Speed Trials

It’s a good thing I signed up for the Winterman 10k in February. Otherwise there is no way I’d start running regularly again!!

Winter is finally here, and even though there’s only a smattering of snow on the ground, the colder temps and the shorter days have been enough to keep me indoors. I knew that I HAD to go for a run today, but again, I really didn’t want to.

Then I remembered that I only have 8 weeks before the race, and that was motivation enough to get out there.

Bundled him up and he was asleep by the end of the block.

I really wasn’t paying attention to the time, but I wanted to run my regular 2.5k route without walking. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. I made the rookie mistake of waking up, making a big bowl of oatmeal, and running right after. Let’s just say I came dangerously close to reenacting the scene in “Bridesmaids” if you know what I mean! So I cut the run short and only ran 2k. Better than nothing, but still not ideal.

So, for next week I have two clear goals: the first is to get over my fear of mileage. I have to start running for longer periods of time to be prepared for the 10k. Speed will come later, right now I have to log in those kilometers. (and yes, that means preparing for runs with a little more forethought…)

The second goal is to get reacquainted with my running gadgets. As you know, I wear a Suunto t3c with heartrate monitor to track my time and heart rate. This has worked well for me in the past, because it has taught me to recognize how it “feels” to be in a particular heart rate zone. I know that I have to maintain an average heartrate of 150 bpm if I don’t want to bonk in a 10k, but I can push it up to 165+ for a 5k and still be okay. I liked the looseness of training this way, because it allowed me to base my running on how I felt on any particular day. But the Suunto doesn’t track pace or distance, which forces me to map out a route on Google Maps before I head out. That means that I can’t alter the route once I’m on the road, or else I won’t know how far I’ve gone until I get back home and mark it out on my computer. It would be so lovely to be able to track distance as I go.

Suunto t3c

Suunto makes a Foot Pod that attaches to your sneaker and measures distance based on your stride. It’s not a GPS, but it would give me more stats on my runs.

Garmin Forerunner 110

Here’s the thing though, my mom bought me a Garmin Forerunner 110 for my birthday. It has a GPS to track distance and pace, but no heart rate monitor (I’d have to buy that separately) and I’ve read some reviews that the pacing on the Garmin is a bit wonky (it just averages out your pace instead of telling you your current pace).

So I don’t know what to do. Do I switch to the Garmin and use it to track distance and pace, but not heart rate, or do I return it and buy the Suunto Foot Pod, which would allow me to track more info, but forgo the GPS? Also, is one brand significantly better than the other? Is it time I jumped on the Garmin bandwagon?

Any comments, opinions, or advice welcome! Help me geek out on my runs!!!