This is a blog which chronicles some of the running/jogging experiences that the blogger encounters during his blogging era. The blogger reviews some of the running accessories on the market, running techniques and such other related materials. Blogger reviews these items from his own point of view
I am not sure if this condition, Post Marathon Withdrawal Syndrom does exist, but if it doesn't, I was going to attempt to describe what I am feeling at this period and call it Post Marathon Withdrawal Syndrome.
I did a quick google check and I came up with an article by Doug Kurtis on www. Runmichigan.com in which he discuses the Post Marathon Depression postulated by Dr Suzanne McAllister.
From my understanding Post Marathon Depression is a feeling that marathon runners go through in the aftermath of a marathon. Because they have accomplished the marathon challenge they are left with the feeling; 'what next'. Marathons do not give them the same kicks as they did when they ran the marathon for the first time. So they go through this kind of depression. I would imagine that as a consequence of this, runners will be left with no appetite to compete in the next marathon
This is a bit different from what I am feeling. After having completed the marathon like maybe a few other first timers I crossed the finishing line nursing an injury. In my case the right knee. This means for me I have to take a longer rest from running than I would have allowed myself.
The idea of having to rest is really bothering me. The physiotherapist advised me to take some rest for a while. The challenge is to do exactly that; to rest and do no running. I feel there is something missing, 'something not right". Running had become enshrined into my regular routine. I feel much better everytime I run. So what am I going to substitute this with?
It is almost what psychiatrists would describe for alcohol or drug withdrawal. If they call the former, Alcohol withdrawal syndrome, then this could be the equivalence; ie Marathon Withdrawal Syndrome.
I suppose I might be exhibiting signs and symptoms of 'runnaholism'
Two weeks after running a marathon what do people do? Do they just sit and wait for the next marathon which may be several months, if not years away?
Physiotherapists have recommended that I engage in activities like swimming. Swimming does not demand a lot from my legs joints while at the same time I will get pretty much the same workout intensity level as running.
However swimming in general requires that one joints a swimming/gym club and also one has to do it according to the schedule of the club.
I am used to running along streets and beaches and parks for free and I can run whenever it suits me.
If I was able to go swimming in the Irish Seas everytime I feel like swimming that would be great. However I do not think it's a great idea especially this freezing time of the year. Besides I see noone else doing it, so I presume this is not a great idea.
Finally the big day came and passed. One athlete had a T-Shirt which summed it up all for me 'I conquered the beast'. the T-Shirt was referring to the Dublin Marathon. Indeed the marathon distance is a beast waiting to be conquered, I concur.
Having practiced for virtually the whole year this was the day of reckoning. I managed to pack in a good sadza(cornmeal) and beef the night before the marathon, to boost my glycogen levels. The marathon weather conditions were relatively alright although i would have preferred a slightly colder day with no sunshine, but hey you can't get a good deal all the time. At least there was no drop of rain, I am sure the locals were pleased with that as they hate the rains with a passion! Besides it would have made it difficult for me to carry my music player and Garmin watch and accessories.
I decided to keep faith with the outfit that I wore on the Dublin Half marathon including the Nike Shoes. Unfortunately my cheap Runners did not make it to the Dublin marathon. I had a dodgy right knee which funny enough only gets worse with rest. As long as I am running the pain is tolerable. Despite carrying at least 2 bottles of carb juice during my training i decided to leave the bottles at home and relied solely on the juices supplied by the race organisers. I only carried the portable gels.
12 000 plus athletes lined up to tame the beast. Surely enough off we went on schedule. The pace started off predictably slow because and slowly picked as the kilometers dropped by. people began to spread out as each individual settled into their own marathon pace.
My target was to complete the race in under 4 hours. The organisers had pace setters for each category so that people can keep pace with pace setters of their predicted finish time. Because I started off at the back of my category group it took me a total distance of roughly 10 miles to catch up with pace setters. I did not want to run too fast to catch the pace setters because I to maintain an 'aerobic pace setters.
i kept pace with these guys for a further 10km.
I crossed the half way in pretty good shape although at this point we were facing the sun. I made good use of the gels, the Baligowan water and the sports drinks supplies at regular intervals. things were working as planned.
As i have stated before I have done up to 30km but have never gone beyond. incidentally on the two occasions that i did, this is the time when i hit the wall. I knew that this was going o be the major challenge ie to go beyond 30km in good shape.
Basically an athlete is said to hit the wall when his glycogen reserve has been depleted. It means he/she has to depend on fat metabolism to generate energy for the muscles. Unfortunately fat can only be metabolised in an aerobic environment. this means the athlete is forced to slow down significantly in order to create an aerobic as opposed to anaerobic exercise. Only glcogen converted to glucose can be metabolised with little oxygen.
Predicatbly i hit the wall around 30km. the last 12km were pure torture. I literally dragged myself. On occasions i had to actually walk a few metres before falling into a jog. The pace setters began to put distance between me and them and they were out of site in about 5km. i knew then my dream of finishing the marathon under 4 hours was not going to happen.
I needed a strong mentality to keep going despite the inevitable realisation. I have to say the cheering crowd kept us going, particularly for the last 5km or so. I eventually crossed the line at a time of 4:08hrs. In other words I was 8 minutes off the mark. the consolation is that I finished the race within the time frame of my category which was 3:30hrs to 4:15hrs. The overall result was as follows. Overall position: Number 4875. In my category I was number 920. Feyisa Lilisa from Ethiopia won the race with a time of 2hrs:09mins and 11 secs. this was just 4 seconds off the course record.
The pain in my legs was unbelievable. It was likes someone was pricking me all over the legs thousands of needles at simultaneously. Acupuncture?
the only thing that relieved the pain was having to lie down on my back on the ground and raise my legs high up for 5 minutes.
The walk to car to meet my family was like running another marathon. I do not know if tomorrow i will wake up from the bed. good thing I took a day off from work tommorrow.
It was such a great feeling to have to receive a medal for completing the marathon. i would hope this is the beginning.
Garmin Forerunner and its accessorries performed well. Runkeeper on Iphone was able to run for the entire duration of the race. It came handy in giving me an audio of the distance and time every 5 minutes. It however did not get a good satelite connection and it claims I ran a total of 58km. I wish!
The music from Tongai Moyo (Muridzi Wenyaya and Naye albums) and Alick Macheso (Ndezvashe) album kept me going, focused and entertained.
It's the end of the penultimate week before the Dublin City Marathon, on Bank Holiday Monday, 26 October, 2009.
The question I keep asking myself is " am I ready for the big day?". Part of me tells me I am and another part says no.
I went through a grueling 5 Miler, 10 Miler and lastly the Half marathon races on my preparation journey towards the Dublin marathon. Each of these races were debuts. I performed reasonably well for a novice, although I will hasten to point out that my completion times are nowhere near the accomplished runners' times. Each race presented it's own unique challenges and in some cases i would describe it as a rude awakening! I was experimenting with different methods of training. Mostly I would trawl through the web to see how different people approached marathons.
I tried these and my own self styled methods with varying degrees of success. Most of these techniques are chronicled in some of my previous blogs that you can find here.
From the outset I set myself to complete the marathon under the so called 4 hour cut-off. Judging by my training and my race times I seem to be on track to achieving my ultimate goal on my debut marathon. For these reasons I feel I am ready for the ultimate price. (I don't mean winning the marathon of course, you better be kidding)
On the other hand, given that this will be my debut 42km run, I am entering into the uncharted territories. I have never run 42km before. The fact that I have run 33km during my training does not mean I can complete a 42km run. In-fact on both occasions when I completed above 30km I felt that I was beginning to hit the proverbial "Wall" from around around 30k mark.
If I maintain my form I should at least be able to go up to 30 km. Everything being equal it seems the ultimate challenge is going to be the attempt to complete the last 12 km! I can only prepare as best as I can and hope for the best.
The other potential spoiler is injury or unexpected illness in the coming final week. Currently I have a nagging right knee pain which I am trying my best to ignore. Probably experts would have advised me to rest for 3 weeks or so and allow for recovery. This would have meant either missing the Half Marathon or the big one. Either way I was not/ am not prepared to miss any race. Having come this far and having been on it for a year I was not prepared to quit.
I feel pain in my knee during the first km or so of running and it disappears only to resurface after completion of my run. The pain only comes when I move my right leg or if I take a step. Physios please make a quick diagnosis but don't tell me. Only tell me after the marathon.
I am hoping that this pain will not come any other time during the race, because I would hate to quit.
The other fear is of an unexpected illness. As I go into the final week of preparation I note with slight fear that my 2 daughters are currently recovering from colds. I seem to have survived but you never know.
So, this is why I think I am both ready and not ready for the marathon. We will see on the day.
I will blog about my game plan. Maybe I will call that blog "The final word"
I haven't blogged in a while. Its not that there was nothing happening but its rather that things got a bit busy. Today it was the day for the Dublin Half Marathon in the Phoenix Park. Lovely setting and scene as usual. The weather was not bad at all. Slightly on the warmer side but it was much closer to the athlete's ideal of marathon weather than than the other way round.
I think probably the participants were close to 7500! Despite the numbers the organization was superb. I have not trained very much in the past 3 or so weeks. I was down with a cold one week and I right knee pain. The pain came about after i attempted a 30km run just to see if I have what it takes to complete a full marathon.
Back to today's half marathon, i started off relatively OK. I started off a t a steady pace. i give credit to one of the competitors whom i stuck to like glue. The man had a nice and steady pace which was a little more than what I am used to during my training. The guy pushed me hard for the first 5 or so km before I started to loose pace. That start helped to finnish the race under 2 hours as planned. I have to admit the last half of the race was a huge struggle. I soldiered on up to the finish line.
as I mentioned in one of my earlier blogs psychology is very important and it hugely influences whether you finish the race as planned. I had to deal with the feeling of worthlessness when other athletes endlessly stream past me as my pace declined when fatigue set in. I take a bow to the man and women much older than myself who finished ahead of me. Indeed I also say hats off to all participants who completed the race and those who did not finish for one reason or the other.
I do hope I will be well enough to attempt the next big one. the 2009 Dublin Marathon.
Those of us who participated in the Irishrunner 5 mile last month must have been waiting patiently for the next race in the series of the precursors to the Dublin Marathon.
The race itself was great. Following my perfomance in training I set myself a target of completing the race in under 90 minutes. I managed to complete as planned (88 minutes).
My personal best is 86 minutes for the same distance. I have to say I found it extremely hard to keep going in today's race. The weather today was close to what you would wish for, for a perfect race. It was cloudy and a bit of light drizzle here and there. The only downfall was that it was quite humid today. The sun generally stayed away today as it usually does in Ireland.
According to the official commentators from FM 104, there were more than 6000 athletes registered for this race. I came out 2112 overall and in my (over 35 male) category I came 361st. I am probably disappointed by the outcome because I know I can do better and I have done better during training.
Self Evaluation
I have done a lot of training and I do all of the training by myself. This is the second competitive race I have ever participated in. I realized that race psychology is very important. It's quite intimidating to be surrounded by close to 6000 athletes. You do not know what to expect. I could tell that a good deal of athletes were quite experienced from the way they conduct themselves and their demeanor before the race began.
I think this psychologically put me at a disadvantage even before i started the race. When the race kicked off I was in the middle of the 6000 or so sea of runners. I couldn't help but glance at people's feet to see what they were wearing. By far Asics was the shoe of choice for most runners. Incidentally it's the most expensive brand in the local shops. I talked about the psychological influence that the branded shoes give to a racer in my previous post.
I stuck with my 15 euro a pair shoes although I have been training mostly with the Nike. I chose to stick with the tried and tested. During the first few miles of the race there was not much room to overtake or room to run at a faster pace than the people in front of you. My pace was determined by the racers within my vicinity. I thought the initial pace was a little bit slower than what I am usually used to. I like to start with a good 5+ minutes per km because I know that as the race goes on I loose pace slowly irregardless of whether I start slow or fast.
When training I usually like to do much of my work in the first half of the race. I like to go into a comfort zone in the second half knowing well that I have already done enough in the early stages of the race.
Here lies the problem. Most racers seem to find their feet in the later half of the race and many
of them duly did so today. As a result many racers overtook me in the second half.
This affected me pyscholofically. Because I generally train by myself and I am devoid of competitive sessions I was not psychologically prepared to deal with people overtaking me. I lost a lot of pace.
On the other hand one thing that affected possitively was the presence of spectators along the final mile or so. Because you don't want to be seen to be struggling i really kicked up the dust particularly the last 100 meters or so but I guess it was too late.
Dispite this today was a great day and it was nice to see people of all walks of life and ages participate together in today's competition. I salute all the much older people than me who participated today. A good number of them did much better than me. I will take this as motivator to keep going and running for as long as possible.
So I go into the preparation of the next half marathon knowing what my shortfalls are and hopefully correct some of them.
A lot has been written about running shoes. The current trend seems to point towards the fact that the more expensive the running shoes are; the better is their return on investment. This is especially so if they were designed by leading Sportswear Gurus like Nike, Adidas, Rebook. Asics, Etc
According to many researches the heel requires much of the foot protection during running because it is this anatomical structure which takes the greatest impact and weight of the body during running.
From my own observation a good number of middle and long distance runners, strike the ground with heel first and then lift their feet off the ground with the toes. I would like to believe I fall in that category as shown on the video below.
During that fraction of a second when the heel is strikes the ground, its reasonable to assume that all the pressure of the body is transmitted through the heel. This should therefore mean that the heel will be put under some significant amount of pressure. One can thus conclude that the heel is the initial contact area during deceleration of the body as it's weight comes crushing under one's leading heel.
I can equate this to an airplane landing as seen in the next video courtesy of Tauntontone.
The last aircraft shows this concept quite spectacularly. As the plane lands it first touches the ground with it's rear wheels before the front landing gear makes contact with the ground. Again the weight of the aircraft is momentarily carried by the real landing wheels before the front landing gear comes into play.
This raises the argument for heel protection. Because of this kinesiological fact, does the heel require more protection that what nature provided it with.
Different sorts of running shoe heels have been designed to protect the heel, in particular and the foot, in general.
This is in spite of the fact that the human race has been running bare feet for centuries with no significant injuries to the leg.
This article makes some interesting reading and put all this into perspective.
I will leave all the research and evidence based staff to the above referenced article.
Experience
In the past year or so I have run with 3 pairs of shoes. I have used the Reebok, plus another 2 cheap shoes whose brand names are Sports and Crane respectively. Crane is the one you can see in the photo besides Nike. I bought the two cheap ones in one of the German discount stores. In addition I have recently added Nike to my collection with the sole purpose of widening the sample size.
Between the 4 of them they have covered more than 500km of the ground and still counting. Have I noticed any difference in their performance? Let us find out!
Price
Each of the cheap pairs did not cost more than 15 euros. The Reebok and the Nike were relatively expensive
You could buy more than 5 pairs of the cheaper runners when you compare with the some premier brands
Longevity
All runners seem to be fairly strong.The Rebook shoe seems to take the Oscar on category of Longevity when i compare the three earlier brands. But then if this is the main reason for selecting premium brands you can buy 5 pairs of the cheaper runners and this will certainly be an advantage on the hygiene front.
Weight
It goes without saying, that weight is vital for running especially competitive. The lighter yet the more protective the shoe is the better it is for running
Here is the league table in terms of weight
A pair of Cranes 250g,
A pair of Sport 300g
A pair of Nike 320g
A pair of Reebok 400g
The Crane is lighter by a mile
Wet weather presents a huge challenge to the runner. If water aggregates inside your runners then definitely you are carrying an extra load that you don't want. Most runners, generic or premium brands seem to have been manufactured with a view to allow air circulation inside the shoe. This seriously makes the shoes rather a water reservoir. I have not worn a pair of runners which is efficient at circulating air inside the shoe while at the same time offering an effective barrier to water entry in the shoe. You could say these two factors are mutually exclusive.
Confidence
Premier brands tend to give you some level of confidence and some positive aura especially in a gym setting or in such public places where you want to impress the girl working out next to you. Besides I am told girls make a quick opinion about you based on the shoes that you are wearing.
If you are the type who depend on public opinion to boost your confidence then certainly the Premier Label runners will be for you.
Appearance
The actual appearance of the runners is not different. The premier brands are of course more recognizable by the wider public because of their iconic brand names and trade marks but when you take away that 'tick' there is not much difference at least to the naked eye. It is a common marketing fact that a good proportion of consumers tend to have a brand loyalty and will believe that their branded shoe is better than the other irregardless of the actual appearance.
The heels of these shoes seem to look the same.
You can hardly tell the difference when you look underneath.
Perfomance
To be honest I have not seen any huge significant difference at least in the short term. All the pairs have been doing a relatively good job. I did not notice any particular magic bullet with Reebok or Nike I would get the same level of soreness after putting on any of the 4 pairs.
Here is a comparison of running statistics over the same distance when I was wearing Crane on this graph
and when I wore Nike.
There is not much difference in statistics over a short distance
I got the normal soreness that one gets with any new shoes, until the shoes adjust to your foot type and your style of running. I find the current Nike a bit heavy and I am almost afraid of carrying an extra load during the longer distance marathons
My current recession friendly trainers carried me over the 5 mile Marathon.
I may use the lighter shoes for the longer distance because for me I feel light weight is more important. I am rather of the school of thought which believes that the human being is well adapted to running and the emphasis on heel protection is an over exaggeration. (my own point of view)
If the light weight shoes are still alright I will give them a go and use them for the Dublin Marathon. Will let you know if I encounter any feet related problems. Some expects will advice you to get the premium branded runners for a marathon. I will test this wisdom and review accordingly.
I do plan to try another set of cheap ones and possibly a Premier Label runner in order to widen the sample size. In the mean time the jury is out there on whether it is worth shelling out so much money for a pair of running shoes especially in this period of global recession. Is it a mere fashion trend to be buying these runners or it's really worth it, in terms of perfomance?
My experience at least for now is that, it's not worth spending so much on the runners. This may well change when I increase my sample size but for now I have not experienced the advantage.
This runner business and Premier brands reminds me about 8 years ago when my friend Tarirai and his other friend Anso took me to the cleaners when one day I came to the sports bar wearing a pair of runners that I thought looked cool . I think the brand name was Victory! Just to kick me in the teeth the two guys went about claiming that the runners name was Mike. Has anyone heard about this brand name? Ahh those were the days.
Anyway please let me know what you think about these thoughts. Have you found much difference in the effectiveness of runners. If you did, what where the differences. Note that you are no longer required to be registered in order to leave a comment.
Next blog: Review on Outdoor running Versus Treadmill.
The Running Tally since the blog commenced now stands at 110km
Disclaimer: please note that the views expressed in this blog are views of the writer and they do not constitute expect opinion. They are viewpoints from the blogger's own running experience.
In this article as promised I will review according to my experince the perfomance of the Garmin Forerunner 405 and Nokia Sports Tracker. I will also make relevant comparison with the iPhone based GPS tracker apps that I have used namely the Runkeeper and Trailguru. In my previous article I reviews the Runkeeper and the Trailguru apps. Garmin forerunner 405 is a GPS device which also doubles up as a digital wrist watch. You wear it on your wrist as you do with any watch.
From a technical point of view it is packed with very usefull features for running, cycling or any other dry land and distance based sports. Like the Iphone based apps the forunner uses GPS satelite link to track your runs. It relies on up to 22 satelites and is therefore very reliable and up to date it has not failed me. It delivers what it says on the tin.
Some notable features are; * setting up training targets in terms of distance, calories to burn and time. * You can also set up a virtual buddy who basically kicks your ass each time you fall behind him/her. This bootcamp buddy can be set to suit your needs. Each time you fall short of the given target range the forerunner emits an audio beep to alert you of your, shall we say incompetence.
One of it's biggest advantage over the iPhone based GPS apps is that the forerunner has hardware accessories namely the Heart rate monitor and a footpod. If you are a cyclist you could have a cadence instead of a footpod. These accessories gives the Forerunner some extra dimensions and experience to running workout. Heart rate monitor which is strapped across your chest, will record your heart bit per minute in real time. This allows you to set heart rate training limits in order to achieve your specific target. For example you can set workout zones for either aerobic or anaerobic targets.
* Heart rate monitor also allows for a more accurate burnt calorie calculation. Needless to mention that the heart rate monitor helps you keep focused on maintaining a safe workout by way of ensuring that your heart rate remains within the safe zone
The other accessory is the footpod which really is like a step counter. The footpod is attached to the laces of your shoes and literally count your steps as you jog away. It is caliberates using the GPS or a known specific distance. The footpod is very useful when training indoors for instance if you use a trademill. Because GPS does not generally work indoors this is a usefull replacement for GPS function when indoors. All your vital statistics except a route map of course, will be collected as normal. Of all the 4 applications that I am reviewing here the forerunner is the only gadget which has a footpod accessory.
If satelite link where to fail while running outdoors the footpod will provide adequate backup. If caliberated correctly it can record amazingly accurate statistics. []
Garmin like the other apps has a website where you upload your workout data for personal use or sharing it with friends or better still the wider world. The Connect Garmin website is really cool. It has a provision for you to replay your workout on the computer and you can analyse and see how your perfomamce was at each and every point in time. If you worked out with a heart rate monitor and footpod the respective data is also uploaded and becomes part of the record.
The garmin forerunner doubles up as a digital wrist watch. While Garmin might want to market it as a alternative to a fashion wrist watch I find it's appearance to be rather geeky despite claims to the contrary. I would not feel comfortable wearing it anywhere other than during workout.
It's a pity that this is case especially given the fact that it does not come cheap. It's introductory price was €300.00 minus the heart rate monitor and footpod. Heart rate and footpod can fetch up to €60 depending on where you buy it from.
You would have thought that Garmin could have spend a little more energy in working out it's austhetic appearance.
Other than that the gadget is superb and most of all very reliable.
The new kid on the block at least for me is the Nokia Sports Tracker Beta. As it's name suggest it's still in it's early infancy. I would like to believe it's compatible with most smartphone nokia phones that have inbuilt GPS The Nokia Sports tracker like it's competitors is a GPS based application which uses satelite link to track your outdoor distance based workout. I have used this application on the latest Nokia n97. Though not yet officially available for Nokia N97 if one is resourceful enough they can download a version that is good enough. While the version I use may not be optimized for N97 it still does it's job very well.
Nokia Sports Tracker essentially works the same way as the other applications. The Sport Tracker application can work in the Background unlike iPhone based applications. This will allow you to do other things with your mobile phone while recording continues in the background. For example you can shuffle your music on the go. The battery for the Sport Tracker seems not to be a power hog. I completed a 10 mile run yesterday using this app. I also played the music on the Nokia for entire 1 and half hour workout. No significant battery drain occured. I also recorded the entire run on the garmin forerunner
During the same workout I had the runkeeper on the Iphone. I only managed to run 15km before the battery ran out.
In fairness the iPhone was not fully charged. However this was at the end of the day after normal daily usage. You would therefore want to fully recharge your iPhone before you go out for more than an hour's run. A little bit inconvenient if you want to do a spontaneous work out. According to the documentation for the Nokia Sports tracker one should be able to take Geotagged photos as they run and these photos will appear on the corresponding position on the map on the Nokia site. I have not yet used this feature and I will certainly review when I have done so. I presume with the generally high camera quality on Nokia's upper end smartphones the pictures should be of high quality too. This feature compares with a similar feature on Trailguru. I have used this feature and it's really cool. The only thing with this types of feature is that you generally have to stop in order to take a good quality picture. If you are running for fun this is no big deal but if you take your running very seriuosly then stopping to take a pictures would be an inconvenience.
Nokia also has a heart rate monitor, the Nokia Polar Heart rate belt which I have not laid my eyes on yet. Apparently it was originally made for the N79 but there is generally a belief among Nokia smartphone enthusiasts that it will be available across all GPS equiped Nokia Smartphones.
Nokia has a website where, like all the other reviewed apps, you set up a free account where you upload your data onto.
One cool feature of the website is that you can broadcast your workout live to Members or visitors of the website. This of course requires data connection. Basically you broadcast your GPS position via the website and people will be able to view your progression on your route map course in real time. Pretty cool hey? I have not personally broadcast my workout but I have watched other people's broadcasts and the feature is quite good.
You can see how others are getting on with their workouts and hopefully you should get inspired, get off your ass and go out and do the same.
The site like all the other sites reviewed allows you to analyse your data. Another feature on Nokia Sport tracker is the ability to upload the name of the music you were playing on your Nokia phone while you where running. I have not used this feature yet.
Among all the reviewed application the replay feature on Garmin is the best. Trailguru's replay feature is also good.
The garmin website tends to be less stable than the other websites. Too often you cannot access you data when you need it and sometimes it tends to be slow. Recently the synchronization of forerunner data with the PC/mac has been satisfactorily fast. It used to take forever to upload the data via the supplied USB wireless connector.
All the websites allow you to share your workout with friends on Social Network websites such as Facebook, Twitter and Myspace etc.
All of the sites can make it possible to link your pages to your blog or email provided your data is categorised as public rather than private. Runkeepr does well in this aspect in that it allows you to embede a your map route to your own webpage. This makes it easy for the visitor of your blog to get the information on same page rather than having to be linked to another external website. You can see the example below.
Gold Medal
So which application takes the Gold among the 4 apps. Well each all the apps tend to have the basic features that are essential namely the GPS hardware and corresponding websites on which you can upload your data. It all depends what you are looking for as a runner.
Here are some guidelines to help you make a decision on what to use
Garmin Forerunner is reliable, light to carry and has fantastic accessories than can give you am extra urge. It has no MP3 player and their website is not the most stable that you can come across although when it does work it offers great features. Garmin forerunner 405 is relatively expensive. While Nokia smartphones and Iphone are expensive by comparison they provide vast other functions, the obvious ones being that they are mobiles and music players. Forerunner on the other hand is a dedicated running mate whose only other function is a
digital watch and possibly a campus.
Nokia Sports Tracker runs on most GPS Nokia mobile phones. The size of your Nokia phones varies and they are not the lightest mobile phones on the market. Nokia sports Tracker can also work with the inbuilt music player which allows you to play your music during workout. Most Nokia phones allow multitasking. The GPS link seems to be very good and reliable. The application seem not to use a lot of battery power and one can use accessories such as a heart rate monitor.
Runkeeper on Iphone is an ever improving applications which is very easy to use. If you are looking for a simple app thatbis easy and fun to use then Runkeeper is your app. The simplicity if the Iphone makes it a joy to use runkeeper and Trailguru.
Runkeeper has a cool website which is ever evolving and introducing new features. Because of the way the iPhone works there is no multitasking except playing your music on the inbuilt Ipod. Because the app has to be on screen while working out, the iphone based apps are compromised by battery. There is a high tendency of the application crushing especially following updates or upgrades. Runkeeper has a good audio feature that makes it easy to access your statistics in midflight.
Trailiguru is another iPhone based app which benefits from Iphone's user friendly features. Trailguru itself is a free application such that if you have at least an Iphone 3G then you can use Trailguru. Trailguru allows you to upload pictures onto te website as well. Like Runkeeper most of the problems with Trailgiru are because of the shortfall of the iPhone. No multitasking except for picture taking and playing music. Battery Consumption is high and no other accessories like heart rate monitor or footpod can be used with these two applications. So when the satelite link is not good on that day as is sometimes the case with me, then you basically cannot use these applications.
So I will leave each individual to make their own decision on which app they want to use depending on their needs and resources available to them.
Today I thought I should review the GPS and running applications that I use and rate them accordingly In the past year I have used 4 applications, all of them GPS based; namely Runkeeper, Trailguru, Garmin and lately Nokia Sports Tracker.
Runkeeper and Trailguru are Iphone based applications which utilise the inbuilt Iphone GPS hardware and Google Maps.
All you need is to be outdoors with your Iphone so that you gave direct satelite link. It generally takes a a minute or less for one to get a satelite link but time varies with location. I have also noticed for some reason that during the winter times and when weather is bad sometimes it takes a while to get a good satelite link or at times non at all. Sometimes there is data interference
Once link is established you are good to go. Pressing the appropriate button on either of the applications will initialize the tracking of your run. The application will calculate the route, the direction, the speed, the altitude, time taken and the overall distance covered. All these parameters are available in real time.
With both applications you can toggle between the dashboard of the parameters or the map route showing your current geographical location. I guess this feature requires a data connection to the network in order for the current map location to be downloaded.
Runkeeper is really cool in that it has an audio feed which if you touch the screen of the iPhone it will tell you your current pace, distance covered up to that point. This is useful for me when I am running because when running you want to maintain your concentration and it's very inconvenient for one to visually check for statistics on the phone. I find audio feeb better in this regard.
Trailguru also has it's own cool feature which allows you to take geo tagged pictures which can be uploaded together with the other running statistics information.
Both of these applications allows uploading of the statistics to the respective apps websites where you create a free account. You can store your data for individual review or you can share it with friends or anyone who cares to see it.
Both applications, through their websites allow you to review your runs in great detail and this helps you if you are training for some upcoming event.
The biggest shortfall that I found with both applications is that they do not have any external accessories that are compatible. At the moment you cannot use a heart rate monitor or a foot pod with either application. So information like the calories burnt during the run is calculated from your BMI index and age together with GPS data rather than a direct link to your heart rate. The calculation is therefore less accurate but I have to say the error margin is low.
The other issue is that of the battery. This problem which can be blamed on the way the iPhone operates. The application has to be open and on the screen for it to be active. This means that the all the resources that are needed to keep the application in front are being used during the workout. AS far as I know there is no iPhone application that can run in the 'screen save' mode except the Ipod application and the camera.
Generally with my fully charged battery I can only run a total of about 2 hours before the iPhone runs out of battery. I therefore cannot reliably use the iPhone applications for a full marathon. Having said that, the developer of Runkeeper and other people on his website has pointed out that they were able to run the full marathon with the Runkeeper application.
Usually when you have software updates on the iPhone sometimes some old problems are solved and new ones can be created from the updates and this may course the applications to behave abnormally. There is nothing more frustrating when you go out running and halfway during the run the application crushes and fails to save your data. This has happened on some occasions.
One beautiful thing with both applications is that you can play music in the background while working out. You have to set your music before you start your application because you will not be able to do this in the middle of the run otherwise you would have to shut down your application first.
I believe you can take calls while using the applications. What I do not know is whether the application stops recording while you take a call or it recording still takes place in the background. The reason I do not know the answer to that is because I generally always ignore calls while I am running. Sorry folks if anyone tried to get in touch with me during the said time, at least I had the courtesy to call you back!
These are two very versatile applications which are always being updated particularly runkeeper. New and exciting features are always being added both to the Iphone apps and their respective websites.
They are worth taking a look at if you can live with the minor shortfalls discussed. There are other applications for the iPhone available from Itunes App Store but I have not used them therefore cannot write a review about them.
In my next article I will review the Nokia Sport Tracker and Garmin Forerunner 405. I will make relevant comparisons to the Iphone apps, Runkeeper and Trailguru.
Today was the day of the truth- the day when i participated in a professionally organised race. Phoenix Park Dublin today saw a convergence of close to 6000 race participants and among that multitude was myself. I was not expecting such a large crowd but hey it was fun. I was used to train by myself and today i was going to meet a different challenge altogether When you train by yourself you are largely in control of the your own pace that you would like to maintain and you have no external pressures except if you use virtual training partners which comes with other GPS gadgets like garmin forerunner. I am trying to train with a focus on 40km marathon. This means that my body anatomy and physiology is biased towards endurance rather than speed. I found the general pace of the race to be faster than what i am used to. I gave it all my best. No wonder why i recorded my personal best of 40mins .03 sec. I finished number 1175 out of a total of up to 6000. I came to the race hoping to finish under 1000 so i have to say i was disappointed by the outcome. In my category which i presume is for people over the age of 35 i came out number 195 which i think is not bad for a first timer. i came to the race knowing very well that discipline was vital. i needed to maintain my speed and ignore other athletes who woild be zooming past me. I did not follow that wisdom at least at the beginning of the race . i think this resulted in me loosing my pace in the middle of the race.
i must have hit stop activity button by a accident at the 6 km peg om my runkeeper application but i captured the whole event on the garmin forerunner device. i hit a top speed of 3 mins 36 sec at one stage but this was really taking it to the extreme. The poor old pump must have got the shock of its life!! The hard part was seeing older folks than me sprinting past me as if i was a signpost or something like that. I took a lot of inspiration from that and i will be better prepared and more wiser in the next race.
It seemed to me everyone was trying to overtake me perhaps mistaking me for a native Kenyan, not knowing that i come from further down south were there is no known marathon pedigree.
Nice part was to take home my souvenior.
Total tally stand at 50km so far. The next competitive race is the 10 miler in a month's time. Bring it on.
Phoenix park is the largest urban green park in Europe. This is the venue of the next 5 mile marathon that is scheduled for the 18th of July 2009. I thought i will have a final preparation practice on the venue of the marathon. So i headed off to the park straight after work to practice on the match venue as football teams team when they visit a another team's home ground.
I thought I studied the route map well but i was slightly off the mark.
However I still managed to do roughly 5 miles and the results where not so bad. The second lap is quite challenging because you have a steep incline. the incline is quite steep that an old bus or truck will have to change down the gear to number 2 or 3.
The heart rate jumped to an unprecedented 179 bits per minute. I guess I was pushing a bit too hard. Funny though most other fellow runners i met where going the opposite direction. I do hope I did not get the directions wrong. I was roughly 15 seconds slower than on during Part 2 training.
Having received my race number and the time chip i guess i am ready for the challenge. Theoretically I am should cross the finish line!
I was in the Phoenix park zoo today for a birthday party for the son of one of my work collegues today.
Saw a beautiful peacock in the zoo.
After the party I decided that I should check out the venue for the route for the upcoming marathon. Unfortunately I could not locate the website where I saw the route map. I only remembered the start point and I created my own 5 mile route.
Fortunately I had my garmin tools. Again runkeeper failed to initialize, so i have no data from that application.
The vital stats looked good, with a top speed of 3min 39 second per km which i think is roughly 2.4 times slower than Useng Bolt's 100m top speed. I managed to complete the run in under 44 mins which I think is not bad. The rains helped to keep me cooled down and the heart must have been glad too, for it behaved well and kept the top pumping rate at 171 beats per minute. Wonder how much more the old steam engine can go.
This is the actual course of the upcoming marathon and I was not far off though.
So the tally now stands at 34km since the blog began.
This coming Sartuday the 18 July 2009, is the day of the Lifestyle Sports - adidas Irish Runner 5 Mile in the Phoenix Park, Dublin Ireland. My plan it to try that out. It's going to be my first marathon ever in my 36 years of existance on this earth.
I first need to recieve my Marathon numbers and time chips from the organizers. Time is running out! I will be waiting impatiently for the post man to duly deliver unto Realbigdhara what belongs to Bigdhara. If the postman fails to do so in time then all my preparations where in vain. I would have to hope that the organizers may organize something for me on the big day.
My muscles where aching from last Friday' s 10 km run. So yesterday I decided to do some Yoga stretches laced with a bit of isotonic exercises. I felt that I should not train very hard the week before the marathon. Am trying to be like the 5 biblical virgins who were well prepared for the for the Master. Don't know if this strategy will work. It remains to be seen.
I like to work out using the Iphone Application, Fit Builder which I find to be very well organized and is great for self training. Together with that I usually log my vital statistics with another Iphone application Absolute Fitness which gives allows me to track my weight, Body Mass Index, fat calories burnt during workouts, and other vital statistics.
I am hoping I will be able to carry my usual staff to the race. I will need my Garmin 405 Forerunner GPS Watch complete with the heart rate monitor to ensure I won't overdo it, my music by Tongai Moyo ( Nemumvura mese),
and not least my two legs.
The plan is to cross the Finish line at whatever cost!! Bring it on!
So how did the jog go. It was a beautiful day today, especially for the sun bathers,
It could have been better in terms of the vital statistics When I go out running I like to carry my GPS gadgets with me. I normally take 2 sets and use them simultaneously in case one of the gadgets fails. They rarely fail but sometimes they do and today was one of those rare days! My Runkeeper application which runs on the Apple Iphone failed to initiate today so I do not have data from that application. My garmin application is usually reliable and it was reliable today.
I ran as hard as I could in the warm weather but the results where only modest. I managed to run for 10km total. If all goes well on the marathon day (5miles) I should be able to finnish. Yeaah!
Meanwhile the total tally since the blog started, now stands at 26km
So it's all nice and shiny unlike the other night which was stormy and all. It's after work and drove straight home to prepare for a run. There is an upcoming 5 mile marathon race in about a week's time and I need to be in shape for that one. It's actually going to be my first ever participation in an organized event and it will be a wonderfull debut. So how far can I go today? My plan is to target the first 5 miles and see how I get. It will be interesting to see how the statistics will look like given that it's a bit warmer than the previous outing. So I will be back with the results later.
I guess a bit of housekeeping at the outset is in order. Often when you go for a seminar or such similar events the presenter or the organizer of such a gathering normally begins by showing you where the fire exits are and where the nearest toilets are. (I usually figure out where the toilets are, well before )
I am off course not going to tell you where the nearest toilets are but I will tell you what blog this blog us all about. is up to.
Well i figured out that i have been going out there and joggging and sometimes exercising on a weekly basis, (yes Shiroch exercising!) but i thought i could share with you the trials and tribulations of this self chosen hobby.I have been doing this sot of thing for about 4 years now. I am 36 years of age at present. In footballing terms at this age, I would be lucky to get a 1 year contract! I am at that stage where i will happily accept a contract for 3 months to help a team avoid relegation!
So how does Joe Blogger who has a day job like everyone else manage to juggle family life with jobbing, jogging and blogging?
Join me in my quest to find out if this possible, as I narrate on a regular basis about my journey.
For now i will leave you looking at my latest 20km run which i completed last sunday. You can look at the same run from another angle if you prefer the detail. Will provide the other link once the that site is back on line.
