I searched online for a solution, but the news isn’t good; it appears the battery inside the wrist unit will no longer hold a charge and is actually quite a common problem. Several newsgroups, forums and even the Garmin web site suggested a soft reset — which is performed by pressing the lap and mode buttons at the same time, and then pressing the power button to switch the unit on — but this didn’t help at all.

I also read several blog posts where 305 owners had taken their units apart to check the battery connections – a bit too drastic a solution for my liking. I guess I’ll contact Garmin in the next couple of days to find out what my options are, but my gut feeling is that a repair will be almost as expensive as buying a brand new unit with full warranty.

I’ll let you know what Garmin comes back with….

After yesterday’s treadmill run, it was great to get outside again for a late afternoon run in the sun. With the temperature in the mid-80′s I knew it could be a tough workout, but I planned on averaging seven minute miles for eight miles if I could last the pace. To err on the side of caution I decided to run the first half slower than seven minute pace with the intention of picking things up later on.

The first mile came in at 7:30; right where I expected it to be. I quickened slightly for the next two (7:19 and 7:23) before taking advantage of a nice 10mph tailwind to record a 7:06. Well, that was the easy part over with – time to quicken the pace and see what was left in the tank. It turned out to be quite a lot and I enjoyed running free and easy back towards the house.

Two sub-7:00 miles (6:42 and 6:43) lowered the average pace to around 7:10 per mile, and with a crazy-fast 6:16 I’d met my goal. Now it was just a question of holding on, and trying not to think how thirsty I was.

Great workout and I’m feeling good about the upcoming 20-week marathon plan that begins June 30th.

The temperature for the run was great (just under 80°F), but the moderate SW wind meant the air was filled once again with the smoky air from the wildfires still burning in North Carolina. I headed outside, waited a few minutes to get a good lock on the satellites and set off fairly fast to hit my planned pace of 7:00/mile.

The first mile came in at 6:43 and a quick glance at the Garmin screen had me 119 feet ahead of the Virtual Partner! Unintentionally I quickened in the second mile and recorded a 6:15, but I was still feeling good and pushed on to the halfway mark. 6:20 for the third mile, but by now I was feeling thirsty and went in search of a water fountain.

Despite several soccer games being played, the first three fountains I found were shut off. Luckily the fourth was switched on and I took 20 seconds or so to rehydrate and cool myself off. Not surprisingly this mile was slower (6:49) but I picked it up again for the final two miles and finished with a couple of 6:22′s.

The victory sound played when the 10k distance was complete and I was surprised to find I was almost half a mile ahead of my Virtual Partner – most satisfying in a geeky kind of way.

So, all in all a good run today and a nice way to finish off the week. 43 miles isn’t bad at all and coupled with the last two weeks of 40 miles, my base is almost ready to launch myself into a 20-week marathon training plan for the Richmond Marathon in November.

Here’s something a little different – GPS stats of a Friday morning dog walk with my two Golden Retrievers, Floyd and Morgan. Temperature was a wonderful 60°F with a gentle cooling breeze out of the south west. We averaged 15 minute mile pace which considering some of the traffic light stops isn’t bad at all.

Have a great weekend everyone!

–Steve

Ran a steady eight miles during my lunch hour today. I’m still feeling a bit sluggish for some reason and am wondering if last week’s 20 miler took more out of me than I first thought. Last week was also my highest mileage of the year so far – just over 58 miles – and today’s 8 miles bumps my monthly total to 225 – also the best of the year.

On a positive note, I was able to gradually pick up the pace and did start to feel more lively towards the end of the run. All is not lost, April should be a good month and I’m looking to build on the first three months of 2008.

Despite taking a rare day off from running yesterday, I could still feel Thursday’s 20 miler in my legs, so today was quite a slog in the wind and not as easy a run as I’d hoped for. I did manage to duck under an average 7 minute mile pace, but to be honest it was quite a struggle.

Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day!

Where is this crazy February weather coming from? High 60′s tonight and expected temperatures in the mid-70′s for the next couple of days! Not that I’m complaining of course…

Tonight’s run was definitely going to be an easy mid-distance run with no heroics and no foolish race against the clock like yesterday. Saturday’s race and Sunday’s brisk 5 miler actually took a lot out of my shins and they’ve felt quite tender all day long, so the decision was made to stay off the road as much as possible and find some soft grass to run on instead. Oh yes, my planned pace was somewhere between 7:30 and 8:00 minutes per mile.

More of a precaution than anything else, I taped both shins and set off into the sunshine. The warm air felt great, but to be honest the run was actually quite uneventful. I headed to the local soccer fields and, as you can see from the MotionBased map, ran up and down, corner to corner to make sure I stayed on the grass. The soft surface felt good and helped minimize the impact to my shins, but soon I was on my way home and back on the concrete.

I also managed to stick to a sensible pace. Each of the seven miles were between 7:31 and 7:46, so it was nice to log some easy miles without too much stress to the system. Not sure what the plan is tomorrow, but with temperatures in the mid-70′s I’ll be sure to run outside and save a treadmill workout for later in the week when the weather takes a turn for the worse.

If I wind the clock back 12 months, I was probably in the best shape of my life, and somehow ran my one and only sub-1 hour 20 minute half marathon. This year, I knew I wasn’t anywhere close to the same fitness level, so my realistic goal for the race was a finish time of 1 hour 24 minutes (6:24 per mile pace). I arrived at the event venue around 7am, allowing plenty of time to pick up my race packet (bib number and race t-shirt) and to warm up for 10-15 minutes. Weather conditions were ideal – a little chilly, but hardly any wind and the sun threatening to break through what little clouds were in the sky. I managed a 2 mile warm up which helped loosen my legs and elevate my heart rate and felt pretty good apart from the usual sore right shin, which I decided to tape up to minimize the pain.

Before I knew it we were lining up on the start line, and after a couple of minutes delay, we were off. Due to a last minute course change, the first mile was rerouted through the picturesque East Beach neighborhood and somehow I managed to run a 6:02 mile instead of the planned 6:24! Although it felt easy, I knew there were still 12 miles of racing to go, so eased off the gas and tried to settle in to a good rhythm.

At 6 minutes 8 seconds, mile 2 was almost as crazy as the first, so ignoring what my body was telling me, I backed off even more. Come on Steve, stick to the plan Even this early in the race the field had spread out and I found myself pretty much alone, but this was soon to change as I was joined by the second and third overall female in the race. One of them asked if I minded her being on my shoulder, to which I replied “no, you’ll probably be ahead of me pretty soon anyway”. She said she was hoping to maintain 6:15 per mile pace (which I thought would be a bit quick for me over the 13.1 miles), so I wished her a good race and focused on maintaining my own pace.

Mile 3 and 4 were completed in 6:17 and 6:15 respectively – still a bit quick, but it felt so good! Mile 5 and 6 were fairly consistent too – 6:19 and 6:17 – and by now we were nearly at the turn around point. I love out and back courses as you can (a) see how many people are ahead of you, (b) see how good or bad they’re looking and (c) cheer on your wife and friends on the way back! The leaders were already approaching mile 7 as I passed mile 6 and it always amazes me how effortless some of these guys appear at speeds almost a minute a mile quicker than me.

I counted down the leaders as I approached the turn – one, two, three four five, six, seven, eight, nine ten, eleven, twelve……and I was in 16th. Not bad, but there were plenty of runners still close enough behind to pose a threat in the closing 6 miles. I still had 2 of the top 3 female runners right next to me and was determined to stay with them as long as possible. Maybe that’s why I ran a 6:11, 6:03, 6:07 and 6:03 mile to complete mile 10 of the race Looking back, it didn’t feel that fast, but I must have been way out of my current fitness zone as at mile 10 I think I invented the half marathon wall!

My legs didn’t feel like my own, my breathing became labored and I started to overstride – a sure sign that my race was almost over with 3 miles left to run. Also, at about this point, the second place female quickened her pace and made a move for the first place female. I tried to stay with her but my body was having none of it. Luckily other runners were also suffering and I managed to catch a couple of guys before we reached the 11 mile mark and the shade of the East Beach neighborhood. I was surprised to see mile 11 was a 6:10 – not too slow considering how bad I felt.

Two miles to go and although the twists and turns of the race route were not exactly what my legs were asking for, but I managed to dig deep and record 2 consecutive 6:09 miles. Until I saw the finish clock I had no idea what my time would be. Throughout the race I hadn’t paid much attention to my mile splits (I only found out my times after downloading my Garmin 305 to my computer), and was surprised to see 1:21 something on the clock. I crossed the line in 1:21:31 (gun time) and ended up with an official race time of 1:21:30 – 2 and a half minutes faster than my goal and a bonus age group win to boot!

As you can imagine I’m very happy with the performance and it’s a great confidence booster as I begin another training week. Now I need to log some long runs (didn’t I say that last week?) and start thinking about the Shamrock Marathon in 6 weeks time!

Today’s 25k was my fourth race this month. Earlier in the week I was definitely looking forward to another race at Fort Story in Virginia Beach and seeing how close I could get to my predicted finish time courtesy of the McMillan Running Calculator. Based on my 20k time earlier in January (1:19:53), the calculator spewed out a predicted finish of 1:41:29 which is 6 minutes 32 seconds per mile – quite manageable I thought.

Training was going well and after an easy 4.5 mile treadmill on Thursday evening before The Spirit Of The Marathon movie, I felt hopeful of a good race. However, Friday would soon change my positive outlook on the race. Sometime during Friday morning my left ear starting hurting and the pain got so bad I decided to leave work early – something I rarely do. I slept for a few hours in the afternoon but still felt rough when I woke up. I contemplated not racing on Saturday morning, but to be honest didn’t want to pull out and ruin my streak of running in every Tidewater Strider Grand Prix race since the end of 2005. I decided to sleep on it and make a decision when I woke up.

Saturday morning soon rolled around and even though my ear still hurt, I decided to run. I planned on wearing a hat during the race to keep the cold out and hoped everything would be ok. Fast forward a couple of hours and I find myself warming up for a couple of miles wearing a warm woolly Welsh hat! The wind wasn’t too bad and I figured I’d be fine during the race.

At 9:00am the horn sounded to start the race. Actually it didn’t sound much like a horn, it was probably suffering from the cold like most of the runners lining up at the start. Warming up I decided to disregard the predicted time from the McMillan Running Calculator and just run by feel. To be honest, I just wanted to complete the 25k distance and feel as good as possible throughout the race – no need to really suffer today.

The first couple of miles felt great. I was able to run with Charlie from Running Nowhere Fast and enjoyed a pleasant conversation which helped the miles pass quickly. I found out Charlie wasn’t feeling great either, but he was running like he was on top of the world.

A couple of miles into the race I was aware of a scratchy feeling on my right ankle. I looked down and noticed the electronic timing chip I was wearing was rubbing the tendon on the back of my ankle. I had two choices – put up with the annoying scratching or stop, adjust the velcro strap and continue. As it was still really early in the race I decided to stop, so I checked behind me before pulling off to the side of the course. It probably took about 10 seconds to undo the band, pull it further up my calf and then re tighten it. Wearing gloves didn’t help As I adjusted the strap I noticed my ankle was bleeding quite a lot and quite a deep welt had appeared. Oh well, no time to worry about that now…

I made sure I didn’t sprint to catch the runners I was previously running with and just settled into a comfortable pace. After all, there were still 13 miles to race! Another mile down the road (around the 3.5 mile mark) the timing strap loosened and slipped down my calf – this time I decided to put up with the annoyance and carried on running.

I ran most of the second circuit with good friend and experienced runner, Charlie Schindler. We ran stride for stride, time passed quickly and I concentrated on keeping up with his great pace. I felt like he was in control of our dual and this was soon confirmed as he surged up one of the classic Fort Story hills, somewhere before the 8 and 9 mile marks. I surged back, drew level with Charlie then moved slightly ahead of him. It was only when I looked behind me just after the 15k mark that I realized Charlie was no longer with me and I was on my own with 10k to run.

20 seconds up ahead were a couple of runners trading places on a regular basis. I decided to try to catch them, bridge the gap and maybe challenge their position in the race. The next mile was a quicker 6:18 mile (compared to miles in the 6:30 to 6:35 range) and I closed the gap to about 8 seconds. After an even faster 6:17 mile I was just 1 second behind one of the runners – the other one representing the British Army had surged ahead. I tried my hardest to stay with the mystery runner, but he was too strong and gradually pulled away. I felt quite weak after my 2 quick miles and was disappointed not to be able to respond to his surge.

Time was running out in the race, but the Army runner appeared to be slowing down. The mystery guy had caught and passed Army guy which gave me a renewed enthusiasm and motivation. Somehow I managed a surge, and was able to catch Army guy and fellow Brit at the bottom of a hill with just a couple of miles to go. We ran stride for stride up the hill, but once again I felt weak and he pulled away on the downhill. From here it was just a question of survival for me.

The last couple of miles were tough, but I maintained a good pace and finished strongly with a time of 1:41:19 – 10 seconds faster than McMillan predicted based on my 20k time a few weeks ago. According to the astonishingly accurate calculator I’m looking at a half marathon time next week of around 1:24:10 and a 30k time of 2:03:14 in mid February. We’ll see I guess.

All in all, an enjoyable race, despite not feeling 100%. However, the Shamrock Marathon is only 7 weeks away, and although my weekly mileage is increasing, I really need to get in some long runs.

Not much to report tonight I’m afraid. After yesterday’s tough treadmill workout, I just decided on an easy 4 mile recovery run. I set off around 4:55pm with the last sunshine of the afternoon just visible above the tree line, and the weather much better than it has been on previous days (around 46°F)

The first mile was a good opener in 7 minutes 36 seconds, and despite my good intentions to take things easy, I found myself picking up the pace and recording a 7:09 second mile. It felt great to turn around and head for home after a little less than 15 minutes of running, and must admit I was shocked to run a 7:02 third mile. So much for an easy run, eh?!

With just a mile to go before reaching my house, I backed off the pace and concentrated on my running form instead. Once again I was surprised to record a 7:04 mile. Not sure how tonight’s easy run was (a) so fast yet (b) so easy. It didn’t feel too challenging at all, so maybe I’m getting fitter quicker than I expected.

Back at the house, I took ten minutes to perform Week 5 Workout 2 of the Essential Abs plan, which was every bit as challenging as it was on Monday evening! Surely my core strength should be improving by now too?