Tag Archives: technology

Jun 1 2012

No gadgets, no music, still finished…

So a few runs ago, I ran into technical issues, where my iPod got messed up, another time I screwed up the treadmill. A fellow runner suggested I try running sometime without my music, so tonight I did just that. The only gadget I had was my GPS watch, which I ignored, where typically I am looking at my pace probably every mile.

My training routine had me on a 30 minute run, easy with some hills. I decided to take a new route and to not worry about anything but running. Honestly it has been a long time since I have run with no music, so I had no idea what to expect.

I took off up a hill immediately. I typically run downhill for the first 3/4 of a mile, so going the other way was going to be different. I had no clue on how far my run would be, not a clue on whether I would actually get over 30 minutes or not, I just knew where I was going to run, and that was the big ass hill I had always dreaded the thought of running. If I am going to do something new, such as go out with no gadget and do an easy run with hills, I wanted it to be a situation where i had no idea on what my pace would/should be or my distance at a particular time.

The first thing I noticed was that my allergies were back a bit and man, I wheeze. Loud. The asthma wasn’t too bad, in that I felt fine, however at first I sounded like a broken valve on a bike pump. I chuckled and figured that it was good I typically run in the boonies, so no one thought I was dying.

I got around the school area, about 1/2 a mile down the road and I just started feeling better for the hill from hell. This is one I always figured I should run for training on hills, just never really cared to take it on. The hill actually has a name: Burnt HIll. Why? Not really sure, and I only know the name because we have one of our cellular towers on the top.It is one of those steady up for around a quarter of a mile. Yuck.

My pace slowed way down going up the hill, but I wasn’t going to check to what speed. I was simply focusing on my breathing, keeping a steady pace and realizing that I could hear other things. I could hear the traffic on the interstate near by. I could hear the cars coming up from behind me and could actually hear the birds. More important was that I could really put my breathing in sync with my running.

My route when down a quick hill and then back up a steeper hill, just a little shorter this time. This is the view of the hill from google street view.

It really might not look like much, but the terrain is pretty impressive for a town run. It a little less than 1 mile, this run took me up to 6,958 feet, down to 6,865 and then back up the 6,900 again.

As you can tell, my pace was all over the place with these hills, but my times didn’t really vary that much. Mile 1 came in at 9:18, mile 2 at 10:04 and mile 3 at 10:02. From the heat map you can really see how much my pace ebbed and flowed.

So a couple things learned.

First, I can run with no music. It wasn’t quite as bad as I feared.

Second, I can run that damn hill. It wasn’t quite as bad as I feared.

Third, I can keep a solid pace when running an easy pace run.

Fear was a big deal for me, pushing me to create habits around running. This put me on the same route, the same music, hell even the same water bottle (I changed that up as well, using a handheld versus a belt). I think I succeeded in bridging a gap I created on my own and now look forward to doing more various types of runs with this training program.

Also, sometimes you just need to run and enjoy the beauty of nature.It was nice to just have nature surrounding me, looking out over two states and seeing snow capped mountains and ridge lines literally 40 miles away.

I also have to give a big shout out to my bride, who seriously kicked my ass tonight in running distance, running time and Nike Fuel. I must say that she always impressed me with the fact that even after chasing our little monster, she can put in a solid run with little to no effort. She also impresses me in that she can start an easy run and then continue to add pace, ending a lot faster than she starts. Never under estimate a German Texan.

Great run honey!

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May 7 2012

Gadgets are my mojo

My wife claims that I am officially the king of the nerds when it comes to gadgets. I love them, I cannot deny that. I guess having a job that is cutting edge technology related, I have always found myself drawn to anything and everything that looks cool and uses the latest/greatest. So naturally when I started running, I looked around at things to help me. Here is my list of my gadgets I currently own/use as motivation and to help track my gains/losses.

I simply love my GPS watch from Nike (you will see a recurring theme). This is lightweight, easy to use and links to my other nike+ items quickly and easily. I have never had a situation where the GPS failed to sync, however I do suggest you follow instructions and sync to the PC prior to a run, especially if you have not run in a few days. Reality is, any GPS has to pull ephemeris data from the satellite, or get this data pushed to it, which is what these sync’s do. This allows the GPS to know where things are and obtain a lat/long much quicker.Another feature I like is that it has a built in USB connection, so there is no need to have a cable or separate linking system.

When I don’t have my watch (almost never) or need music with a need for GPS I use my….

 

 

 

 

 

 

My iPhone with the Nike+ GPS application. This adds more than the basic Nike+ integrated into the phone, most specifically the GPS functionality. Now, due to a result of my company not supporting 3g roaming, I use my iPhone exclusively on EDGE data. This absolutely does not matter to the device as running doesn’t need 3g to update the maps, and GPS is radio data agnostic. This helps tremendously with the battery life and I don’t use this surf the web, mainly just for music and fitness applications not available on Android. If I am running indoor, I then switch to use my GPS watch in footpod only mode, or usually link over to my….

 

 

 

 

 

 

My iPod Nano 6th Generation with iPod sensor. I did notice that I no longer needed the adapter, however for some reason the internal runs don’t upload to the nike+ servers. This gives me a good way to have a music stream going with feedback and splits in my ear. That is the one thing I don’t like with my GPS Watch, however I do like running with the iPod and GPS watch together as they then work as a team to keep my goals in mind and allow me to have accurate results.

I used to religiously use my Polar FT60 Heart Rate monitor, and even was selected as a Polar Athlete (focus on using the device, not the athlete part). This is a great tool for tracking Hear Rate and logging your workouts. The polar fitness website can track your recent workouts and let you know how hard you were pushing yourself.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I only stopped using this as I started wearing my GPS watch and two watches were simply rediculous. I am looking to replace the Polar Sensor to one capable of linking to my GPS watch, but unfortunately the one I have is incapable. The only downside to the watch is that it requires a separate linking system to upload the data which is incompatible with the Nike+ system and most other websites.

 

 

 

 

My final toy is more of a motivational item that recently came out. My wife religiously used her BodyMedia Fit arm band for 14 months, until it recently died. We had seen the Nike Fuel advertised for quite a while (see the pattern don’t you) and thought it might be a good alternate for her and something for me to keep track of how I sit on my ass too much during the day and need to go for a walk around the office/outside. For me it works great, for her, not so much. As she puts it, you can’t go from the top of the line to a trinket that is so inaccurate and be satisfied. Sadly, she doesn’t want to replace her arm band at this time, but she is still kicking my butt on the Fuel Points daily, which shows me how difficult a job chasing a 3 year old is over being an engineer.

So that’s it. Has any of this helped me in my goal of running farther, faster? Well, in my mind it has. When I started 18 months ago, I was lucky to run an 11:00 minute mile. 5 months later, with the help of the Polar HR monitor, I was able to push myself to get to a 5k at 29:30. Running with the iPhone outdoors and tracking my pace to miles run got me down to a 26:11 5k that October. This past Sunday, I complete a 5k run in 27:35, followed by another 5k in 32:00, for my first 10k run (I did rest three minutes in between) under 1 hour.

So was it my gadgets, or just my training? Can’t really say I give either full credit, but what I do know is that when I do get a new gadget, my motivation peaks up and I get excited to push the product to its limits.In any case, I know I am faster and like any widget that makes you think you are doing something better, you use it and accept it.