Okay, so I have to admit that I’m feeling a little ridiculous right now. How is it that I didn’t go out and buy a Garmin like a year ago? I have so much more information about my run today than I’ve ever had before about a run. And not just any information, but really useful information that will help me improve as a runner. How many times have I spent $300 on worthless stuff that I never really use? And yet, I let the price keep me away from this wonderful tool for so long.
So, here’s how my first run with the Forerunner 405 went down: I did 20.54 miles in 2:30:09, a 7:18/mile pace. It was just my standard loop around the island (with the extra jaunt up the Hudson significantly shortened). I could have gotten that info the old fashioned way by using a stopwatch and map, but when I came home and plugged into my computer I found so much more…
The first thing it did was ask me to name the device. I went with Guadalupe. I mention this for a couple reasons — First, I think it’s funny how personally attached everyone gets to their Garmins. Both in the blogs I read and in my interactions with other runners out there in the real world, it seems like everyone has a nickname for theirs and uses the “he/she” instead of “it.” Well, I’m not going to be the odd man out on this, so Guadalupe it is. Oh, the other reason I mentioned it was because I think that’s a hilarious name for a Garmin. I’m pretty sure mine’s the only one out there named after a religious candle.
I had set the auto-lap feature to record the time at every mile, so I was able to see my splits for the entire run. I was really surprised at how big a variance there was. There was a 57 second/mile difference between my fastest and slowest mile. That’s huge. Or is it? I don’t even know because I’ve never had the number before. It seems big though…
The slowest one was mile 2 at 7:47. No big surprise there — I ran up like eight flights of stairs in Morningside Park so the slow pace was to be expected. But mile 11 (with no significant hills or stairs) wasn’t much behind at 7:39. 12 and 13 were both slow too and then, out of nowhere, I ran a 6:50 mile #14. This mile was around the Lower East Side. I felt great then and knew that I had picked up the pace significantly, but had no idea it was by that much. The next couple miles were close to the same and then I gradually started slowing down again until the finish. I wonder if I always pace that inconsistently or if it was just because my mind was wondering today. Time (and more running data) will tell, I suppose…
Well, I’d love to site here and throw more numbers at you, but Guadalupe tells me that I burned 2698 calories on the run today and I don’t doubt that at all — My stomach is growling like you wouldn’t believe. I’m gonna go rustle up some dinner. Have a good weekend, everyone.
Guadalupe–the patron saint of distance runners! (Right?!) I believe you have found your guardian angel, Cowboy, and she’s black, and she chirps and is really, really good at math!
Did you use the heart strap? Sometimes I get encouragement out of a consistent heart rate even if my mile splits are wildly variant.
I look forward to reading about how your relationship with St. G deepens & changes as you get to understand her mysterious ways over the next several months.
Yep…you’ll get attached to St. G very quickly and begin to wonder why it took you so long to get something so variable. I’ve had my 305 for a year and a half and it has singlehandedly improved the quality of my running like no other single piece of equipment. I can sit there for a few hours after a long run just analyzing the data.
Anyway, congrats on your awesome run. I’m hoping my own 20 tomorrow will be just as sweet.
TK, no, I didn’t get the one with the heart monitor. I knew I wouldn’t use it (I never use the one on treadmills) so I didn’t think it was worth it.
Lam, Good luck tomorrow. Hope the rain’s not as bad as they say it’s going to be…
I never gave mine a name, but it’s a 305 and I long thought of it as a refrigerator on my wrist and I tend not to name household appliances.
I would suggest hooking it into SportTracks and then you can migrate the data to Buckeye Outdoors, the subject of a recent Runners Round Table discussion and the gateway to a nice new running community site (with, I know TK doesn’t want to hear it) “friends” and everything called GoWagon.com.
I got the HRM but I almost never use it. And, yes, nice run today.
Joe, I went with the downloadable Garmin training center instead of the online one. I’ll continue to use my own running log, which is currently East Coast Runners, but is changing to BestRunningLog.com very soon. But, it’s always good to check out the competition, so thanks for the link. :-)
Of course it’s all the same data dressed differently.
I am still Garmin-less, but you are actually getting me to start thinking about purchasing one.
Damn you, CH.
Hey…just wanted to thank you for your comment on Joe’s blog about their being another alternative between running the marathon for the experience and become an asterisk runner. I think it reflects my sentiments perfectly.
The funny thing is, I had similar thoughts of dropping out of the Boston Marathon and running in general when I suffered my hamstring injury a couple of weeks back. My thought at that time was…geez, now that I’m hurt and won’t be able to pull off a sub 3 like I wanted, I should just not run. And then I was like, if I’m such a wuss that I can’t pull off a 60-70 mile training week like it was suggested without getting injured, and if that disqualifies me as a good marathoner….then I should just stop running completely. The marathon is such a mystical creature, one that eclipses all the other race distances, that if I can’t or shouldn’t run it because my mileage wasn’t at par with the sub-elites…when I might as well stop being a runner.
I know that sounds facetious and ridiculous, but I seriously considered it for a couple of days.
I have always thought that we train at similar mileage for our races and as a result, we run similar paces. We do our usual 30, 40, or 50 mile a week training because that’s what makes sense to us…in the context of our lives and our goals. Yes, I realize we will not race at our potential with such mileage but why does that really matter in the long run? For me, I know I physically break down in excess of 60 miles a week. Mentally, the training takes precedence and it not longer becomes enjoyable for me anymore. So what would I rather do, enjoy my 40-50 miles a week and go into race day fresh and a little undertrained, or feel miserable running 60-70 miles a week because I’m neglecting other parts of my life, risk injury and having the marathon disintegrate into just another goal race where I have to run my potential to justify all the training that went into it. In the end, seriously, like you said, we’re not paid to run to our potential no matter how close we get to it, and I can count on one hand how many people will actually feel differently about me if I ran a 2:47 vs 2:57 or even a 3:07 in a marathon. Also, can people tell how much more training time, effort, and talent etc that it takes to run 2:47 vs 3:07? Maybe those of us who can run around that time and much faster people do, but not too many others…certainly not those people who I’m surrounded with everyday. So, if you find satisfaction in your 3:10 because you enjoyed the marathon experience even though it is not your potential (yet finish feeling like you could do better) vs risking EVERYTHING to run your potential, get there and feeling as if you’re not likely to EVER do better…why should that decision be looked down upon as if it’s not legitimate and demarcated with an asterisk (like Barry Bonds).
I seriously do not know if I’ll break 3 in Boston. There’s so many factors that go into a marathon that trying to be so precise about guessing your goal time is really a crap shoot. The way I look at it, I could run a 2:55 or 3:05…but I still want to be able to enjoy the experience since it’s my first time. I’ll be okay if my time isn’t “good” because I’m willing to accept the unpredictability of marathon running…I’m just not so sure about other people.
I commend you for sharing that story about your Armory experience and explaining things in a articulate fashion. I’m trying not to comment on his blog so as not to continue this debate since it’s gone on for long enough and it’s been affecting my personal outlook for Boston more than it should, so I’m glad someone else who perceive things from a similar vantage point can jump in and make those arguments for me.
Also I think I understand how you feel about your Philly experience. You may or may not have noticed, but I ran Hartford ‘06 in 3:11:33 and waited a whole year to BQ in NY ‘07 with a 3:08:18. So I definitely know where you’re coming from on that front.
OMG, so exciting! Mine is Pupi (poopie in english, hahaha) and i love him! the HRM is very useful when you “have” to do an easy run, it’ll make sure you’re not pushing. I am glad you finally got it, it’s like another running buddy!
Lam, if it’s meant to be, you will break 3 hours in Boston. If not, you’ll just have to re-group and break it this fall in NYC (You’re running NYC again this year, right?) The world won’t stop spinning if you don’t hit it.
And, wow, your Hartford time is a heart-breaker. That’s even closer to the BQ cutoff than my failed attempt was. I don’t even want to imagine how tough that must have been mentally.
More on this, and a general response to your comment are on their way as a new blog post…
Ohhhh I love my G! When I first started running the first thing I was told was: “buy was a Garmin”. So I don’t know running life without it. Although you do know this is the beginning of a love/hate relationship, right? HAHA
[...] drizzle. Heading up, I realized that I had forgotten my Garmin, perhaps for my refusal to give it a name. I had enough time, so I headed back home. I thought it important to monitor how I was doing in the [...]
Wow: I got my Garmin the same day. I hail from colorful Colorado too. And I remember running beside you for a while at the Cherry Tree. If I were the sort to name my sports watch, I’m sure I would name it Hazel.