How much is it realistic to improve? (Read 3340 times)


A Saucy Wench

    So turn off the pace alerts and split messages.  Just use it to collect data for post-run obsessing!

    Cool

     I have mine set to display calorie burn or elevation or something totally useless.  But then I can still upload when I get home.

    I have become Death, the destroyer of electronic gadgets

     

    "When I got too tired to run anymore I just pretended I wasnt tired and kept running anyway" - dd, age 7

       I have mine set to display calorie burn or elevation or something totally useless.  But then I can still upload when I get home.

       

      My favorite is having it just display heart rate (keeps me honest about how easy I'm running) or...percent grade.  The Garmin is so inaccurate about percent grade that it's mostly hilarious.  I think I've been scaling sheer cliffs on a few runs.

       

      For me, fun/easy runs are greatly aided by either human company (my incessant nagging has turned a few friends into runners, and I've found a few running clubs) or animal company.  My dog is probably responsible for about half my consistency.

      "When a person trains once, nothing happens. When a person forces himself to do a thing a hundred or a thousand times, then he certainly has developed in more ways than physical. Is it raining? That doesn't matter. Am I tired? That doesn't matter, either. Then willpower will be no problem." 
      Emil Zatopek

      mgerwn


      Hold the Mayo

        If talking to yourself while running, to get an idea of conversational pace, seems a bit silly for you, try singing.

        And good luck to you on finding your easy paces! Be patient with yourself, it will take a bit of learning and focus on what your body is telling you.  But in a couple of months, you'll find yourself able to tell pretty closely where your pace is. Then one day you'll look at your watch and realize you're going a lot faster than you thought - and it still feels easy! THAT is a great feeling. 

          .

          Be patient with yourself, it will take a bit of learning and focus on what your body is telling you.  But in a couple of months, you'll find yourself able to tell pretty closely where your pace is. Then one day you'll look at your watch and realize you're going a lot faster than you thought - and it still feels easy! THAT is a great feeling. 

           

           

          +1  !!

          CanadianMeg


          #RunEveryDay


             Then one day you'll look at your watch and realize you're going a lot faster than you thought - and it still feels easy! THAT is a great feeling. 

             

            I look forward to this. I've recently slowed down my easy paces and I'm hoping I find progress. 

            Half Fanatic #9292. 

            Game Admin for RA Running Game 2023.

              Thanks so much. You have all been so helpful! For a slightly off topic question, if I wanted to get a garmin or something similar, what would you recommend? I use an app on my android phone at the moment, but having it all on a watch would be much simpler. I'll keep going with building up easy miles and let you know how it's going. Thanks again. :-)
              Julia1971


                Thanks so much. You have all been so helpful! For a slightly off topic question, if I wanted to get a garmin or something similar, what would you recommend? I use an app on my android phone at the moment, but having it all on a watch would be much simpler. I'll keep going with building up easy miles and let you know how it's going. Thanks again. :-)

                 

                I had the 305 for ages and it was a good basic GPS watch.  My only qualms with it were mostly style and trouble programming it to do anything more than basic functions.  I've had the 610 for about a year now and although I like it more than my 305, I've had to do more troubleshooting with it and it's pretty expensive.  (I had one of those "I deserve it!" days).

                keeponrunning


                  Thanks so much. You have all been so helpful! For a slightly off topic question, if I wanted to get a garmin or something similar, what would you recommend? I use an app on my android phone at the moment, but having it all on a watch would be much simpler. I'll keep going with building up easy miles and let you know how it's going. Thanks again. :-)

                   Just a warning about the app, not all of them are very accurate.  My one friend who just started running was using one, it told her she ran 14.5km and when she calculated it on RA it was actually 8km.  Needless to say, I just got an android phone but I will not be using an app like that Wink  

                  Sulphur Springs 50km-- Ancaster, ON-- May 28, 2022

                  Tally in the Valley 12 hours-- Dundas, ON -- July 30, 2022 (Support SickKids Toronto)

                  Stokely Creek-- 56km-- Sault Ste. Marie, ON-- Sept. 24, 2022

                   

                   

                    I wanted to get a garmin or something similar, what would you recommend? I use an app on my android phone at the moment, but having it all on a watch would be much simpler. I'll keep going with building up easy miles and let you know how it's going. Thanks again. :-)

                     

                    I have a Garmin 205 and its just fine.   I wasnt interested in doing anything fancy and the 205 definitely doesnt do anything fancy.......but you can track your distance and pace and the such (it doesnt measure pusle or any thing like that)....

                     

                    I didnt really want a Garmin but during Christmas 2 years ago my family asked me what I wanted and I couldnt think of anyhthing so I got a Garmin.   

                     

                    I like using it and used it for every run for my first year that I had it.  Then one day I got ready to go and the battery was too low so I just went with my old timex and found it very liberating......then a few weeks later I ran a Half Marathon and it was POURING RAIN and I didnt want to get it soaked so I ran with my old timex again and liked running races better without the Garmin.........

                     

                    Now I've found that I dont really like using it all that much (you tend to be running and looking at your watch instead of enjoying the run and looking around), but I do like to wear it for some training runs or if I run a new or different course so that I can get the correct distance......

                     

                    IMHO - Garmins are kind of cool but nothing to get wrapped up over...........mostly you just need to run X number of minutes......'least thats what I think...

                    Champions are made when no one is watching

                      I have a Garmin 205 and its just fine.   I wasnt interested in doing anything fancy and the 205 definitely doesnt do anything fancy.......but you can track your distance and pace and the such (it doesnt measure pusle or any thing like that)....

                       

                      I didnt really want a Garmin but during Christmas 2 years ago my family asked me what I wanted and I couldnt think of anyhthing so I got a Garmin.   

                       

                      I like using it and used it for every run for my first year that I had it.  Then one day I got ready to go and the battery was too low so I just went with my old timex and found it very liberating......then a few weeks later I ran a Half Marathon and it was POURING RAIN and I didnt want to get it soaked so I ran with my old timex again and liked running races better without the Garmin.........

                       

                      Now I've found that I dont really like using it all that much (you tend to be running and looking at your watch instead of enjoying the run and looking around), but I do like to wear it for some training runs or if I run a new or different course so that I can get the correct distance......

                       

                      IMHO - Garmins are kind of cool but nothing to get wrapped up over...........mostly you just need to run X number of minutes......'least thats what I think...

                       

                      For some reason when I read this I was reminded of a caddyshack segment:

                       

                      Judge Smails: Ty, what did you shoot today? 
                      Ty Webb: Oh, Judge, I don't keep score. 
                      Judge Smails: Then how do you measure yourself with other golfers? 
                      Ty Webb: By height. 

                       

                      Must be one of those days...

                        Regarding the apps, yes, some of them are way off. (I tracked the half marathon I ran, and the app said it was 22.9k.). I'm using runkeeper at the moment, which is very accurate compared to mapometer. Thanks for the advice on the garmin. For now, I'll be sticking with my $1.50 stopwatch and the phone when I can be bothered carrying it. The garmins do sound cool though, albeit expensive! As for the running, I took a rest day yesterday, which I'm kicking myself for now, as my daughter is home from school today, so it wll be very difficult to get a run in. We'll see how it goes!

                          I'm still having trouble figuring out what my slow pace should be.  I did 7.5k today, with an average pace of 7.46 min/k.  I left my watch behind and muted the audio on my GPS, so that was just going by feel.  A "slow run" I did a few days ago was at 8:30 min/k, and if I was pushing myself, I could probably do that distance in 7 min/k.  So, today's run was actually closer to the fast pace than the slow pace even though it felt just as slow (and I know that all of my paces are slow by anyone else's standards!). 

                           

                          I really appreciate everyone's advice, but I'm feeling a little lost now!  I know that I should be running more days per week.  (I got five in this week, and will do six next week).  I know that most of these should be slow, but I'm still struggling to figure out what exactly "slow" should look like.

                           

                          I'll get there in the end - just a bit confused at the moment. :-)


                          Why is it sideways?

                            You had a good day, congrats. And remember this day the next time you have a bad day. Your easy days will vary up to a minute per mile, depending on how you feel. It all comes out in the wash.

                             

                            Forest, not trees, and all that.


                            Future running partner.

                              When it comes to slow pace, I think better words to use are "easy" pace and "recovery" pace. In recovery pace your breathing should only be slightly elevated. It would help to run with a group of people at your level. When running with a group if you can easily carry on a conversation then you are at recovery pace. This is a good pace for your longest runs or for runs the day after a hard workout or a long run. A little faster is easy pace, which is where most of your running should be done. Here you are definitely breathing harder then normal walking around breathing but you are not huffing and puffing. You can carry on a conversation with maybe a deep breath between each phrase or sentence. When running alone I'll sometimes test my breathing by saying a prayer or the Pledge of Allegiance. If I can say the whole thing with out a break, that's recovery pace, if I need to take a deep breath between phrases, that's easy pace.

                               

                              Also, what Jeff said is so true.

                              mgerwn


                              Hold the Mayo

                                Like Jeff said, some days are easier than others.  Don't worry about the pace you recorded so much - if it felt like easy pace, it was easy pace.  Your pace will vary day to day, depending on how rested you are, what you did all day, how much stress you're feeling otherwise, how long it has been since your last run, etc.  You mentioned taking a rest day - that will also have an influence on how you feel the next day, & how energized you are on your run.