Showing posts with label mistake. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mistake. Show all posts

Sunday, September 25, 2016

This fail is all on me

Post-fail elapsed time
Today's run (street): 4.5 miles

Once again, I encountered a problem timing my run and this time it was self sabotage. Without a working watch to help me keep track of time, I took my stopwatch that I sometimes use for intervals. That simple tool would give me everything I'd need to calculate my performance on today's run. I've had so much bad luck with the devices I use to capture my running metrics that I decided going low tech was the right path. What I didn't count on was how easily I could screw that up.

The weather was perfect when I went out this morning. There was no sign of humidity and the strong breezes cooled without biting. I love fall running and easily settled into a steady rhythm while I mentally mapped out my route. I've been taking advantage of the new sidewalks along SOB Road that provide a nice straight section that goes on for a while. As I neared the end of that road, I stopped for a moment to check my time. I put my hand in my pocket to pull out my stopwatch and my finger brushed the reset button. Before I looked, I knew I had wiped out my time.

Gmap'd route
I stood in front of the town library and thought about what to do. I had only a hazy idea about when I started my run so that wouldn't help me calculate my overall time. The one thing I knew was where I was when I checked (and screwed up my time) so I could use that as a starting point for timing the rest of my run.

Now where did I put that cheap trinket?
I restarted the stopwatch and continued along through my last miles, pushing harder than I had before my timing failure. The cool weather helped a lot and I probably would have gone further if I was able to track my actual distance. Now that I know how easy it is to accidentally reset the stopwatch, I'll be a lot more careful. A few years ago Runners World sent me a "running watch" as a subscription premium (see above) that was laughably cheap looking. I put it away somewhere. At the time I dismissed it as junk, but who's laughing now?

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Garmins only work when you bother to turn them on

Today's run (street): 2.5 miles

With only a couple of days left on my taper, I went out this morning with the goal of bettering yesterday's performance. I was pleased with how I ran on Tuesday so I maintained a slightly longer stride this morning. I listened to my internal metronome at 2/2 time, in hopes of keeping my SPM in the mid to high 80's.
When I was approaching what I'd guess was the 3/4 mark of my first mile, I heard my Garmin chirp. I saw that the watch was going into power reserve mode. Apparently, I never hit the start button when I began to run. I was annoyed, but I decided to run without tracking my time rather than start tracking it at that point. Still, I had a pretty good idea of how long I'd run because I began my run right at 4:00 AM.
Despite having no measurement tool, I pushed my pace using my effort level as a guide to my performance. Given my distance that I measured using Gmaps, I ran approximately the same as yesterday, which is to say, well. Tomorrow will be my final run before my workout and I plan to take that easy. No need to invite injury this late in the game.
 

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