The Running Thread Vol 2
Discussion
I know it's a personal thing, but is there a point where it's simply too cold to run in shorts and t-shirt? I might be cold warming up or at the start line, but two minutes later I'm nice and comfortable (it was around 4c yesterday). I started running in March, so haven't run sub-zero yet.
There was a guy with 4 layers on ahead of me who quickly started shedding them, not particularly practical on a muddy 10k where you need both hands to support yourself at times.
There was a guy with 4 layers on ahead of me who quickly started shedding them, not particularly practical on a muddy 10k where you need both hands to support yourself at times.
Removable arms are really useful when it's cold, easy to carry or bunch up around your wrists once you've warmed up
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/gripgrab-hi-vis-arm-warmer...
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/gripgrab-hi-vis-arm-warmer...
SpydieNut said:
yesterday was fairly brutal etc.
I was sorely tempted to walk the last couple of miles yesterday, but stuck at it, reasoning that not quitting meant I was adding mental strength as well as physical. That said, we all need a rest week now and then. I've not been doing lots of training, so I was just being weedy. Sounds like you could do with an easy week to get the mojo back.RizzoTheRat said:
Removable arms are really useful when it's cold, easy to carry or bunch up around your wrists once you've warmed up
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/gripgrab-hi-vis-arm-warmer...
A friend was using these yesterday:http://www.wiggle.co.uk/gripgrab-hi-vis-arm-warmer...
http://www.decathlon.co.uk/arm-cover-black-id_8368...
Easily rolled down to the wrist or if they got too hot/annoying at £4 each they can be dropped en-route with no real fear if you dont see them again.
Not a happy bunny today and certainly learned my lesson in terms of 'try before you buy'.
So my Garmin packed in a month or so ago, one of the buttons went and it kept on pausing which got very annoying! I was hunting for a new watch online but found the range of Garmin watches unfathomable-I couldn't work out what I was paying for at all!
So I took the leap and went for a TomTom runner Cardio.
Now the watch itself is fine-quite easy to use and set up, but it has several quirks that are driving me mad on it.
The first (and main one) is that it cannot display the average pace for that lap on the screen. Doesn't matter if you're on an interval session, steady run or anything else-you just either get your average pace for the whole run, or the pace for the past 30 or so seconds. When I'm on an interval session trying to do reps at 6 minute pace then recovering-I only get the overall average of ~7min per mile. This feels like such a basic and easy feature to miss out, and makes it next to useless for me on fast runs where I want to be hitting a goal pace.
The other thing is I'm not sure about the way it measures pace-it seems to be really odd, especially around stops and when I'm starting off. I've been running for a while and have a pretty good idea of my pace, so I know when I'm somewhere between 7 and 7:30 pace. But the watch always starts off at 9 min pace. It doesn't matter if I set off like a scalded duck, 9 min pace it is!
Then on the pause screen you cannot see your current time/distance (at least I haven't found out a way) and the pause button is the same as the stop. Hit pause too hard and boom-run gone, start a new one! It's especially easy to do in gloves. Why put them on the same button!!
But the worst thing is the lap pace issue. I know the software is probably much more complex than I can imagine but it seems like such a basic and widespread feature to not have.
I had such high hopes for it but it I'm actually considering selling it after a little over a month and getting a Garmin.
Have any PHer's persevered with the TomTom watch and found it ok?
So my Garmin packed in a month or so ago, one of the buttons went and it kept on pausing which got very annoying! I was hunting for a new watch online but found the range of Garmin watches unfathomable-I couldn't work out what I was paying for at all!
So I took the leap and went for a TomTom runner Cardio.
Now the watch itself is fine-quite easy to use and set up, but it has several quirks that are driving me mad on it.
The first (and main one) is that it cannot display the average pace for that lap on the screen. Doesn't matter if you're on an interval session, steady run or anything else-you just either get your average pace for the whole run, or the pace for the past 30 or so seconds. When I'm on an interval session trying to do reps at 6 minute pace then recovering-I only get the overall average of ~7min per mile. This feels like such a basic and easy feature to miss out, and makes it next to useless for me on fast runs where I want to be hitting a goal pace.
The other thing is I'm not sure about the way it measures pace-it seems to be really odd, especially around stops and when I'm starting off. I've been running for a while and have a pretty good idea of my pace, so I know when I'm somewhere between 7 and 7:30 pace. But the watch always starts off at 9 min pace. It doesn't matter if I set off like a scalded duck, 9 min pace it is!
Then on the pause screen you cannot see your current time/distance (at least I haven't found out a way) and the pause button is the same as the stop. Hit pause too hard and boom-run gone, start a new one! It's especially easy to do in gloves. Why put them on the same button!!
But the worst thing is the lap pace issue. I know the software is probably much more complex than I can imagine but it seems like such a basic and widespread feature to not have.
I had such high hopes for it but it I'm actually considering selling it after a little over a month and getting a Garmin.
Have any PHer's persevered with the TomTom watch and found it ok?
My Tomtom Spark 3 has so far recorded my parkrun well under 5k and a 10k race I did at the weekend at 9.5k. Confused me as I was tracking 500m behind my target towards the end of the 10k, only to come round the corner for the finish line and see that I was 40 seconds ahead of my target!
Bit frustrating but a limitation of the tech I guess. The silver lining is that once I've run a route I can race myself on it in the future, so that should help with parkrun.
Bit frustrating but a limitation of the tech I guess. The silver lining is that once I've run a route I can race myself on it in the future, so that should help with parkrun.
In my experience, these are the things most likely to affect GPS accuracy:
- Cloudy conditions
- Tall buildings/artificial canyons
- Tunnels
- Trees
- Not allowing for a good lock before running (I tend to leave mine for at least a minute after initial satellite lock-on)
- Sharp turns/switchbacks
- Running on a 400m track
Cookie - what are your options to return the TomTom? I love lap pace and have it as my default pace metric, due to it being far smoother than immediate pace.
- Cloudy conditions
- Tall buildings/artificial canyons
- Tunnels
- Trees
- Not allowing for a good lock before running (I tend to leave mine for at least a minute after initial satellite lock-on)
- Sharp turns/switchbacks
- Running on a 400m track
Cookie - what are your options to return the TomTom? I love lap pace and have it as my default pace metric, due to it being far smoother than immediate pace.
I've got a Tomtom Cardio jobby too.
For me it's been OK as I'm not doing anything serious yet. Click go when I go, and click stop when I stop. I tend to keep an eye on my heart rate but that's about it.
If I do up my game in the new year I'll be looking for something a little better. For £100 I doubt you can get better than the Tomtom though...
For me it's been OK as I'm not doing anything serious yet. Click go when I go, and click stop when I stop. I tend to keep an eye on my heart rate but that's about it.
If I do up my game in the new year I'll be looking for something a little better. For £100 I doubt you can get better than the Tomtom though...
Agree on calling Garmin - I had a sticky button and they sorted me with a refurb. Mind you, I'm not that impressed with my Fenix (v1) so I wouldn't recommend Garmin out of hand, though it sounds better than the TomTom.
Night run for me yesterday. Was supposed to be a very easy, relaxed affair. Saw some eyes in the woods, got the fear and my HR never came down. Doesn't help running in quite remote woodland and knowing there is allegedly a big cat in the area (local myth - but enough to get the heart pumping). Ended up slip sliding about in inches deep mud, wondering what all the eye glare I kept picking up belonged to and generally being vastly inefficient. The result, a 6.30 min/km average for a heart rate average that should see me running at 5.30 min/km. And my legs are dead today. But it's all training, right?
Night run for me yesterday. Was supposed to be a very easy, relaxed affair. Saw some eyes in the woods, got the fear and my HR never came down. Doesn't help running in quite remote woodland and knowing there is allegedly a big cat in the area (local myth - but enough to get the heart pumping). Ended up slip sliding about in inches deep mud, wondering what all the eye glare I kept picking up belonged to and generally being vastly inefficient. The result, a 6.30 min/km average for a heart rate average that should see me running at 5.30 min/km. And my legs are dead today. But it's all training, right?
While you were all getting wet at the weekend and lots of my friends weren't running the Brighton Brooks 10k cos it was cancelled due to rain and high winds, I was struggling my way round the Great Ethiopian Run 10k in 1:01!
Separate thread cos there will be more pics as I get round to it.
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Hoping that my cold is clear by Saturday so I can take advantage of a weeks warm weather/altitude training to go for a parkrun PB on Saturday.
Separate thread cos there will be more pics as I get round to it.
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Hoping that my cold is clear by Saturday so I can take advantage of a weeks warm weather/altitude training to go for a parkrun PB on Saturday.
Anyone ever done this?
http://trailevents.co/trail-running-series/brecon-...
I'm thinking about the 10km.
http://trailevents.co/trail-running-series/brecon-...
I'm thinking about the 10km.
Thanks for the advice on the Garmin guys-I'll give them a shout and see if I can get it refurbed.
Ironically I've been using the tomtom as a normal watch, and it's pretty nice! It's things like the lap pace, the stop button being the same as the pause that are really annoying.
Did a parkrun this morning. My girlfriend has moved recently and there's a parkrun 2 miles from the door so it's two miles downhill to warm up, then I can do the parkrun then 2 miles crawl back up the hill. Today was ok, a bit slower than I wanted to be but I've had a bit of a headcold and started too far back and couldn't run properly for the first few hundred metres, so overall not too bad!
Ironically I've been using the tomtom as a normal watch, and it's pretty nice! It's things like the lap pace, the stop button being the same as the pause that are really annoying.
Did a parkrun this morning. My girlfriend has moved recently and there's a parkrun 2 miles from the door so it's two miles downhill to warm up, then I can do the parkrun then 2 miles crawl back up the hill. Today was ok, a bit slower than I wanted to be but I've had a bit of a headcold and started too far back and couldn't run properly for the first few hundred metres, so overall not too bad!
VEA said:
Anyone ever done this?
http://trailevents.co/trail-running-series/brecon-...
I'm thinking about the 10km.
I did there south devon coast path race in sept.http://trailevents.co/trail-running-series/brecon-...
I'm thinking about the 10km.
If you start/finish the same place go for it , if you have to be bused anywhere i wasn't impressed by there organisational skills.
Thanksgiving Half marathon for me on Thursday last week. A deliberate non-tapered race as with 20 miles the Saturday before and a speed session on the Monday, the training plan for Mississippi half in 2 weeks is on track. No harm in running hard though, so we got up at 5am for a race which started outside Turner field at 7:30am. It was mild with temperatures in the 16C range even at that time of the morning. There are 2 races, a 5k which has $2k as first prize and had an Olympian win it as well as masses of people in it and a half marathon with just under 7k people in it.
Undulating - 650+ feet of elevation did not make it easy but it was going out a little too fast which made me pay the price. Sub 31 mins through 5 miles was too much on tired legs and I finished in 1:23:24 which was faster than planned. My first half marathon in 5.5 years, so good practice for 2 weeks time. The winner did 1:11
Then everyone went home and had Turkey and honestly 99% of people got completely trolleyed
Undulating - 650+ feet of elevation did not make it easy but it was going out a little too fast which made me pay the price. Sub 31 mins through 5 miles was too much on tired legs and I finished in 1:23:24 which was faster than planned. My first half marathon in 5.5 years, so good practice for 2 weeks time. The winner did 1:11
Then everyone went home and had Turkey and honestly 99% of people got completely trolleyed
Mixed fortunes this weekend. Parkrun with mates, so cruised round, then did my LSD on Sunday morning fasted. All was well, though the end was quite hard, but most annoying is my Garmin Fenix is being a dick again.
Every time I turned bluetooth on to sync, it shuts down. This went on for about three or four repeations, then anything I did caused it to reboot, then it decided that the battery level needed to drop 15% every reboot until it wouldn't start up at all. Currently doing a soft reset and full charge as it won't connect via Garmin Express, even though the laptop sees the USB connection as a Garmin.
I've said it before and I'll say it again. The Garmin Fenix is a heap of poo. Given mine's a refurb, the new one I bought having broken within a month. The only reason I bought it was it's supposed 50 hour battery life - something so mythical, even Garmin won't publish the exact settings required for this to be achieved. After this last round of nonsense, I'm either going back to my 305, which cadence aside, offers exactly the same basic functionality as a Fenix for a runner/walker, or looking at a Suunto. I really cannot recommend more strongly, avoiding Garmin at all costs. Grrrrrr.
Every time I turned bluetooth on to sync, it shuts down. This went on for about three or four repeations, then anything I did caused it to reboot, then it decided that the battery level needed to drop 15% every reboot until it wouldn't start up at all. Currently doing a soft reset and full charge as it won't connect via Garmin Express, even though the laptop sees the USB connection as a Garmin.
I've said it before and I'll say it again. The Garmin Fenix is a heap of poo. Given mine's a refurb, the new one I bought having broken within a month. The only reason I bought it was it's supposed 50 hour battery life - something so mythical, even Garmin won't publish the exact settings required for this to be achieved. After this last round of nonsense, I'm either going back to my 305, which cadence aside, offers exactly the same basic functionality as a Fenix for a runner/walker, or looking at a Suunto. I really cannot recommend more strongly, avoiding Garmin at all costs. Grrrrrr.
Smitters said:
Mixed fortunes this weekend. Parkrun with mates, so cruised round, then did my LSD on Sunday morning fasted. All was well, though the end was quite hard, but most annoying is my Garmin Fenix is being a dick again.
Every time I turned bluetooth on to sync, it shuts down. This went on for about three or four repeations, then anything I did caused it to reboot, then it decided that the battery level needed to drop 15% every reboot until it wouldn't start up at all. Currently doing a soft reset and full charge as it won't connect via Garmin Express, even though the laptop sees the USB connection as a Garmin.
I've said it before and I'll say it again. The Garmin Fenix is a heap of poo. Given mine's a refurb, the new one I bought having broken within a month. The only reason I bought it was it's supposed 50 hour battery life - something so mythical, even Garmin won't publish the exact settings required for this to be achieved. After this last round of nonsense, I'm either going back to my 305, which cadence aside, offers exactly the same basic functionality as a Fenix for a runner/walker, or looking at a Suunto. I really cannot recommend more strongly, avoiding Garmin at all costs. Grrrrrr.
that's a shame - the fenix3 looks wonderful.Every time I turned bluetooth on to sync, it shuts down. This went on for about three or four repeations, then anything I did caused it to reboot, then it decided that the battery level needed to drop 15% every reboot until it wouldn't start up at all. Currently doing a soft reset and full charge as it won't connect via Garmin Express, even though the laptop sees the USB connection as a Garmin.
I've said it before and I'll say it again. The Garmin Fenix is a heap of poo. Given mine's a refurb, the new one I bought having broken within a month. The only reason I bought it was it's supposed 50 hour battery life - something so mythical, even Garmin won't publish the exact settings required for this to be achieved. After this last round of nonsense, I'm either going back to my 305, which cadence aside, offers exactly the same basic functionality as a Fenix for a runner/walker, or looking at a Suunto. I really cannot recommend more strongly, avoiding Garmin at all costs. Grrrrrr.
but as my Ambit 2 sapphire is still fine despite being 3 years old, there's no reason to change
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