Yesterday, I told you about how I was doing something that scared me. In fact, it terrified me.
For weeks, I let its intensity build up in my mind.
I had trained for my half-marathon, but over the last few days to a week, I let small hiccups chip away at my confidence.
It started with my fitbit breaking. My fitbit was something I had purchased when I started my half-marathon training. At the time, I was feeling extremely unmotivated about exercise, and I told myself that having some kind of quantifiable data on even the most simplest of activities (like climbing stairs) was what I needed. So I plunked down $100(!!) on aglorified pedometer fitbit. And for about a week, I was really good about always attaching it to my clothes and using it on my training runs. And then 1 night, I accidentally forgot to take it off my workout clothes from the previous day before throwing them in the laundry. And my husband did a good job of starting the laundry as soon as he got home. (OOPSIE!)
About halfway through that night's run, I remembered about my fitbit being in the laundry, and I raced home just in time to pull it out of the washing machine...completely soaked. The LED/LCD was blank and nothing happened when I pushed the button.
I may as well have just taken that $100 bill and thrown it straight in the trash.
But instead of it dying, I saved it by leaving it overnight in some rice. The next day it was fully recovered. And that's how I almost killed my fitbit.
That was more than a month ago, and my fitbit seemed to have fully recovered after the washing machine incident. But then 4 or 5 days ago -- just a few days before my first ever half-marathon race! -- I left it charging for a few hours and a little bit later, pushing the button on it did...nothing. My husband and I both tried to fix it but to no avail. I tried not to get too serious about it, but it was hard not to feel a little superstitious about my training "crutch" being broken just days before my first big race.
That was, until I saw the fitbit booth at the expo for my half marathon on Friday. I mentioned to 1 of the fitbit booth workers that it had died and that I had already contacted customer service and that I was...well, panicking just days before my race. So she gave me a new one. For free and just like that. Not only was I ecstatic, I was relieved. (Fitbit people, if you're listening, thank you again!)
And then there was the issue that I was having with the knee area on my right leg. It started a few weeks ago during one of my long runs. It wasn't hurting...but it didn't feel right either. I heard from others that it might be a very common problem with my IT band, so on that person's advice, I took a few days off (after my long run) and tried to stretch the muscle. After a few days went by, my leg seemed fine again...until my next long run.
Even though my leg wasn't hurting...I worried about it. (Admittedly, probably more than I should have.) I must have mentioned my leg issue to no less than half a dozen people. And I posted about it in an online discussion forum. I tried to play it off like it wasn't a big worry...but the more I thought about it, the more I worried. In the last 1-1.5 weeks of my training, I reduced the mileage on all of my planned runs in an effort to give my leg some respite and that seemed to help.
Then in the last 1 week before my race, another problem developed. I've been washing my clothes in Tide Free & Clear for weeks. My skin is really sensitive, and I've had problems with Tide detergent before, but this time I thought Free & Clear would be ok. It turns out...nope. Nearly every square inch of my skin has been itching for the last 1 week. After realizing the itching might be coming from the laundry detergent, I switched to a different brand and re-washed some of my clothes. Yesterday, I swear I saw a few red bumps on my legs so I'm not 100% sure it's not hives (from stress?). The itching has not stopped 100% yet, but it does seem to be subsiding.
So? How'd my first half-marathon turn out...? (Stay tuned...I'll try to post about that next.)
For weeks, I let its intensity build up in my mind.
I had trained for my half-marathon, but over the last few days to a week, I let small hiccups chip away at my confidence.
It started with my fitbit breaking. My fitbit was something I had purchased when I started my half-marathon training. At the time, I was feeling extremely unmotivated about exercise, and I told myself that having some kind of quantifiable data on even the most simplest of activities (like climbing stairs) was what I needed. So I plunked down $100(!!) on a
About halfway through that night's run, I remembered about my fitbit being in the laundry, and I raced home just in time to pull it out of the washing machine...completely soaked. The LED/LCD was blank and nothing happened when I pushed the button.
I may as well have just taken that $100 bill and thrown it straight in the trash.
But instead of it dying, I saved it by leaving it overnight in some rice. The next day it was fully recovered. And that's how I almost killed my fitbit.
That was more than a month ago, and my fitbit seemed to have fully recovered after the washing machine incident. But then 4 or 5 days ago -- just a few days before my first ever half-marathon race! -- I left it charging for a few hours and a little bit later, pushing the button on it did...nothing. My husband and I both tried to fix it but to no avail. I tried not to get too serious about it, but it was hard not to feel a little superstitious about my training "crutch" being broken just days before my first big race.
That was, until I saw the fitbit booth at the expo for my half marathon on Friday. I mentioned to 1 of the fitbit booth workers that it had died and that I had already contacted customer service and that I was...well, panicking just days before my race. So she gave me a new one. For free and just like that. Not only was I ecstatic, I was relieved. (Fitbit people, if you're listening, thank you again!)
And then there was the issue that I was having with the knee area on my right leg. It started a few weeks ago during one of my long runs. It wasn't hurting...but it didn't feel right either. I heard from others that it might be a very common problem with my IT band, so on that person's advice, I took a few days off (after my long run) and tried to stretch the muscle. After a few days went by, my leg seemed fine again...until my next long run.
Even though my leg wasn't hurting...I worried about it. (Admittedly, probably more than I should have.) I must have mentioned my leg issue to no less than half a dozen people. And I posted about it in an online discussion forum. I tried to play it off like it wasn't a big worry...but the more I thought about it, the more I worried. In the last 1-1.5 weeks of my training, I reduced the mileage on all of my planned runs in an effort to give my leg some respite and that seemed to help.
Then in the last 1 week before my race, another problem developed. I've been washing my clothes in Tide Free & Clear for weeks. My skin is really sensitive, and I've had problems with Tide detergent before, but this time I thought Free & Clear would be ok. It turns out...nope. Nearly every square inch of my skin has been itching for the last 1 week. After realizing the itching might be coming from the laundry detergent, I switched to a different brand and re-washed some of my clothes. Yesterday, I swear I saw a few red bumps on my legs so I'm not 100% sure it's not hives (from stress?). The itching has not stopped 100% yet, but it does seem to be subsiding.
So? How'd my first half-marathon turn out...? (Stay tuned...I'll try to post about that next.)
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