After 2 weeks without running hills, I got schooled

Since I've joined the gym, I've been enjoying the lower impact treadmill runs immensely. As such, I haven't pounded the neighbourhood pavement in a while. My legs have completely forgotten about the hills.. Oh, the hills...

Today, I took both Garmin and Run Keeper out for a bit of a comparison.

Garmin said this:

Run Keeper said this:

Garmin said:
3.50 miles in 40:12 minutes with an average pace of 11.29 minutes/mile

Run Keeper said:
3.42 miles in 38:55 minutes with an average pace of 11:23 minutes/mile

As you can see, there is really hardly any difference between the two, just the time it took for me to take my cell phone out of my pocket and stop Run Keeper while gasping like a asthmatic 90-year-old. So I'm pretty happy with using Run Keeper whenever Garmin's satellites cannot be found.

Run Keeper isn't good enough to make me put away my Garmin for good, however. Not only is Garmin lighter than my cell phone, but it's also less bulky. I track my runs on Garmin Connect, so switching to Run Keeper would be way too much work.

After my run, I put on my new Nike Training Club app and attempted the Kickin' It 30 minute workout with the morning news in the background.

 I think I made it to 20 minutes, and then I couldn't take any more burn in my thighs.

 Now I'm just chillin' in front of our beloved space heater.

Sydney doesn't get cold enough for central heating, so we have this little space heater. You can stand in front of it and watch your skin blister, or step out of it's heat ray and freeze. As a compromise, I have it mostly facing away from me, and I'll walk in front of it every once in a while.

What are your plans for the day?

Byron Bay Lighthouse hike

Last week, Steven and I visited a suburb near Byron Bay, a popular surf/vacation/resot town. 

One of the highlights of our trip was the Byron Bay lighthouse hike. 

The views were so jaw-dropping that our jaws literally dropped and we had to pick them back up, dust them off, and surgically sew them back into our faces.

To get to the lighthouse, we took a 20 minute bike ride.

So, you see, we started off already tired.

The winding, little residential streets took a steep uphill at some points, so we got off our bikes and walked it (don't judge me, it was a HUGE hill!). 

At the start of the walk (and throughout), we got lots of signs and notes.

Already, from the height of the start of the trail, you can look down and see the entire Byron Bay.

Water dragon alert!

 There were a LOT of steps! Great cardio workout. There were even people running this loop. Our host calls this path their local gym.

The trail reaches the most easterly point of the Australian mainland. Sorry for the face...sun in eye. I was also worried about losing the sun, and having to bike home in the dark.

Which we did.

Scary.

This was definitely one of the most beautiful hikes I've ever done.

The lighthouse is by FAR the most beautiful lighthouse either Steven or I have seen. Very well kept, pristine, beautiful lands and structure. A really amazing hike.

I put on my Garmin so my sister could Garmin-Connect-stalk me. Here are the stats:

Bike to lighthouse walk:
23 min
3.38 miles

Hike:
51:16 min
2.19 miles

Bike home:
16:59 min
2.51 miles
(because we walked into town for dinner, and biked from there)