone I know at the Botanical Garden. I colleague suggested I run with one earbud out while running  trails. I did have a mountain biker sneak up on me once and scare the bejeezus out of me. I like running the IM fields because I like seeing the happy dogs. And I like running the river by the Botanical Garden. I can't wait until it's warm enough to run more trails.

50 degrees and I'm bundled up like I'm racing in the Iditarod. #Southerngirlproblems

18. Temperature threshold
Cold triggers my asthma, so I don't run outside when it's cold. I feel awful afterwards. When I have access to an indoor track and treadmills, I simply don't need to get sick to get my miles in. I prefer running outside when it's 60+ degrees outside. I won't run outside if it's colder than 60, and even lower 60s I have to be careful. It's not a matter of being tough—it's what works for and keeps me feeling good.

19. How to use the treadmill (mostly) 
I have very little experience with a treadmill. I think the only time I've ever used it is when I was in physical therapy two years ago. I got to use the treadmill more this year and have it mostly figured out how to use it. I can turn it on, off, increase, decrease the speed, pick a workout, turn the TV on and more. I still have more to learn, but I will look less silly using the treadmill in the future.

20. Kind bars
Kind bars are my new favorite. I keep them in my gym bag for after a run. So I can get protein quickly fast. They're kinda high in calories (180) so are a heaver snack than say a banana. They're just awesome to have around and are filled with good stuff.

Apple Watch review

I've had my Apple Watch for almost a month now. I'm still figuring out how to use it, but hope I have the hang of things.

Bottom line: Love it. Don't know how I lived without it.

I've had fancy running watches since high school and I do like wearing a watch. This one's great.

What I love

1) The watch is super light. It's lighter than any running watch I've had and I can forget I have it on.

2) Driving directions on your wrist. If you look up directions on your phone, it will pair with your watch and show directions on your wrist. So there's no need to look down at your phone. It also buzzes your wrist when it's time to turn. I like this better than the bossy Turn Now voice on my iPhone.

3) Find my iPhone ping.
I am constantly misplacing my iPhone. I leave it on the couch and the dog sits on it. I leave it upstairs when I go to do the dishes. The watch will ping the phone (the phone will make a horrible noise so you can locate it.) This is a God send for me! (And might prevent the pets from sitting on it in the future.)

4) The fitness tracker. I'm obsessed. This is a good and bad thing.
I check it way too much. I get sad when I don't meet my calorie goal for the day. (I need my off days.)

Activity rings on my watch. Blue is for hours stood (12 is the goal. You just have to stand up and walk around some.) Green is for activity. It likes you to workout for 30 minutes a day. The most difficult one is the red active calories. My goal is 500, which can be challenging when it gives me low calorie counts. I burn about 2000 calories a day, but not all of them are active. This is why I'm walking laps around the house at 10 p.m. trying to make my goal AFTER barre class and walking the dog. 

5) Viewing picture messages on my wrist something out of the Jetsons. It's pretty cool.

I currently don't have email set up on my watch. I don't need any more notifications. That would make me too anxious.

It has calendar notifications, which can be helpful, for example when I have a barre class and need to get out the door.

It has a stop watch and a timer (that pair with your phone. So if you set the timer on your phone, it will beep in both places when done.)

The watch also has silent mode (so no texts while you're in pilates) and a Do Not Disturb. (Which is great since silent mode is broken on my iPhone. My otter box won't let me flip that switch.)

Fun: You can send touches or doodles to friends with Apple Watches. Two of my friends got Apple Watches for Christmas and sent me doodles. That was really fun.

You can use the watch to take a picture like a selfie stick. 

Downside to the watch.
1) It can be hard to select the right button or press start on a workout. The screen is tiny and I constantly hit the wrong app. I struggled to press start on a treadmill workout the other day. I had to stop the treadmill. Ugh.

2) I didn't set it exactly right on the charger one night and it didn't charge. Oops. Make sure it chirps that it's charging. It does charge in about an hour so that's not bad. (This has only happened once.)

3) It can be overwhelming when your friends blow up your phone. That said, there's a silent mode on the watch. I think it still buzzes. I wanted to take a nap but kept getting texts one day (friends only text when I nap) so I ended up taking the watch off. (Before I figured out the Do Not Disturb.)

What I don't love.

The calorie count on the watch is not very accurate. It cheats me out of a minimum of 100 calories per workout. Even with the heart rate monitor telling the watch I'm working hard. It counts active and total calories—but I still don't think it's anywhere close to right. It seems to only count arm swinging as calories, so if I'm doing pilates or barre and keeping my arm still and moving anything else, the calorie count is low.

For running, the distance is off. I did calibrate the watch, but it's still not accurate—even if I put the phone on my leg (and usually my iPhone step counter is pretty accurate.) I ran 2 miles at the track the watch said 2.17 (which is almost another lap.)

• If I'm on the fancy treadmill at the gym (that knows my age, height and weight), it's calorie count doesn't match the watch's calorie count—even when I have my iPhone on me. (Watch said I ran 2.97 miles, treadmill said 3.5 miles.)

71 calories versus 151 calories and the bike
isn't even counting the arm weights I did.

• Same for exercise bike. The indoor cycle workout function—even with both watch and machine measuring my heart rate—don't get close to the same calorie count. (For a 27 minute bike-ride, the watch said 100 calories, the bike said 218.)

• There's a definite lag in the information. It will say zero calories burned and then 5 all at once. It's not real time.

• I read the the heart rate monitoring is the best out there. Except when I run my heart rate gets higher than those online charts say is feasible. The heart rate sensor does not match the gym equipment sensors on the fanciest treadmills. And I feel fine when I run, so I'm guessing the heart rate monitor has issues, like maybe the watch is too loose or I'm moving my arms too much.  I'd really like to compare the watch to another heart rate monitor. But how reliable can a wrist monitor be?

Also, Lululemon makes a long sleeve shirt with a hole for a smartwatch. This doesn't work for the Apple Watch and it messes with the watch's wrist sensors so I constantly have to unlock the watch.

Bottom line
I'm hoping that with the next update or version of the watch, they incorporate more workouts—like barre, pilates, yoga etc. So those will be more accurate. I'm also hoping to be able to edit a workout—for example when a distance is off, or I forget to stop the workout, I can go in and edit it. But for a first generation product, I'm stoked.

My friends only text me when I'm napping or working out. I absolutely hate it when I get a text while running. Because I feel like I need to look at it, but I need to run and not stop. I've started setting my watch to Do Not Disturb while I exercise (of of course the first time I do this I take a barre class and my boss is blowing up my phone and I'm an hour late responding to something. It was Saturday morning. An hour response will have to do.)

I really do like my Apple Watch. But I've been really annoyed with texts on my watch lately. (I'd rather get them on my phone.) So maybe I should have gotten a fitness tracker instead.