Tag Archives: running

Turkey Day Coming Up!

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Okay, so I want to stuff my face with a big ‘ol turkey leg, stuffing, pumpkin pie, cranberry sauce, and not the real berries, that gooey stuff in a can… you know, where you cut out both ends of the can and the stuff sort of “oozes” out and lays there quivering. Yum!
But I don’t want to start putting on my annual “Holiday Pounds” already so… I entered the Detroit “Turkey Trot 10K” on November 27th, just before lunch! Burn it off…. pack in on!

November 27th, 2008 Detroit Michigan

So, hopefully the snow won’t be flying, and the temps are above 0 C. (Although it may help to keep the crowd down a little.) It looks like last year there were about 5-6000 runners in the two races. (A 5K and a 10K)

Double Left click on map to enlarge, double right click to reduce.
Click and drag to move map around.

Until the last gelatinous turkey leg is consumed,
George

Software and Running = Part 4

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Okay so I love the Garmin and it makes recording the results of training and races such as tracking mileage, time, pace, heart rate and so on so simple.

. . . but it seems I often sometimes once in a blue moon forget to hit the “stop” button at the end of the race/workout. I am usually so excited that I made it to the end without passing out that thinking about stopping the watch doesn’t occur until my brain gets oxygenated enough to think of things like that!

I just ran the greatest race of my (very short) running career! All the stars, moons and planets were in perfect harmony with Mother Nature and my circadian rhythm. When I crossed the finish line and saw the timer and heard the beep of the timing mat I knew I had just officially set a new PR!! Elated I get the timing chip off the shoe without falling over, I stagger over and grab a bottle of water, a banana, a handful of cookies single very small sized cookie, and start to regain focus in my eyes. Dang it all, the watch is still running, and now the pace appears to be super slow, and the GPS track looks like a drunken ant has crawled around on my computer screen. Now, what to do…. The Garmin Training Center software is useless, it will grab the data from the watch, record it and that is about all. I can download the data from the watch to SportTracks, see all the data and the map UGH!! Look at that mess! Ah HA! SportTracks will let me split an entry! So I lop off the extra data based on a careful analysis of the time or distance looking at the expanded map, delete the overage “split” and now I have my official time and the run in SportTracks looking pretty good. But that doesn’t help me in either Garmin Training Center or Runners Studio, since I can only export in Fitlog or CVS and cannot import anything other than a TCX file into Runners Studio.

TCX Converter to the rescue! I found a reference to this software on a blog and tried it out. After several false starts I got the combination of exports and imports down to where it is not all that difficult to edit and save a file.
• Import run data into SportTracks.
• Split the run at the correct point.
• Delete the extra split that shows up now.
• Export from Sport Tracks as a “fitlog” file. (Which seems to be the one that saves all the data including Heart Rate information.)
• Import the new XXX.fit file into TCX Converter.
• Save as a new TCX file.
• Import the data into Runners Studio as a new run.
(Oops problem here is right now I cannot import as a “Race” which is different than a workout, and a workout apparently cannot be converted to a race once it is in Runners Studio.) Hopefully there will be a cure for that in the next release of Runners Studio. It may just be an oversight that only CVS files can be imported as a Race, since there isn’t much difference between a workout and a race.

In the following picture I have removed the course name so it is blank, I have selected the “Export” tab and then the “Export as TCX”, which then gives me the option to select the Activity Type from a pick list.

Click on the picture to see a larger image.

Net result is that I am happy all the way around, thanks to the TCX Converter utility. Now, if they would only add the ability to trim a file right inside of TCX Converter I would have “the perfect solution”. Since it can already read the data from the Garmin FR 305 directly, it would make it a import, trim and export operation which could be used by the other programs!

You can check out TCX Converter at
Unless you read Italian use the “Convert to English” button.

UPDATE: The latest version of TCX Converter is 1.7.1, it now has the ability to cut off the excess time! It can also change the type of activity since it seemed like I was getting a default value that I did not want.
Looking at the points find the time you want to end the track at, and just right click and select the “Remove the points below this” option from the drop down.

Click on the picture to see a larger image.
Until the last time I forget is forgotten,

George

Software and Running = Part 3

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Continuing review of the equipment I use to create, track and record my workout efforts.
Here is a review of SportTracks software.

While I really like the Runners Studio software for tracking all the workouts, races and planned races when I started it did not do quite everything I wanted, such as data import from Garmin, create maps of routes, etc. Even though many of those items are available now, I still put the data into another program, SportTracks. The approach taken with this software is a little different, it is open for the user community to create “plug-ins” much like the WordPress blog software allows. This allows the creativity of the entire user community to think up ways to enhance and improve the basic software. (Not that it is particularly lacking, just that 5,000 heads are better than one.)

The software with all its plugins (currently there is something like 42 different ones listed) makes for a lot of options! The downside to all this is, for me anyway, not as intuitive use as Runners Studio. Using a series of views, each one which can do different things requires some clicking around to get it to show what you desire it to. Then within the view there are options also. You have to pay attention to all the “triangles” which you use to open up the different options. I wrote in to the forums asking about editing an event after searching for some time, the answer, which was polite, but made me feel sort of dumb, just click on the triangle after the “Event” and make your choice. D’oh.

After months of use I still find the ability to download data from a GPS you wear on your wrist and create a map of the activity accurate to within feet of where you walk on the entire planet to be pretty amazing. ????? ?????? (maybe I am just easily impressed or amazed.)

Sport Tracks is really good, but have not found a good way to schedule future races in it. There are some plug in’s that will let you do it, but not the way I want it, and even if you get it, you have to dig down through several menus to find it. Conversely Runners Studio puts them right on the home page so you can see them quite easily. Actually there is not a good “home page” for Sport Tracks, maybe something that could be considered. ??????????? ??????? A simple overview of the major things tracked. Weekly mileage, shoe use, upcoming races, even maybe a way to check which things the user would like to see. Sort of how iGoogle page creation works.

You can check out what they have to say about Sport Tracks and download an evaluation version from https://www.zonefivesoftware.com/SportTracks/.

There are several other solutions, most of which are web based. These have the advantage of access from anywhere, or any computer, the down side of not being able to access from behind a firewall (like at work) or if the site decides to go to a paid version, or worse close the doors. ????? ??? ???? Your years of data could be gone. They may be nice and allow an export of all the data, but then again . . . or even if they do would it be in a format compatible with another program.

Until the final waypoint is created,
George

Next TCX Converter.

Software and Running = Part 2

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In which I continue the monologue on equipment and software I use to track exercise efforts.

Software for recording Running and Races. The first software I got for tracking workouts and races was Runners Studio. I have been using it for about nine months at this point. I really like the layout of the software, it is easy to navigate and has a nice visual appeal. One of my favorite features is the “upcoming race” calendar/listing.  You can enter races that you want to run or are thinking about running into the software and it lists them all in a page view. The view includes customizable columns so you can add/remove what you want to see, or rearrange the order of the columns. The entries may also be sorted by different columns such as date of race, have you registered yet, length of race, etc. The view also shows the number of days remaining until race day, a very handy visual to use for planning. It also quickly reminds you of how many days there may be between races, so if you need to set priorities it is easy to do.

A short list of my favorite features:

  • Import data from Garmin Training Center. Much easier than entering all the lap data manually, also includes elevation, heart rate, etc.
  • Track run data from GPS using Google Earth with a click of the mouse.
  • Track shoe useage to see how many miles you put on them.
  • Goals you can set for about any combination of miles, time, pace, weight, etc
  • Mega-Goals which can be set to see how far you run in total, can you make it around the world? I’m just working on getting from California to New York…..
  • Upcoming races which I mentioned.
  • Race history which lists all the races you have entered, your goal and the results.

I could list everything the program does, but it would be easier for you to visit his web page, read what he has to say, and then download the software and try it out!

The program is constantly being updated, and the author seems receptive to adding new features that are requested as he has done for my requests several times. There is still a “wish list” I have for him, but it is getting closer to my ideal program with every revision!

Kensington 15K – Ann Arbor Track Club – AATC

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A first for me, a 15K or 9.2 mile race. Longest race to date! Having done a few training runs of 10-12 miles I decided I could tackle this race. I am happy to say the ambulance did not carry me off, and while I would have liked to finish higher in my age group, overall I am in the top 50% (48% actually). Again this shows the fitness level of 55-59 year olds that I am up against! In that group I was 17 out of 20 which puts me in the bottom 15%! A big difference.

Kensington Metro Park is one of the larger, if the not largest in the area. It encompasses the large lake and is quite a nice setting. Lots of activites we may try some time, horseback riding, biking and maybe even some walking.  You can see the pictures of the park and the race Since the path loops the lake there are not so many of the actual race.

The Kensington Challenge 15K

By the numbers

By the numbers:

a) 15 Kilometers = 9.2 miles.

b) ran at a 10:02 per mile pace, 1:33:24 total time.

c) finished 229 out of 473 overall, so finished in the top 48% of all runners.

d) finished 17 out of 20 in my age group.

e) had a great time, which was the real race goal!

The race went great, a new PR for me, and a pretty good pace.

From Last Post:

You know, I am sorta getting an urge to try a half marathon… but trying to resist until next year. Just barely doing the 5 mile thing right now. Maybe I will try a 10 miler before I make the jump. There should be some coming up yet this year. We’ll see.

Okay, that’s done, now do I go and try the Detroit Free Press Half Marathon in October?

Web site tracking of races.

The race is in it’s 25th year and is presented by the Ann Arbor Track Club. https://www.aatrackclub.org/

Until the final winding path is run and the hills are all level,

George

Northville Road Runners 8K. . . er. . .8K?

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The 2008 Northville Road Runner Classic is now in the books. (For information on next years race, go to https://www.northvilleroadrunners.org/nrr/index.html )

The Northville Road Runner 8K

The race was a combination of trail and pavement, maybe 3 miles asphalt and 2 miles trail with an official total of 4.8 miles. (thats what 8K is, right.)

While the hills were nothing like the Road Ends trail race, they were still long and steep enough to get the thighs burning. More hill work on the training schedule!!

The Northville Road Runner 8K - #49

By the numbers:

a) 8K, or 4.8 miles.

b) ran at a 10:03 per mile pace, 49:43 total time (0:45:00 total time pre-race guess)

c) finished 126 out of 165 overall, so finished in the top 76% of all runners. . .

d) finished 5 out of 5 in my age group. It’s tough when the #3 overall finisher is in your age group! Definitely something to aspire to!

e) had a great time, which was the real race goal!

There are a few pictures available which I will get posted sometime.

Until the final hill is conquered,

George