Garmin 210 -- upload troubles but consistent inaccuracy

Today's run (street): 2.5 miles

Yesterday's run, as recorded by the Garmin 210, came up short when compared to route mapping on both Gmaps and Google Earth. The variance in distance was about -2.5%. That seems close when viewed reciprocally (being 97.5% accurate) but I commonly saw less than +/-1% variance with a calibrated foot pod. I tried to upload my run to Garmin Connect so I could view the GPX and KMZ files that would show the recorded vectors against a Google map and, perhaps, reveal where the GPS capture cut corners. Unfortunately that attempt didn't work within the time I had to try it so I'll fight that battle this weekend.

I went out today and followed the same route as Wednesday, using yesterday's distance as a benchmark. Both runs felt about the same but I ran about 39 seconds longer this morning. The Garmin recorded the route .01 miles less than yesterday's distance so at least the 210 is consistent in its inaccuracy. I'm disappointed with Garmin for having such poor documentation related to uploading runs and I'm also disappointed to discover that the GPS is under-recording my distance. But I do like the watch and I'm certain that I'll get it all figured out eventually.

First run with the Garmin 210

Now it's just me, the road and 10 satellites

Today's run (street): 2.5 miles

Last night UPS delivered my new Garmin 210 and I was excited by the prospect of doing my morning run free of the foot pod and calibration concerns. The foot pod wasn't necessary but after the watches' first use I do question the overall accuracy. I bought the watch online this weekend -- the basic 210 without the foot pod/HRM bundle. I got a great price and free delivery two days later. I un-boxed the watch and plugged it in to charge the lithium battery. Setup took seconds and the watch automatically acquired the date and time via satellite signal.

This morning I was excited to try the watch. My only experiences with GPS tracking were with various GPS apps on my iPhone (bad) the QStarz Sports Recorder (worse). I stepped outside and activated the satellite receiver and the 210 grabbed its connection in seconds. My iPhone usually takes minutes to get a GPS signal. I hit the start button and off I went. My knee is still bothering me but after getting the "okay" to run from the doctor yesterday I accepted the mild pain. Three minutes into the run the pain disappeared and I was able to focus on my form. I think my stride was a little unbalanced at first but I managed to pick up my pace without a problem.

I passed mile one a short distance after my known benchmark but it was close enough to think the GPS's accuracy was in the ballpark. I covered the first mile in 9:27, mile 2 at 9:01 and the last half mile at an 8:50 pace. Those were my calculations based on careful retracing of my route on Gmaps. The 210 recorded my distance .07 miles (2.8%) less than that. I'll be curious to see if the accuracy varies consistently. I'm hoping that an examination of the GPX file overlay on Google Earth will show where the 210's GPS cut corners to end up short. Unless of course, it's actually Gmaps that's off...

Time for my knee to see the doctor

Today's workout (elliptical): 25 minutes

I'm still paying the price for over-training prior to my half marathon. I obviously aggravated something in my left knee that got worse as a result of the race. Since then I've tried to minimize impact on my knee by keeping my runs below 5 miles. Despite that, my knee continues to feel sore and I'm now experiencing pain in the heel of my left foot.

I iced my knee for about 90 minutes last night and took Aleve before I went to bed. It felt okay when I got up and though I planned to do my usual 2+ mile run this morning, I decided that a no impact workout would be a better choice. I pushed as hard on the elliptical as I would have if I'd ran and in the end I knew I made the right decision. Later today I'm seeing the company doctor (who I understand is also a runner) to get his opinion on whether my injury should be looked at by an orthopedist (please say no!).

Running difficulty? It's mostly in your head

I reached a point in both my runs this weekend where I thought "Gee, this is hard." But when I thought about it I couldn't really identify the thing that was making my run feel difficult. I wasn't having trouble with my breathing or my knee. My legs were beginning to lose energy but they weren't painful. I realized that the run felt hard because I had covered a certain distance and assumed that's how I should be feeling.

The mild discomfort I felt after four miles of steady pacing was nothing compared to the "I just want it to stop!!" feeling I'd experienced during last Sunday's half marathon. I tried to think about how I'd felt four miles into that 13.1 mile race. Four miles represented only 30% of the distance I'd prepared to cover, while on Sunday it represented my full distance. Had I previously decided to run five miles instead of four would my discomfort have started later? It's clear to me that the hardest part of running (until you reach your physical limits) is preventing a perception of difficulty from undermining a good run.

Morning at Stillwell and Caleb Smith at noon

Today's run (Stillwell Woods): 4.25 miles

Today is Mother's Day and it's been busy. I wanted to get going early but due to some ad hoc celebrating, I didn't get out the door at 7:00 as I'd planned. By 8:15 I was at the trail head at Stillwell Woods with temperatures in the low 50's and bright sun. The holiday had kept most people at home. While I love company on the trails, I was glad to have the place more or less to myself.  I saw some bikers staging in the lot but didn't encounter anyone but hikers during my run.

The woods were alive with birds, rabbits and other creatures and the humidity was so low I didn't even break a sweat until I'd completed my second mile. I wasn't paying attention to my pace but knew I was moving well and I managed get through the hills without much trouble. Due to our tight schedule I kept the run to around 40 minutes but that was sufficient for my needs. My knee is much better at this point but I still feel some soreness when I go from sitting to walking. Happily this disappears with activity and I don't experience any pain when I'm running. Keeping my distances under five miles this weekend was a good move. I'll look to add more distance next weekend.

Things were ducky on the lake at Caleb Smith

One of our Mother's Day activities today involved a return to Caleb Smith Park Preserve in Smithtown, NY. We like this park a lot. It has well groomed and well marked trails, good access to its lake and a small but interesting nature museum. Four miles of trail running and then some hiking at Caleb Smith made for an active day. Later we spent some time setting up umbrellas and furniture in the pool area, providing an unexpected but welcomed upper-body workout.

A whole different level of gear

Grand Fondo registration

Today's run (street): 4.5 miles

Yesterday afternoon I headed over to the Roseland Ballroom with KWL and another friend so they could pick up their Grand Fondo race bibs and their official Giordana race jerseys. Unlike the race event shirts we runners get, these jerseys are full zip form-fitting tops that probably cost more than the registration fee of a major 10K. Consequently, there were numerous race participants trying their shirts to make sure they fit perfectly. I suspect many of these jerseys will be worn on race day.

Clothes, bikes and gels for sale

Following the number pickup was a visit to the Expo. The scale was small relative to the RXR LI Marathon Expo I attended last week but there was a lot to look at. It was interesting to see the similarities and differences between a cycling and a running expo. Like running, cycling has its nutrition, hydration, gear, clothing and shoes. But unlike running, there is a whole other world of amazing technology -- carbon frames that cost $3,000, wheels that seem to weigh less than the spokes of my old Raleigh (and cost 10X as much), and sleek machines that rival the most exotic Italian sports cars in terms of functional design.

Focus bikes, an emerging high end brand

It was great to see all this cool technology yet I felt no emotional desire for the clothes, gear or bikes. I'm planning to get my 15 year old Trek road-ready so I can do some cross training at Bethpage and possibly Stillwell but I have no desire to buy a Specialized Stumpjumper. After all, I can buy 50 pairs of Saucony Kinvaras for the same price.

This morning I went out for my first serious run since Sunday's race. I ran on Wednesday but kept things easy and slow. Today, despite the mild soreness of my knee, I hit the road intending to cover 3-4 miles. I figured that if my knee flared up I'd shut down the run to prevent further injury. I'm pleased to say that I had no issues at all. Hours later my knee still feels good - even better than before I ran. I covered 4.5 miles at a mid-nine minute pace. Though I felt I was running faster than that I was satisfied and glad to be firmly back to running in the 9 minute range.

Protect the knee and then build the base

Half marathon finish

I went out after work with some friends and got home later than I normally do. That cut into my sleep and I decided to rest instead of running this morning. I'm very close to full recovery from my half marathon last weekend but my knee is still a little sore. I compare it to how it felt last Saturday, the day before my race. I didn't feel guilty for skipping a workout today because I feel another day without impact on my knee can only help.

I had hopes of going out this weekend and doing at least one heroically long run to mark my post-half arrival. I'm now thinking about a different approach, where I cap my distance at around four miles on each run. That way I can protect my knee as it recovers and add distance each week until I'm back to 10+ mile base runs.

I had lunch with my friend CMc yesterday and he reinforced the need to do training runs at (or longer) than my targeted race distance. This makes sense since I'd never run 13 miles before Sunday and my performance took a tumble after 11. A steady diet of 10+ mile runs at least once a week will put me in good shape to run another half, should I choose to do so. Even if I stay primarily with 10K's I'll see great benefits from that type of training. I really want to be better prepared for my next race.

Goodbye foot pod, hello Garmin 210

Not sure what I want more, the watch or the displayed performance

Today's workout (elliptical): 20 minutes

I'm thinking again about buying a GPS watch. My frustrations with using a foot pod are rising due to accuracy issues and, except for treadmill runs, a GPS solution may be preferable. I started using the Nike sensor back in 2008 to track my performance. It worked fairly well once I got the hang of calibrating it but this technology was only accurate when paired with Nike shoes (that have a well to secure the chip). I don't like Nike shoes and, besides that, the wristband that captured the feed via RFID link was poorly made. After replacing it twice I asked for a refund and bought a Garmin FR50.

The FR50, and later, the FR60 are a great design. I truly love the watches and their easy synchronization with Garmin Connect. My key issue is with the foot pod that uses an accelerometer and needs to be tuned for every shoe. Since I'm a bit of a shoe freak and often switch between pairs it usually creates issues with calibration. I manage these issues through ad hoc adjustments that never quite coincide with my true distance. I've done my share of runs using GPS apps on the iPhone and the results are universally bad, although they offer some good features other than tracking.

With all that I'm reading good things about the Garmin 210, a less complex version of their 400 (and now 600) series GPS watches. The 210 lacks some of the features that the higher end watches have but the 210 does support a foot pod sync (for indoors) and wireless connectivity to a heart rate monitor. I'm going to start pricing out this watch. Father's day is coming!

First post-half marathon run

Today's run (street): 2 miles

This morning I returned to road running for the first time since Sunday's half marathon. Yesterday's elliptical session yielded good results and it gave me the confidence to push  a little more today. I'd already tested the soundness of my knees and legs with some strides up and down the corridors of my office yesterday morning. It was just after 7:00 AM and there were few people around so I didn't feel ridiculous running the few hundred feet in my black oxfords. That "running" confirmed my belief that I was ready to do it for real.

Although the temperature was showing 58° on the local news channel it felt colder than that when I stepped outside. The driveway was wet and I thought it was raining but that turned out to be runoff from my neighbor's sprinkler system. I started easy with short strides and a relaxed cadence but everything seemed to be in working order. The first half mile was run deliberately, but with a runner's form. As I ran that first segment I thought about my last half mile on the race course and how hard it was to simply propel my legs as I came through Eisenhower Park toward the finish line. My stride felt much more natural this morning.

I ran the second mile 1:20 faster than the first and this further validated my belief that moderate activity after a long run helps restore muscles, speeds recovery and increases performance. I'll go out for a long run this weekend and then take some time to run intervals. I'm curious to see if building my base and also training for speed will yield the performance that has eluded me lately.

Hair of the dog

Today's workout (elliptical): 15 minutes

I know what's good for ya!

It was no surprise to experience a recurrence of knee pain yesterday after covering so much ground on Sunday. On top of that, my quads, hamstrings and calves felt uncomfortably tight every time I went from sitting to walking. I'd read an article about recovering from a half marathon that suggested that a short amount of moderate activity the second day after this long run would help restore flexibility to muscles. I think there's something to that claim.

Yesterday KWL and I went out for lunch and, afterward, walked over to SBR, a triathlete shop on 58th Street. KWL is riding the 100 mile Grand Fondo NY challenge on Sunday. This race starts on the GW Bridge in Manhattan and goes all the way to the top of Bear Mountain and back. He's thinking about participating in a run-bike-run duathlon the following weekend. After we'd covered some distance around midtown I noticed that walking made my legs feel much better.

With that reinforcement I elected to do a moderate elliptical session this morning. I kept my speed in check and set resistance to the low-middle range. After 15 minutes I felt like I'd accomplished the goal of activating my leg muscles, raising my heart rate and generating a sweat. I could have gone longer but I decided less would be more. I'm feeling very good after that. If this continues (and the rain holds off), I may go for an outside run tomorrow morning.

The day after 13.1

Okay, another new race distance has been crossed off the list and I look forward to returning to my normal training schedule. I'm not surprised that my legs feel a bit stiff and sore this morning. It's a nice reminder of yesterday's effort.

The winner of yesterday's half marathon probably crossed the line just a few minutes after I'd reached the 10K point at around the 60 minute mark. It struck me that while 13.1 miles is a long distance to cover, my bigger accomplishment was pounding the pavement for over 140 minutes. That's 2+ hours running at more than double my resting heart rate. Daily Mile calculated that I burned about 2,000 calories during the race. That's like going a day without eating!

I need to get my knee back in shape but soon after that I will resume my long distance training. Even if I don't run another half marathon this year, base building will certainly help me be more competitive during my 10K races. The pain of yesterday's last few miles is already fading. I'm starting to think about the next half that I might run.

2011 LI Half Marathon race report

Minutes before the start

Today's run (LI Half Marathon): 13.1 miles (10:50/mile)

Today's race was a new experience for me in two ways. It was my first half marathon and the longest distance I've ever run. My performance was nowhere as good as I'd hoped it would be, with an overall pace of 10:50, but I don't really care about that. I expected to do better because I thought I'd done all the right things to prepare. I didn't run for the seven days prior to the event, followed my hydration and fueling plan to the letter, started slowly to reserve energy and worked to maintain good running form. But the results speak for themselves.

My greatest concern for today's race was whether my knee had recovered from my last long base run. I'd definitely hurt something on that 8.25 mile run and, even this morning, it was still a little sore.  My knee became a problem about a third of the way in. I'll get to that later.

I arrived early (6:30 AM) but Lot 6 in Eisenhower Park was already halfway filled up. I wore some layers over my race shirt to stay comfortable prior to the race which I stowed in a backpack at the starting point. UPS nicely provided bag transport to the finish line. I brought electrolyte drink in my hand bottle and added some extra salt. I didn't want to use that before the start but I couldn't find any water and I felt dry. Rather than keep searching for water, I got into the very long line for the Port-a-potty's. This is often an issue at races. It seems like everyone queues up behind a group of them but a few never seem to be used. It wouldn't be a popular job but race organizers could do better by managing the bathroom lines and resources. As a result, there were dozens of runners who took it upon themselves to use the fields that paralleled the starting area for relief (below).

Open sourced bathrooms

The race started on time. I brought my iPhone with me and used MotionX GPS because it has a feature that sends emails every 5 mins with a map and your current position. My wife and kids couldn't join me today but they were able to follow my progress this way. I also had my Garmin and I hit "start" as I stepped on the mat at the starting line. The Garmin's distance calibration was really off but the stopwatch feature was accurate. I followed the crowd, taking the first three miles in just over 30 minutes (actual). The crowd kept things tight but it was close to where I wanted to be at that point. I felt good.

I hadn't realized that the course wound back around Nassau Coliseum so I was puzzled to find us going opposite to the direction I'd expected. Before long we spilled out to Merrick Ave. which borders Eisenhower Park to the west. All was going well until I reached Old Country Road and turned right. My knee, which had felt perfect from the start, began to protest. The pains were sharp and I worried that, with nine miles left to go, I could be doing real damage to my knee. I considered dropping out but I slowed down and the pain was reduced to the point where I felt I could continue. I continued to moderate my pace to ensure that I wasn't doing damage.

We ran through downtown Westbury and it was fun to to see it by foot since I'm usually driving it. They've done a nice job revitalizing the storefronts. I had taken a GU Roctane 30 mins before the start and planned to take another gel at 5 miles so I consumed a GU Expresso Love just before we reached Jericho Turnpike. Along the way I'd been taking sips of the electrolyte mix and grabbing water at every station. I think this combination of fuel and liquids helped me most of the way.

I wasn't running fast but I never stopped throughout the entire race. My heart rate was where it should have been and that's another reason why I'm puzzled by my slow pace. I think I did fairly well for the first 10 miles but the last three were very difficult. The segment that we ran on Jericho went well enough and I was glad to turn onto Brush Hollow Rd. because I had fooled myself into thinking the hard part was over by then. We made our way up the on-ramp to Wantagh Parkway which was a tough hill at that point. We followed that highway for about a mile and a quarter and hit another hill before breaking off Old Country Road where the full marathoner's split off to follow their route.

We quickly turned on Carmen Avenue which represented the 10 mile point but less than a mile later I saw the 24 mile marker for the full marathoners and (in my race fog) deduced we were suddenly at mile 12. In fact it was mile 11. At this point I was fading and all the gels, electrolyte fluid and water stops were not helping me the way they had previously. We entered Eisenhower Park 1/4 mile before the real mile 12 and my calves started cramping painfully. I thought for a moment about stopping and decided "not now, not ever." There's nothing wrong with walking in sections but I didn't want to do that because I feared it would drop my heart rate and make it all the harder to resume.

My friend Brian had warned me that the 2+ mile run through Eisenhower Park would seem long and he was right. OMG it took forever to get to the finish line and the last mile felt like running in peanut butter. I kept telling myself "just go, just keep going" and eventually I reached the winding safety cone path that led to the finish line. My heart sank when I saw my finish time. I was hoping to beat 2:06 but I was nowhere near that time.

Oh, this? It's nothing really.

But I finished! I was fairly disoriented as I walked along the post-chute pathway, following those who had finished right before me. I must have looked bad because a race volunteer came over and said "are you alright?" I said yes but I wish she had given me some water. Our line wound past volunteers handing out finisher medals (my first ever BTW)  and into a tent where they handed out string backpack race bags containing fruit and a bagel. I explored the Finish Line Festival but was anxious to return home to see my family. I called my wife and she and the kids were hooting it up, congratulating me. They had just seen me cross the line minutes before on the latest MotionX update. Seconds later the iPhone died due to the GPS drain. Perfect timing.

I got home and was greeted with excitement by my wife and kids. The kids made me great cards commemorating the achievement. I noticed that on my pre-race "To Do" and checklist that my wife had added "Run 13.1 miles" and it was checked off. It was an amazing morning and a new and exciting experience. Will I run another half marathon? Possibly, some day. I have to forget how hard this one was before I do that. Will I ever run a full 26.2? I just can't imagine it!