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December 26, 2004
Technological Advances
I am very excited about the training tool I received from my mother for Christmas. It is called a Forerunner 201 and it uses GPS signals to determine the speed you're running at and how to navigate to a preset destination. Thus, when I am running all alone in South Africa, not only can I set a Virtual Partner to help me keep a consistent pace, but I can also find my way back to the dorm when I get lost. It also has other neat features, such as an alarm that can alert me when I run too fast (which sounds rather useful), and a very helpful interval option that allows me to set a specified rest distance or time between intervals. I am very interested to try this in the boat once I return to William Smith as well, as it could provide very useful information for the coxswain, rowers, and coach.
Alas, my virtual training partner beat me this afternoon. However, in my defense, not only did s/he (I have not decided upon a suitable name yet, but I am accepting recommendations...) not experience the effects of gravity up some rather large hills, but s/he also did not have to run in the inch or so of snow that was steadily accumulating for the duration of the 45 minute run. Therefore, I shall pick a more adventageous terrain and precipitation status for my next run, in order to train fairly with my virtual partner. As I cannot train indoors with my partner on a treadmill because 1) GPS signals can't pass through buildings, and 2) that would be silly, because I wouldn't be moving anyway, it looks like I have just made the transition to outdoor running. I have already sent a memo to my shins to make sure they don't do anything I wouldn't approve of...
Posted by rgutwin at December 26, 2004 11:45 PM