What to do at stoplights /crosswalks??? (Read 762 times)

    In the UK we don't have pedestrian-hostile jaywalking laws, so provided it's safe to do so I just keep running.

     

    If I'm forced to stop I won't bother stopping the watch. Although if I'm doing something where I have a pace target I'll think a bit about the route in advance and try to avoid anything where there's likely to be a need to stop.

    bap


      Ok this is a 2 part question. One is : do you all stop your watch timers at stoplights / crosswalks or do you let them run through?? Especially interested in those that wear garmins/gps and such. part two is WHILE you are standing there for up to 45 seconds sometimes, do you stop running, run in place, jumping jacks / pushups ?? Just curious as I know I spent at least 2 minutes tonight waiting for a couple stoplights. I have always let my clock continue to run and I know it slows my pace but its ok for me.

       

      I stop my watch and stand still waiting for the light to change. Sometimes I want it to be against me so I can take a quick rest, especially in the first mile which is always the hardest for me as my body adapts.

       

      Jumping jacks and pushups seem a bit silly.

      Certified Running Coach
      Crocked since 2013

      BeeRunB


        The answers are always found in Midnight Cowboy.

        I do what Ratzo Rizzo does at stoplights when jogging around the city.

         

        Docket_Rocket


           

          I stop my watch and stand still waiting for the light to change. Sometimes I want it to be against me so I can take a quick rest, especially in the first mile which is always the hardest for me as my body adapts.

           

          Jumping jacks and pushups seem a bit silly.

           

          I do the same.  Sometimes I even beg for the light to turn yellow so I am forced to stop.  Ha.

          Damaris

           

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          WheresMyMule


            IMHO, if you stop your watch, you should also hold your breath. Otherwise, you don't have an accurate record of what happened. If you're timing and recording distance you're obviously interested in what happened for some reason; ego, measure progress, etc. In that case, why not be interested in the truth?


            Feeling the growl again

              IMHO, if you stop your watch, you should also hold your breath. Otherwise, you don't have an accurate record of what happened. If you're timing and recording distance you're obviously interested in what happened for some reason; ego, measure progress, etc. In that case, why not be interested in the truth?

               

              So you continue a continuous run and one of the same time and distance, with significant interruptions, to be the same thing?

              Run 1:  10 miles continuously in 1:10:00 (7min pace).

              Run 2:  10 miles through frequent interruptions, also taking 1:10:00 but of which only 1:00:00 was running (6min avg pace).

               

              You believe physiologically these are the same things?  In reality Run 1 for a runner could be an easy run but Run 2 tempo or MP intervals.

               

              Stopping your watch and recording total time ran would be more reflective of the physiological impact.

               

              Real-life example.  I could go into my log and pull a bunch of runs that are 10 miles in about 6:40-6:50 pace.  If all you look at is distance and total time, you would assume they are much the same thing.  But some of them are interval workouts where I'm down to low-5 pace for 4-5 miles of that distance, then just jogging the recoveries.

               

              Now I try to run tempo workouts with little/no interruption so they can be somewhat compared, but to say you have to add in a bunch of time you weren't doing anything to have a real idea what was going on, I can't agree.

              "If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does.  There's your pep talk for today.  Go Run." -- Slo_Hand

               

              I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills

               

              WheresMyMule


                Are you saying that 10 continuous miles in 1:00:00 is the same physiologically as 10 miles in 1:00:00 with 10 minutes of standing rest mixed in intermittently?

                 

                My point was that if you stop two or three times for 15-30 seconds, you rested during that time. So record it that way.

                 

                There's a guy in the group I run with who takes 3 or 4 20-30 second walk breaks in a 4-5 mile run   He pauses his Garmin so it doesn't record the time or the distance. If I walk with him I keep my app running for both. So, he logged a distance of 4 miles in ~39 minutes and I logged a distance of 4.5 miles in ~41 minutes. Which is a more accurate record of what happened, physically or physiologically?

                 

                MTA I think we are partially agreeing total distance and total time do not necessarily show what occurred during each mile (or other interval). Which is kind of my whole point. If you're not recording rest time wen it occurs you won't be able to compare that run to a run with no rest time.


                Feeling the growl again

                  Are you saying that 10 continuous miles in 1:00:00 is the same physiologically as 10 miles in 1:00:00 with 10 minutes of standing rest mixed in intermittently?

                   

                  My point was that if you stop two or three times for 15-30 seconds, you rested during that time. So record it that way.

                   

                  There's a guy in the group I run with who takes 3 or 4 20-30 second walk breaks in a 4-5 mile run   He pauses his Garmin so it doesn't record the time or the distance. If I walk with him I keep my app running for both. So, he logged a distance of 4 miles in ~39 minutes and I logged a distance of 4.5 miles in ~41 minutes. Which is a more accurate record of what happened, physically or physiologically?

                   

                  MTA I think we are partially agreeing total distance and total time do not necessarily show what occurred during each mile (or other interval). Which is kind of my whole point. If you're not recording rest time wen it occurs you won't be able to compare that run to a run with no rest time.

                   

                  If you are doing an easy run, two or three 15-30sec stops are completely meaningless.  If you think they are (MTA meaningful), you run your easy runs too hard.

                   

                  If these breaks are during important, comparative workouts, I would agree it would hinder your ability to interpret the results of the workout (ie predict a race time).

                  "If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does.  There's your pep talk for today.  Go Run." -- Slo_Hand

                   

                  I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills

                   

                  endlessrun


                    I always keep the clock running and I do believe a short stop, whether intentional or not, will act as rest and allow you to continue a little stronger.  There used to be a big group run in NYC where the course was a 6.55 mi loop.  Folks were on their honor to log their times in a book at the end.  I was probably the only one who would include break time.  It was kind of annoying because I couldn't compare my times with others who'd be taking 10-15 mins rests between loops and then still recording fast times.


                    Feeling the growl again

                      I always keep the clock running and I do believe a short stop, whether intentional or not, will act as rest and allow you to continue a little stronger.  There used to be a big group run in NYC where the course was a 6.55 mi loop.  Folks were on their honor to log their times in a book at the end.  I was probably the only one who would include break time.  It was kind of annoying because I couldn't compare my times with others who'd be taking 10-15 mins rests between loops and then still recording fast times.

                       

                      Unless you are racing, what point is there in comparing times?  We had a guy on our college team who "won" every non-hard workout, and every warmup.  He was the slowest to second-slowest guy on the team.  What is the point?

                      "If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does.  There's your pep talk for today.  Go Run." -- Slo_Hand

                       

                      I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills

                       

                      endlessrun


                        The group runs were a sort of race for many of us and also a way to document progress.  By not including extended breaks in the times it skewed the whole picture.


                        Feeling the growl again

                          The group runs were a sort of race for many of us and also a way to document progress.  By not including extended breaks in the times it skewed the whole picture.

                           

                          If you are using them as pseudo-races I can understand your point.  But as anything else, the forest/trees quip applies.

                           

                          A decade ago I had a 10.25 mile route I used for many hard workouts which required numerous regulated street crossings.  Despite the interruptions (which I stopped the clock for) the results were pretty comparable vs race times.

                           

                          Unless you are stopping for minutes, I would not be concerned.  With the advent of GPS, people seem to freak out about relatively minor differences that are not really that much different in the grand scheme of things.

                           

                          Do you also somehow translate your times for temperature, humidity, and wind?

                          "If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does.  There's your pep talk for today.  Go Run." -- Slo_Hand

                           

                          I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills

                           

                            This brings up something else in my mind. When you're running on a sidewalk and a car is approaching and the driver is going to make a right hand turn. All the way back ,the driver is only looking to the left. Often they roll all the way through the corner without even stopping . I love to glare at them when they FINALLY look to their right, see me for the first time, and realize, "uh, I guess I should've looked that way too." Some won't think that ,of course.

                             

                             

                            Moral of story: Beware of right turners!

                            I've been running for many years, and long ago quit getting annoyed at right-turners who only look left.  I always assume that if I am approaching from the right, they will _never_ see me.  Occasionally I'll wait, and hopefully get some eye contact that tells me we are in sync and I can go.  That is hard because of glare or tinted windows that everyone has these days.  More often I'll just run behind them, making sure no one is turning into the feeder road.

                             

                            One result of this is that when I am a driver, I always look left _and_ right.  You just never know.  Probably 1% of the time someone is running (or biking) through.  Not often, but it is cheap insurance against a bad day for at least two people.

                             

                            <sorry, a little off-topic>

                            endlessrun


                               

                              If you are using them as pseudo-races I can understand your point.  But as anything else, the forest/trees quip applies.

                               

                              A decade ago I had a 10.25 mile route I used for many hard workouts which required numerous regulated street crossings.  Despite the interruptions (which I stopped the clock for) the results were pretty comparable vs race times.

                               

                              Unless you are stopping for minutes, I would not be concerned.  With the advent of GPS, people seem to freak out about relatively minor differences that are not really that much different in the grand scheme of things.

                               

                              Do you also somehow translate your times for temperature, humidity, and wind?

                              In the case of the group runs, I wouldn't consider weather factors since we all were facing the same conditions.  One time we ran after a heavy snow two days before so, of course, everyone's times were down.

                              When I log my events, I will footnote any extraordinary reasons to slow or stop a lot.  It could be bad weather, a lot of hills, heavy traffic, pain or fatigue, etc.  I'll consider the problem in the time but I'll still use that time for reference.  One reason being that I don't like excuses and, in a race, I'm likely to face many of these same obstacles.  No one's really going to care about anything but the finish time.

                              endlessrun


                                I've been running for many years, and long ago quit getting annoyed at right-turners who only look left.  I always assume that if I am approaching from the right, they will _never_ see me.  Occasionally I'll wait, and hopefully get some eye contact that tells me we are in sync and I can go.  That is hard because of glare or tinted windows that everyone has these days.  More often I'll just run behind them, making sure no one is turning into the feeder road.

                                 

                                One result of this is that when I am a driver, I always look left _and_ right.  You just never know.  Probably 1% of the time someone is running (or biking) through.  Not often, but it is cheap insurance against a bad day for at least two people.

                                 

                                <sorry, a little off-topic>

                                 

                                This is so true.  I remember once I had to stop and wait about 30 secs for this guy to turn his head.  Then, he still took off, completely oblivious to me waiting to cross.  That can be a dangerous factor when running in the street against traffic.  Cars are not looking out for that especially going around turns.