Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Devices and Electronics (really?)

Runners seem to fit into two very diametrically opposed groups: Those who are ok with running with some kind of electronics and those that run with nothing but their shoes, shorts, and a t-shirt.  The latter group is what I call the “purists”. The former group is, well, they just aren’t as radical as the purists…  they are still runners by every definition, but they like their electronics, be it in the form of music, heart monitors, or even pace and distance GPS devices.

I admit it, I run with an iPhone. I use it for music, to track my run, for a map when I get myself lost, occasionally as a camera, and sometimes I’ll even take or make a phone call…  I’ve also messed with a HR monitor, either as a separate wrist display or, with newer technology, integrated into my iPhone app. To take it a step further, I also wear a digital sports watch. Also worth mentioning is the fact that I also carry an emergency contact card in case something bad happens, a couple of $$, some Gu, and a doggy bag (the doggy bag serves to wrap my phone with in the event of rain or if I need to ice an ankle or something).

Ok – I agree that the value of all of this stuff is nebulous at best.  The most useful things on my above list are probably the digital watch and the doggy bag.

I wish that I could be a “purist” runner – just lace up my shoes and head out for an hour or more, with nothing but my thoughts and a small notion of how far I am going or how long it took me. And from time to time I do run with nothing other than my watch.  But typically these are short runs, like 2-4 miles, and my only goal is to clear my head, stretch my legs, log some miles, or all of the above. Interestingly enough, I do find it to be refreshing to be gadget-free and I am able to listen and pay attention to my footfalls, my cadence, and my breathing. But on a regular basis, if I am going solo, after 20 minutes or so of running I get bored, so the music helps to distract me and in effect, entertain me. The music also helps me with my cadence; I pick a genre or music style that fits the run I want to take and it helps me stay in a groove.

But there is more to it than just the music. I like to know my “metrics”: how far I’ve run, what my average pace was, what my splits were, how high were the hills, how many, and so on. The iPhone app that I use is RunKeeper (www.runkeeper.com).  I’ll review the data to see if I’m improving and look for areas that I should focus on. I keep a spreadsheet of my runs and I’ll add little notes about each run (good run, GREAT run, and occasionally, bad run, humid, cold, etc.). The spread sheet sort of works like a coach for me.

I use my digital sports watch to track my splits real-time. Even though RunKeeper will give me this data either through my ear-buds or on the display, I find it less intrusive to just have the RunKeeper ping me every mile at which time I’ll tap my watch to check my split. I used to have RunKeeper tell me the mile marker, average pace, split pace, overall time, and probably a few more metrics – but it was just way too much for me to absorb. Now I just have it tell me what mile marker I’m at, I can glance at my watch to check my pace and split, push the split/lap button, and carry on.

For a while I was also running with a Heart Monitor (HM), but I started to feel too-connected, too many gadgets, too much crap on me, so I ditched it. More realistically, I realized that I could subconsciously feel if I was running within my aerobic range or if I was trending anaerobic. Plus I was getting annoyed with the fact that there is so much bad advice out there about the use of HM’s and what one’s heart rate should be at any given moment. I was collecting interesting data, such as nominal HR at a given pace or distance, MaxHR during sprints or hills, and probably the most important I thought was how quickly my HR recovered from MaxHR. But ultimately, all of that data was not relevant to me on a day to day basis for my runs.

Another aspect of the available electronics is the location capabilities. From time to time I’ve run some very extended runs in areas that I am not familiar with, sometimes on trails that are not well travelled. Should something happen to me, at a minimum my wife would be able to track me down by locating my phone – and I know… given the current conversations about big brother watching this can be a touchy subject, but yet it’s a very real situation. I’ve only had to be rescued once, and I am glad that I had my cell phone with me because I was a loooong way from home.

So I’m wondering what type of device will come next? Something that will measure available oxygen in your system and calculate VO2Max? Or glycogen stores? Perhaps something to measure hydration levels? How plugged in do we feel that we should get to run or train optimally? Or to ask the question differently, will this type of data gathering help marginal athletes become great athletes?

I feel that as humans, we like to know things, and that’s why we have all the various type of devices and electronics available to us for running, conditioning, and training. For some runners, time is all they need, for others it’s the entire suite of performance data. It becomes a balance to meet whatever need feels like the priority at the moment… It all depends on what we are individually looking for.

Saturday, March 8, 2014

Winter running - and Florida

Within my relatively short running history (most of it up north in the mitten state), winter was a period where I dialed down the miles but I would still get out there and run. After a year of training, struggling through injuries and scrambled recoveries, and running a few events, winter was almost a welcome relief. No pressure. Run for the sheer whim and fun of it.

I would run outside as long as there wasn't any ice. And if there was I'd find a treadmill or do the stairs in my house. I learned how to dress for various temperatures (thin layers), that a windbreaker is a godsend, and something for my bald head was essential. I've run in snow, while it's snowing (a very cool experience - no pun intended), sleet, and in temps as low as 8 degrees F (that was a coooold experience...).

I am now in FL, where it seems the "running season" is reversed: winter is the time to run, summer is the time to recover. And I've had an interesting time adapting. My body is saying "back off - we had a tough year last year" but the weather has, for the most part, been phenomenal. Perfect running weather. Some mornings it is as cool as 40 degrees, warming relatively quickly to 60, others it just starts out around mid 60's and tops out at maybe 75. Low humidity, sunny... In other words, perfect.

And yes, I do get out and run, knowing full well that in a few months the hot, sticky, humid weather will set in, making running a tad more difficult. If it is chilly out I'll wear a long sleeve something over my running shirt, knowing full well that as soon as the sun pops over the trees that I'll be shedding the long sleeves and tying it around my waist. This morning it was mid 40's at my start, and I had a long sleeve, a windbreaker, plus I wore gloves - within 30 minutes, as the sun got high enough over the tree tops, I was down to my running shirt with everything else tied around my waist.


What is also interesting about FL running is that unless I get to run over a bridge, most of my running territory is flat as a pancake. Absolutely zip for vertical climbs. No hills. And honestly, I kind of miss hills. Hills were (are) a challenge as they engaged different muscle groups which I think was (is) helpful overall in endurance conditioning. I can't even do the stairs in my house, simply because I don't have any.... (single story house).

So that is yet another challenge to handle... all good ;-)