Tag: Running Gear

Getting ready for Comrades: Ultramarathon books

Now that I have a clearly identified goal of Comrades 2010 in front of me, I surely need to get myself up-to-date on how to best prepare for that. Training plans, injury prevention, foot care, salts, energy gels, these are just some of the things which I want to know more about, and since I do not have a personal coach, books are the best friends.
So, after reading reviews, following discussions on the best ultramarathon references, I ordered the following books on ultramarathon running (or related aspects):

  • Lore of Running by Timothy Noakes
    Lore of Running gives you incomparable detail on physiology, training, racing, injuries, world-class athletes, and races.
  • Ultramarathon Man: Confessions of an All-night Runner by Dean Karnazes (Read)
    “Ultra Marathon Man” is Dean Karnazes’ story: the mind-boggling adventures of his nonstop treks through the hell of Death Valley, the incomprehensible frigidity of the South Pole, and the breathtaking beauty of the mountains and canyons of the Sierra Nevada. Karnazes captures the euphoria and out-of-body highs of these adventures.
  • Running Through the Wall: Personal Encounters with the Ultramarathon by Neal Jamison (Read)
    What makes ultrarunners tick? What goes through their minds at mile 93? How can you train for such a colossal undertaking? An inspiring collection of 39 personal stories from ultramarathoners.
  • Ultrarunning: My Story by Mike Bouscaren (Read)
    There is nothing complicated about running. It is merely one foot in front of the other, the most basic mode of transportation. Yet run long enough and a transition takes place where running becomes rich with meaning and intuition. It is this road to spiritual insight that Mike Bouscaren pursues by doing races beyond the marathon, where oxygen comes hard, electrolytes deplete, and life is stripped down to real, true, honest, simple meaning.
  • A Step Beyond: A Definitive Guide to Ultrarunning by Don Allison (Currently Reading)
    a comprehensive compendium on ultrarunning, this guide provides an exhaustive range of information for everyone who wants to learn about ultrarunning, train for their first ultramarathon, or improve upon their last.
  • Fixing Your Feet: Prevention and Treatments for Athletes by John Vonhof
    From heels to toes, products to pathology, resources to rehabilitation, this book has it all. An essential guide… — Runner’s World, July, 2000

As always, I got most of these from firstandsecond.com, for the first time a book from flipkart.com, and for the first time books from amazon.com (which were not available through any of the Indian online book stores).

A couple of more books which are in my to-buy list are as below:

I have some travel coming up in the next few days, so will just sit back and enjoy my time.

First day experience with Garmin Forerunner 305

After having spent the last 3 years with my Polar RS200sd Heart Rate Monitor Watch (Red)
with footpod and HRM (currently USD 195), it was time to move on. I never turned into a person who gave a damn about how his heart beat, though I do give a big damn of how my heart ‘thinks’, and that’s enough to keeps me running. Plus, the Polar with its footpod was never consistent enough with the pacing and distance, and that was a big turn off for me, even though its HRM technology is considered the best out there.

Its no surprise that I ordered the Garmin Forerunner 305 GPS Receiver With Heart Rate Monitor (USD 162). It is the most popular device in the world in its category, and has consistently been in the Amazon Bestsellers in Electronics list, currently at #13 there. I got it over Amazon, had it delivered to a contact’s address in US, and had my friend pick it up for me while on a trip. Delivery happened in a couple of days of order placement, cool.

So, the day I got my watch, I was back from work early to play with it. Installed the latest version of the training software, Garmin Training Center. Also, got the firmware upgraded to the latest, greatest and just released version 2.90 while the watch was shipped with the previous version 2.80. Charging happened over the USB over computer, and it did get hold of a few satellites from my apartment balcony.

Next day morning, I was out with my toy, trying to test out its accuracy. I am hugely sensitive to having distances measured accurately, whether it is someone organizing a 5K, 10K or a marathon, or whether I am doing my leisurely daily jog. So, this park near my place has a Google pedometer / mapmyrun / dailymile measured perimeter of 1.44 KM. I ran three rounds of it and got readings of 1.42, 1.43 and 1.43, and that was good enough for me. Bang for my bucks.

There’s lot more to play, and all of that will take time. There’s a virtual partner you can setup with a fixed pace or completion time, and then the watch will help you to keep up with him. There are workouts you can setup on your computer and ‘schedule’ to your watch to be run on specified days. Looking forward to learning all that and more.

More updates: Over the next several weeks, I have run multiple 10K runs over the same 1.43K route, and have got very precise distance measurements. Most laps are 1.43, and an occasional 1.42 or 1.44, so this is as good as I can expect it to be. I now have a lot of confidence that the pace I am seeing on the watch is the true pace, something I never got to believe with the Polar one.

I guess I will just put my Polar at 50% rate on eBay and see how it goes. The footpod may not be that accurate for me, and maybe someone will buy it just for its HRM capabilities (Update June 9: Sold).

Interested? Check out these two devices at Amazon store:

Garmin comes out with 2 gems: Forerunner 405CX and 310XT

I love the look of both the GPS watches, particularly the uber sexy Garmin Forerunner 310XT GPS Watch, which is like an updated Garmin Forerunner 305 model. Check out the story from Engadget for details. Below is an image for your viewing pleasure.

These are now available at the Garmin stores as well as online on Amazon, $369 for the Garmin Forerunner 405CX, $349 for the Garmin Forerunner 310XT. I will probably wait for the prices to stabilize a bit before going for the kill.