So, my first 5K (actually 5.6K don't you know!) after a couple of weeks off wasn't great. I am not at all surprised knowing myself the way I do but still, it was 5K and 5K is 5K.
Basically I started off far too quickly and then took far longer to slow down than I should have. The first 30 metres was up a fairly steep hill as well which just seems to sap the life out of me. My poor heart rate didn't drop out of maximum I don't think the whole run! I did a 'there and back' run and decided to reset at the turn-around point, take a breather, ponder life and then start again.
The weather was also the worst sort of overcast drizzle...
I love the Deer's quizzical expressions as I run past. The Fawns watched me coming, were about to bolt like they usually do but then shared a 'nah, by the look of you we could outrun you by simple walking away' look between themselves and went back to nibbling. Rude.
I also had the most applicable soundtrack ever - at the highpoint of the run, adrenaline rushing, bounding from rock to rock like the afore mentioned deer and 'Don't stop believing' by Journey was playing, followed immediately by exhaustion, lead legs and then 'Turn around, every now and then...' by Bonnie Tylor - I kid you not.
Ugh - what a negative post I am writing. Let me start again....
Woo hoo, you did a 5k after a couple of weeks off! Well done! Not all runs are easy, but all runs are... runs, so you succeeded, rude animals and all🐾👣
Reasonably well. Spent a week on the Greek IC with a strained calf muscle, but I'm better now and back on track. I started again with two 25 minute runs, just to be gentle with the calf muscle, but feel ready for 30 minutes tomorrow. Not the postgraduation progress I had hoped for, but I'm still loving it♥️
Nice one yatesco isn't it amazing that after 2 weeks off 5k is still possible. When you started out that was in your dreams. Ok that said, I think you have to seriously look at your running tunes. Journey followed by bonnie Tyler is something of an eclectic mix.
As you say 5k is 5k - who would have thought we could run that distance a few months ago! And after 2 weeks off it's quite an achievement to just go out of the door and run 5k. How many people do you know who can do that? I know a few, but not many. So pat yourself on the back - and the next run will be brilliant!
No, no; it is not an issue of age. I appreciate a lot of music from the 60s and 70s but I really cannot stand most of the noise produced during the 80s... not to mention the musical videos!
It is hard to quantify the watch really as it does so many things but if it does everything you want then sure, it is absolutely great. Everything it does it does very well.
The stats it gives, particularly when running with the HRM strap (which I hardly notice I am wearing) are many and varied.
I moved to this from the FR235 for primarily because I didn't have confidence in the optical HRM in the 235 and it was causing some skin irritation. Would I be equally happy with the 230? Almost certainly.
My only gripe is that it doesn't do route-based navigational stuff. It has a simplistic 'back to start' which points in the direction your starting point is.
The inevitable bullet points list:
- touchscreen works well and is resistant to rain (but it weirdly does need to be touching your skin to work(!)
- it gives you a 'how well you recovered' at the start of an activity and a 'recovery bpm' at the end of an activity, but they aren't saved anywhere so if you miss them, that's it
- it calculates your HR zones, race predictor, vo2max and recovery time automatically (all based on the HRM chest strap). It does need time for the watch to learn these and it will update them automatically (by default).
- it is very light and, well, this is subjective, but it feels quite light and plasticky. This is great from a weight point of view but I almost want it to be a bit more substantial, just because it cost so much.
- no route/map based navigation
- it isn't a fenix 3, which is the 'grass is greener' watch :-).
- HRM chest strap is wonderful to wear (the only strap I have ever worn) and the hardest part is remembering to take it off when you get back home.
- the watch straps are pretty long - I wear it on the 6th hole from the end, on most watch straps I have to wear it on the last hole
- the screen, like all of these types of screens is great outdoors but sucky indoors. Don't believe the vibrancy/contrast of the media photos - it is pretty washed out in reality.
- connects over wifi so you don't have to have bluetooth on. This is one of those '1st world problems', but it is nicer simply begin able to tell your watch to sync without worrying about being in range of your phone.
- the 'smart phone integration' stuff works well (over bluetooth) but I don't bother. I spend most of my time in front of the laptop so it is a bit redundant for me. This makes the wifi sync even more useful.
- Battery life, with one run every other day _and bluetooth turned off_ is around a week (I can't remember exactly)
- touchscreen = fingers = smudge marks
- the ability to create different profiles, a run which includes auto laps, a run that has some alerts etc. is great
- syncing your workouts and training calendar from garminconnect is great
- virtual pacer and virtual racer are great
I think that's enough :-). In a nutshell, yes, it is a premium watch that does everything it does well but is light enough to run with and wear 24/7. It isn't a fenix 3.
excellent - when I first plugged mine in it downloaded some new firmware and software then proceeded to reboot, beep, reboot, beep a few times. Since then it has been rock solid.
Oh, and I find it useful to 'lock' the watch by pressing the bottom left button for a few seconds. This still shows the time but ignores everything until you unlock (by holding the bottom left button again).
A few times before I did this I would look down at the watch and it had responded to inadvertent touch screen activations and showing random screens.
Only occasionally, but still. It is extra useful for me as my 4 year old is obsessed with playing with it :-).
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Breaking barriers - First post-grad run😃
Great post graduation run.. 5k < 30 mins..
Post C25K and working up to actual 5K
post graduate, 3x 5k or 3x 30mins?
