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Steve and friends: I am loving the academy and do not have a problem with leveling up via the honor system but it would also be fun to link to my garmin heart rate monitor and upload workouts as another way to level up. Just a thought on how to take the academy to the next level. Glenn

HI folks If there are anymore Garmin Connect users out there i have started a Nerd Fitness Group (Steve and Gang, hope I'm not stepping on any toes - Will close if you let me know!). I have set as request to join, so just drop me a PM here to let me know your real life name and ill look out for you.

I've just started training for my first half marathon, it's in about 15 weeks in Birmingham in the UK. I'm a fairly fit 30 year old male, and I've run in the past but never beyond 10k in a race. I've got a Garmin 910XT, and I'm following their running plan, but I wondered if anyone with more experience could weigh in and let me know what they think of it? Personally after the first week, I've found I've practically been for 4 long walks (the easy/steady runs) because as soon as I started to put any effort in my heart rate shot up and I was told to slow down! For reference, my resting heart rate is around 55-60ish, but I can hit 190 on a run. It's the first time I've really trained for a run using heart rate as a measure, so I don't know if this is normal practise and in a few weeks I'll be laughing/crying, or if I should be pushing myself harder? Any other tips and tricks welcomed too!

I'm a teacher and I wanted to start tracking my steps so that I can stay just as active on my days off. (I tend to gain weight when I have a week or more off, or just have excessive snow days.) I'm one of those teachers (high school math) who never sits down until there are no students in my classroom. I'm also a career changing and recently started teaching. I'm so much more active now, but still struggle to lose weight. So I was also curious to see if I really am as active as I think I am. So I did my research and selected the Garmin vivofit 2 because it tracks different kinds of activity, my sleep, and it has a watch battery, so it doesn't have to be continuously recharged. However, after a week, I want to return it. It was $130 and it's just as accurate as the free pedometer I got at my old job. It doesn't seem to track my steps if I'm not swinging my arms. For those who walk around for their jobs, how do we track our steps when we're usually carrying things. Swinging my arms as I walk just isn't practical as a teacher. (Actually, it's kind ridiculous.) I wave my arms around a lot and of course, write on a white board and erase. How do I know those movements aren't tracking steps too? I think I need something like the Fitbit Zip that clips on my waistband. It also tracks your sleep, which I like but it doesn't change my health, so it's not something i need. I want something that beeps at me when I'm inactive though. I have a love/hate relationship with that part of the vivofit and I think I'd miss it. I definitely won't miss wearing that annoying rubber band 24/7. After wearing it for 7 days, I haven't gotten used to it at all. So I think something I clip on is more of what I need. However, before I return the vivofit 2, I wanted to check with the NF community to see what you think of your fitness trackers and what you would recommend. Maybe mine is defective and I just need to replace it. Or maybe it's just not the right device for me. I know there are some like me who walk around at work and track that activity and wanted to hear from you also. Btw, I'm not longer a runner (knees can't handle it anymore) but I still do walk and hike a bit. I also do core strengthening, bodyweight exercises and when I have time, I love doing zumba and line dancing, though I haven't tried those with the vivofit yet. Thank you!!