Stumped by the lingo and gizmos

When I dreamed of coming back to running I thought it would be like riding a bike. Actually,  no. I thought it would be like running, something we’ve all done since we first learned how to put one foot in front of the other. And it was…for the most part. I got out there and it was as though I had never left, the wind in my face, the burn in my thighs, the spreading and releasing of my toes with each foot strike I made; a feeling more familiar than the back of my hand.

But then, three weeks ago, it all changed. Suddenly I was being stumped, stumped by all the running lingo and gizmos – terminology and technology I thought would forever be stamped not only in my feet but also in my brain.

Cadence? Tempo? LSD? (Okay, that one I remembered, but only because it reminds me of something else ;)) What the hell was all that???

I am now well into the second month of my running comeback, and it seems, according to Coach NZ, I’ve built a foundation around my running. The first month we concentrated on reacquainting my feet, legs, hips and core with the pavement. There was no Garmin to track my pace, or to measure my distance, or to sound the alarms for walk breaks. It was just me and my shoes running with the freedom of the wind before us.

But now, that welcome back banner is gone, replaced by my nemesis: SPEED!

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Month 2, Week 1: my first tempo run. Uh what now? For the life of me I could not recall what the hell I was to do on a tempo run. I knew it called for a faster pace, but how fast? Was it just a slight increase? Could I still run and chat if I so desired? Or was I to give it my all and feel like my heart would pop out of my chest (along with my dinner!)?

I opted for the latter. I still hadn’t pulled my Garmin out of the drawer at this point, and so to ensure I was putting a decent effort in, I figured I’d do the talk test. If I could have a conversation, I wasn’t working hard enough…the only problem, I didn’t have anyone to have that conversation with. But hey, it was dark, the boardwalk was near deserted, I figured, I could huff out a few words. So I asked myself “How are you doing,” and myself responded, “Just fine thank you,” which indicated to me that I wasn’t going fast enough… and to the dude who appeared out of nowhere (and who was quickly inching as far away from me as possible) that I was most definitely a crazy person. Hehe 🙂

TODAY’S RUN:

  • 8 a.m. BG before: 10.1
  • Temp. basal: none
  • Distance: 6.4 km
  • Pace: 6:26 min/km
  • Time: 42 minutes
  • 9 a.m. BG after: 6.2

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Beautifully crisp sunny morning = perfect for a run 🙂

And then came my Garmin run. After nearly a year since I last strapped the Garmin around my wrist, setting that bloody thing up was like trying to figure out quantum mechanics! I was pressing button after button, causing beeps here, beeps there, it honestly took 10 minutes to get it properly set up for a 15:1 interval run – and that was after the debacle of waiting for the satellites to kick in, which took forever!!!

For those of you who don’t live surrounded by condos, check out this video I did back in 2010, it will show the MANY frustrations I deal with when it comes to Mr. Garmin.

Yep. Once again, I am a slave to the lingo and technology!

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