Posts Tagged ‘Garmin’

Last week I hinted at some new shoes coming in the mail – a pair of Saucony Mirage. They arrived from Holabird Sports over the weekend and I finally got to run in them yesterday.

I will never judge a shoe by one run, but I really liked the way they felt. The lightness of the shoe was much nicer than I expected.

I got these shoes because I am a huge fan of trying something new without going too extreme. I am pretty sure I won’t get a pair of Vibram’s or anything less of a shoe than the Mirage any time soon. Notice that I’m not saying “never.”

If I can transition to this shoe quickly I will, but for now I’m not going to force the issue. I’ll have one or two runs a week in them before anything high mileage. That said, I would love to wear these awesomely green shoes for the Shamrock Half.

I also have another new product in my hands … or on my wrist – a Soleus GPS 1.0. It’s a long story about how I got this watch, but I want to thank Soleus for the opportunity to wear this.

Soleus came onto the scene recently with an affordable GPS option with a watch that is just that – a normal looking watch with GPS features. Unlike Garmin or other similar companies, you cannot download the data to a computer.

After a few runs with the watch, I like it a lot. The connection to a GPS is quick and the various screen options are nice. I do miss the data that my Garmin 205 provides, however, I never really started using those features until last year. I still don’t download my data often, but I do like looking at elevation profiles and maps on crazy runs.

I have done some comparison with the Garmin – the first run it was just .06 more on a 5.3 mile run; with a co-worker it was .15 more on a 3-mile run. I know that GPS watches read differently and aren’t 100% accurate, but I will continue to compare the two as I decide on which one I like better.

How I handle not having quick access to elevation or maps is yet to be seen. The question is, do I really need it? The quick answer is no. I did fine without it for years. Perhaps I’ll keep my Garmin for those crazier runs, although it seems ridiculous to leave it sitting around when I can easily sell it. My Garmin, though, is old and I don’t know how long it will last.

On the health side of things, I am finally feeling better. I’d say I’m about 90% now – still a little ways to go, but I’ll definitely be ready for 10 miles this weekend.

I’ll admit that I used to be difficult to shop for when it comes to Christmas. I’ve realized in the past couple of years, though, that I am in fact VERY EASY to shop for.

Simply put, I’ll like pretty much anything to do with running. Fortunately, through my various races that give out moisture-wicking shirts and my bargain shopping with shoes, my “need” for things may be at an all-time low. That said, there’s nothing wrong with having a wish list, right?

I got a head start a few weeks ago through the Brooks website to create a wish-list of Brooks products. I did it to initially enter a chance to win a shopping spree, but once I was on the site I actually found things I could use. You can click here to check it out.

I have several things on there I don’t own — arm warmers and nightlife bands to name a couple of things — and some other bigger wish items, such as shoes. Anything else on there would be fine with me, too. That’s really about it except for a Garmin.

One of these years my Garmin 205 will die and I’ll be on the prowl for a new one. These days, I think a Garmin Forerunner 210 would be the perfect fit for me.

Nothing too complicated — just push the button and go. (As a side note, the link I used is to Holabird, which has the best deal with a bonus gift card.)

Otherwise, I’m not going to spend time putting together anything else. Brooks makes it simple, as does the Garmin love fest.

Merry Christmas everyone!

There are a variety of things on my mind, so I won’t waste time getting to them:

• As if I didn’t know that the Baltimore Marathon was a month away, an email with a giant counter reminded me, and a Facebook post unveiled the official marathon logo. The finishers medal was also released today. So yeah, there’s a month to go.
• I got a nice reminder this week that my body is in full control. I was a bit wiped out Monday and skipped what had become a regular core day with our personal trainer at work. Then after a good run Tuesday, my throat started hurting a bit. Then Tuesday night/Wednesday morning, I didn’t feel that great. I spent yesterday fighting it with allergy medicine, Naked Juice, Arizona tea, water and a dose of Nyquil knock-off. I got a solid night’s sleep and woke up feeling 10 times better today.
• That said, I’m a bit off my mileage this week. I probably would have pulled a double yesterday for more mileage, and I thought about it briefly tonight, but besides an extra half mile with Duke, I’m opting for an earlier bedtime for more rest. I think at this point rest is more important than forcing miles. It’s the first week of my training that I have felt behind, but I’m not going to force myself to make anything up.
• If you’re not a Garmin Connect fan, check it out. There is now a courses creation feature that follows the road.
• This weekend marks what is now becoming known in the Shamrock Marathon events at Halfway to St. Patrick’s Day weekend. For me, it’s also known as 6-more-months-to-go-until-I-set-my-half-marathon-PR weekend, or 4-weeks-to-go-until-the-Baltimore-Marathon weekend. Both are equally exciting.
• Lastly, tonight summer gets a big boot in the butt as temperatures drop to about 50; tomorrow’s high might hit 60. It will be the coolest day since April. While I know there are plenty of warm days left, I think the oppressive heat is finally over. I’ll drink to that.

A while back I mentioned trying on a pair of Brooks Ghost 3, but I never had a true follow-up.

Sometime soon after my post, Holabird Sports had a “Deal of the Day” featuring, you guessed it, the Ghost 3. With a coupon in hand, I snatched up a great deal. I’ve had several runs in the shoes now and really like them.

While it’s too early to tell how they’ll impact my overall training, it’s been awesome so far having them in my rotation of two Brooks Ravenna.

I am very content with my shoe situation right now and continue to strongly urge people to rotate shoes. Mileage wise my two Ravennas are at 287 miles and 206 miles; my Ghost in their young life have 24 miles. With the rotation, I didn’t plan to get two pairs of shoes over 200 miles at the same time, but they’re both in good shape. I’ll probably get 350 miles or so out of each pair while I mix in a third pair of Ravennas in another month or so.

I’m also always keeping my eye open for good deals as it’s closeout season on many shoes.

* * *

A few weeks ago I was running along with Duke when all of a sudden my Garmin fell off. The band, which was starting to show a lot of wear, had completely broke.

It’s an old watch that’s been a lot of miles with me — I’ve had it close to 4 years, I think, and it was used before that. The band breaking was not a big deal, but it was two days before a race.

I would have been fine not racing with it and would have patiently waited for a new band to show up in the mail. After discussing this on Twitter, though, someone sent me this link that made perfect sense — use my Road ID as a band.

Well, duh! It works great and is one less thing to have to keep up with day to day. My only concern is having the pins exposed, but after a few weeks of running with it like this that worry is less and less with each run.