Racing without a watch (Read 1029 times)

I sometimes like to know how long into a race it is and/or what time of day it is, so, yea, I do run with a watch, but not dependent on it - certainly not in the sense that people are talking about.

I don't run without a watch, but do use a HRM as a watch (and occasional double check on hr) for splits based on landmarks that might be 1-2hr apart (definitely not mile markers). I run / race primarily by feel, but do like to have an idea how long into the race it is (or how much longer to go) and maybe the time of day. I may have a gps tucked in a pack pocket.  I only do trail races, including some of a fall xc series where we don't know the course ahead of time and the course setter's guesstimate of distance is sometimes close, sometimes not very close (8k vs 6k). There's no clocks along the way, and rarely any visible clock at the finish. Usually "official" times are posted somewhere eventually. If I want to know how long I ran to log the run that night, it's up to me to keep track.

When I'm doing longer races (HM and up since I'm slow, but also like hilly trail races), I do try to find out the course ahead of time and do estimated times to various landmarks - like top of a pass, major stream crossing, etc. and use that as guidelines to finish in a reasonable time or faster.

For races where there's an early start, I have an idea how long into a race when I can expect fast traffic from the rear. This is based on past winners' times, and my expected rate of movement. (landmarks may not be that distinctive for me to depend on that alone, so elapsed time is better clue) This is helpful on single track, so I don't waste my time constantly looking over my shoulder until, say, a couple hours into the race. Or if there's a bike race coming the other direction, I may try to get past some tight points before I have to deal with bike traffic.

What do I use the data for after race? When we're using unannounced courses, I use the gps track to generate a map on an aerial photo, so I can see where the trail went, and I can learn a bit about the trail.

For major hills (say, 500ft or more, but usually closer to 1000+ft), I can get a reasonably accurate elevation profile - gps with barometric altimeter gives it by distance. Either my hrm or gps can give it by time also.

HR data spikes showed me where I saw the bear. (seriously)

More importantly, the combination of time between certain landmarks (which can be converted to an average pace) and the terrain in there (footing, hills, whatever) can help me analyzed weak points in a race. (like knowing that I'm slow on the downhills on certain types of terrain after being on my feet for 6hrs suggests things I need to work on in training and be more cognizant of in races)

Slowdowns or HR dropoffs indicate where I lost focus. Again, something to work on in training and be more cognizant of.

HR data in general (not just races) are used for logging volume and intensity to help monitor volume and variation in workload (can convert to Trimp numbers) - just a semi-quantitative way of hard/easy. But it does help explain why a couple runs in a row might feel good, then feel toasted. It also gives an easy way of logging, say, a tempo run, and seeing there was say 20 min of warmup, 40 min of sub-LT, and 20 min of cooldown - rather than logging a 1:20 tempo run. Polar software can accumulate the data for however long I want, so I can see the shift in quality from post-recovery runs in October to more intense stuff in June - or whatever. (one of the reasons I generally prefer polar over garmin since none of the garmin or sporttracks stuff I've seen really does much with HR data other than showing you it's there)

And for the xc races - course announced at start, distances approximate - they are blind races. Just do it. But ya gotta jockey for position at the start with 800-1000 runners (vs the 20-100 in my usual races) (even with as slow as I am, there are slower in these larger family races). And since I usually focus more on ultra training, I don't survive long at above-LT/VT effort, so usually need to adjust effort about 5-10min into race, but by then crowd has thinned out a bit - at least to avoid the cattle-stampede perception. These races I do with my FR305 - just so I have a record of the trail itself as well as some data, although hill data will be useless. (not carrying anything so no place to put my real gps)

And if I stopped to think about it, I could probably think of other ways I've used the data.

But one of the truly nice things about trail running and racing is that you learn to run by feel. 

PS: One thing I might add is that one of the few times I used a gps to have an idea of how much longer / farther in the race (wasn't sure where the finish line was) and accidentally looked at the pace (about 1-3% downhill, straight, gravel road, no rocks or roots for close to 1 hr, or at least that was my time estimate = very different from my usual trail footing and hill steepness), I freaked out a little when I saw the speed (much faster than anything in training and this was after 2.5 hrs of running). I think subconsciously I held back a little bit on the downhill, although can't be sure. The course was almost 1 mi short, so the left-something-in-the-tank may have been a result of that rather than me holding back. At any rate, that won't happen again.

I sometimes wonder if people that set goal times and detailed splits inadvertently set a cap on how fast they may go. (I suspect the reverse happens also, and people blow up.)

Granted I've only raced a few.. But I haven't been to one WITHOUT a water station yet..  Some of them have two - thats a little much.

 This is kind of piling on, but I have seen someone refilling their bottles at an aid station in a  5K 

I finally got a watch after about a year of getting out and running (Timex Ironman basic model) and recently added a Garmin.

The watch gave me reference data.  I know I'll always be a MOP'er for the most part, but I'd like to know if I'm improving in my running.

The one big diff with the Garmin vs. regular watch for me has been in my marathons.  I'm someone who best starts off slow and finishes strongly, and the Garmin gets rid of the need for mental mathematic gymnastics while on the run (literally) and keeps me at a reasonable pace early on.  I think as the race distances get shorter though having a Garmin vs. a regular watch becomes less important.

On training runs, I just use the Garmin to record time and distance for convenience purposes.  But I'm not a stickler (I'll use my watch often times) because unless I actually am trying to hit specific paces like in an interval or tempo workout or something, I basically run by feel anyway during most training runs.