It's the last week of the Speed Challenge already! It's gone by like a speedy speed challenge!! 😊
Although life has been getting in the way for some people, we still have had some extremely strong results coming through! Well done everybody, and check out the data here:
Any more results? Let me know in the comments below!
This week I hope to get scientific again - but I need your help!
The RUNNING WATCH has to be for many people their second most important piece of equipment (shoes would be first, I'd think!). These gadgets are so powerful nowadays, capable as they are of tracking your run, pace, heart rate, oxygen consumption, recovery rate, and more.
I'm sure that many of you know already, but I don't own a running watch myself. I think they are too expensive, and I don't like the idea of being able to see my pace all the time. I track my performance using Strava on my phone, and try to run by feel. However, I won't say I haven't been tempted! I can see that they could be a very useful performance tool, and I am of course very fond of nerding out on data 😊
So, people, I'd love it if you could SHARE YOUR EXPERIENCE of running watches in the comments below, particularly with respect to speed work!! Thank you 😁 Next week I'd like to bring it all together and chat about how we might be using technology, and all the other techniques we've discussed, to continue improving our running performance.
💥💥💥 And finally - keep it up!! It's the big push, so let's open up the throttle and see what we can do!!!!! 💥💥💥
Good luck and have fun!! 🤩
ju-ju-, Sqkr, and roseabi xxx
Follow this link for more info about the challenge:
unfortunately I had to stop this week. I am dealing with a bad flu and cough, I suspect a chest infection of some entity and I do not want to risk any degeneration due to running in the cold mornings... so no run in the last week
Gosh Abi, I do not feel so lonely in a completely different context of course.You are no 🦕
Love it.👏👏
Cannot contribute to the discussion, but I am all ears.
It must just be amazing to have a running watch and be competent in its use.💥
I think I am one of the senior’s and Teckie 🦕’s around here, cannot even get the assistance of Strava prompts consistantly, 🙈no playlist,🙈Laura and stamina podcast only🙈😂
You are a woman of steel and a Wonder Woman, and keep bringing it.
Yes Abi too true, open up that throttle, mitochondria renewal, run for your life,eye on the prize,
I missed the last 2 weeks' attempts but will have bash at my 5k PB again this week.
I use my Garmin 235 instead of phone+Strava. It uploads automatically to Strava when within blutooth distance of my phone etc. I've found the automatic "lap" vibrate data handy (default is 1km laps) so a handy ave pace update each 1km. I also set minimum pace alerts sometimes when I really want to beat a particular time. I have not set maximum pace alerts yet but I might do for races next year to stop me whizzing along at 5k PB pace in the first few kms of a HM or marathon! I will use the intervals function more in future too to focus on speed workouts (vibration alerts for 10 20 30s). There are also widgets available for Garmins (mini app type progs). One widget gives a continuously updated predicted finish time for major distances based on your realtime metrics, so I plan on testing that over the winter to see if it helps or hinders motivation. Can't be fun watching your predicted HM time go from 01:45:00 in the first 5km to 02:xx:yy during 10-21km period though! One surprising benefit of the watch which I had not expected cropped up during my Tallinn marathon where there were very few distance markers so I at least knew exactly how much pain was still to come at all times! I also suffer Long QT Syndrome which is a heart condition so my watch buzzes if I ever stray into Zone 5 heart rate zone and need to ease-up a bit, which is reassuring.
Wow, thanks Lordi! I can see that this post is going to tempt me even more!! And Christmas is coming... 😊
Having said that, I like the idea of the lap vibrate, and knowing how far along you are, but I wonder if that predicted finish time could be a route to madness 😂
Forgot to say that the Garmin 235 battery was up to a marathon and I finished with plenty of charge left even with enhanced gps (gps + glonass (russian gps)) for increased accuracy. It's not the prettiest watch though and can't double as a dresswatch/everyday/hiking watch like some as it's not very robust like its more expensive siblings ( Fenix or the new fancy Suunto Spartan). It is an "old" model now though, so I've noticed the prices have been slashed recently by 25% here in Finland. Probably as cheap as chips in UK.
I am due to run today post HM but my blister is lousy so it might be later in the week 🙂
Cheapo option for me run watch wise. Garmin F10 and Farmin F15. I got the F15 to ensure it would last me for the whole marathon It didn’t! The battery lasted no longer than the F10 What a waste of money I can’t afford anything better so there we are I am not bothered. I can’t see the watch face anyway while I'm running 🤓 I set auto lap yesterday but I didn’t see or hear it so It much point really ☺️😁. I don’t care about any of the other stats like heart rate or cadence blah blah blah I sometimes get a heart rate stat pop up on it. Dunno who’s it is. Can’t be mine as I don’t wear a strap or anything. I got one yesterday. I got a pop up message when downloadimg my race yesters That it was my highest heart rate ever 🤷♀️🤔
I have a heart-rate monitor watch but have rarely used it - not keen on the tight chest band that goes with it! I'd love a watch that could somehow accurately monitor my heart rate without the chest strap. Do they exist??
Instead I use Endomondo on my phone for every run (and to track all my workouts ... walking, hiking, yoga, weights, etc). I can change the programme for my interval training sessions, and on faster steady-paced runs change the audio feedback to give me my pace, avg pace and expected finish time every 0.1 miles (could be more or less often if I wanted to). That keeps me focused and would be particularly useful if I ever found a flat running route! I always seem to be running up or down hill though, no matter where I go so rather hard to accurately predict finish times until I'm within half a mile of the end
The new running watches use led lights to detect pulse/blood flow in the skin under the watch body, so no strap needed. I think the chest strap type are more accurate though.
No data to add since I was out last week, but my race pace yesterday dropped to 5:34 from the original 5:50 I started with in training so I can say with no hesitation that hills and intervals really do work!! As for the watch I use a Garmin vivoactive and love it. No weird data in a year’s use except for yesterday when it said I only used 900 calories for the half marathon. 🙄Pretty sure that was off since my slow 9k earlier in the week showed almost 1400 calories! Otherwise great. I set the pace zone feature yesterday to stay in a zone but then quickly ignored it and just tried to keep up with the pacer. It was good to check the pace from time to time though to see where things were at.
Did a speedy run after dark yesterday, cor the winter is definitely beginning to set in up here--it's the first run in the latter part of the year where it's set off the Reynaud's in my fingers! I don't wear gloves as they just get in the way but that meant I had no feeling in my hands for half my run Which is fiiiine, I don't use them for running anyway.
My results pleased me as as it was a PB (25.08 if you believe Garmin, but 25.00 on the nose if you take Strava--which naturally I am) and with a pace of 5.00min/km, but still a whole second off my target! Noooooooo! I might keep trying the faster runs after the challenge finishes till after the Supernova run in November, see if I can break the 24.59 barrier (ideally with both Strava and Garmin for avoidance of doubt!).
I have a Garmin 235 too, Garmo (I generally go with more original names but for some reason this just stuck!). I bought him a year ago and am very happy with him still. He does everything an amateur like me might need, and maybe a couple of things I don't really need but am interested in nonetheless. I like that you can download additional simple widgets and apps if you like, as mentioned by Lordi , but have so far only got as far as downloading a picture of a fat cat that is sad if you don't do enough steps. I only wear Garmo for running and don't really care about steps so he is often sad...sorry fat cat thing. Accuracy seems pretty good, caveats are that it's not perfect for recording distance accurately at elevation or under tree cover and tends to be very pessimistic compared to phone GPS--but it's probably as good as any device out there just now. Interestingly Strava recalculates its own results from the info supplied by Garmin's gpx file on upload and they don't always match! I think Strava is quite generous with rounding up calculations. The wrist-based heart rate monitor works really well for me but other people apparently have all sorts of hitches with optical monitoring (across all devices), so if you need accuracy for training purposes then by all accounts a chest strap is still the way to go.
I’m not doing very well. I’m in Crete this week and it’s extremely hilly so I’ve been focusing on getting out everyday rather than speed ( poor excuse I know). I have a Garmin 235 which is fab, I don’t look at it much, but I like to know my distance and I like all the stuff it does like HR etc.
Yes it’s a lovely route. Chilly start at the top and boiling by the time you reach the bottom - ready to cool off in the sea. I’ve walked it twice - not ran but very enjoyable.
No running this week and the challenge came at the wrong time. But I like to butt in 😀. I’ve got a Garmin 220 and think it's great. It’s big enough to see without my glasses for a start! You can have 3 pieces of info on each different screen so on first screen just have what you want to see, you don’t have to see pace if you don’t want. I have mine set to buzz and vibrate at each km, occaisionally it can’t be bothered to alert me but no real worry, I just look down for a few metres or miss it. It does have a chest strap which fits inslde my bra band and isn’t tight so it’s no bother. The box of tricks comes off when washing the strap. I have forgotten to take it off on a couple of occasions 😊 but it still works so it is robust.
Thank you - I was hoping for more people to butt in actually 😁
That actually sounds amazing! Like the sound of the chest strap. My husband gave me a chest strap heart rate monitor a couple of years ago and I found it horribly constricting. Only wore it once, and its software is now obsolete I think 😂
Just to be clear, it is a full ‘proper’ chest strap but doesn’t have to be tight as on me at least it sits inside my bra and stays in place. I use back fastening bras with at least 2 hooks - not up to wrestling in and out of racer backed ones 😄
Just did a quick google search for sports bra with heart monitor. Link below was the first I found. Looks like you press stud the “box of tricks” to the front (mine uses that method onto the strap). Might be worth looking into in more depth.
To be honest I only use it out of habit and to have something else to record. My figures column looks odd if there’s not hr number. I have a naturally high hr during exercise and am still chatting/not out of breath at figures I’m not even ‘supposed’ to reach at my age 😄. Always been like it. Used to worry me when younger but just a curiosity now.
Haha. Relive would like me to believe I was running with a heart rate of 204 at one point on Sunday - what am I? as fit as a 16year old? (it was just a spike and I suspect it was the moment when I was choking on my drink - maybe if I WAS just 16 I would be able to successfully drink, swallow, run and breathe all at the same time!). According to Garmin, my heart rate is almost always too high!
Not one of my targets on the speed challenge, but I managed a timed 10k pb of 47.10 today 😀. That’s almost 3 mins off my pb. Like Lordi, I made use of the pace thresholds on my Garmin 235 to stay in a fairly narrow window, with warnings for too quick (which triggered for the first 200m) and too slow which triggered a few times mid way through, telling me to focus and pick up the pace again. I also used the predicted finish time data field downloaded to the watch so I could put in extra effort if needed and know how I was fairing overall. I actually finished exactly on my target time so it worked perfectly! I am extremely pleased with the 235 I’ve had for a year, but am tempted by a Fenix 5x as it does mapping and I fancy doing some mountain trail half marathons at some point. Can’t really justify the expense though at the moment..but mapping may be a consideration for some. You can load in a gpx file of the route and it will display if you go off track. It can also suggest runs for you based on how far you’d like to run and your current location which is pretty neat 🙂
I doubt I’ll be able to get a 10km on my chosen route as I’m not back from holidays until Friday and I’ll probably feel compelled to do Parkrun on Saturday.
I did manage to get out for the local Parkrun this Saturday - always fun to do a new course as tourist. Strangely hilly for Norfolk, and I was pleased with 22.24 as a first timer. My first (and presumably last) top ten placing too! I hope to get a longer run sometime this week along the coast to Cromer; that’ll be nostalgic as I ran that way in Week 4 or 5 of C25k last year and it was one of those special runs that made me think ‘Yep, this is something I can do, and enjoy, and I’ll keep it up’.
Thanks for making this update about running watches - I’m in the market for one for Christmas hopefully! I don’t think I need too many bells and whistles really. Just accurate pace and timing would be nice.
I got out for my coastal 10k this morning. It’s been a lovely week of recharging batteries and I felt good good good.
Off I go on an out and back route. Wow, I’ve got jet powered boots! I’m Billy Whizz! I’m bounding up Beeston Bump like a man possessed! Definite PB pace. What strange magic is this?
4.5km - right lets turn for home. And the tail-wind that had been such a good friend without me realising it is suddenly like a brick wall in my face. Oh oh, now it makes sense.
I hate running into the wind. I’ve gone from 4’30 pace to 5’30 and I now feel distinctly peaky. 🤢 Shall I go back up and over the Bump or round it? No contest, round we go, and I manage to pick back up for 4’30 again for the last km.
50’22 in the end, and the Speed Challenge ends not with a bang, but a whimper. I think I’ve still got a lot to learn when it comes to running!
Thank you for organising this challenge Abi, it’s been fun to test myself over 10km rather than the usual 5 for parkrun. Much appreciated.
Looking forward to getting back to a gentler pace and longer runs during the week now though! I must try and get a ‘real’ half booked in; it seems so difficult to get a place for so many events though. Hackney is already only showing charity places.
Hi Roseabi, this evening I went out for my speed challenge run, and can report 5k in 38.01 minutes which is another PB. I even forgot to hit play on my music playlist before starting Strava, I knew it would be tough to get a faster time, but seemed to find the speed and am very pleased with my time.
Good luck to those still to complete their challenges. xx
Hi Jan, Abi’s SC has allowed me a very generous handicap after one month out hedge cutting.
It has been fun.👍👏👏
I hope some of the brillant runners come flying in and catch me on the line.👍☄️
If I could regain/beat my one and only sub 40 time of 39:32 I would be over the moon .💥
After 10 months I would really feel I had progressed from a techie🦕trotter, to a C25k’er canterer, and perhaps next year become a galloping gnome.🤔
It’s the knowledge,compassion and generosity of the forum that gets us there.
Of course we all have to apply ourselves to running, the golden thread that binds us and the forum together and as I have been learning on here, life itself through improved health.
Go Abi’s Speed challengers and of course everyone else,
Bring everything you have got and leave it all out there on your chosen distance and route.
Ah thank you Roseabi😊, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have acheived these results without your challenge. I'm naturally in the slow and steady brigade, not keen on the pressure of making pb's, starting much more quickly is tiring, but it has been great to see what I can do when I push myself!
Thank you for organising this challenge and well done to everyone😊xx
I am going to have one last crack at getting into the 7-7.99 min/km band tomorrow during this challenge.Not going to get such an opportunity for a number of weeks.
I think the splits add upto 41:19 for my attempt today.
Thank you Abi and well done on your marathon today.💥🏃♀️👑💥
So I left it to the very last minute but went out in the very quiet early hours Sunday (a lot quieter than I expected as I'd forgotten to set my clocks back an hour!) and ran a cheeky 5k PB attempt. Felt pretty good despite cold conditions (minus 1 and blustery) and knocked another 32 seconds off from 25:43 down to 25:11. Very happy to sneak in with a PB at the bell! I'm now going to have to nibble away at that 11secs like Sqkr did!
The true measure of the speed challenge is the fastest pace and most improved PB and it has been great to witness all of your performances on here.🏃♀️🏃♂️☄️☄️👏👏
I am the slowest and nor have I bettered my PB.But it has been a blast for this handicap bandit.
I am sure you will go sub 25 and good luck with the nibbling, your posts definately reflect more of a one bite man.I remember your 10K story and more.🤔🙈😂😂
Those data are not handicapped, they are the absolute best improvement times in s/km from each person's stated base time to their best recorded result.
I have been thinking about including comparable data in the results, for example by using the Reigel race time predictor formula to estimate what everyone's results would look like over the same distance. Also have considered handicapping the base paces so everyone starts off on a more equal footing. I'd need to hack into Strava and figure out how they normalise hilly routes (GAP) 😊
It's a lot of work, and tricky to make it fair to everyone ...
Not daft. I have just been thinking about it - by "handicapped" do you mean that everyone's starting times are set to zero on the graph? I did this just to make the graph easier to look at, but it doesn't change the results - the differences in speed are the same whether they start at 0 or 8 or anything 😊
The spread sheet and all your open invitation concept is fantastic.💥As is your dedication and knowledge.💥
I was just thinking firstly of my own situation, slowest pace by a mile, have not bettered my Only sub 40 of 39:32.Yes chose a new route and after a month out have made progress and thanks to your speed challenge.
I am top of the leader board at present,but only because of my initial generous starting point of 47 mins.
There are many others on the Oct Speed Challenge and previously who are in two or both categories,
1) they are the absolute quickest in the class over there chosen distance,and I understand the need to rationalise that to secs/km improvement.🤔
2) they have entered with a known PB which they have improved.I accept that is excluded.👍
Just thought that it maybe interesting at a glance to see the gold/silver and bronze standard in the class who meet the combination of the quickest pace together with the most improved PB.
Gosh and there are a few on this occasion, Sqkr,What’s app, Bluebird runner, Lordi, Floss, ColinSmith, Divemonkey, eg., and forgive me for leaving anyone out, and more, 🤔
Obviously anyone who during the speed challenge who has not improved their PB, is not a contender,
So from the spreadsheet 🤔and the contenders that did improve their PB, they are ranked firstly by the largest number of seconds of improvement and where their faster pace will determine their ranking also.
Just realised its complex and would need some clever weighting formulae.
But a gold, silver and bronze position on improved PB’s would be interesting to look at.
That is simply entry PB - newly achieved PB.🤔✅ during the 4 weeks.
Perhaps an idea for the future is to simply limit the maximum difference entrance time between a contender’s entry PB time and their chosen route current time to some eg. 4-5mins.🤔or 10-12 seconds/km.🤔or some appropriate difference.
So in other words do not disregard a contender’s PB result, but use it to arrive at their allowed route starting point allowance/challenge handicap.🤔
A bit like golf🤔, it’s a club contender’s choice, if they wish to compete in a scratch competition,they have to play off scratch(par for the course) and not to their more generous handicap.🤔.
I really do need locking up, but perhaps food for thought in the future.
Well, I think my fourth speed challenge run missed the deadline but I was determined to beat my target, so I wrapped up last night and got a quick 5k in, round my lovely, cool Meadows night garden. And I did it! Hooray! 5k in 24.47 (avoiding to conservative Garmo, 24.41 if you listen to over enthusiastic Strava). I found it quite tough and was definitely at threshold speed, and I shouted at a lot of people (people in the cycle path, cyclists in the people path, students all over everyone's path) because I'm clearly quite an angry person when I'm running. But I was pleased, it took a while to break into the 24 minute zone and I know I'm hardly Speedy Gonzalez, but it was a great milestone to beat. Now of course I have another, 24.30 🤣 Oh it never ends!
Congrats Sqkr! I'm now right behind you at 25:11 (PB this morning). I hadn't really thought about the 25min barrier but now that it is suddenly so close I know how you felt!
At about 24.30 I started looking at my watch and shouting (between heaving breaths) COME ON YOU B*****D and I've no idea if I was shouting at myself, my Garmin or just time itself. Suffice to say I've been in Scotland too long if it's that kind of language that motivates me. But it worked! 😂 Would recommend.
Did my last run today but a little slower.42 something.
But l posted a 41:19 yesterday 27/10/18 and serves as my week4 run.Hope that is Ok Abi.
I am delighted with my 28 days of your speed challenge and although I was unable to get back to sub 40 mins,I have recovered from 9:00-9:59 to 8:00-8:59 band mins/km.That positions me nicely to progress my goal.
Thank you Abi for all your hard work and giving so much enjoyment.
It’s all just magic and so are you and the team of Admins.
No week 4 entry for my 5k’s as I decided to take things easy this weekend and did the hilly 5k in ~32mins. I ran a 10k pb earlier in the week and did a 21k long run too. I’ve really enjoyed the challenge again this month, and looking forward to improving further I hope. I’ve been running for 11months now, so it will be interesting to see where the next year takes me speed and distance wise. Many thanks again for all your efforts on this challenge Abi, and well done to everyone too! 😀
So, not too many opportunities to run my hilly home 5k route this month, what with extended trips to Beauly, North Yorkshire and Edinburgh, but I sneaked in two attempts this week, on Monday and this morning. Monday was not great - very blustery, with a killer headwind on the already tricky uphill run to the finish - avg pace 10m 24s per mile - ugh! Happily, today dawned calm and coooold ... got to bed at 3 am after a late ceilidh dance, and did a lot of hiking this week, so not the ideal preparation for an attempt at fast running - and my legs weren't feeling very sprightly during my warm up lunges! Anyway, excuses aside, I ran as hard as I could for as long as I could, and gasped and spluttered my way to an average pace of 10m 3s per mile ... annoyingly slightly outside my target of 10m per mile, but still a good improvement over the start of the month. My second best run on this route (best was early August), so now that I *think* I'll be mostly at home for the next couple of months, perhaps I can keep focussing on my fitness, and will be eating out a lot less, and in the gym a lot more!
Thanks for spurring me on to improve my speed with this challenge - you're a great motivator!!
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Which is fiiiine, I don't use them for running anyway. 
