Showing posts with label Garmin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Garmin. Show all posts

Sunday, August 28, 2016

Gateway to smooth running

Elderberry winds down smoothly
Today's run (street): 4.4 miles

I finally got out at a decent time this morning while the sun was still casting long shadows. It was hot, but the shade and a slight breeze hid that from me. At least it did throughout the first mile. I ran through my neighborhood enjoying the favorable conditions, listening to the late summer sounds and appreciating the quiet Sunday morning roads.

At mile one I was barely sweating and I hoped that the humidity was lower than what had been reported. It turned out to be wishful thinking. As I made my way around, I soon began to feel it, especially in the areas with direct sun. I went south towards what we call the "Gateway" neighborhood which has some long shady roads.

I'd stopped running in the Gateway neighborhood a while back because the condition of Ashford Drive & Elderberry Road, the longest of the long streets, had started to resemble the surface of the moon. I had prepared to step carefully through the worst parts, but once I reached Ashford, I saw that the whole span had been repaved. It was smooth and shady and a wonderful surprise.

Today's route
I wasn't monitoring my distance, but I'd assumed I'd covered at least three miles by the time I started heading back home. When I was getting closer to my house I heard my Garmin beep, telling me that I'd passed 4 miles. By then I was completely sweat soaked and realized that the humidity was as high as reported. When I mapped my run later with Gmaps, I saw that my Garmin had again under-counted distance, this time by 5.4%.

Getting out really early turned out to be a good thing as it left me lots of time to get things done today. One thing I did was look at DC Rainmaker's site to see what he currently likes for GPS watches. DCR strongly recommends the FR230/235 (the 235 is $80 more but has an optical heart rate monitor). I'm going to shop around to see how it's priced.

Saturday, November 8, 2014

Running off the grid

 
Today's run (Bethpage trail): 6.2 miles

My morning run didn't go quite as expected, but it all went fine. My plan was to park in the Bethpage lot and run south to Merrits Road, just past Hempstead Turnpike. That would give me about 10K overall. When I arrived at the park, I saw that they were collecting entrance fees despite a sign that said that no admission would be charged after November 3rd.

I probably would have been waved in by my friend who runs the booth, but that would have made me feel guilty. I decided to turn around and park further north off Haypath Road. Once I arrived, I tried to start the Garmin, only to discover that I wasn't wearing it. I remembered that I'd set it up to charge on the kitchen counter and forgot it was there. I was disappointed that I wouldn't be able to capture the metrics of my run, but I also liked the idea of a no tech experience.

It would have been good to check the time when I started, so I could back into my pace after mapping my distance. That didn't occur to me until my run was underway. I cold have dug my phone out of my SPIbelt but I couldn't be bothered. Not tracking my time or distance felt liberating.

Since I started north of Bethpage Park, I figured I'd run a northern route to get my planned distance. I can't comment on my performance since I had no way to record it, but I didn't get passed by a single runner today. When I reached Old Bethpage Road, I had to wait for a few cars go by. I automatically reached to pause the Garmin, but found only my wrist. The one thing I needed to worry about was staying on the path, so I could accurately Gmap my run later.

It was chilly out and I'd dressed for the high 30's weather. The wind was moderate and it came from the north. Since I was doing an out and back, with the second half going south, I knew I only had to deal with it temporarily. When I arrived at Washington Ave, I saw that I had to go to all the way to Sunnyside Boulevard if I wanted to meet my distance goal.

The section between Washington and Sunnyside is one of the hilliest parts of the Bethpage trail and I often avoid it by turning around at the LIE underpass. Today I decided to suck it up and go for it. The first hill is the toughest, as it starts fairly steeply and continues for close to half a mile. What goes up comes down so I was able to recover until the last rise that goes to Sunnyside.

The second half was psychologically easier. Although there were plenty of hills, the elevation and length were far less than what I had already covered. I followed the trail back to Haypath and turned around to run the short distance back where I started, across from where I parked. Without my Garmin to tell me my mileage, I still managed to reach my targeted distance.

Tomorrow morning I'll be at the Hope for the Warriors, but I won't be racing. I'll probably wait until we get home to do my own run. I'm still just fine with my decision, but I'm starting to think about my next race.

Friday, April 18, 2014

Cadence increasing, visibility high

Artist's rendering using Google Maps street view
Today's run (street): 3.3 miles

I missed Tuesday's run and needed to make it up today, although the Higdon plan called for a rest day. I felt ambivalent about today's workout and whether to go easier this morning after yesterday's semi-fast run. My motivation for speed was low, so I decided to let my level of intensity play out as I ran. Once I got the door I noticed the cold, but the winds that made Wednesday's conditions feel like 24°, were no longer a factor.

My Garmin hasn't performed well lately in terms signal accuracy, making my real-time pace data suspect. I've been running by feel and heart rate which seem to provide more useful feedback. The type of workouts that I've been doing over the last five weeks have helped me increase my cadence. As a result, I'm finding it easier to hold a decent pace on shorter runs. I kept my heart rate around 85% today and ended up running my distance in the high 9's. That's exactly what I wanted to do.

Today's run was unremarkable, except at one point when I was running down a long road near my house. I spotted my wife's car heading in my direction. She and the kids were going out to do errands and when they passed me, the windows were down and they were cheering for "The Emerging Runner." They saw me from a distance because I was wearing a bright orange running shirt. High visibility isn't just for safety!

Thursday, April 10, 2014

It's JavaScript's fault that I ran slow

What I've been staring at 
Today's run (street): 3.2 miles

I have a consulting practice that focuses on digital media business and technology. I'm in the process of expanding my portfolio of services. That involves including more strategic partners and re-branding my website. I'm spending time on the development site whenever I can fit it in. Although I get input from my partners, I'm handling both the web design and the technology. This is fun for me, but staring at HTML and JavaScript code for hours really wears me out.

I'm hoping that will explain the gap between my perceived effort (PE) on today's run and my actual performance. I didn't expect to see impressive numbers when I checked my Garmin after my run, but I ended up running over a minute slower than how the run felt. It was a more challenging workout than I'd anticipated. It was also a sign that I haven't gained back as much speed as I hoped I would by now.

It was interesting to see that the Garmin data showed that my average cadence was up measurably, compared to my last few runs (174 vs. 168 SPM). So my turnover was good. Had I opened up my stride a little more, my pace time would have likely reflected my PE. It's something to think about on my next run. But I won't be thinking about it until Saturday, because Hal gives me a rest day tomorrow. Great, more time to code my site.

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Technology saves an operational goof

XML salvation
Today's run (street): 4.25 miles

I did the unthinkable after finishing my run today and failed to properly stop my Garmin. While I happily traced the driveway on my cool down walk, my Garmin continued to count the seconds, obscuring the actual time I'd finished. By the time I discovered my error, at least a couple of minutes had gone by, so my calculated pace was way off.

I really envy people who tell me they run without a watch or track their performance in any way. I think about how liberating it would be to run without regard to time. Unfortunately, I've never been able to do that. On the plus side, I've compiled an online record of every run that I've done over the last five years. Despite my failure to operate my watch today, I was able to reverse engineer my finish time by reading the XML output file.

The run itself was nothing special, 4.25 miles at around 9:30 a mile. The weather was downright chilly, low 50's with strong winds coming from the northeast. When I wasn't heading directly into the wind, it was extremely pleasant. I had considered doing either a long easy run or a short, faster run and I ended up doing something in the middle. I'm not sure what today's run accomplished or what I'll do tomorrow. But Wednesday's run will be the last one I do before Cow Harbor. I hope that one counts.

Wednesday, August 14, 2013

My Garmin speaks the ugly truth

It's a match
Today's run (street): 3.25 miles

I'm incredibly annoyed with my Garmin today. I did this morning's run and, as always, recorded my distance using GPS. I always assume the watch will under-count my distance, so I wasn't upset to see the indicated time and pace. Usually, after Gmapping my route, I'll need to add about 3% more mileage to the calculation. That often makes the difference between a good and mediocre pace. Today, both the Garmin and Gmaps said exactly the same thing, and what they said wasn't good. I missed my targeted pace by 23 seconds per mile.

There's no reason why I ran this slowly today. I'd tried to focus on form and turnover. The weather was perfect, so heat and humidity were not a factor. Perceived effort was on par with my better runs and I even ran the last quarter in a semi-sprint. But in the end, my performance did not match up to expectations. Tomorrow is my last run before Sunday's race, so I need to make it count.

Zeotrope concept (left), example (right)
I took most of the day to be with the family and we spent it at the Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria, Queens. The experience was great, and I even got to play with a nineteenth century zeotrope of a man running. But instead of marveling at this 100 year old wonder of technology, I was watching his form and thinking how he should shorten his stride.

Saturday, March 30, 2013

Running within a palooza

Lacrosse day on fields 1-5
Today's run (track): 4 miles

Today my goal was to increase outdoor running mileage without hurting my recovery from the sore tendons around my hip. That meant another moderately paced workout on a softer surface than pavement. My choices were either to run the trails, or to go to the local high school and run on the track. I chose the track option because I wanted a surface that was harder than dirt, but softer than the road.

When I arrived at the high school, I saw hundreds of parked cars and many more drivers looking to do the same. I almost turned around and drove home, but decided to try a remote lot near the track in case there were any spots. Luckily, I found a space and walked over to the track where I saw hundreds of lacrosse players and their coaches on the field. Adjacent to the main field, baseball games were being held, and lacrosse players from various towns were warming up everywhere.

I saw a single runner and a couple of walkers on the track. I figured that if they were there, it would be okay for me to join them. I set off at a high nine-minute pace, hoping to avoid collisions with parents standing in the track lanes. A few players and lacrosse balls whizzed across the lanes as I went by, but there were no close calls.

As I made my way around, I observed hundreds of players in the surrounding fields and noticed some concession stands that were branded with the NY Lizards logo. That explained the crowds. Apparently today was a Lacrosse-a-palooza, with games and (possibly) a clinic. Later, when I was leaving, I saw many cars parked across the road at Stillwell. After seeing that mess, I was glad I didn't opt for a trail run today.

I think the players would've noticed if I ran across the field
I ran well today. I split my direction halfway, first running counter-clockwise and then reversing after two miles. I suffered no hip pain, although I did begin to sense some tightness by the first mile. I kept my speed moderate except near the end, when I picked it up a step. I couldn't determine my true pace because the Garmin's tracking was way off. I knew this because the watch chirped for its first quarter mile a good thirty meters before I'd lapped it. After looking at the run map (above), I could see that it had also recorded me in places I didn't travel.

I finished my four miles feeling like I could easily go another few. I decided to stop at that point, because I'd achieved my goal of progressive distance. I saw no reason to risk further aggravating my injury. Another run like this will work for me tomorrow, perhaps at Bethpage where I would encounter some hills. I'll give it a few more runs before I restart speed-oriented training. Right now, it feels great to run, both physically and psychologically.

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Fitbits don't work across the room

Ouch
Today's run (treadmill): 3.2 miles

About halfway through this morning's treadmill run, I spotted my Fitbit sitting on the guestroom bed. I'm really into capturing my activity through that device, so I was a little nonplussed by the situation. While I was still capturing metrics like time and heart rate on my Garmin, all those steps would be lost to my daily and weekly totals. I considered stopping the treadmill to retrieve the device but decided that it wasn't worth the disruption.

Years ago, when my first Garmin failed during a run, I felt frustrated and asked myself, "If the run didn't record, did it really happen?" I know it sounds silly, but I once felt that way. A documented run is a tangible entity. Something that happened. Something to look back upon. A run performed independent of a watch or device doesn't become part of recorded history. I'll admit that on the rare times when I've gone out "watchless" on a run, I later Gmap'd my route so I could at least capture my distance.

Even without a device, running data on the treadmill is always available via the display. I don't fully trust the accuracy, but at least it provides ballpark metrics. I maintained a challenging pace through the workout and that took my mind off forgetting my Fitbit. So it looks like I'll need to wait a little longer to get my next Fitbit badge. Further, today's totals won't approach my daily goals. But I got a good run in today, despite the lack of evidence.

Friday, July 13, 2012

This technique may have made me faster

Does back leg lift = faster running?
Today's run (street): 4.25 miles

I'm out of the office today and Monday and the weekend will be busy. We'll have a house full of people starting this afternoon and that will continue through Sunday. The major activity is on Saturday and the day will start early, so I'm probably going to need to skip tomorrow's run. I tried to make up for that by running a little extra distance today.

Conditions were pleasant when I left on my run around 7:00 AM. I tried to maintain a decent speed and thought about how my default pace has slowed over the last few years. I'd say, overall, that my speed has remained consistent. The difference is that my median pace seems to have slowed by about ten seconds since 2009. It could be that when I used the FR50 and 60 with a foot pod, my times were recorded more accurately (and faster) than with the FR210.

About halfway through today's run, I looked at my shadow and noticed I was running with a low degree of back leg lift. I've noticed that better runner's legs come up fairly high after toe-off and I suspect that helps their speed by reducing the amount of time their feet touch the ground. Inspired, I worked on bringing up my leg as I ran. I'm not sure if it made me run faster, but I did feel it in my hamstrings.

I'll look at my pacing across the timeline after I upload my data to Garmin Connect to see if my speed improved after making that change. I did finish with a decent overall pace, so perhaps it made a difference. It would be great if a small change like that could have made a measurable effect on my pace. It almost seems too easy. Then again, it did illustrate my need to do more core work.

Thursday, May 5, 2011

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!

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Last outside run before the blizzard

Today's run (street): 2.6 miles

Snow is coming. We're not sure how much we'll get but estimates for my area are in the 8"-12" range. I like snow but I don't like the commuting problems that come along with major storms. My other issue is that snowstorms make the roads and trails impassible and that forces me to run indoors. On the bright side, I can look out the window and watch the snowy scene as I run on the treadmill.

Knowing that tomorrow's run will likely be indoors, I made sure I got outside this morning. At 3:50 AM the temperatures are usually at their lowest point of the day and I'm often tempted to overdress to prevent the initial shock of transitioning from 68 degrees in the house to 20 degrees outside. I got it right this morning and went out feeling cold, but comfortable, starting slower than normal but picking up the pace by the minute. Unlike Sunday I remembered to start the Garmin and had even adjusted the calibration on the foot pod before my run. After reaching what I was sure was a mile I glanced at the watch that only showed .91 miles and that surprised me. I later mapped my route on Gmaps to see that even after the calibration adjustment I had covered 5% more distance than the Garmin recorded. I was actually happy to see that because it meant my overall pace was in line with the way I felt while running.

Today's run actually felt very good. I had none of the leg heaviness or low energy response that plagued me on Saturday and at the beginning on my run on Sunday. I'm holding out hope that the snow will wait just long enough to let me get out for another run tomorrow morning. The chance of that happening is low but you never know.

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

My iPad moment


Today's run (street): 2.5 miles at 9:19/mile

I have not been one of those people in the media technology world who view the iPad as the Thing That Will Save Publishing. My iPhone experience has been occasionally frustrating and inconsistent but I still wouldn't go back to the Blackberry. Unlike others I know (e.g., Sedentary Man), I refused to buy an iPad because I didn't understand it from either a value or utility perspective. Imagine my surprise yesterday when my IT person stopped by with a white box containing a shiny new iPad, courtesy of the CIO. The first thing I did was boot it up and look at The Emerging Runner on the browser (no Flash - argh!). The second thing I did was go to iTunes to see if they had any interesting running apps. Not much there. AG kidded me that I really shouldn't run with it (besides there's no GPS!). I was going to use the iPad to write today's post but I found it difficult to position the tablet and type within the confined space of an LIRR train seat. I'm hoping that this tablet will find its place in my technology portfolio. More to come on the iPad/running intersection as things develop.

Although I bought a new armband to carry my iPhone on my runs to record time and distance, I still haven't used it. The Garmin FR60 is proving to be a great purchase, capturing everything but a a route map and elevation. It's a much better running watch than the 50 that it replaced. I went out this morning with temperatures reported to be in the middle 30's so I wore an additional layer over my long sleeve tech shirt and was glad I did. I forgot to wear gloves and my hands froze the entire time I was running. I have to believe it was closer to freezing than the posted 36 degrees. The run felt fine, energy level was good and I tried to push it a little near the end. That didn't translate into a fast pace overall but the handy run report on the Garmin confirmed that I did negative splits after mile one. I'm planning to return to the treadmill tomorrow since the weather may be iffy and I haven't used the new machine since it's been fixed. I have plans to run in the city on Friday, weather permitting.

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

My 500th post!

Today's workout: 2 mile tempo at 8:41 per mile

It's hard to believe but today's post is the 500th since I started The Emerging Runner in 2008. I like having a bit of history to look back upon. My original goal for this blog was for it to be a journal of my experience returning to running. I do use it for that and I find it helpful to occasionally look back on what I was doing a year ago to see if I've made any progress or if I'm looking at running differently. I'd say there's been progress and my view of running hasn't changed a bit. Both good things.

With all my hill work and trail running over the last week I felt that I needed to do a more speed-focused workout today. Last night I mapped a run that measured exactly 2 miles that I planned to cover at 5K race pace. One reason I kept the distance down to two miles was to motivate myself to run faster than I normally would at 4 AM. Another reason for the exact two mile route was to quickly compare the distance MotionX was mapping compared to my actual, known distance.

The run went well. I didn't expect to hit a record breaking pace because I generally run about 15 seconds per mile slower at this early hour. The run felt fast and I knew I'd do better than normal (and I did) but I was still disappointed with my 8:41 pace. MotionX, the GPS app I've been using on my iPhone, was again way off. It measured the run at 1.86 miles. It's easy to see why it does that. Looking at the map trace from the GPS signal shows a number of vectored corners and shortened paths that add up to less total distance. This confirmed that the GPS always under-counts distance and today's margin of inaccuracy told me that it was off by 7%. That's disappointing and it's the primary reason that I didn't buy a GPS watch to replace my Garmin 50. I've been told that the Garmin GPS watches are far more accurate than the iPhone but I'll stick to the foot pod for now.

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Involuntary Garmin-slaughter

Today's workouts: Stillwell field trail loop - 3.55 miles plus speed and hill drills

My Garmin 50 display was showing "LoBattery" so I decided to change it myself. Big mistake. I had the right battery (CR2032) on hand so I thought "How hard could this be?" Replacing the battery in the heart rate monitor and the foot pod was simple but when I opened the 50 I knew it was going to be a lot more complicated. I should have stopped there and taken it to a jeweler but I was too impatient and it cost me the watch. I first had to separate the housing from the main board that held the display in order to get to the battery and when I did some tiny brackets and and a tiny spring went flying. Before I knew it the whole thing became a cruel puzzle. When I put it together in the most logical way that I could, the display failed to work. I looked up how to change the battery on this watch online but there is little documentation. In fairness to Gamin they do recommend professional battery installation.

I went through all the stages of grief: Denial (it worked before, it will work again!), Anger (stupid Garmin engineering!), Bargaining (what are Forerunner 50's going for on Amazon these days?), Depression (I have nothing to capture tomorrow's run so it will be meaningless!), Acceptance (this sucks but maybe it's a good excuse to buy a 405). Then I went online and priced out the 405, the new F60 and even saw that Garmin has a new "entry level" GPS watch called the 110. Since the 110 doesn't also work with a foot pod I'm down to deciding between the 405 and the F60.

This morning I pulled out my iPhone arm band and did my run at Stillwell using MotionX which has been improved since the last time I used it. The day was sunny and I acquired a signal quickly. I set off to run the field loop trail making four circuits with a total distance of 3.55 miles. As usual the GPS accuracy was a little off so I used Google Earth to verify the true length. It was a better experience with the iPhone than I had on previous runs. I uploaded the GPX file from MotionX to Garmin Connect and it worked great.  My online running history didn't skip a beat despite last night's Garmin problem. I may take the broken watch over to a local jeweler to see if they can make it work. If not I'll probably get the new F60 that should work with the 50's HRM and foot pod.  I did see a 405 online for $299 with a $50 rebate so maybe...


Later in the day the Emerging Runner family headed to a local park to enjoy the beautiful weather. After playing some hoops we made our way to the ball fields and had a running competition. First we ran from home plate straight out to center field (which rises to a 60+% incline over the last 30 or 40 feet) and back again. All four of us did that run, my son did it several times, and we recorded our times using my iPhone's stopwatch app. After that we all took turns on a circuit that required the runner to touch the six light poles that ringed the diamond and outfield. The total length of that circuit is .15 miles. Based on that, I calculated our paces. I ran it at 5:33, my wife at 7:40 and my son and daughter (10 & 11) at 8:20. We weren't dressed at all for running (although I did have my NB trail shoes) so this was a good benchmark for the next time we come, better prepared. It was a very active day for the family. How could we stay inside with this weather?

Friday, March 12, 2010

Pace perception, pace reality


I think I may have a distorted idea about what constitutes my "normal" running pace. In my mind I consider myself a 9:00 miler but in truth I'm not. Garmin Connect provides reporting tools that allow you to analyze your history and this helps me compare where I am today against previous periods. Sifting through the data and applying the appropriate filters allows me to see what paces I was doing last year on the treadmill, the road, the track and the trails. My overall pace, current or historical, means very little because it's a blend of those running types. Comparing or just reviewing anecdotal data, I see that my normal road pace is about 9:15. There is a margin of error because this data comes from my Garmin which has an over/under tolerance of about 3%, depending on its state of calibration. I often move the footpod from pair to pair depending on the type of running that I'm doing. When calibrate accuracy to .01 mile on my Adrenalines and then move the footpod to my New Balance trail shoes I'll get a different result. It's an inexact method but it's good for measuring trends over time.

Prior to last Sunday's race I had focused primarily on building up my running legs with less concern about pace. In the first two post-race runs this week I kept the speed dialed down in consideration of recovery. Today I decided to start faster and maintain a pace that was on the edge of discomfort. About halfway through I increased the speed a bit more and at the end I expected to see that I'd run the type of pace I do for road races (8:19-8:40). I was surprised to see the Garmin readout say I'd covered my distance at 9:00 per mile. It sure seemed faster than that. It's possible that the Garmin under-counted because of calibration variance and I was on the treadmill and not on the road. Next week we'll have our new treadmill that will provide a readout that I can compare to the Garmin's. It was nice to run my "normal" pace today, despite my delusions of grandeur.

Friday, August 21, 2009

Good running apps can be worth the money


I'll give it to the folks at Trimble Outdoors (creator of AllSport GPS) in terms of helping users understand their product. I'd mentioned to them that the accuracy and rest detection with the AllSport GPS app were off the mark and they gave me some good feedback (rest detection can be turned off) and told me that are working to improve some other features. I know it's funny to say this but, even with some of the issues I've encountered, but I'm glad they charge $10 for the app. These utilities are valuable to runners and to other athletes who wish to track their performance. These are applications that should be differentiated from lesser apps that cost far less or are free. Software companies will only invest in optimizing applications if there's a real opportunity to monetize the result. In a world of free or $0.99 iPhone apps there exists great choice but little practical value. I like MotionX a lot, it's priced low for what it offers (but it's not $0.99 either) and it does as good a job as it can with the limits of the iPhone and GPS.

There's a lot more functionality that can be added to these applications to benefit the runner. The accelerometer within the iPhone can be better leveraged to help gauge effort. The GPS can sync with a database of prior runs to provide comparisons to past performance. I have not used Running Gypsy but I noticed it has a feature for automatically capturing 1 mile splits. Why don't they all do that? There are many things I'd like to know when I'm running like temperature, humidity and real time elevation. I have a terrible time reading the display while I'm running due to factors like sun reflections, screen locking and angle of the unit. I'd like to have the option of listening to my metrics in real-time and on demand. As the iPhone and other mobile devices add more capabilities related to user needs and actions it can get very interesting. In the meantime I struggle a bit with the fact that the best apps are still limited by the technologies they need to leverage. I still think about the Garmin GPS watches and wonder why, with the same GPS tracking signal, they would be more accurate than an iPhone.

Saturday, August 8, 2009

Great talk, dirty socks

In preparation for the Babylon Dirty Sock 10K race later this summer I ran the course with a friend from the Runner's World Loop community, DaveADK (picture below), who lives close to the location of the race. Dave is an interesting guy with a really interesting background. He's been running about 18 months and knows the Dirty Sock course very well.

Before we started, Dave explained the way the race was organized, where registration is held, the location of the starting line (and finish) and also where to park. Having run a few races I appreciated knowing all that beforehand. We walked about a quarter of a mile into the park which served as a light warm up. Dave thought we should begin the training run at the stating point of the race so we proceeded to that area and took off at a moderate pace. The trails were mostly packed dirt, often wide enough across for three or four runners. There were many people out running, walking and biking, the temperature was comfortable and the tree cover prevented the sun from baking down. We encountered sections of sandy trail, some singletrack paths and a few that were paved. There were elevation changes but nothing too pronounced. I was grateful for that because the 6+ mile distance would have been a far greater challenge for me if it had the roller coaster terrain I encounter at Stillwell Preserve.

The time went by quickly, Dave is good runner and he graciously ceded to my pace that was probably 20-30 seconds/mile slower than he would normally run. He pointed out some important things about the course that will be good to know on race day. My runs with Adventure Girl have prepared me to chat while running and I did well considering the distance. At one point, when running underneath one of the highway trestles, we encountered a flutist and joked that the improvisational jazz background made it seem like we were characters in an independent film. We were about 1/4 mile near the end and Dave said this is the time to pour it on as practice for the race. Unfortunately my groin pull that always surfaces around the 4 or 5 mile mark prevented me from pressing my luck.

When we got to the end, Dave's Garmin 305 showed that we covered a little more 6 miles. My Garmin 50 was way off, perhaps because I recently replaced the battery. I'll calibrate it tomorrow when I run. The big disappointment was with my iPhone and MotionX GPS. Around the 3 mile mark I noticed the application was confused and had lost the signal. I'm not sure what actually happened after that but I ended up accidentally resetting the unit and losing the run history. As much as I'd hoped the iPhone would be a convenient alternative to a Garmin 405 I'm realizing that I still need the GPS watch. So back to the fund - $160 to go.

Friday, July 17, 2009

Sublimating my competitive nature


I was pleased to see that the Emerging Runner captured the #5 spot for the top 100 blogs on Runner's World for April, May and June. My competitive side wants me to rank higher but I'm in good company and the top four blogs deserve their positions. I let my competitive nature get the better of me earlier in the week when I took off ahead of everyone in Wednesday's Fun Run. I had given clear direction that the event was about fun not competition yet I could not resist the combination of short distance, low humidity and a downhill stretch. This morning I thought about competition and how running is mostly about competing with one's self. After a race I do check the results but I never think twice about who finished before me. I monitor my pace and distance when I train because it's fun to know what you accomplish when you work so hard.

In terms of monitoring performance, I've wanted a Garmin 405 GPS watch for a long time. I do have the Garmin 50 with foot pod and HRM and it works great so why change? For one thing it would be great to track speed and distance with maximum accuracy. It would also allow me to capture elevation through the run. It has a built-in compass which would help with trails. The 405 also has export capabilities for overlaying runs on mapping applications. I thought that I might challenge myself and hold off buying the Garmin 405 a little longer until I've met certain goals. When a goal is met I'll put a certain amount of money into a fund. When I reach the amount it will cost to buy the watch I will. A goal could be reaching 25 miles on a non-vacation week, maintaining a specific pace or reaching a distance goal. No matter what, by the time I'm done I'll feel that I have justified buying it.

This afternoon AG and I are doing our end-of-the-work week run with one of my two running advisors, CK. CK is a master runner who's competed in marathons and many distance races. He's a few years older than me but much faster. CK runs in the low sevens and regularly beats the neighborhood 20-somethings in his town's annual Turkey Trot. It will be humid and near 90 degrees when we go out to Central Park. Today my competitive nature will have to take a back seat to just keeping up with two fast and experienced runners.

Saturday, May 9, 2009

So close and yet so far


When I finished my run this morning I was excited for the fact that I'd set a personal distance record. I was even more excited by the distance that my Garmin had recorded: 6.17 miles. Prior to this I had only managed to cover about 5.5 miles so getting past 6 was a big psychological barrier to cross. I took it slowly and didn't care about my pace. I felt very good throughout the run and my last mile felt about the same as my first. I only stopped because it was getting to be close to an hour and I didn't want them worrying about me at home. As I often do after a run, I mapped my course using Google Gmaps and was stunned to see that my actual distance was 5.95 miles. Not even 6! I studied the course I'd mapped hoping I'd left a street or two out but it was accurate. Due to the weather I ran with my New Balance trail shoes (that performed great, best $49 I've ever spent) and I'm guessing that the way I positioned the foot pod on my shoe threw off its accuracy.

So that's a disappointment but the fact remains that I covered more ground than ever before. Better yet, the LSD approach (pace was mid-9's) allowed me to maintain a steady pace and enjoy the ride. I did increase my speed over the last half mile but with a run of that length it didn't materially change my overall pace. The good news is that I could have run another two miles without much effort. I just wish I'd run another 230 feet.

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Trail shoe, meet treadmill

This morning, before my run, I realized that the foot pod for my Garmin 50 was still attached to one of my new NB 460 trail shoes. The effort to remove and then attach it to my regular shoes is minimal but just time consuming enough for me to think twice about it. As I've mentioned before, every minute counts in my early morning routine.

In the interest of time I decided to run with the 460s on the treadmill. I figured they performed well on the street so it wouldn't matter too much if they weren't made for running on a treadmill surface. Starting up was a little tough which I attributed to both the tread of the shoes and to some residual stiffness I have in my right leg. I'm planning to visit my orthopedist after my May race to get to the root of that problem which, at the moment, involves some slight pain and restricted mobility when starting a walk or run.

I got up to speed fairly quickly and the 460s, though not especially heavy, felt like I was running with comfortable work boots. As usual, my treadmill display shut down after about five minutes (as a technologist I am horrified by the failings of most running technologies I've used. But to be fair the treadmill is over a decade old) so I pushed the speed control blindly until the Garmin registered 7 MPH.

I ended up running 1.81 miles at an 8:50 pace. Although the use of these shoes on the treadmill was not ideal they're proving themselves to be a great buy. Tomorrow I'll aim for the same distance with the Nike's to compare experiences. I'm betting that under the same conditions, with the right shoes, I should be able to improve on that pace.
 

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