http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/m7s5q1Nkhzw
With the race this weekend I am focusing on keeping my energy level up and my joints from getting stiff.
Showing posts with label endomondo. Show all posts
Showing posts with label endomondo. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Ride to the bike shop... and home again
http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/sYYzcpd8Ioc
I had planned on a longer ride this past Sunday, but instead rode my new MTB back to the shop since I was having some trouble with the tires. I'd had a flat and the bead was fighting me when I tried to replace the tube. So I rode up to the shop (5mi on the road), hung out, then got a master class in working on 29er tires. Did I mention that it was about 45F and raining? No? Well I have now.
Essentially this ride stunk, but mostly because of the weather not the shop, and 10mi is 10mi, right?
I had planned on a longer ride this past Sunday, but instead rode my new MTB back to the shop since I was having some trouble with the tires. I'd had a flat and the bead was fighting me when I tried to replace the tube. So I rode up to the shop (5mi on the road), hung out, then got a master class in working on 29er tires. Did I mention that it was about 45F and raining? No? Well I have now.
Essentially this ride stunk, but mostly because of the weather not the shop, and 10mi is 10mi, right?
A Saturday morning run... complete with getting lost and bushwhacking!
http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/kPkDvX1sSgM
Notice the scramble at about 40 minutes for 20 minutes or so. Yeah, we got lost in the woods. Jim and I had decided to use a lesser used trail, and suffered for it. Anyway, still a good workout.
F
Notice the scramble at about 40 minutes for 20 minutes or so. Yeah, we got lost in the woods. Jim and I had decided to use a lesser used trail, and suffered for it. Anyway, still a good workout.
F
It's still a workout if you get tired, right?
Endomondo Cross training Workout: was out cross training - in 28m:05s using Endomondo.
I actually cut this workout short since I was lagging. This was a strength day, aka "weights", but I was just aching when I started. Woos-ish? Perhaps.
F
I actually cut this workout short since I was lagging. This was a strength day, aka "weights", but I was just aching when I started. Woos-ish? Perhaps.
F
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Today's morning run went rather well...
Running with my neighbor, Jim, is good for my pace. Even with an achy left foot (from Saturday's run) it was nice to get out and do it.
Endomondo Running Workout: was out running 3.89 miles in 42m:41s using Endomondo.
Now I can chill this evening.
F
Endomondo Running Workout: was out running 3.89 miles in 42m:41s using Endomondo.
Now I can chill this evening.
F
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Morning upper body and abs
Endomondo Cross training Workout: was out cross training - in 32m:52s using Endomondo
Should I have gone longer? Probably. But this wasn't a bad way to start the day.
circuit 4
Should I have gone longer? Probably. But this wasn't a bad way to start the day.
circuit 4
- pushup manmaker 10@15
- elastic row 50
- medball shoulders 10.1
- banana cannonball 15
- kb windmill 10@16.
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Endomondo Cross training Workout
Endomondo Cross training Workout: was out cross training - in 38m:56s using Endomondo.
4/11/2012
circuit 5
pushup arm up 10
bw squats 40
med ball shoulders 10,10,5
two hammer tire beating lots
elastic row 40
abs
4/11/2012
circuit 5
pushup arm up 10
bw squats 40
med ball shoulders 10,10,5
two hammer tire beating lots
elastic row 40
abs
Tools of the trade
If this blog is going to focus on athletic endeavors, and it is, and I'm going to blather on about how I feel, felt, or expect to feel as a result of a given activity, and I am, then I should introduce the gizmos and doodads that I plan to use to track my training. This way we can all say, "Oooh, that stretch of Widow Maker Hill where your pulse spiked to 185bpm but you maintained your 10 min mile pace must have been epic!" Or something.
At this point perhaps I should consider activating the "monetize" feature in Google Blogger so that ads related to the dingbats I discuss can be lovingly advertised alongside my super wicked word usements. Fear not, Fair Reader, I shall spare you this bit of overt lucre grasping - for now.
Now: on with the show!
In this post the focus is on tools that anyone can use to take a snapshot of their current state of being and track changes in their performance (and corpus) over time.
A heart rate monitor
Perhaps the greatest insight for any athlete is knowing whether they are working out hard enough for long enough to do any good. An heart rate monitor (HRM) is the most direct way to track this for yourself, and these days you can get HRMs that can download data to a computer so that you can see how your pulse changed over the course of a workout.
To use an HRM you need to work out a few numbers. There's a wealth of info on the net about determining your max, target, and anaerobic threshold heart rate values. Most will arrive at similar numbers using methods of various degrees of scientific merit and rigor. The easiest shorthand I've found for adult men is:
target = 180 - age
max = whenever you start to puke
Another popular version is:
max = 220 - age
target = max * 65%
In either case, you need to experiment and observe yourself while working out. I find that I am doing pretty well when my BPM is between 140-160 but if it gets up to 170 I really start gasping (and risk setting off an asthma attack). My numbers are well predicted by the formulae above, but there are aerobic mutants like Lance Armstrong (or Eddie Merckx, for the oldsters) who can maintain performance at his VO2max, i.e. at the edge of his body's ability to supply oxygen to cells, for extended periods of time. He's not normal. Us normal people should stay at or around our target heart rates.
I use a Garmin Forerunner 210 as my HRM which records my training data in a way that can be downloaded to a computer. You can also get bluetooth HRM straps that work with software running on a smart phone or tablet, which is pretty convenient!
Body Fat Scale
These scales know things about most people that they'd rather keep private! If you're already athletic, regardless of your real or perceived level of "fatness", get one of the models with an "athlete" mode which helps to compensate for higher lean body mass and bone density. I've a "Tanita BC-549" which can show weight, %body fat, level of hydration, BMI, and a number of other data I don't bother paying attention to.
I don't generally track my weight (a straight line is an uninformative graph) but I do weigh myself regularly and notice both my absolute weight and the percent body fat. These can vary a lot even within a single day, which is why the advice is to weigh yourself at the same time every day. Before or after your morning shower is the easiest, but, because you're probably somewhat dehydrated first thing in the morning, your weight may read low and %BF may appear high. Try not to dwell on the numbers as much as their trend ("down" for most of us) and their relationship to one another.
A GPS tracking tool
If you work out outside (run, ride, paddle, walk, golf... kite ski, anything!), associating where you were with how hard you were working provides incredible insight into what works for you and what works you over. My Garmin watch logs GPS data and watches by Timex, Suunto, Motorola, and others provide a similar functionality.
It's worth noting that GPS has problems in heavily covered areas (like deep canyons or cities with high buildings) and it's notoriously poor at representing accurate altitude (vs. position on the globe) but generally you'll get enough info to be useful. Again, as long as the data is consistent within and between workouts, it can be totally bunk vs. "reality". Here's a trace of time + HRM + Speed + Altitude from a recent ride:
Looking at this I can see that on downhill and on flats I went fast and had a heart rate at or below 150, on climbs my heart rate went up and speed down, etc. I can also see when I stopped, including the extended pause at about the 1 hour mark because one of the guys on the ride had a mechanical problem.
As mentioned in the HRM section, smart phones can serve this purpose, too! Many apps that integrate with bluetooth heart rate monitors also use the phone's built in GPS to track workouts and their data plan to upload directly to a tracking site.
An application that collects your data and lets you do some analysis
Now that you can gather your statistics, you need to track them in some way so that you can a) prove to yourself that you've been training and b) observe whether your training is going in the right direction (more miles per week, more weight hoisted, etc.). It's also critical to track your output so you know when to back off and let your body recover.
It used to be that a spreadsheet and calendar were the tools of choice, but in these internetified days, there are lots of tools (many free!) to track this info:
I like Endomondo, but any tool that you like and that lets you review what you've done will serve this role. Here's an example:
At this point perhaps I should consider activating the "monetize" feature in Google Blogger so that ads related to the dingbats I discuss can be lovingly advertised alongside my super wicked word usements. Fear not, Fair Reader, I shall spare you this bit of overt lucre grasping - for now.
Now: on with the show!
In this post the focus is on tools that anyone can use to take a snapshot of their current state of being and track changes in their performance (and corpus) over time.
A heart rate monitor
Perhaps the greatest insight for any athlete is knowing whether they are working out hard enough for long enough to do any good. An heart rate monitor (HRM) is the most direct way to track this for yourself, and these days you can get HRMs that can download data to a computer so that you can see how your pulse changed over the course of a workout.
To use an HRM you need to work out a few numbers. There's a wealth of info on the net about determining your max, target, and anaerobic threshold heart rate values. Most will arrive at similar numbers using methods of various degrees of scientific merit and rigor. The easiest shorthand I've found for adult men is:
target = 180 - age
max = whenever you start to puke
Another popular version is:
max = 220 - age
target = max * 65%
In either case, you need to experiment and observe yourself while working out. I find that I am doing pretty well when my BPM is between 140-160 but if it gets up to 170 I really start gasping (and risk setting off an asthma attack). My numbers are well predicted by the formulae above, but there are aerobic mutants like Lance Armstrong (or Eddie Merckx, for the oldsters) who can maintain performance at his VO2max, i.e. at the edge of his body's ability to supply oxygen to cells, for extended periods of time. He's not normal. Us normal people should stay at or around our target heart rates.
I use a Garmin Forerunner 210 as my HRM which records my training data in a way that can be downloaded to a computer. You can also get bluetooth HRM straps that work with software running on a smart phone or tablet, which is pretty convenient!
Body Fat Scale
These scales know things about most people that they'd rather keep private! If you're already athletic, regardless of your real or perceived level of "fatness", get one of the models with an "athlete" mode which helps to compensate for higher lean body mass and bone density. I've a "Tanita BC-549" which can show weight, %body fat, level of hydration, BMI, and a number of other data I don't bother paying attention to.
I don't generally track my weight (a straight line is an uninformative graph) but I do weigh myself regularly and notice both my absolute weight and the percent body fat. These can vary a lot even within a single day, which is why the advice is to weigh yourself at the same time every day. Before or after your morning shower is the easiest, but, because you're probably somewhat dehydrated first thing in the morning, your weight may read low and %BF may appear high. Try not to dwell on the numbers as much as their trend ("down" for most of us) and their relationship to one another.
A GPS tracking tool
If you work out outside (run, ride, paddle, walk, golf... kite ski, anything!), associating where you were with how hard you were working provides incredible insight into what works for you and what works you over. My Garmin watch logs GPS data and watches by Timex, Suunto, Motorola, and others provide a similar functionality.
It's worth noting that GPS has problems in heavily covered areas (like deep canyons or cities with high buildings) and it's notoriously poor at representing accurate altitude (vs. position on the globe) but generally you'll get enough info to be useful. Again, as long as the data is consistent within and between workouts, it can be totally bunk vs. "reality". Here's a trace of time + HRM + Speed + Altitude from a recent ride:
Looking at this I can see that on downhill and on flats I went fast and had a heart rate at or below 150, on climbs my heart rate went up and speed down, etc. I can also see when I stopped, including the extended pause at about the 1 hour mark because one of the guys on the ride had a mechanical problem.
As mentioned in the HRM section, smart phones can serve this purpose, too! Many apps that integrate with bluetooth heart rate monitors also use the phone's built in GPS to track workouts and their data plan to upload directly to a tracking site.
An application that collects your data and lets you do some analysis
Now that you can gather your statistics, you need to track them in some way so that you can a) prove to yourself that you've been training and b) observe whether your training is going in the right direction (more miles per week, more weight hoisted, etc.). It's also critical to track your output so you know when to back off and let your body recover.
It used to be that a spreadsheet and calendar were the tools of choice, but in these internetified days, there are lots of tools (many free!) to track this info:
- Endomondo: my personal choice, device neutral including a smartphone app, nice interface
- Garmin Connect: free for Garmin owners and is well integrated with the PC software
- MapMyRun
- RunKeeper
I like Endomondo, but any tool that you like and that lets you review what you've done will serve this role. Here's an example:
Conclusion
There we go. At this point you have more data at your fingertips than generations of Olympic athletes before you. You can make some objective judgements about your body, your athletic performance, and whether your routes make smiley faces or other patterns when viewed from above. Joy!
Next big post, I'll write a few thoughts in clothing, shoes, and other things not requiring batteries.
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
First morning run of the season
Endomondo Running Workout: was out running 3.66 miles in 37m:35s using Endomondo.
Monday, April 9, 2012
Sunday Mountain BIking... a minor adventure
I had planned on a 10mi or so ride on Sunday, but got more than I bargained for. I rode my bike from home to Brandywine Park with the intention of riding the fire/farm roads then a return; however, I got lost along the way and wound up riding nearly twice my intended distance. Compound this with toting barges and lifting bales in the later afternoon garden-a-thon, and today was a welcome rest day.
The front half of the ride, after which my Garmin's batteries died:
http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/jDnkYwTIY8E
The return trip tracked by the Endomondo application on my cell phone (without a heart rate monitor)
http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/rOLYfd0LzY8
The front half of the ride, after which my Garmin's batteries died:
http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/jDnkYwTIY8E
The return trip tracked by the Endomondo application on my cell phone (without a heart rate monitor)
http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/rOLYfd0LzY8
Endomondo Running Workout
Hum... it seems I can post my workouts to the blog. Let's give it a try.
Endomondo Running Workout: was out running 3.31 miles in 40m:59s using Endomondo.
Endomondo Running Workout: was out running 3.31 miles in 40m:59s using Endomondo.
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