Run in the sun

With the continued sunny weather, I decided to go for a run today by myself. I usually run alone, because I have noticed I need to concentrate fully on what I'm doing to get a satisfying experience.

My running hobby started during 2010 when I did my military service; one could get special "points" for running, which could be collected into a free day. In the beginning of my time in the military (February 2010), the Cooper test results were around 2200 meters which is a very bad results for males in my age. In the end (June 2010) I had already advanced to 2945 meters, which was only 55 meters short of the "excellent" level. I hope I get the opportunity to see how my results would be now.

Before my runs, I try to eat a moderate amount of food in order to get the necessary energy; food with lots of proteins is a good energy source. Today, I made some macaroni with vegetables and bacon, topped with Buffalo Mozzarella cheese.

I recently purchased these new running shoes, made by Salomon. They are called XR Mission and cost me around 95 €. I believe in investing in good, durable shoes instead of cheaper ones. From personal experience I can tell that the cheaper ones break much more easily and leave you with hurting feet.

 In the first few runs with the new pair, there may be some pain while the feet grow accustomed to the specific shape of the shoes.

I always try to make a good playlist as a motivation and a distraction. I am very sensitive to annoyances (for example cars) so music lets me focus on the running. Of course I pay attention to traffic too when I run in crowded areas.

My usual running route is around 3-4 kilometers with no stops. I have been using a smartphone application called RunKeeper, which is quite good for keeping track on your runs and setting new goals.