Austin Marathon – Run Live Sleep Repeat
I’ll be running my second marathon in Austin, TX this February. Bill will be running his first half marathon. I’m so excited to start training but won’t begin until October. I’m building in a couple of extra weeks in my plan for wiggle room with holiday business and potential sickness. I’ll probably end up using the Run Less, Run Faster plan again, but this time replace one of my cross-training days with an easy run. And work in more hills into my training than I did last time.
Garmin Forerunner 405 Review
Well, I’ve been using my new Garmin Forerunner 405 since mid-May. I’ve been meaning to write a review sooner, but life has happened.
Earlier this year I started to run more than 2-3 miles eat a time and wanted an easier way to calculate my distance and pace. Mid-January I got a Nike+, basically because I wanted something but didn’t want to spend too much since I still wasn’t sure how committed to running I was. The Nike+ is cheap. I used it with my kids’ Nano. But I had issues with the Nike+: figuring out how to carry the Nano was always tricky; adjusting volume, or skipping a song, or checking current pace was difficult without messing with my workout; and it wasn’t very accurate even with re-calibration.
As I got closer to the half marathon, I new how committed I was to running, and how much I enjoyed it. REI’s Anniversary Sale was perfect timing. The new Garmin Forerunners had come out by then, and REI had a couldn’t pass up sale on the Garmin Forerunner 405 with heart rate monitor. So mid-May, I finally had my own new fancy GPS watch.
And I love it. I have a math background, with a statistical emphasis, and I’m crazy about data and numbers. Running has been a ton of fun, but now it’s even more fun. There’s so much I like about my Garmin. The size/weight has not been an issue as I feared. It’s not petite. But I’m able to tighten it enough that it doesn’t bounce around. I do have quite a tan line forming, but I don’t care a bit. The other problem I’ve read about the watch is the bezel. But it’s been working for me. I’m mostly used to navigating through the menus by now. And I haven’t had problems with accidently stopping or pausing a workout. It has three separate views of data fields (in addition to the heart rate view) and are totally customizable. I’ve found that having one with lap pace/lap time/lap distance, one with avg pace/total time/total distance and one with current speed/total time/total distance works great for me. The current pace while running seems to fluctuate way too much and just makes me anxious. The lap pace is the view I use the most while running. I have it set up to lap at each mile. So it’s been easy to see if I’m on pace for each mile as I’m running.
I’ve tried to use the interval feature but find that I don’t have the same flexibility when it comes to views. But I can start a new lap by the press of a button. So recently when I did a track workout (400 m with jog intervals in between) I could press the lap button at the beginning and end of each 400 m lap and be able to see all of my splits for each 400 m and each rest interval. Very nice.
The Garmin also has a biking mode which I’ve been using. I think the only difference between the two is that it’ll calculate your calories differently. While biking, I’ll use the current speed view since I don’t have a bike computer. I’m so new to biking that this works for me. But I can imagine adding the cadence accessory some day, once that’s something I think I need to keep track of.
I’ve only used the heart rate monitor once. It took a little getting used to having the strap around my chest. But after a mile or two, I didn’t notice it. I mostly pay attention to my breathing. I know how it sounds when my heart rate is getting to the top. I’m not sure how much I’m going to use the monitor. I think it would be nice to periodically use it for a 10min/mile test and see how my fitness is increasing as I train more.
I know there’s a lot more I can do with the Garmin that I haven’t tried, geocaching and uploading planned routes to the watch are a couple I can think of off the top of my head. I also haven’t taken the time to figure out how to upload workouts to any of the training logs I use. I’ve been using Garmin Connect to view the maps of my workouts. It’s so much fun to see the maps, especially if I’ve been out of town (a lot lately) or taking a crazy route. It’s easy to read all of my data from the workout, splits/heart rate/pace.
So I’m super happy that I got the Garmin. I love the instant feedback as I run. And it’s great to just head out the door and run, and not have to map it out ahead of time.
Finished Project-Capstone Sweater
Project Specs:
Pattern: Designed by me for the WEBS Expert Knitter Program.
Yarn: Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino, color 203
Needles: US 3
Size: 36″
My Ravelry Link
It feels so good to have the sweater finished. Even though I had 5 months to work on it, I carefully created a schedule back in January of when I needed to finish each component, I finished it on the due date, only a few hours to spare. What can I say, I’m really good at procrastinating.
There are things I would do differently if I did it over again, but overall, I’m really happy with the sweater. It feels like it’s me.
Yarn Frenzy
It was once again amazing watching the excitement of the WEBS Tent Sale this year. I especially enjoyed every time more FREE YARN was put out, gone in a flash.
Capstone Sweater
The fronts and back are done blocking for my capstone sweater. But I have two questions, what kind of sleeves should I make and what would be a better name than “capstone sweater”.
I’ve Been Torn
It’s been almost five months since my last post. I started this blog to keep track of my knitting projects. But with Ravelry, and now Facebook, posting on the blog just hasn’t made it to the top of the list. But I’m ready to give it another shot.
So a super quick update of projects. This is what I’ve finished since the iSock (which I still love).
See, I haven’t just been sitting around doing nothing. Sure I hope to post more complete posts for each project. But with the holidays around the corner, I don’t see a lot of free time coming my way.
Beautiful Mia
I love it when I get to see a knitted gift in use. On my recent trip to Portland, I got to see my niece Mia in her Sweet Pea Sacque.
Perfect! She makes it look so cozy. And check out her cool baby leggings. These were not around when I had babies. Things change so quickly.
Finished Project: Hemlock Ring Blanket
First off, thanks so much to Michelle who responded with lightning speed to my request on Ravelry for more Eco Wool. It arrived in the mail so quickly. You’re awesome.
Project Specs:
Pattern: Hemlock Ring Blanket by Jared
Yarn: 2 hanks of Cascade Ecological Wool, color 8095
Needles: US 10 circular 40″ and 60″
Size: about 128 rounds, 54″ in diameter
My Ravelry Link; My Blog Links: The Search Begins
I knit beyond the 87 rows until I ran out of yarn. It turned out to be a nice sized afghan, but not big enough for two.
It was fun and easy knitting lace on heavy worsted yarn. I loved knitting the center flower, and the feather and fan pattern was easy to memorize after a couple rounds.
The Search Begins
I was so close to finishing my Hemlock Ring Blanket, and then this happened.
I ran out of yarn with only a few stitches left to bind off. This bind off eats up the yarn and is time consuming. I don’t want to rip back and try the bind off on smaller needles. And I can’t bear to buy another 478 yards just to finish this little bit of knitting. I’m going to try to find someone who can spare just a little yarn, maybe a few yards will do.
Anybody have some Cascade Ecological Wool color 8095 in any dye lot? Pretty please?
Same Story Here
Yes, I’m still very busy at work. There’s lots of new spring yarns coming in every day. And we’re starting to get ready for Stitches West. This is the first time I will be going along.
And with the busy holidays, there was essentially no blogging time. Whole months go by now without me noticing. Well and Ravelry has taken about what little blogging time I do have. My stash is all up there now, all 56,000 yards of it. All my projects are up too, but not with all the details. That will happen over time.
I have two projects I’m really focusing on right now. Most important is the sweater for Bill. I’ve got the back done, and the front has a few more inches to go. The DK ribbing on a men’s large sweater is going so slowly. But I’m determined to finish soon.
The other project I’m working on is the Hemlock Ring Blanket. It’s a fun and easy pattern. It’s moving along quickly. I’m trying to keep up with the Ready, Set, Knit! Podcast.
And with working full time this last year, my movie watching dropped tremendously. But I did manage to watch enough to compile my annual Best and Worst lists. I absolutely loved The Lives of Others and The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. Go see these movies, now.
