That my friends, is a real runner's toy, and one I have been pining after for months now, a Garmin Forerunner 305! I've wanted this super awesome GPS, heart rate monitor, pace calculator, all around all-star watch after I began training for the half marathon. While I like my Nike+, it isn't always 100% accurate, it's a toy, this however, is a tool. It's precision and calculation are spot on. It can calculate grade, elevation, and it has a nifty feature where if you happen to get lost on your running route, you can just hit "Back to Start," and it will show you the way to get back. I think I am officially in love.
So of course I had to test it out this evening and play, enter new motivation. Hubs and I went out for a nice 2 mile evening spin around the loop in our neighborhood. It was my first time hitting the pavement since the Navy 10 Nautical Miler on June 6th. Needless to say, I was incredibly rusty and out of shape. I suppose taking 3.5 months off will do that to you, and completely kill all endurance. I almost feel like I am starting from scratch again. But, since I am planning on training for the races I mentioned in my last post, I think this is just the thing to help me stay motivated, and give an analytical junkie like me loads of data to analyze and try to improve upon. I ran tonight's first mile in 11:40, and the second in 12:03, and if you look at the graph below, you'll see my pace and the grade of the surface, it's pretty fun to see how I slow down as the grade increases and I have to tackle hills. I hate hills, I like to walk up them and the run down, but I did manage to run a few, and it was great to see that with this program.
I'm looking very forward to the next few weeks and hoping it brings in some Fall weather here so I can go out and run with my new data grabber. It's nice to be back in the saddle again!
1 comment:
What a fun new toy! That would definately get me motivated.
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