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Friday, February 24, 2012

Rediscovering Greta (my Garmin Forerunner 405)

Years ago I got swept up in the runners' obsession that is Garmin. Almost everyone had one - they downloaded their cool looking graphs after every run and analysed this or that. They argued with race directors over the distance of races ("My Garmin says it was X, and my Garmin never lies). They set them to beep every kilometre during a marathon, causing me to endlessly ask: "Are we on pace? What pace are we doing? Are we too slow? Do we have time in the bank?" 

So I bit the bullet, forked over my hard earned cash and ordered one. A lovely little green Forerunner 405 which I nicknamed Greta. 

Greta and I weren't really friends from the start. She stressed me out. I didn't want to know what pace I was doing every single step of a training run - yet I couldn't stop looking. She was much bulkier than my usual Timex Ironman watch, which annoyed me. She didn't play nicely with my Mac either, and I had no end of trouble trying to get her to send her info across. 

In the end, I simply gave up using her. Put her back in her box and left her to her own devices at the back of the cupboard. 

Now, however, I have been forced to take Greta out of retirement and, I am pleased to say, her time in isolation seems to have done wonders for her. 

The only reason Greta was given a reprieve was because my watches died. For more than six years I had a Timex Ironman watch which was fabulous. It kept going and going and going, and the only reason I went in search of another one was because it was starting to look a bit old. 

I bought another Timex Ironman - a great looking one with flowers on the face. What a disaster! The first time I wore it in the rain the display stopped working. When it dried out it was fine, but from then any time it was raining or humid the display would fog up then disappear. This was certainly not appreciated during the Canberra Marathon, where I ended up running more than half the race without knowing what the time was. 

The faithful older model was returned to service - especially in the pool because who knew what would happen if the rain-sensitive model went for a swim. Then, disaster! Both watches stopped working completely within five days of one another. Apart from being inconvenient, this saddened me a bit - these watches had helped me through some spectacular races. The old faithful had been with me the very first time I broke three hours in a marathon, and the (crappy) new one had been my companion on the journey (isn't that a song from Catholic school?) to 2:54:54 in Melbourne last year after my heartbreaking disaster in Sydney.

What to do, what to do? There was no way I was going to buy another Timex because, judging from all the reviews online, the water problem was common. I needed to find a different brand - and fast, because I had the Summer Run just days away. 

To buy myself some time to research, I went to Target and bought a $16 digital watch. It did the job, but I wasn't sure how long it would last. (Turns out this cheapie is a machine. It's not sold as water resistant, but I decided to give it a bash and it handled 2.6k of swimming without a glitch!!).

I researched (yes I am a bit OC like that). Casio? Nike? Soleus? I couldn't find anything that was a/ the right size and b/ did what I wanted. I liked a Speedo watch, but I couldn't find  anywhere to buy it in Australia, and I wanted to be able to return it if it broke, so overseas online was a no-no. Hence, out came Greta. 

Maybe I have changed and I'm not so worried about my pace anymore. Maybe Greta has grown up and decided to become more Mac-friendly. Maybe I was sick of not knowing what distance I was running. 

Maybe I have become a running geek. Because I really like Greta now. 

Yes, she's still bulky and that annoys me. I definitely won't race with her, but it really is good to have some accurate statistics on my training runs. Part of me looks forward to plugging in the ANT stick and uploading the latest run. I've even worn the heart rate monitor a couple of times, just because I could. 

So I am still on the lookout for the ultimate running (and swimming) watch. But I'm pleased to say Greta and I are now firm friends, and as long as she continues to behave herself, she won't be going back in the cupboard again...

Until I upgrade, of course.







Tuesday, February 14, 2012

A win: Summer Run @ Port Stephens

First place, Summer Run.
The Summer Run, held on Saturday 11 February, was an excuse to get away to Shoal Bay - a place that's been a favourite of mine since I was young. My cousins lived there for years and we visited often enough for the place to feel comfortable and familiar - it's kind of like that worn old t-shirt that you've owned for years that you always pull out when you want to feel relaxed and at peace with yourself. 


We had a third traveller with us on this trip - Deek, our 18 month old rottweiler. We've never taken him anywhere with us before, and we're certainly not one of those couples who treat their dog like a child, but we know he likes to swim and because we were staying in a friend's holiday house we thought we may as well take him on a road trip. I have to admit, it was pretty funny. 


Road trip.








The run was just under 13k (it varied depending on who you spoke to), keeping with my new found commitment to running some shorter races this year. It wasn't an easy one. Sand, grass, gravel, concrete, dirt, stairs... it was all there. The sand was undoubtedly the worst part. I felt as though I may as well have been walking. It was a relief to leave the beach and start running on solid ground - I could almost hear the Astro Boy rocket noise as I began to pick up the pace! Apart from the sand it was a really enjoyable race, with beautiful views the whole way. It was run in conjunction with an adventure race, which incorporated a swim, mountain bike, kayak and run. If the bike had been on-road and not mountain I would have entered, but me on a mountain bike will only end in disaster. 


I finished first woman, and third person overall, so it was a good day. After the race hubby and I did a 40 minute run together so I could add on a few more kilometres and I felt pretty good, which made me think I should have pushed harder while racing.


Later in the day the sun was out in full force, so we kicked around at the beach for a while before going to the presentation at Shoal Bay Resort. The food looked good, so we decided to go back there for dinner - a great decision. Nice food at fabulous prices, and just 300m from where we were staying. It was a really great night. I love spending time with my man. 


Most of the next day was spent at the beach, where I tried to work out how we could afford to buy a holiday place up there. The sums haven't added up yet, but I'm still working on it!

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Yeah! New Mizuno stuff!

Elixir 7

Nirvana (top) and Elixir (bottom) and CLOTHES!
Yeah baby! New stuff from Mizuno!

How cool is the new Elixir? I love shoes that look a bit different from everything else that's around.

Now I'm all set to try some of this out at the Summer Run in Port Stephens this weekend... just gotta decide what colour to wear. I'm thinking yellow, just because I've never had yellow stuff before.

Thanks to Mizuno for the support.