GoKawiilThis story is part of 9to5mac’s series celebrating Apple’s 50th anniversary.
April 1, 1976: 50 years ago, Apple was founded. 40 years later, to the date, I was a 25-year-old embarking on a health and fitness journey, and Apple was right at the core.
April 1, 2016: I started an Apple Watch workout streak that helped guide me to running. I’d never run in my life at 25, but I started closing rings on my watch with a used elliptical at home. By fall, I was running, and by New Year’s Day, I had lost 50 pounds.
April 1, 2017: I ran my first-ever 5K race. It was the “2017 Superintendent’s 5K Challenge: A Race for Education” in Miami, Florida. My 3.1-mile run time clocked in at 26 minutes 46 seconds with an 8-minute, 36-seconds pace per mile. I ranked 151 out of 2231 participants.
Apple Watch is a symbol for living a better day
Exercising with an elliptical to close my rings on the Apple Watch helped me get in shape and run my first mile. Getting comfortable running a mile pushed me to participate in that first 5K race.
Soon after, I was signing up for every 5K race I could find. 10K races followed, then half-marathon races. I completed seven of those 13.1-mile races before the pandemic rolled around and I slowed down.
Lately, the urge to run has started to return. I ran a couple miles on Monday evening and that felt pretty good.
Maybe I’ll keep it up and report back, but no promises. I’m pretty satisfied with daily dog walks and longer adventures on weekends.
Still, Apple Watch and the Apple Health ecosystem keep me aware of my own well-being in a way that I just didn’t consider before the watch arrived in April 2015.
... continue reading