Hi everyone, my name is Julia and I'm running the Bridge to 10K programme following Ju-Ju's Magic Plan (distance edition). I've decided to log my progress during the course of the programme and I'm hoping to provide a motivating read for the other members of this community. I do all my runs on a treadmill and I use a neat little game called Zwift to supplement my training.
This week we got a new sensor for our treadmill: The Runn by North Pole Engineering. The user experience has been less than stellar so far...
Bridge to 10K Week 5 Day 1
For this week's short run I decided to try out the incline feature on our treadmill as the Runn transmits not only speed and cadence, but also incline data. Turns out cranking the incline on a treadmill is TOUGH and I was absolutely knackered after the 4K! Also, the out-of-box calibration on the Runn was very out of sync with our setup and I got some very funky speed and (especially) incline data.
Week 5 Day 1 on Strava: strava.com/activities/58191...
Week 5 Day 1 on Zwift: zwift.com/eu/activity/88483...
Bridge to 10K Week 5 Day 2
For this week's 5K I wanted to try out something different. Zwift had just released two new cycling routes; a longer flat route and a shorter pretty much bang on 5km route which also featured a challenging climb. Thus, I decided to bring my girlfriend along! We don't have two treadmills, so she was on the bike. Most of the ride was quite easy for her but once we managed to hit the big climb she was struggling to keep up with my running legs!
All in all, it was a very enjoyable 5K and after I was done my gf sped off and grabbed both a sprint and a QOM jersey! The leisurely pace combined with the climb had served as a great warmup for her. I didn't get an achievement for finishing the route, as it was a cycling route. My gf did get a sweet XP boost though! Also, I had done some calibration on our NPE Runn, so it was more precise but still somewhat off.
Week 5 Day 2 on Strava: strava.com/activities/58307...
Week 5 Day 2 on Zwift: zwift.com/eu/activity/88635...
Bridge to 10K Week 5 Day 3
Technical issues! Frustration! Anger! I had very precisely calibrated our Runn sensor and rearranged its stickers in perfect spacing on our treadmill belt. I was very anxious to test the setup during this week's long run.
I joined a PTO Collins event on Zwift, as I hadn't yet grabbed the team USA's kit yet and the completionist in me screamed to go get it. As I was joining the event, some kind of technical issue struck and I couldn't get the Runn to register at all as an available sensor on Zwift. I was in a hurry and had no time to troubleshoot the issue so as a fallback, I had to use my old footpod.
I was very annoyed at the Runn and it honestly soured the entire run. I slogged through the 8K and hated it. Now afterwards I feel glad I did, I feel like completing an awful run is a true indicator of progress. I can only imagine how well I can do on a good day!
Week 5 Day 3 on Strava: strava.com/activities/58348...
Week 5 Day 3 on Zwift: zwift.com/eu/activity/88691...
Looking forward to next week, hopefully I can iron out the technical issues with the NPE Runn sensor.
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