Monday, March 8, 2010

Running

I'm shocked that I'm saying it, but... I think my running is actually getting better. My runs don't tire me out so much any more. Which means that my initial plan for a half marathon some time in September/October could be stretched out to a full, with the intention of finishing inside four hours.

It looks somewhat like I might actually finish some 10 km runs in the next few weeks. That's just a frightening thought for somebody who could just make it through 5 before Christmas. Now I can actually focus a little on which way my feet are awkwardly splaying and swinging about the place and try to reign in the more extreme gyrations. It reminds me of something like the Larmor radius. Only a little less circular.

Three runs a week, increasing the individual run distance by one km a week and I should be good for some intervals soon. That will be the fun part. That's if cycling doesn't take over :D I'm enjoying running again, though, so it probably won't.

On a sort of related note, I'm considering buying some sort of training aid thingamijob to make training a little easier. I'm not sure how much of an effect it would have, apart from quantifying what I'm doing. Like, most of the Garmin GPS units rely on Google Maps to plot the data after you run/cycle, which I can mostly do myself. I can see the advantage when one goes for longer runs, but I've mapped out 50 km cycles by hand, it's not that big a deal.

The main advantage, I guess, would be heart rate data, showing different work out zones, which is meant to make training more efficient and focussed. On the other hand, one of the attractions of running is that it's so simple. I'm not training for anything huge, I don't really need a large amount of data to get me to the level I want...

It'll probably depend on whether I have more money than sense at some given time of weakness. There's always a 705 with European mapping for touring on the bike. That option is looking more and more tempting, to be honest, as it would be seriously useful. More so since I'm thinking of doing a few weekend trips around Europe this Summer. Anybody want to start a 'GPS for Mike' fund?

No?

Anybody?

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