When I first reviewed my heart rate monitor I didn't have any big complaints. Last nights run changed that a little bit, as I mentioned in my last post I lost the data for my last run. The memory bank can only store ten runs and mine was full. So I started the stopwatch when I started my run last night and hit the split at the halfway point then stopped it once I was done. I had the final time I ran but to look at my splits and average heart rate and whatnot I had to switch to Data mode. Before I do that I always save my run, but since my watch was full I couldn't. Some sort of warning that it was full would be nice (there could be one that I missed, I haven't played with it to see).
The button I usually hit to save the data actually said it was going to clear it. As a computer programmer I look at user interfaces slightly different than most people, and I feel that's a bad design. If it were me I wouldn't have that button clear the run, just display an error message that the run couldn't be saved. That would save lots of runners the frustration of clearing a run as soon as they finish instead of saving it like they meant to.
Since I couldn't save the run I switched over to delete a run so I could save that one. If you continue to hold the clear button down after clearing one run it will clear all the runs saved (a very nice feature in my opinion). So I went ahead and did that. Then I went back to my run and IT WAS GONE!! That meant I lost my splits and my average heart rate and my time in the zone and all those fun little stats that I get. I haven't played around to see if it was clearing all the runs that clear it or just leaving that mode. Either way it's pretty annoying.
I'm not trying to pass the buck or anything like that, it was my fault for not ensuring that I had an empty data slot before going for a run (something I'll make damn sure of in the future). I just think the watch could have been designed better to not lose the current run data when that situation comes up.
Showing posts with label Gear. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gear. Show all posts
Monday, June 18, 2007
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Heart Rate Monitor
My heart rate monitor came today. So instead of doing the 1.5 mile fast run that was scheduled I tried to find my max heart rate(MHR). I found a couple of sites with different methods on how to find it. There are a lot of different ways to just calculate it based on your age. Here are a few that I came across.
220-age=MHR
205-(.5*age)=MHR
210-(.7*age)=MHR
I'm 25 so these calculations come out to 195, 192, 192 respectfully. Obviously these calculations are very general. I did some research and come up with a couple different methods to determine your MHR by doing stress tests on a treadmill. I found a couple other methods that don't involve a treadmill that I'll probably try out later too. But I think it would be easier to use a treadmill, so that's what I did.
One method is after a good warm-up to run as fast as you can for three minutes, rest for two or three minutes, then run for another three minutes at your max pace. During the second three minute run you should hit your MHR. As I found out it's hard to pick the perfect pace for this. As I tend to do I made my pace too fast, which meant I didn't get to my max heart rate because my legs where too tired and I completely died. Amy watched my watch for me and came up with a MHR of 180. I think it would be pretty easy to pick too slow of a pace also.
I was pretty tired so I just sat down and watched the Cavs/Pistons game for awhile. After a quite few minutes I felt pretty good so I decided to give it another go. This time I used method number two. I modified it though, because I didn't remember how it was supposed to go exactly. I started walking at 3 mph with the incline on the treadmill at 1. Every minute I increased the incline by one and every other minute I increased the mph by one. I kept that up for about 10 minutes before I couldn't go any longer. That got my heart rate up to 184. After reading how I was actually supposed to do it I bet I can get it higher than that. So that will probably be my next hard workout.
Overall I wound up running about three miles tonight trying to figure this out, instead of the 1.5 I was supposed to run. But a little over a mile was a warm-up and then there were the easy parts of the first method and the first half of the second method was pretty easy. So I'm say I ran less than 1.5 miles hard but I feel like I got in a pretty good workout.
I calculated my resting heart rate (RHR) as well. This one was a little easier, I just put the HRM on after I got home from work (not the ideal time to find your RHR but you have to play with a new toy once you get it right?) and the lowest heart I hit was 54. Like my max I'll use that until I can prove that it is something else. I'll try and get into the habit of taking my heart rate every morning to see what I come up with.
Why do I care about my max and resting heart rates you might ask? Well when I run I either want to run hard or I want to run easy. There isn't much benefit to running in the middle. When I run easy I want to ensure that my heart rate stays below 70% of my working heart rate. For hard runs I want it around 85%. The following equation is how you can determine your working heart rate.
((MHR-RHR)*intesity%)+RHR=Target Heart Rate
Well I think that's enough info for tonight. After I get a chance to play with all the features on my new watch I'll give a full review on it. I'll continue to write posts about training with a heart rate monitor as I learn more about that too. If you know of any good sources for more information (books, web sites, old guy down the street, etc.) I'd love to read about them in the comments.
220-age=MHR
205-(.5*age)=MHR
210-(.7*age)=MHR
I'm 25 so these calculations come out to 195, 192, 192 respectfully. Obviously these calculations are very general. I did some research and come up with a couple different methods to determine your MHR by doing stress tests on a treadmill. I found a couple other methods that don't involve a treadmill that I'll probably try out later too. But I think it would be easier to use a treadmill, so that's what I did.
One method is after a good warm-up to run as fast as you can for three minutes, rest for two or three minutes, then run for another three minutes at your max pace. During the second three minute run you should hit your MHR. As I found out it's hard to pick the perfect pace for this. As I tend to do I made my pace too fast, which meant I didn't get to my max heart rate because my legs where too tired and I completely died. Amy watched my watch for me and came up with a MHR of 180. I think it would be pretty easy to pick too slow of a pace also.
I was pretty tired so I just sat down and watched the Cavs/Pistons game for awhile. After a quite few minutes I felt pretty good so I decided to give it another go. This time I used method number two. I modified it though, because I didn't remember how it was supposed to go exactly. I started walking at 3 mph with the incline on the treadmill at 1. Every minute I increased the incline by one and every other minute I increased the mph by one. I kept that up for about 10 minutes before I couldn't go any longer. That got my heart rate up to 184. After reading how I was actually supposed to do it I bet I can get it higher than that. So that will probably be my next hard workout.
Overall I wound up running about three miles tonight trying to figure this out, instead of the 1.5 I was supposed to run. But a little over a mile was a warm-up and then there were the easy parts of the first method and the first half of the second method was pretty easy. So I'm say I ran less than 1.5 miles hard but I feel like I got in a pretty good workout.
I calculated my resting heart rate (RHR) as well. This one was a little easier, I just put the HRM on after I got home from work (not the ideal time to find your RHR but you have to play with a new toy once you get it right?) and the lowest heart I hit was 54. Like my max I'll use that until I can prove that it is something else. I'll try and get into the habit of taking my heart rate every morning to see what I come up with.
Why do I care about my max and resting heart rates you might ask? Well when I run I either want to run hard or I want to run easy. There isn't much benefit to running in the middle. When I run easy I want to ensure that my heart rate stays below 70% of my working heart rate. For hard runs I want it around 85%. The following equation is how you can determine your working heart rate.
((MHR-RHR)*intesity%)+RHR=Target Heart Rate
Well I think that's enough info for tonight. After I get a chance to play with all the features on my new watch I'll give a full review on it. I'll continue to write posts about training with a heart rate monitor as I learn more about that too. If you know of any good sources for more information (books, web sites, old guy down the street, etc.) I'd love to read about them in the comments.
Friday, May 18, 2007
Spending Money
Sorry I haven't been posting the last few days. I've been installing and setting up Ubuntu Linux on my laptop. I think I got most everything setup how I want it with the exception of a few little bugs.
To follow-up my post about how running is the most cost effective activity I'm going to tell you about all the money that I spent this week. As you know from a previous post I bought two pair of socks Monday for about $16.00. That was just the start of things.
On Tuesday I bought a light so I can see when I run in the middle of the night for $10.00 from Wally World. It's not one of those miner's headlamps (sorry Annie), it clips on the bill of a hat (so it still looks a little goofy). I think it will work pretty good for what I need it for. I have a few different hats, but none that I would want to run in for too long. So on my way home from work on Wednesday I stopped by a couple sporting good stores at the mall, but no one had a technical hat. (Here is a good little article from Runner's World that defines what technical clothing is.) I stopped in Target looking for a couple other things and was surprised to see that they have quite a bit of technical clothing, including hats. So I picked one up for about $13.
As I indicated in a previous post I've been looking for a heart rate monitor. I did a little bit of research and I've chosen the Nike C8. I ordered it today and I should get it Tuesday or Wednesday, there went another $90. I'll definitely be writing more about this later.
But wait there's more!! I complained in the past that I've been borrowing Amy's iPod Shuffle when I want to listen to music on my runs. Well, I won't have to do that too much longer. I ordered a Zen Stone and an arm band to go with it today as well. It will be 6 to 10 business days until I get those. Adding that $60 brings my grand total for the week to right around $190. I'll put up a review of this sometime as well.
Oh yeah, Amy and I paid our entry fees for our next race, the Havelock Charity Run, too, another $28.
So it ended up being a pretty expensive week. But I'm confident in the quality of pretty much everything I bought (except maybe the light from Wal-Mart) and they should last me quite a while. I still have a number of things on my list that I "need" to get, but those will have to wait until I win some more at the poker tables.
As for the running side of things everything has been going good. I'm just doing easy runs this week and my weekly total will be 7 miles after I run 2 miles later tonight.
To follow-up my post about how running is the most cost effective activity I'm going to tell you about all the money that I spent this week. As you know from a previous post I bought two pair of socks Monday for about $16.00. That was just the start of things.
On Tuesday I bought a light so I can see when I run in the middle of the night for $10.00 from Wally World. It's not one of those miner's headlamps (sorry Annie), it clips on the bill of a hat (so it still looks a little goofy). I think it will work pretty good for what I need it for. I have a few different hats, but none that I would want to run in for too long. So on my way home from work on Wednesday I stopped by a couple sporting good stores at the mall, but no one had a technical hat. (Here is a good little article from Runner's World that defines what technical clothing is.) I stopped in Target looking for a couple other things and was surprised to see that they have quite a bit of technical clothing, including hats. So I picked one up for about $13.
As I indicated in a previous post I've been looking for a heart rate monitor. I did a little bit of research and I've chosen the Nike C8. I ordered it today and I should get it Tuesday or Wednesday, there went another $90. I'll definitely be writing more about this later.
. I ordered it today and I should get it Tuesday or Wednesday, there went another $90. I'll definitely be writing more about this later.But wait there's more!! I complained in the past that I've been borrowing Amy's iPod Shuffle when I want to listen to music on my runs. Well, I won't have to do that too much longer. I ordered a Zen Stone and an arm band to go with it today as well. It will be 6 to 10 business days until I get those. Adding that $60 brings my grand total for the week to right around $190. I'll put up a review of this sometime as well.
and an Oh yeah, Amy and I paid our entry fees for our next race, the Havelock Charity Run, too, another $28.
So it ended up being a pretty expensive week. But I'm confident in the quality of pretty much everything I bought (except maybe the light from Wal-Mart) and they should last me quite a while. I still have a number of things on my list that I "need" to get, but those will have to wait until I win some more at the poker tables.
As for the running side of things everything has been going good. I'm just doing easy runs this week and my weekly total will be 7 miles after I run 2 miles later tonight.
Wednesday, May 9, 2007
Shopping
I've been running for a few weeks now and there are a few things I want to buy. So I've been doing some shopping online to try and find what I need.
The first thing I want is an mp3 player. I really enjoy music and I use Amy's iPod shuffle once in awhile but it's hers so I don't have control over it. This is the easy item. I've been doing the research on it for a couple years so I have a pretty good idea what is out there. I'm not a big fan of the iPod. Don't get me wrong, I love the fact that it was introduced and revolutionized the music industry. I just think there are other mp3 players out there that are priced about the same but have many more features and less vendor lock in. I'll skip all the boring reasons why and just jump to the good stuff (if you want the boring stuff let me know and I can post about it). I've decided on the iRiver Clix2. The original Clix was pretty successful and the second version has a few improvements that separate it from the pack a bit more. Currently the 4 gig version is the only one that is out but an 8 gig model is supposed to be released in June. I was content with waiting until June for the 8 gig model but due to recent events that I don't care to discuss, the material I have available to put on the Clix has been greatly reduced. So I might have to reconsider just going with the 4 gig version, that would save me $50 too. Another option that I just found about about is a small 1 gig flash player, the Creative Zen Stone. It's price tag is right at only $40. If I decide to wait for the 8 gig Clix I'll probably get one of those. Heck I might even get one anyway.
I haven't worn a watch for quite a few years. But now that I'm running it's pretty much a must have. I've had a Timex Ironman something or other in my car for at least three years so I replaced the battery and have been using it. It isn't quite perfect though. I hit the wrong button a lot when I'm trying to do splits. It doesn't actually make any noise when an alarm goes off, count down timer reaches zero or the stopwatch starts which really defeats the purpose of a couple of those features. The Indiglo light only stays on for a second, and since I ran at night that is a pretty important feature for me. I can get the light to stay on for three seconds every once in a while but it resets to just one usually about the same time I start my runs. I tried taping the light down so I could see it whenever I need to but then none of the other buttons work. I could go on (and on and on) but I to keep things short what I'm trying to say is I hate everything about my watch. So the next thing I'll be shopping for is a new watch. This will be a little harder for me since I'm not quite as familiar with the technology for them as I am with mp3 players. I've been reading a lot about heart rate monitors (HRM) and how they can be used to ensure coefficient training and I've convinced myself I need one of those. Since The Riders on The Storm concert got canceled I'll get my $80 back I paid for those tickets (minus a $4.80 processing fee that Ticketmaster feels it can't refund but I'm not bitter (for future reference, if I ever say I'm not bitter then I really am)), so I'll probably use it for a HRM. I've been trying to find some reviews but I haven't tried too hard and haven't had much luck. From what I have seen though, I'm leaning toward getting a Polar. The basic features I have to have are a back light, stopwatch with splits (probably at least 25), ability to set target zones (either by percent of max or beats per minute), ability to store percent of time in the target zone and max rate. It would be nice if it had a countdown timer, well that is as long as the speaker works. If anyone has any recommendations as to which one to go with I would really appreciate it if you would leave a comment.
I never thought this next item was something I would care much about, let alone actually research on the internet and then write about it. But I'm looking for some socks. All I've ever done when I needed socks in the past was buy the cheapest pack I could find in my size (not always an easy task). I found this sock review on Runner's World (seriously who reviews socks??). Of the ones listed there number 3. The Best Road sock seems like the pair for me, but they want $12 for one pair of socks! That seems insane to me, I usually spend that on 6 pair. I know, I know these ones will keep my feet cool and last for a lot longer, but still. Now my next challenge will be to see if I can find a pair that will fit my size 15 feet. I'll probably head to the Lincoln Running Company when I'm in town next weekend and see if I can find a few pair there that will work. I'd also like to get a couple of technical shirts to keep me cool and dry when I'm running this summer but I can't justify spending the kind of money they want on them right now.
One of the things that got me back into running and something that I've heard many times before is that running is cheap, you just need a good pair of shoes. But if you look at just the few items I "need" above I'm going to end up dropping about $400. Amy is a very frugal person, which is great because that's not so much the case with me. So to avoid fighting over money we each get an allowance that we can do what ever we want with. I also get to spend money I make playing poker however I want. I've been playing pretty good lately so I'll be using that money for this stuff. But if I keep finding more stuff that I "need" to have I'm going to have to play a lot more cards and win a little more often. So if you know of a game let me know.
The first thing I want is an mp3 player. I really enjoy music and I use Amy's iPod shuffle once in awhile but it's hers so I don't have control over it. This is the easy item. I've been doing the research on it for a couple years so I have a pretty good idea what is out there. I'm not a big fan of the iPod. Don't get me wrong, I love the fact that it was introduced and revolutionized the music industry. I just think there are other mp3 players out there that are priced about the same but have many more features and less vendor lock in. I'll skip all the boring reasons why and just jump to the good stuff (if you want the boring stuff let me know and I can post about it). I've decided on the iRiver Clix2. The original Clix was pretty successful and the second version has a few improvements that separate it from the pack a bit more. Currently the 4 gig version is the only one that is out but an 8 gig model is supposed to be released in June. I was content with waiting until June for the 8 gig model but due to recent events that I don't care to discuss, the material I have available to put on the Clix has been greatly reduced. So I might have to reconsider just going with the 4 gig version, that would save me $50 too. Another option that I just found about about is a small 1 gig flash player, the Creative Zen Stone. It's price tag is right at only $40. If I decide to wait for the 8 gig Clix I'll probably get one of those. Heck I might even get one anyway.
I haven't worn a watch for quite a few years. But now that I'm running it's pretty much a must have. I've had a Timex Ironman something or other in my car for at least three years so I replaced the battery and have been using it. It isn't quite perfect though. I hit the wrong button a lot when I'm trying to do splits. It doesn't actually make any noise when an alarm goes off, count down timer reaches zero or the stopwatch starts which really defeats the purpose of a couple of those features. The Indiglo light only stays on for a second, and since I ran at night that is a pretty important feature for me. I can get the light to stay on for three seconds every once in a while but it resets to just one usually about the same time I start my runs. I tried taping the light down so I could see it whenever I need to but then none of the other buttons work. I could go on (and on and on) but I to keep things short what I'm trying to say is I hate everything about my watch. So the next thing I'll be shopping for is a new watch. This will be a little harder for me since I'm not quite as familiar with the technology for them as I am with mp3 players. I've been reading a lot about heart rate monitors (HRM) and how they can be used to ensure coefficient training and I've convinced myself I need one of those. Since The Riders on The Storm concert got canceled I'll get my $80 back I paid for those tickets (minus a $4.80 processing fee that Ticketmaster feels it can't refund but I'm not bitter (for future reference, if I ever say I'm not bitter then I really am)), so I'll probably use it for a HRM. I've been trying to find some reviews but I haven't tried too hard and haven't had much luck. From what I have seen though, I'm leaning toward getting a Polar. The basic features I have to have are a back light, stopwatch with splits (probably at least 25), ability to set target zones (either by percent of max or beats per minute), ability to store percent of time in the target zone and max rate. It would be nice if it had a countdown timer, well that is as long as the speaker works. If anyone has any recommendations as to which one to go with I would really appreciate it if you would leave a comment.
I never thought this next item was something I would care much about, let alone actually research on the internet and then write about it. But I'm looking for some socks. All I've ever done when I needed socks in the past was buy the cheapest pack I could find in my size (not always an easy task). I found this sock review on Runner's World (seriously who reviews socks??). Of the ones listed there number 3. The Best Road sock seems like the pair for me, but they want $12 for one pair of socks! That seems insane to me, I usually spend that on 6 pair. I know, I know these ones will keep my feet cool and last for a lot longer, but still. Now my next challenge will be to see if I can find a pair that will fit my size 15 feet. I'll probably head to the Lincoln Running Company when I'm in town next weekend and see if I can find a few pair there that will work. I'd also like to get a couple of technical shirts to keep me cool and dry when I'm running this summer but I can't justify spending the kind of money they want on them right now.
One of the things that got me back into running and something that I've heard many times before is that running is cheap, you just need a good pair of shoes. But if you look at just the few items I "need" above I'm going to end up dropping about $400. Amy is a very frugal person, which is great because that's not so much the case with me. So to avoid fighting over money we each get an allowance that we can do what ever we want with. I also get to spend money I make playing poker however I want. I've been playing pretty good lately so I'll be using that money for this stuff. But if I keep finding more stuff that I "need" to have I'm going to have to play a lot more cards and win a little more often. So if you know of a game let me know.
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