Monday, June 1, 2009

Treading it!

One of these days:



The weather outside was a bit tricky today. It was cloudy and has looked like it will downpour at any minute-- even though as I write this it hasn't rained a drop-- anyways, during my lunch break, I sucked it up, went to the gym, and hit the treadmill.

I always hate the treadmill for the first mile or so. To me, it is not motivating at all. You go nowhere- stare at a TV-- it's boring! I usually get some kind of rhythm going and find a way to enjoy it.

I also like the computers that tell you how far you're going, how fast, heartbeat, etc. I have not yet invested in a Garmin watch so I am not privy to all of that info when I street run.

I pushed it hard today. I ran 4 miles, at an average pace of 8.2 MPH. I felt good, and even did some cross training-- hitting the weight machines after.

It's nice knowing that info-- which means its time to get one of those fancy schmancy watches..

I need your help-- Whats the best one?

10 comments:

  1. I don't know the best one. I've heard quite a bit about the Garmin 305, however, and that's the one I'm planning on getting. Oh...and this week it's on sale at BestBuy for $150. Deal.

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  2. Hey Patrick - I agree with you about treadies! They're so hard to stay motivated on! I've been doing a lot of research on the watches lately. Dream Researching, I call it, as I'm not going to get one until I've done my first big 10km or even half marathon (which race I have saved the money by!) and I've got to tell you the Garmin 405CX looks like the go. It's got EVERYTHING (GPS, personal trainer, masseuse and chocolate maker...) and it looks so cute - it's a normal watch size! Everyone seems to have the 305, but I think it would bug me being so big and clunky on my arm.

    Thanks for your advice on my little injury (see how I'm playing Jedi mind tricks to make it better?) - I'm going to keep reading and blogging so I don't lose sight of my goals/dreams. Have a great day!

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  3. I need to get myself one of those watches, too! I it does seem like everyone has the Garmin 305. Maybe there is a good reason for that???

    It's a big investment, so make sure you find the right one for you. :D

    Great job getting on the treadmill and hitting the weights.

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  4. I have the Garmin 205 (same as the 305 without heart rate monitor). It definitely seems to be the most popular model out there and Ive relied on mine for 2+ years and love it.

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  5. A garmin will change your life!!! The 305 is pretty big the 405 is smaller and if you can get the 405cx the calorie calculations on that one are much better - but whichever one you get...also get the chest strap for the heart rate monitoring....it will change your life...truly.

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  6. I've got the 305 and I love it. The 405 is smaller, but I worry about being able to see everything. I usually run with my time, pace, heart rate and distance all displayed. It's funny running by people wearing a big honking watch and not being able to tell them what time it is when they ask.

    To answer your question from my blog, I plan on hitting 100 MPW in October. I can safely do so adding about 6 MPW every 3 weeks from here until then. I will have some speed workouts in there (especially in the beginning), but I did a lot of my speed focus during the spring so I could focus more on distance in the summer/fall. The goal is a sub 3 hour marathon in February (and maybe sub 1:20:00 in the Disney half in January).

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  7. Hey Patrick! I've found that running farleks on the treadmill really helps me. I'll run .25 miles then up the speed for .25 miles. Then I'll pull it back down for .25 miles and so on. Sometimes I'll do .5 mile fartleks. If you're going for a certain mileage, you'll finish a lot quicker. If you're going for a certain time, you'll be surprise how much further distance-wise you'll go.

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  8. I hate the treadmill. and by hate, I mean I really, really hate it. I only use mine when I absolutely, positively, can't get outside for a run. And as for the watch-I have the Garmin 305 and I love it. The 405 would probaby be good too except I don't wear my glasses when I run and I don't think I could read it. Plus the 305 is cheapr-always a good thing!

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  9. Garmins rule.. best thing I ever purchased for running... 305 is better then the 405 in my opinion. Oh the dreaded treadmill it makes me cringe just thinking about it. I did lots of treadmill training when I first started to get back in shape. I really came to hate that machine!

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  10. The interesting thing is I don't know anyone with a 405, but a bunch with a 305. I think what happened was when Garmin released the 405, they reduced the price of the 305.

    I find that it's tough to run without my 305 these days.

    One word of caution - the 305 is worthless on a treadmill without a foot pod (costs extra).

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