Wednesday

Garmin shows its shortness

Good morning! It's Wednesday, which is my long day. Actually it's not any longer than another day or two of the week. From start to finish it is about a 15 hour day. Of course I take a break or two a long the way, and I'm not complaining, not one bit. Really.

I am looking to restore a "day off," now that Daniel, our new minister, is here. He's very impressive, by the way. I would really like to take Fridays off, but I have a few challenges doing so. Oh well, you didn't come here to hear this. Actually, I don't know why you come here? And why do I write this? Too much philosophy this morning...

Anyway, back to what is easy to write about: running. Last night was Tempo Tuesday. We are easing into this, and there are not many of us doing it. We usually wait until January to start, but Dr. Lucky has this new plan he is drawing us all into. I'm actually thankful for him and the plan. It will make me a better athlete and hopefully qualify me for Boston.

Last night Dr. Lucky, John He, Rand, Bill, and I all took off from Parkview. We ran up to the 3 way stop, got ready, and then prepared to do 2 miles of the tempo course. I was the slowest, so I took off first. With the exception of last week, I have not done any speed work this year, so I am trying to be careful.

My goal was to run steady and hard for two miles. Last week I ran with the same goal and ran a 7:27 mile. Last night Bill ran the 2 miles in a 6:40 pace, while Jim, Rand, and John ran a 7:03 average. I was pleased with a consistent effort: 7:28 & 7:29. Here are two views: Garmin Connect and Strava, which simply gets its information from Garmin. The Garmin information is a little more detailed and precise.

The map above illustrates the major flaw of GPS technology: it can't handle circles, so it measures our course around Hillcrest shorter than it is. Our tempo course, we are reminded on a regular basis, was wheeled off and is very accurately measured, which I appreciate. My watch measured the first mile perfectly last night but had trouble with the second, as the map illustrates. I ran the second mile fully, according to Garmin, which means I ran long, which means I ran faster than the 7:29. Follow me?

What does this mean? Not much. I love my Garmin but know it is not totally accurate. It is pretty close, with the exception of measuring a constant circular turn. It is simply a tool, a good one, that helps me stay on pace and measures my heart rate etc. Speaking of that, I was pleased my heart rate, while high, stayed pretty even.

OK, for some of you, this was way more than you wanted, but see the second paragraph - ha ha. Before running yesterday, I had a lot of good stuff go on, helping people and studying for tonight and Sunday. After the run I came home to find Maddie and Cora at my house! I knew they were coming over, so it was incentive to get the run done and get home. It was a great way to end the evening.

Take care!