Aha!

[hilbean]

Finally looked up pace and speed and understand what that's all about! So if I really want to know how fast I run I need to not count in any warm up/warm down walks. Hmmm.... with my old stopwatch and desktop version of MapMyRun that makes it a bit harder to be really accurate, although I didn't count in my warm down today. But that still makes today a PB albeit only by a fraction. Does it sound like I might be beginning to talk myself into getting some real technology??

Did my first run of the year a couple of days ago and decided to tackle that long slow slope again and slightly extended my route so that I could make sure I run at least 5k with room to spare for walking at the beginning and end. Nice to do this one in the holidays when the roads aren't so busy. Happily I ran all the way without the same amount of struggle I'd had previously (and that was on one of the interval weeks, can't remember which one now). Really nice to be able to see that improvement in stamina

Today's run was back on the flat down the Malltraeth marshes to the estuary bund as the sun was coming up, so that was a real treat. I was briefly accompanied by a cormorant swimming alongside me and having a good old nosey much to my delight Before I even reached the estuary I could hear all the birds calling and there were loads of lapwings, both in the air and on the land. So combined with seeing the sun rise over the morning it was a perfect start to the day

[Hidden]

I'm going to try to remember to start MapMyWalk after the warm up and stop it before the cool down after graduating whenever that might be now.

Sounds like you've had some good runs lately and well done on tackling that slope again. I'm going to have to leave the park behind eventually as it does bother me that all my running is completely on the flat.

[hilbean Graduate in reply to Hidden]

Won't be too long now Ali! Balloons and party poppers at the ready

I've actually been really, really lucky the last few weeks with the really rubbish weather seeming to fall on rest days. Not sure how long that streak of luck will last but making the most of it

I've been running on the flat for the last few weeks now which was why I wasn't sure how well I'd tackle a change in terrain but it all helps to build stamina so you may well find you surprise yourself. I did have a bit of thigh burn on the second uphill bit but that disappeared once I was on the level again and I actually enjoyed the change.

[Hidden in reply to hilbean]

Hope not Hil! Sat on my injury throne with a poorly achilles at the moment though, but it already feels a lot better than it did after I got back from my run yesterday so fingers crossed it won't interfere with graduation too much.

[hilbean Graduate in reply to Hidden]

Oh no! Look after it well and get better soon! Looking forward to seeing you with that nice shiny graduation badge

[Hidden in reply to hilbean]

Sooooo annoying with only 4 runs left to go! I think my lovely new pink shoes are the problem as it niggled a bit to start with and I thought it was probably just because they needed breaking in but yesterday was a whole different story. Going back to my old shoes when I can get back out again.

[hilbean Graduate in reply to Hidden]

Oh what a shame! Hope you don't have to wait too long x

[JohnBlake Graduate]

Sounds wonderful, Hilly! You're a lucky girl.

If you have a Smart phone, the Strava App is free, and very easy to use.

[hilbean Graduate in reply to JohnBlake]

Derek has the smart phone. I just have an ancient PAYG motorola which serves as an emergency backup and tucks nicely in my pocket. He did offer me the loan of it but to be honest the way it's constantly dinging and beeping for messages and stuff I politely declined. My kids always laugh at me with mobiles - apparently you're supposed to take them with you everywhere

OMG I've just made myself sound like a total luddite!

Seriously though there's no point in us having two smart phones as we're together most of the time and I do love the peace and quiet when I run Maybe some kind of GPS watch when I've convinced myself that I'm deserving enough

[Hidden]

I know exactly what you mean about not including the warm up/down walk. I sometimes start Runkeeper then immediately pause it, I'm never sure if it will find a satellite if I wait until I'm ready to run. Usually I make a mental note of where I started and stopped, you can see that from the speed increasing, albeit only slightly lol! It's hard to be accurate, but I think it's near enough. I'm not sure what a desk top MMR is...do you mean you time your run then plot it when you get home? If you have a smart phone MMR & RK are pretty good...

You runs sound lovely, lucky you to have such pretty places to run!

[hilbean Graduate in reply to Hidden]

You've got it in one. The stopwatch is old so doesn't store any of the times (even though it is digital) so I time 5 mins warm up and then start running so the whole event is just timed in one. I try to pinpoint where I start and stop running so I can plot that but it's harder because it can vary and I have to remember it so I can plot it when I get home. I map out the the whole thing before I go out so I know exactly where my start and finish points are (including walking). It's really only today that the penny dropped about just timing the run without the walks though and I suppose it only really had any importance to me when I started thinking about what to do after graduation.

[Hidden]

great post hilbean sounds absolutely wonderful place to run

I am using Runkeeper on my mob but starting to think garmin , seems to be the best way forward , i always try to start it after warm up and stop before cool down ,as usual one forgets sometimes

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

My RK won't find a satellite after I leave the house for some reason. I've tried setting it off then pressing pause, but then when I press resume it will usually just stop...For my purposes just remembering where I started is near enough.

[hilbean Graduate in reply to Hidden]

Oh how annoying. I don't really think I need to be that accurate but it's all given me pause for thought. I'm currently in the process of looking at watches to see what might suit.

[Hidden in reply to hilbean]

Weirdly, it will find a satellite if I go into the back garden, but not at the front of the house...

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

I have that a few times, not so much recently though , that is why i was thinking garmin would still need something for music tho

[Hidden]

Yes definitely need some technology to measure pace/speed lol! well done on the PB and you run sounds very scenic, what a lovely start to the day