In Training: Part 4

Monday, 07 September 2009

Last Friday marked the end of the third week of my Couch to 5k training. It also marked the point of no return, as I officially registered for my first 5k race: the Fright Nite 5k on October 31 -- Halloween.  I don't know much about 5k races -- except for their distance -- but this race seems a bit abnormal. Most of it takes place on Gahanna Municipal Golf Course and has a definite "haunted house" theme to it.  I'm not sure how this will play out in practice, but it should definitely make for a memorable first race. If anyone wants to join me, I would love the company.

As I've mentioned before, and as you probably already know, I'm a huge geek. One of the big motivators in keeping up my training is my love of gadgets, numbers and charts.  When I first started dabbling in walking and running a few months ago, I tried two different technologies: the Nike+ system that comes built into the new iPhone 3Gs phone and uses a sensor in the shoe, and the RunKeeper application that monitors your progress via GPS.  The Nike+ system is nice in that it's built into the phone, can run in the background, and has a huge online community with challenges, social media aspects, and training programs. The site looks fantastic and recently launched and even better looking 2.0 experience. The huge drawback with the Nike+ system, however, is that it is a pedometer-based system which to a degree assumes a uniform stride. After every workout, I generally found that the distance I ran versus the distance reported was consistently at least 10% off.

After about a week of running both systems, I switched over completely to the RunKeeper tracking system. RunKeeper uses GPS to get much more precise distances, including speed and elevation.  It does occasionally go a little screwy and report points way off the track, but the online component allows you to adjust these abnormalities.  Another feature that is really great with a GPS-based system is that it isn't limited to activities that include walking; In addition to using RunKeeper to track my runs and walks, I'm able to use it on the weekend bike rides I've started doing. Finally, another key feature which was added only recently is the ability to trigger audible prompts at specific intervals. At the beginning of my Couch to 5k training, I was able to program in the intervals associated with each week and, as I do my run, I get a voice prompt to let me know when it's time to jog and when it's time to walk.

The downsides to the system are definitely there -- the application can't be run in the background and the web site is lacking some of the more interactive, social elements -- but the accuracy and reliability more than make up for these deficiencies. Additionally, the RunKeeper application and web site have been making big strides in feature additions over the past year and I have a sneaking suspicion that the team is working to add these features soon.  I'm sure this sounds like a paid advertisement, but I've really become sold on the RunKeeper system. I'm a generally lazy guy trying to get back into shape, and any system that gets me motivated to do my run on a regular basis is something I want other people to know about. If you have an iPhone -- either 3G or 3Gs -- I highly recommend it for tracking and training your activities.

Week 3, Day 1: Crisp

Fall unofficial hit early in the week, and it was really nice to run to the lower temperatures. It's always amazing to me how suddenly the temperature changes in Ohio; This first morning I could actually see my breath! The first 90-second run was a bit tough, but the three minute runs were a lot more bearable than I expected. I did find myself tapping my iPhone screen to get time updates pretty frequently, but I finished both long intervals. We were out of coffee at home, so I think the incentive of making it to Cup o' Joe helped during that last stretch.


Week 3, Day 2: Sluggish

This run was a little tougher, but the sweet sweet sounds of Weezer's first album carried me through.


Week 3, Day 3: Sore but steady

I was on my feet most of the day Thursday, so I expected this last run to be particularly difficult. The weather wasn't quite as cool as it had been over the past week, but I was still able to run in a pretty good time, leaving me surprisingly confident in next week's run.


Next Week

Starting with next week, I'll be running actual distance intervals rather than timed intervals: ¼ mile jog, ⅛ mile walk, ½ mile jog, ¼ mile walk, ¼ mile jog, ⅛ mile walk, ½ mile jog.

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