When my husband asked me what I wanted for Christmas I knew EXACTLY what it was. Not diamonds, pearls, or handbags. I wanted the Garmin Forerunner 10 in green. Not pink, not purple, not electric blue…but green. It was like daydreaming about the Red Rider bb gun in  A Christmas Story. Red Rider two hundred shot Range Model air rifle with a compass in the stock and this thing that tells time. sigh

Michael Kors, Coach, Louis who? It’s Garmin baby. It was truly all I wanted. I kept thinking of different routes I wanted to run when I got it.

Well my wonderful husband listened and he delivered. He even hid it way behind the tree as a surprise. I was beyond thrilled. Only problem…it was cold outside. Really cold outside. For the first time ever I bundled up in cold gear and my running shoes and ran outside. It wasn’t too bad…only when the wind was blowing. I won’t lie, there were a few moments where I was like “screw this.” I always thought these winter runner people were crazy…well, maybe they are and I’m just crazy too. Never in my life did I ever think I would be running outside in 30 degree weather. Like ever. Never. Never. My treadmill and I are usually good pals throughout the winter months.

After my first try with my Garmin this new inspiration settled in. I was ready for another run the next day. It didn’t matter the cold. The reason….I wanted to compare my runs. Dorkness setting in. See, my beautiful little Garmin plugs into the computer and maps out my runs, my time, my mileage, my course, my best average mile. All of it. I’m competing with myself and I LOVE it! I can even manually enter in all my workouts, which then gives me even more motivation. And as I type this I have this super excited crazy look expression on my face.

Who knew this tiny little watch would give me that extra push to get out there? Gone are all the excuses. You know we all have them. We can easily make some legitimate excuse NOT to workout. Laundry. Dirty kitchen. Getting through the next level of Candy Crush. I know I have a pretty good list. Having this little tool has given me this new energy. I want to see what those numbers say the next time I tie my running shoes. I want to see that bar turn green on the computer when I have completed my goal of running four times a week. There is something about seeing your progress that motivates you. Be it a heart rate monitor or a pedometer, seeing those numbers works.

Crazy loves company. I had to call my running buddy to see if she got her watch for Christmas too. She did. So we were the two dorks running in the cold with our Garmins Christmas weekend, loving every minute of it. I must say, I’m very happy with my new toy. Who needs diamonds?