Be Excellent To Each Other

It's amazing how much a relatively small break can set you back.

I did a second session last night (so 48hours+ since last session) and my tits told me "not happening matey" so I had to give up on the chest stuff.

It's only been two weeks off and I did less reps on my return session. Being old is shit. Proper shit.

You're not old.

When's your first Triathlon fella or are you doing a Duathlon first?

First parkrun this morning, it was really good fun

Came fourth from last though, as I was babysitting Kate's 11yr old brother, and he was having none of this running shit so it ended up as a walk for me. I plan on going again next week and seeing what I can actually do it in, I'd hope for 35mins but would be pleased with sub 40 to be honest. We did it in 54 minutes walking 4.5k of it, so sub 40 should be easily on the cards.

I am going to do a sub-30 minute one before the year is out. I'm aiming for 25 minutes, but 30 is still success.

At the moment I can run about twenty yards before feeling like death.

Sub 30 is the real target, but that will be a little while coming I suspect. This is the first running I've done since I did the couch to 5k thing the first time.

First parkrun this morning, it was really good fun

I still use my trusty Garmin Forerunner 305. Going strong after 7 years.

The watch isn't perfect by any means. Sometimes the map looks bang on, and other times, regardless of how long I leave it to detect satellites initially, it shows me running 50 yards north of where I really am, or I drift all over the place.

I think that's GPS in general, I wouldn't expect a phone to necessarily be better, though I guess the newer the GPS receiver, the more accurate it's capable of being. I've a garmin 405 which has mostly been excellent, though some tracks are a series of very straight lines that I clearly never ran, and I really wasn't in the sea that time, officer.

Yeah, all GPS can be affected by thick cloud or say a narrow street with tall buildings. Some receivers definitely keep a lock better than others under difficult circumstances, though.

And, as proved by my experience yesterday, how the client interprets the GPS data seems to be a big factor too.

Wow, what a twat. I'd never knock anyone that was running, at any speed, because at least they're out there doing it.

Yes, you. The one feigning to not see me when we cross paths on the running track. The one not even wearing sports gear, breathing heavy. You’re slow, you breathe hard and your efforts at moving forward make you cringe.

You cling shyly to the furthest corridor, sometimes making larger loops on the gravel ring by the track just so you’re not on it. You sweat so much that your hair is all wet. You rarely stay for more than 20 minutes at a time, and you look exhausted when you leave to go back home. You never talk to anyone. I’ve got something I’d like to say to you.

You are awesome.

If you’d look me in the eye only for an instant, you would notice the reverence and respect I have for you. The adventure you have started is tremendous; it leads to a better health, to renewed confidence and to a brand new kind of freedom. The gifts you will receive from running will far exceed the gigantic effort it takes you to show up here, to face your fears and to bravely set yourself in motion, in front of others.

You have already begun your transformation. You no longer accept this physical state of numbness and passivity. You have taken a difficult decision, but one that holds so much promise. Every hard breath you take is actually a tad easier than the one before, and every step is ever so slightly lighter. Each push forward leaves the former person you were in your wake, creating room for an improved version, one that is stronger, healthier and forward-looking, one who knows that anything is possible.

You’re a hero to me. And, if you’d take off the blaring headphones and put your head up for more than a second or two, you would notice that the other runners you cross, the ones that probably make you feel so inadequate, stare in awe at your determination. They, of all people, know best where you are coming from. They heard the resolutions of so many others, who vowed to pick up running and improve their health, “starting next week”. Yet, it is YOU who runs alongside, who digs from deep inside to find the strength to come here, and to come back again.

You are a runner, and no one can take that away from you. You are relentlessly moving forward. You are stronger than even you think, and you are about to be amazed by what you can do. One day, very soon, maybe tomorrow, you’ll step outside and marvel at your capabilities. You will not believe your own body, you will realize that you can do this. And a new horizon will open up for you. You are a true inspiration.

I bow to you.

Wow, what a twat. I'd never knock anyone that was running, at any speed, because at least they're out there doing it.

(I should also add that the times are about 27-28 mins, so while not blistering, not actually that slow. So again, context)

Yeah, I must confess that I've never seen that, though. GPS data isn't complicated so that's some wonky stuff going on.

Garmin Training Center (and others) use the device-calculated averages and absolute values (like distance, duration and average heart rate) unverified. This often leads to a displayed distance that does not agree with the GPS data.

(I should also add that the times are about 27-28 mins, so while not blistering, not actually that slow. So again, context)

Hey, are you calling me slow? You bastard.

I could kick yo ass. By maybe a couple of minutes. So, erm, in your face?

Actually if I finish in the top 1/3 of the parkrun (which is usually something like 150th), I'm pretty happy.

I have no idea what times you run, the type of surface you run on, nor the level off hilliness you have to run over, so No. I'm not.

You slow git.

You're running Edinburgh, though, aren't you? Most don't have that sort of depth - a friend of mine is often first lady at parkruns, was at Edinburgh this weekend and was over a minute behind the first. Her bloke's quicker - than her and me - and only made the first 20. Not that I'd recommend heading for a quieter one necessarily, but sometimes it's a nice, harmless ego boost.

Oh yeah, absolutely - when I changed to Rubitracks I was surprised to see distances changing, but they explain why their calculations differ at http://www.rubitrack.com/faq.html. Apparently,

That probably explains how my top speed on my last run was listed as 80kph then

Rubitracks looks... comprehensive! How much is it?

You're running Edinburgh, though, aren't you? Most don't have that sort of depth

Aye, apparently we boast one of the biggest in the UK. That's why I say Top 1/3rd rather than top, say, 50. It's slow at the start with the crush of people, but it spreads out fast enough. It would be better if the slow people didn't choose to start at the front and then get in the way as they quickly fall behind.

I did a run in Dublin last year - it was only their 9th event or something so was much quieter. Harder course though, and one fucker kept on cutting the same corner to overtake me. I ran the true course with honour! Grrr

Did the same route tonight on my own. According to the stopwatch 37m 59s

However, according to the inbuilt tracker in ZombiesRun (using the high accuracy GPS mode) I did 7km in 37m 59s, which synced up to runkeeper and on runkeeper apparently I did 6.18k in 39m. Yesterday on the same route runkeeper thought I did 5.74k...
I think i'll trust the parkrun guys as to the true distance, and the stopwatch as to the true time!

Interesting how the different apps interpret the data, and some seem more accurate than others. I just assumed they took the data provided by the phone and didn't muck about with it, but that can't be the case if ZombiesRun and Runkeeper show different times and distances from exactly the same source data.

I'm going to do some science and use different tracking apps each time I do the run, and see which once comes closest to being accurate. I wasn't expect them to be completely accurate, but I was expecting them to be better than this. It's not like i'm running in a built up area, the run is around a lakeside. A few tree covered bits but nothing too dense.

What do you guys use? I was going to try Nike+, Endomodo and Strava. Assuming they all do running tracking.