As you guys know, I am documenting my jogging progress since I began to run. A month ago I was documenting how I managed to do a non-stop 4 km run. The previous year I managed it to do 5 km but I never could run further than that. But guess what happened today? I ran 6.2 km without a single break. It was a non-stop run and I am super excited about it. It’s a huge milestone because it means now I could basically participate in a 5k run as I broke through 5 km several times and now I ran much further. By the way, a friend said last year “If you continue, you probably will run 10 km at some point” and I replied, “I question that I can do this”. But considering that I ran 6.2 km today, only 3.8 km are still missing. Who knows, maybe my friend is not wrong.
Maybe I can achieve it in this life. I actually didn’t believe that I could still run 5 km, but now I’ve done it quite often already. For now, I think I am interested to break 7 km this year. Let’s see if I can do it! I don’t know if I need to achieve 10 km, because 5 km is already good. Apart from that, I like the fact that I run 3 times a week on average because this is regularity and much more important than adding miles. But the truth is, with that regularity, the routes become easier and easier, which will automatically make you run further, sometimes spontaneously during the run when you realize you still have power. This is why I achieved a non-stop 6.2 km run today. I am super excited and in very good mood now!
Diary of Dennis 
Congrats on this milestone achievement! Bravo!
Thank you 🙂 It feels good 🙂
Garry was a runner and he only stopped recently, sometime after age 75. He still exercises, but not as hard as earlier. His muscles and ligaments don’t like the pulling and tugging.
There is a marathon in our district once a year and I saw a lot of people older than me. This was actually one of the reasons why I started running… because when I saw them, I realized that my lifestyle was really bad. Like, how can it be that they run miles over miles and I am in my late thirties and can’t do it? That was the point where I told myself to stop complain and start doing it as well. That was three years ago or so. I think Garry must have been very fit! He ran for a very long time! What people in his age might not realize is what I mentioned previously… if someone with 60 or 70 is running, he or she is basically a good role model and it might convince some younger people with a bad lifestyle to start exercising too. This is as said, what opened my eyes.
Congratulations!! Great work. I’m on a summer running project as well Dennis. If you’re tracking your runs on a watch or phone…try using the ‘Strava’ app. Really good!
Awesome Jeremy! We stay fit! 🙂 At the moment I am tracking my runs on a more complicated way… I measure the distance after the run on Google Maps. It somehow works because I remember where I ran, and then I just paint along the way I ran and know how much it was.
I was thinking back and forth about getting a running clock. I like the Garmin Forerunner 245 in white, but at the moment this is way too much money for my taste. Then I was thinking about the Garmin Vivoactive 3 which doesn’t cost that much, but I am not sure how important the missing features of the Forerunner 245 are and I’ve heard GPS and battery life is better on the Forerunner 245 too. I don’t like the Forerunner 235 because the sensor is not flat and probably noticeable on the arm.
I’ve heard about Strava, this looks interesting. Do you run with a watch or your phone? My phone is old and the battery barely still survives to play 10 songs until the battery dies during my run lol. Running a GPS app would be worse. 😀 Time for a new phone too. But long phone calls still work, so I am not in a hurry to get a new one. As a phone, it still works.
Dennis- any of those watches are absolutely solid but finding one that looks decent is another story! Want to know my solution? I went with the apple watch. Never even slightly interested before but man it’s an absolute delight. Tracked my runs perfectly. I can export the data to strava. It holds music and I can play my music playlists via bluetooth. I can pay for stuff with apple pay after my run all without my phone. Pricey perhaps but I’m loving mine. There’s lots more to them as well. They track heart rate variability as well …did a blog on that last week. There’s lots to enjoy. As for those annoying notifications…I just turn them all off. Look into them…you could even wait for september, probably a new one on the way so discounts for the current model etc
Talking about the design, I really like those round Garmin watches. I had a similar idea… I thought I wait until next year and see how much cheaper the Garmin 245 is. I’d honestly take the Forerunner 235 for the current price, but the not flat sensor is a big no-no. So, I am more interested in the Forerunner 245. I will probably stop running in three months anyway, and then I will do indoor swimming in winter. So, I think I have patience until next year.
I don’t have a problem with Apple, except that I don’t like square watches and except that my phones always have been Android system, which could be compatibility issue with an Apple watch.
Ultimately, I will get myself one of these watches, because now I know running is something for me as I run the third year now I believe.
I seem to remember one of those Garmin watches having music as well? Another suggestion Dennis — this one: https://us.amazfit.com/shop/bip?variant=336750 I have one. Does everything you need it to do except music. Battery life? Like 4 weeks! Built in GPS
One of the Forerunner 245 models has music, it’s the white one. There is a Vivoactive 3 music edition as well, but that watch looks uglier than the non-music Vivoactive 3.
So far it’s pretty sure that it will be either a Garmin or maybe a Huawei watch. Because I can’t get over square watches and both of them make round ones. I like round watches more.
The Huawei stuff is really good (despite what trump might say lol) I think the Garmin’s screens are always on right? The amazfit is always on too. A great feature that is not on the apple watch (alas…) Hey…have you read any of kelly Starett’s work? He’s a US fitness guy who wrote a book ready to run a few years back. I’m re-reading now and summarising his standards for running on my blog for my own benefit. You may be the only person who might be interested lol
When it’s about phones, Huawei is the most popular brand here in Germany currently. Literally, everyone I know has a Huawei phone lol. The price-performance ratio is just too good. What Trump doesn’t understand is, that in a trade war there will always be a reply… it’s ping pong. He/they can attempt to kill Huawei, but since many Europeans have these phones, the European Union will just answer with actions as well, and the Chinese anyway. I don’t know how a clown like Trump managed it to make it to the top. Even if Huawei suffers heavily, we will just purchase our next phone of another Chinese manufacturer, because they’re that good. People like Trump support globalism, at least until manufacturers of foreign countries, deliver equal performance for a better price. That’s when lunatics like him out of the sudden turn into enemies of free market activity.
Yes, the Garmin watches are always on screens. I got a notification of your running-related post in my inbox. I’m interested to read it. I save emails I am interested to read, until I’ve read them… so, I am sometimes a bit delayed when there are still stored mails at the top. But you’re right… I read your running posts.
Cheers Dennis — I thought you might be interested. I’m just posting as a way to spend more time with these ideas…don’t think they’ll interest the population at large lol. And you’re right about huawei….extreme quality for the price. It’s hard to imagine how they can deliver these phones for the price. If I wasn’t a fan of the apple ecosystem I would definitely go with Huawei. My wife has one and it’s great
It’s a good thing to also write about things that might only interest yourself or a few others. It’s your blog and I do it the same way. I am not only interested to get readers or comments… my blog is also a personal journey and I want it to be fun. It’s about me, myself. You’re doing it right… post whatever you’re interested in… some things become popular, others not. But blogging is our journey and should be fun 🙂
Completely and absolutely agree. We’re on the same page here 100%
I’ve used a Garmin 230 for a couple of years now, I wear it as my regular watch as well as using it to track runs. I think it looks fine, not aware of it being too thick. I used to say I couldn’t run more than 5k but someone told me to just add 250 metres (or yards) each week, before long I was running 10k no bother.
I am patient with the watches. The Garmin 230 is not sold anymore and I now tested the Garmin 235 in the store and the sensor sticks so much out that it would annoy me. However, the Garmin 245 is absolutely fine but still too expensive. I am patient and wait for the price to go down.
I think as long as people stick with running, they probably will end up adding miles. That just happened naturally in my case. I am still not doing 10k but I am far beyond my own goals already. Condition improves a lot over time. I am just unhappy that it’s now getting colder. Very uncomfortable running in the morning or evening. I will continue to run through autumn but I will take a break during winter and go swimming in the hall instead. Then I start in spring again with running. 🙂
Fortunately it doesn’t get too cold here, rarely dropping below freezing, at least at the times I need to run. A woolly hat and some thin gloves are essential kit for winter running. But perhaps you have colder winters to deal with.
For the autumn I am bit covered… I might just need a beanie as my ears hurt in the cold, and something to cover my mouth as the cold air hurts my airways too. I just can’t imagine running during winter unless it’s a moderate winter again. We had moderate winters but also winters way below freezing point. So, I guess it depends. But if I don’t run, I definitely will do other exercises… I like pool swimming a lot. 🙂