Fitbit Charge HR Archives - Sengkang Babies

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I hit a new personal best at 2016 Sundown Marathon, clocking 1 hr 04 min for 10km category 🙂
This will provide more motivation for me to go under 60 minutes in 2016.

I got at least three more 10k runs for the second half of 2016 (ThePerformanceSeries). With every race, I still get the jitters before the run.

Squeezing in the timing for a run, running takes up a lot of time and effort.
The warmup and preparation leading to race day, ensuring minimum spicy food and enough rest (a challenge for me).
10k is still a feat for me, and I always ask myself “Why do I run?” halfway through the race.

Catching my breathe, aching calves and bruised toes, waking up with stiff neck and waist.
In a twisted sense, running makes me feel alive!
I feel every part of my joints.
(The 42km runners must have gone through hell and back, I cannot imagine running 6 hours :p )

Every 10km completion brings me a lot of satisfaction, and motivation to go further.
Night race is different from day run, we first attempted Osim Sundown with 5km Family run in 2015.

The venue, paths are darker, I hate to run with my spectacles (350 degrees), so I need to strain harder to identify the different zones (toilets, hydration, start pen).

On race day itself, all the self-doubts fade away!
I keep telling myself “Fitness for myself, fitness for my family”.

Fellow runners provide a strong sense of mission and conviction! My confidence and motivation immediately raise up a bar. “Look Hear and Feel” the running pulse (and deafening rock music), everyone is eager to bounce off 🙂

My personal wish was to run non-stop, and enjoy the evening.

Every run starts with the first step.

10pm run – Osim Sundown Marathon was well organised, the route brought us around Singapore Flyer, Marina Bay Sands, and Gardens by the Bay. After the initial jam, the race was quite fun and cooling under the evening sky.

Water points, baggage deposit and shuttle bus was hassle free.
These are often taken for granted but provide much convenience to the runners.

Personally, to improve my timing, I need to increase my running pace. Looking for kakis to run and motivate each other 🙂

Click to view our Running and Cycling series 🙂
I am encouraging kids to lead an active lifestyle
Sporty family, Strong family

*Thank you Osim Sundown Marathon for the sponsorship.
** Sundown Marathon Results (10km 34min, 21Km 1Hr 17min), more Sundown marathon timing available on website

[ Sponsored and Giveaway ]

My Fitbit Charge HR is monitoring my health, fitness and even sleep pattern!
And subconsciously, I am making an effort to reach those “Recommended” Health milestones.

Fitbit app has a nice dashboard to provide a summary of my activities (7×24 is possible!), synchronised from my Fitbit Charge HR. These are some of my daily milestones :
– 10,000 steps daily
– 20 Floors
– Perhaps sleep 6 hours plus daily
– I am even motivated to do pumpings and plankings to see how my heartrate measures up

I am climbing the stairs more frequently instead of taking the lift.
I realised it took me 1800 steps (around 20 minutes) to walk from office to Boon Keng MRT station, and 1200 steps from Sengkang MRT to home.

Walking from office to Boon Keng MRT can be faster than a bus ride! (no waiting time, no traffic jams). Side benefit of healthy lifestyle 🙂

My daily and weekly “exercise” is captured on my Fitbit app.

My sleeping heartrate is 55 to 60, and jogging peak (slow pace) is around 160 to 170.
Fitbit Charge HR’s Optical heart rate monitor is constantly measuring my heartbeat.

The graph below tells me I am burning more calories when I sustain my workout heartbeat between 120 to 170.

Fitbit app is really cool! Track your exercise, be it Running, Walking or Hiking. I use Hiking for cycling too (Cycling is only available for Fitbit Surge)

* You will need to enable GPS and Bluetooth on your phone to track your exercise.

Refer image below, we cycled 16km around Sengkang and Punggol (Dayre blog link)

If I make an effort to hit my milestones daily, day by day, I should become fitter 🙂
Once I reach a new milestone, I will set a higher benchmark.

Health is not only about physical fitness. We need to take care of our diet and sleep patterns too.
For those interested, you can even track your weight loss, calories burnt and intake of water!

Let us look at the feature of Fitbit App, which is compatible for all Fitbit devices.
This is the app which will synchronised and extend your Fitbit’s capability.

Useful comparison from Fitbit website, I actually prefer the Charge HR compared to the Surge.
The small LED screen is less prominent.
(image credit Fitbit)

Weekly summary, to make sure we are active and our toes haha. My Fitbit Charge HR is now my fitness companion and coach. I would also recommend moderation, do not go over-zealous and start tracking every minute of your life, every step, and every ounce of calories :p

I still feel a bit weird wearing my Fitbit Charge HR to sleep :p

My Wishlist
– hope LED display can last longer, perhaps 10 seconds
– waterproof my Fitbit Charge HR, so I can go swimming (device is only splash proof)
– possible to track of cycling from app? (currently only available for Fitbit Surge)
– Love the 5 days battery lifespan, do take note battery life will be drastically shorten if we keep “tracking” our exercise (Run, Walk, Hike)

Follow our jogging and cycling links here :
– Cycling
– Running

I had earlier highlighted how Pilates kickstart my motivation to stay fit. Fitbit will help me gauge my performance, recommend more improvements and sustain my path of staying fit 🙂

More details and updates about Fitbit can be found on their Website and Fanpage.

(colourful Fitbit Flex)

Thanks to Fitbit, I have two Fitbit Flex (worth $148) to giveaway.

Do take note that Fitbit Flex will have lesser features compared to Fitbit Charge HR, notably heartrate monitoring. This would be the ideal gift idea for the sporty spouse. Being sporty can be fashionable too 🙂

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1. Contest is on our Fanpage
2. Fans must first LIKE SengkangBabies Fanpage
3. Leave your name and email on our Fanpage (or you can message email address)

4. Share this page (refer step 3) on your Facebook Wall and tag @SengkangBabiesBlog
(so that we know you are participating)

5. If you leave your comments (Can be same content as Fanpage) on my blog, you will get an extra chance to win the Flex
6. Contest ends 11 Dec 10pm, and two winners will be randomly picked

*This contest is only for those with a valid Singapore address.

You may wish to read Ingspirations’ Fitbit Surge review.