Tag Archives: Garmin

F-F-F-Friday!!

Posted on April 30, 2010 | 6 comments

Hi all! Phew – I’ve been a little MIA lately for various reason: busy, semi-sick and more busy. When I last left you, I’d have my coughing attack on the subway. I’ve started feeling much better in the past two days, but I still have this itchy dry throat feeling that really gets me coughing. It seems to be worse at night. Last night was especially bad when I went to bed. I’m thinking post-nasal drip? (Eww isn’t that the worst name for it ever?)

Anyway – enough about my coughing problems! I’m hoping they will fade away soon. I think a lot of it has to do with allergies. I took another rest day on Wednesday because I still wasn’t feeling hot. But then last night, I got my butt back out there running. I was excited to run after my short two-day hiatus.

Do you ever find taking a mini break rejuvenates you and makes you appreciate your runs more?

I headed out for a nice run after work last night – the weather was fabulous. Not fabulous: my Garmin trying to locate satellites. I think after its little freezing glitch on Sunday, Garms was a little out of wack. I stood around waiting for it to locate satellites for a solid 10 minutes before I decided the heck with it! I needed to get out there and had a decent idea of the distance, so I told myself I’d starts Garms whenever it was ready.

I also put myself to a little test last night. Since Garms was having issues anyway, I decided to run at whatever pace felt good and comfortable and then I’d check my pace only after I got home (once Garms started working anyway).

Garms finally located those darn satellites after about 1.25 miles, so I pressed start and then firmly averted my eyes and refused to look at Garms again until the end. This was to be my true test of what pace I think I could potentially maintain during the marathon. Here are my stats from mile 1.25+ on.

Mile 1 – 8:24
Mile 2 – 8:25
Mile 3 – 8:14
Mile 4 – 8:39
Mile 5 – 8:13
.65 – 5:46

Total Garmin mileage – 5.65 miles in 47:43. Average pace – 8:27 minute miles. In total, I estimate that I ran 6.65 miles.

And I can certainly live with those times/pace for my marathon. I think this was a good test to put myself through. Sometimes I feel like I rely on my Garmin too much and wonder if I’m only running faster because I’m watching my pace or if I’m really comfortable at that pace.

If you have a Garmin, do you ever run without it? Do you ever feel like it’s dictating your runs too much?

I think a break here and there is good, so you can appreciate the run for how it makes you feel, rather than how fast you ran it.

Before I sign off, I’ll leave you with this gem of a photo from the More Magazine Half Marathon on Sunday. I’m looking pretty fab:

It’s okay to be jealous! Hahaha. What’s with my face? I look totally bored! Also – you can definitely notice that I have a tiny pea-sized-head in this picture because my hat is completely overwhelming me. No clue at what point in the race this was taken. But I love the water on the ground – proves it was realllly raining.

Alright all – have a fantastic weekend! I’m headed upstate for a wedding and am super excited. It’s going to be gorgeous – 85 degrees. Happy wedding weekend to Jenny and Kevin!!

6 Comments

Posted in Races, Running, Uncategorized

Tagged allergies, asthma, Garmin, More Magazine Half Marathon

My First Race of 2010!

Posted on January 9, 2010 | 21 comments

Good morning – happy Saturday! I’m back from my first race in 2010 and I have to say it went surprisingly well, much better than I expected. I was very nervous last night and slept terribly – I was actually up before my alarm even went off. So I got up and had some breakfast before the race.

Then I commenced with the layering. I had spandex pants with knee-high socks on underneath. On my top half I had a Nike base layer, a long sleeve shirt and an outlayer jacket. I also had a hat, neck warmer and gloves. I was very hot by the end of my layering.

I headed out of the house around 7:30 and got to the start right around 7:50 a.m., which was perfect timing. So here’s the race recap:

Race Recap – Fred Lebow Classic (5 miles)

When I got to the starting area up near 98th I looked for my corral. They had asked what our fastest mile time was and I had put down 7:45. I found my corral, which was closer to the start than I expected, and then I got nervous that perhaps I overstated my capabilities and everyone in my corral would run me over. I tried not to worry about it too much. After much talking and singing of the national anthem, they finally started us.

Even though I was closer to the front than expected, it still took me about 1 minute to reach the actual starting line. And then it was really time to run. I started my Garmin and got to work. It was COLD! I totally forgot to mention that. When I left the house it was 21.6 degrees outside. But I quickly started to warm up as we started racing,

At 1 mile my Garmin beeped and I looked down to see that I had run the first mile in 8:29. Not too bad, but I wasn’t sure if I maybe wanted to go faster. So I started to pick it up a bit during the second mile. The second mile flew by and so did the third. But, as I got to the fourth mile things started to get tough. We were on the East side and things started moving up hill. We hit the BIG hill around 73-79th Street and it was HARD. I was thrilled when we reached the top and hit mile 4 at just about the same time.

From 4-5 I was able to pick things up a bit. I checked my Garmin and saw that we had hit 4.5 miles and so I really kicked it in. Finally, I hit the finish and felt wonderful that the race was over and I could head back to a warm apartment. Here are my race stats:

Mile 1 – 8:29
Mile 2 – 8:01
Mile 3 – 7:57
Mile 4 – 8:10
Mile 5 – 7:51
Total – 5.04 in 40:44

Yup, my Garmin said I actually ran a little over 5 miles. I didn’t stick tightly to the inside of the Central Park loop, so I can see how that would be right. So overall, I’m pretty happy with my times. It was the first really cold, winter race I’ve ever run and it didn’t feel awful. It at least makes me a little more confident that I’ll be able to finish the half marathon in two weeks. I’ll have to check the NYRR site tomorrow to see what my official time was.

I’ll just do a quick recap of yesterday’s eats and then I want to relax a bit!

Breakfast was oatmeal with raisins, almond milk and agave with a side of light cranberry.

Lunch was leftovers of the previous night’s Ham and Brussels Sprout Bake:

As well as Chobani yogurt with granola.

Later on I had a Larabar – the Banana Bread flavor. I really liked this flavor.

After work, I picked up my race packet and came home and made some dinner.

Pasta with carrots, goat cheese, artichoke hearts, grape tomatoes, raisins and walnuts. YUMMY!

So that was my night, then I headed to bed early for my race. Now I’m going to go enjoy my Saturday afternoon and a fun evening. Have a great weekend everyone!

21 Comments

Posted in NYRR, Races, Uncategorized

Tagged cold weather, Garmin, race

I Love My Garmin!!

Posted on January 2, 2010 | 13 comments

Happy Saturday! I’m not feeling too great today. But first let me recap the rest of yesterday.

After breakfast yesterday, we cleaned up a bit and then I headed out for a run along the East River to test out my new Garmin. It was 42 degrees outside which sounded absolutely warm to me. I have a few “usual routes” that I run along the river, each with a different distance. I set out to run what I thought was my 4.7 mile run: from the apartment down to about 64 street near the dog park and then up to the big dock that juts out, probably around 100-110 street.

I started out my run and immediately was looking at my watch. Then I decided to just let things go for a bit and see what happened. At 1 mile it beeped at me and I looked down to see my speed. I love the little mile alerts. Here are my run stats:

Mile 1: 8:29
Mile 2: 8:24
Mile 3: 8:50 (oops – darn stairs)
Mile 4: 8:28
Mile 5: 8:33
.2 miles: 2:05
Total mileage: 5.2 in 44:52

I feel like I ran this much faster than I normally do because I had the Garmin. To be fair, I did run faster at one point when this boy passed me acting all cool with his keys jangling annoyingly (I ran sans iPod for some reason) and then shortly after he stopped to walk, so I passed him and turned around and then he turned around too and was jingly right behind me again, obviously trying to pass me for the second time. Didn’t happen. Wow – I think this Garmin and my sense of competitiveness could be a dangerous combination.

It actually felt like a tough run – I think because I wasn’t 100% and because of the large breakfast I ate – I was burping sausage for the first half of the run. After my run, I proceeded to cough incessantly for a while. Maybe I pushed it.

When I got home from my run I snacked on some Chobani yogurt with granola and some tea to calm my raging throat.

A little while later, before we started our cleaning, I also had a Larabar.

Oh my – look at my awful nails. This flavor was okay. It wasn’t as bad as Ginger Snap, but Pecan Pie is still my favorite of the ones I’ve tried to date.

For the remainder of the afternoon the Hubby and I cleaned the apartment and put away all the Christmas decorations. There is still more cleaning and laundry to do today. Boo.

For dinner, I decided I needed some veggies after my pizza dinner the night before. I made a giant salad with Mediterranean lettuce, carrots, cheddar cheese, walnuts, raisins, and cucumber. I covered it with some balsamic vinegar. I also had a side of blackberries.

Up close

And then I finished the night with a nice glass of Cabernet.

I am definitely a red wine girl – I used to be white, but in the past few years I’ve switched.

If you drink wine, do you like red or white? What’s your favorite kind? I’ve been liking Pino Noir lately.

I’m hoping that maybe by later this afternoon I’ll start to feel better, but my throat is killing me right now and I’m feeling exhausted. Have a good Saturday all.

13 Comments

Posted in Running, Uncategorized

Tagged Garmin, run, sore throat

Guess Who Got a Garmin?!!

Posted on December 26, 2009 | 6 comments

Happy Day After Christmas! I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas yesterday. I completely logged off and just focused on spending time with my family.

We were up by about 8 a.m. yesterday and opening presents. We’ve tried to scale back Christmas, since the Hubby and I are older and we really don’t need or want lots of gifts. But I have to say that I did get a few cools things, including:

A GARMIN!! Woohoo. My mom had asked a while back what I wanted and I said that was really the only thing I could think of. The funny thing was that the hubby got me one as well! (Love you Hubby!) He didn’t know I had told my mom about wanting one and he read on my blog about my Garmin dreams and bought me one too! So I technically got two Garmins this Christmas!

Then my parents also got me a water bottle for work. I’ve been needing one desperately.

Kleen Kanteen is all stainless steel – so BPA-free (no inner liner that could potentially be problematic) and it’s dishwasher safe. Mine is 40 oz. – I’ll probably drink 2-3 of these a day. 🙂

After we opened our presents, my mom whipped up a quick breakfast of mini cheese, egg and spinach baby Quiche, with sides of bacon and English muffins.

My plate:

After breakfast the Hubby and I headed to the 11:30 a.m. mass. We took a quick photo before we left.

The 11:30 a.m. mass is the way to go. It wasn’t crowded at all!

After mass, we headed back home and relaxed a bit before some more family came over for dinner. My mom made Murphy a nice little red sweater for Christmas, but I think she underestimated how big he is. It ended up being pretty tight and Murph didn’t like it.

See how he bulges at the bottom? Poor Mr. Murph.

Our family came over around 3:00 p.m. and we ate dinner around 4-4:30. It was delicious, this was my plate.

Two pieces of beef tenderloin, mashed potatoes, green beans, cabbage salad (which is like coleslaw), and broccoli and cauliflower casserole. It was all yummy.

After dinner we played a few games: LCR and Screw Your Neighbor.

Has anyone else played these games?

They are a ton of fun. I lost badly at LCR, but won twice at Screw Your Neighbor. They are really easy for everyone to learn and quick to play.

I also snacked on some Christmas cookies and had some banana cream pie, but completely forgot to take any photos. I sipped on red wine throughout the night as well. It was so much fun and such a wonderful holiday.

This was a pretty short post, but I have to run some errands today with my mom, start laundry and get some stuff together for the party tonight. I really wanted to take my Garmin for a run, but it’s pretty gross here. Snow, sleet and freezing rain would make for a very dangerous run. Maybe tomorrow it will be cleared up a bit and I can go for a quick run before we head back to the city.

But, I’m soo excited to see a bunch of our friends tonight! One of my best friends (Lauren) will be there. I ran the marathon with her and my mom framed one of our “finish” photos for both of us. I’ll have to give her hers tonight.