Run to Win

I wore my new Garmin ForeRunner 305 to the indoor track today so that I could make use of the heart rate monitor. That aspect of my workout was a failure, but I learned quite a few things about my new GPS watch and running on an indoor track.

When I got home, I was amazed to discover that the GPS worked inside!

Not particularly well, since it thinks that I was running around the infield at an average pace of 42 minutes per mile instead of 4 minutes per mile, and it thinks that I ran through the walls a few times, but the map was great:

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I felt great after running in New York City, but I can not say that the marathon took no toll on my body at all. It was very obvious after I returned to the weight room this week last year that squats and lunges right after a marathon can leave you sore for a while.

• This week last year, I continued the series on injuries by discussing a question that most runners would prefer to avoid. Namely, “Should you see a doctor about your injuries?” Runners and other athletes tend to have a higher pain tolerance than the general population, and if we can avoid going to the doctor then we can avoid having somebody tell us that we have to stop running or working out. That’s the worst case scenario, and we never want to hear it. Sometimes, though, you need to take the risk.
• I shared my views on running with headphones. It boils down to whether or not the person with the headphones is impeding my own race or workout. I never run with headphones, personally, and generally I am not bothered by the people that do. There are some people that cause problems for everybody around them, though, and the only thing that will ever let them know that they aren’t paying enough attention is when that car that they can’t hear or don’t notice manages to hit them.
• This week two years ago, I wrote about calculating your maximum heart rate. In a couple of months, I may actually wind up getting a heart rate monitor, so next year I will probably try to work heart rate training into my schedule.

This week last year I was getting ready for the New York City marathon, although that did not keep me from racing. I had not quite started tapering yet, though.

• I planned out my NYC race strategy, since I would be pacing a friend through his first one. Our race almost exactly mimicked the race strategy that I had put forward, except that we never got around to slowing down to 6:50 pace. In fact, the last two miles, I sped up to 6:00 pace.
• There were a couple of races. There was the inaugural Saco Bay 5k on Saturday, and the Physical Therapy 8k in Brunswick on Sunday. I ran in the 8k, as it was a part of the grand prix. Dirigo won, which was nice.
• Scott continued our series on rest by discussing measuring rest with your heart. I discussed the benefits of vitamin supplementation.
• This week last year was the first time that I ran with a headlamp. I was not completely sold on it after the run, but in the past year I have used the thing so often that I think I can consider myself sold now…

This week last year was focused predominantly upon sports news. I wrote a very popular article about heart rate monitors and determining your maximum heart rate. If you are interested in that sort of thing, then a couple of weeks ago Complete Running had a series of articles on training with your heart rate.

• I wrote a very popular article about heart rate monitors and how to determine maximum heart rate.
• In running news, Kevin Collins won a 15 kilometer race off of casual training. I also went out and photographed the Hannaford Turkey Trot, which was won by my teammate, Devin Shaw. I didn’t know him last year, though, since I had not yet joined Dirigo. The teenagers had a great showing at that race after Devin came in.
• An ex-NFL player who often spoke out against steroid use, Steve Courson died. His reasons for speaking out on doping was because of a heart condition he came down with from his own use of steroids, but that is not what killed him. A tree fell on him.
• In baseball news, Bud Selig announced a new doping policy for MLB and A-Rod won the AL MVP. I thought that Ortiz was more important to the Red Sox than that A-Rod was to the Yankees, personally.
• A referree went to jail for fixing Germon soccer matches. In other soccer news, George Best was put on life support following a lung infection.
• I used a crunch machine for the first time last year. I never use it anymore, though.

In a collaborative effort with Scott over at Straight to the Bar, we will be writing all about rest for the month of October. You can expect a new article on the matter every week.

This week’s article was written by Scott and is called using pulse rate to determine rest break length.

The only thing that I would like to add is that I am not a fan of the 220 minus your age formula for calculating your maximum heart rate. It generally has no bearing in reality, in my experience. If you can not afford a formal stress test, then you can try the workout that I used to determine my maximum heart rate.

Tracking your resting heart rate is a good way to prevent burnout and is a great guide to determining what type of workout is appropriate on any given day. Much like weighing yourself daily, you can use fluctuations in your resting heart rate to determine when you are overtraining or coming down with an illness. It is a good barometer for what your overall fitness is through each season, as well. Here are some tips to easily and accurately check your resting heart rate:
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The Health and Fitness blog has an article about heart rate monitors. The article relates a story about how some joggers in the park were put off by the auther not providing the time because he was wearing a heart rate monitor and not a watch, and gives the usual 220 minus your age for finding your max heart rate. It finishes up with a link and explanation about how exercise reduces the risk of sudden cardiac death.
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