A story of going from being a non-runner to planning for a marathon in three years...

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Rain, rain stayed away



The weather people forecasted rain all day yesterday, so I thought I was going to be relegated back to the treadmill. Thankfully, the rain stayed away. It was once again that weird temperature, though, where I felt I would be too cold in capris or short sleeves but too hot in tights or long-sleeves. I ended up wearing tights and short sleeves with my fleece over the top. The sleeves on the fleece got pushed up soon after I started. I wonder if maybe I need a vest instead....

Anyway, since it was just a quick 2 mile run I wasn't too concerned about overheating. I tried to take it easy but ended up running both miles quickly, as you will see from the split chart.

However, even though I had praised the Garmin and its superiority over the Nike+ (at least for me) earlier in the day, my Garmin decided to act up during my run. If you look at the little graph from the Bones in Motion data you'll see that during mile 2 there are a lot of stops and starts. For some reason my Garmin kept deciding to auto-pause and auto-resume whenever it felt like it! Even if I wasn't stopped! I didn't have the volume on my iPod turned up as high as usual so I heard the Garmin every time it beeped when it paused itself. I guess I'll have to look at the manual and possibly tweak the settings. Anyone else ever have this problem with their Garmin?

Speaking of gear, I thought I'd share with you what I take on a long run. From left to right in the above photo we have:

- My iPod nano in its holster (I clip it to my waistband)
- Jelly Belly sports beans
- My Garmin 405
- My handheld water bottle (it has a little pouch for my keys, too)
- My iPhone and its holster (I use the arm band from the iPod holster and strap the phone holster to my hand. I also use the iPhone to take all my photos while I'm running.)

So, the iPod goes on my waistband, my sports beans go in whatever pocket my running clothing has, my Garmin goes on my wrist, my water bottle goes in one hand and my iPhone goes in the other. I'm beginning to think I need a waist pack. Also, I'm discovering that my water bottle barely holds enough for a 10 mile run. Perhaps it's time to upgrade to a hydration belt with pouches for stuff? Guess it's time to hit up the sporting goods stores and see if I can try some on.

Oh, and as always when I run outside, the data I reference earlier:

Photobucket


Activity
Route:--Elev. Avg:621 ft
Location:Forest Park, ILElev. Gain:+0 ft
Date:03/23/09Up/Downhill: [+22/-22]
Time:06:31 PMDifficulty:1.7 / 5.0
 
Weather:Overcast and Breezy
 56 F temp; 38% humidity
 56 F heat index; winds SE 23 G 29
Performance

Distance: 2.01 miles
Time:0:19:07
Speed:6.3 mph
Pace:9' 31 /mi
Calories:126
Map
 
Elevation (ft)
 
Pace (min/mile)
 

Posted from bimactive.com

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

My husband has been thinking about one of those hand held bottles. Does carrying it in your hand bother you at all? I've been using a hydration belt.

Erin said...

Kilax - I don't mind carrying it at all. The strap lets me hold it loosely in my hand and keeps me from clenching my fists. It also makes it easy to drink while still moving. My big fear with the hydration belt is that I won't be able to find one that sits comfortably on my hips/waist since my waist is much tinier than my hips.

Anonymous said...

oh jelly belly beans! I could so go for those right now - I am starved. :-)

John said...

Hi Erin,

One other product you may want to consider for longer runs is a water bottle that straps to your bicep and is, I believe, an improvement over all the other products on the market. It keeps your hand free, and doesn't result in anything bouncing around on your waist or back. I designed, prototyped and am now spreading the word about it because I was frustrated with all the other products out there. It is called the Body Bottle and if you get a chance to check it out, I would love to hear your thoughts. The site for it is http://www.bodybottle.com

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