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Posts Tagged ‘Garmin’

Analyzing GPS Watch Splits

Posted in Gear, Half marathon, Racing, Running, tagged , , , , , , , , , on May 29, 2013| 2 Comments »

I wore my Garmin Forerunner 110 GPS watch for the Spring Blast Half Marathon on May 11 (race recap here). I had fun uploading the data to Garmin Connect online and analyzing the race splits. As you might recall, my target race pace was 8:35 per mile, and I came in overall at 8:40 per mile. The chart below says I came in at 8:37 due to a 3 second difference between my Garmin running time and the race official’s stopwatch, and between the 13.1 miles on the course and the 13.17 I actually ran as I navigated the course and dodged people on the path (I didn’t think I did much of that but obviously enough to add 0.07 — a little over a football field in length — to the course):

GPS Garmin Race Splits

Overall I’m happy with how it went. In analyzing these splits, I can tell that wearing a GPS watch helps me a lot. If I don’t wear one and don’t pay attention to my average pace for the current mile, I go out way too fast in the beginning of the race when I feel fantastic, and I don’t push hard enough when I start to lose steam toward the end. For the half marathon, knowing my mile splits helped me keep more of an even pace. In fact, when I checked to see if I negative split the run, I found I came in at nearly even splits, taking just 15 seconds more to run the second half of the race than the first.

You can tell by the mile splits above that I felt really good through about mile 9, then started to lose steam at mile 10 as I was going up the slight incline, then picked up speed on the way back down for mile 11, slogged through mile 12 at about 15 seconds behind the goal pace, then gave it my all for mile 13 at 6 seconds ahead of pace, and sprinted to the finish at 40 seconds ahead of goal pace.

Don’t get me wrong. I don’t obsess over my race splits or beat myself up over what I could have or should have done. It’s simply interesting to look back over it and see how the splits compare to how I felt during the race.

Do you wear a GPS watch for training runs and races? I love my Garmin and I wear it most of the time, but I make sure to take it off occasionally and just run naked.

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My 13.1 Mile Virtual Run for Sherry

Posted in Inspiration, Running, tagged , , , , , on February 9, 2013| 5 Comments »

For today’s Second Annual Virtual Run for Sherry, runners from across the United States and various other countries run together in spirit to remember Sherry Arnold, the 43-year-old mother of two who was abducted and killed while on an early morning run in 2012.

Before I headed out the door on my run, my 10-year-old snapped this photo of me:

Ready with my virtual race bib on.

Ready with my virtual race bib on.

After yesterday’s thunderstorms and HAIL, today the weather smiled on my run with sunny skies and about 50 degrees in Southern California. Everything came together and I had the best run I’ve had since the Santa Barbara International Marathon last November. This is the end of week 1 of my training for the Mountains to Beach Marathon, and my Run Less, Run Faster training schedule called for 13 miles at 9:05 pace. About three miles into my run, another runner caught up with me and paused to chat. He paid me what I consider the ultimate compliment by asking, “Are you training for a marathon?” LOVE IT when another runner recognizes me as a peer! This guy had run the Long Beach Marathon in 3:19 and was training to go for a 3:15 BQ at Los Angeles in March. He looked in great shape for it and I told him so before he picked up his pace again. We met again around mile 10 of my run and talked training plans. What a joy to encounter a fellow runner and encourage each other along the way!

Sherry, these miles are for you.

Sherry, these miles are for you.

I finished the run in just under 2 hours, hitting an average pace of exactly 9:05 as planned! On my cool-down walk I called ahead to my husband and put in an order for hot chocolate (to be consumed in my recovery ice bath) and his signature egg sandwich (whole wheat bread, two fried eggs, avocado slices and melted Italian cheeses). I feel fantastic and I can’t help but get a little emotional when I think that participating in the Virtual Run for Sherry for my 13.1 miles had something to do with that. All I could think on my run today was: “I am so lucky to be here doing this.” I don’t take any moment for granted.

Did you run today? If you’re going out later, will you print and wear a bib for Sherry?

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