Inaugural Run with my new Best Friend

Yes, my Garmin Forerunner 305 has finally arrived in the mail. It was a surprise actually, since Amazon/USPS's tracking didn't seem to work and it never told me where is was arriving with each "arrival scan." That said, I was pleasantly surprised to find its large Amazon box by my bedroom door last night when I got home from class. Apparently, it arrived in Athens. Woo!

After the mandatory charge and program installation, I took it out for its first run. I'm still working on how to get all the maps/charts I want (Dave's being a HUGE help!), but here's the best I've got so far to give you an idea. :)
Here's a map of our first meandering jog around campus. Jon and I actually ran into (not literally) my friend Emily while we were jogging on campus. Somehow, seeing people you know while you're running somehow makes me feel like more of a legitimate runner. "See?! When I told you I run, I wasn't making it up!" Don't know how that works, but it was fun. Also, I feel like we look like a super fit couple as we trek around town together in our running gear. If me from a year ago could see me from now, I don't think old me would believe it.

Here's my heart rate/speed breakdown. I'm not sure what a good heart rate is yet, but for a majority of my run I seemed to be in the 170s.


Laps 1 and 3 are my warm-up and cool-down runs, so I ended up running for a total of 4.7 miles in 52 minutes. Not too shabby. I'm also really pleased with my average jogging pace of 11:06. If I can eventually get that closer to 10, I think Jon and I'll be able to run together a lot more frequently (as opposed to running simultaneously and passing each other).

Once I figure out how to work all the charts and things, I'm planning on doing the overnight heart rate test (Jon wants to try it too), so that'll be interesting. I'm so excited about this little guy, the freedom to leave the bikepath and track (even more) accurate distances is so energizing. Yay road running.

On another note, I'm feeling much better than I was the other day. Not only has running helped since it's hard to not feel awesome after a 4.7 mile run, but there's something to be said for open communication and having an amazing support system of people. And now, back to thesis writing!