curse of the Garmin

I love my Garmin 405, I've had it a little over a year. But, lots' of times I just try to ignore it. Like sunday morning. I wanted to go 18 miles. The fast guys were going 20 miles. I figured on just starting out with them and then doing the rest of my run solo. But, I really needed to go 20 and decided to go with them. I knew I wouldn't be able to keep up with them for 20 miles. But, somehow after I'd committed to running with them, I forgot to restart the Garmin after a stop and lost a mile and 3/4. SHEEEZ.

Most days, I can really tell where I'm at pace wise just by my breathing. When we've got a pack of four of us running, pace can sometimes get hectic. Each of us has a Garmin and no one has the same pace. Most days I'll just try to hang and ignore the pace. For example, Friday's easy run turned into a progression run. The fast guys went out nice and easy. Gradually the pace quickened until about my marathon pace and the just as quickly the guys are picking it up another notch. Yikes. Finished that run by myself, but with a solid progression workout. Cool thing about the Garmin is the ability to look at the mile splits after the run.

Saturday was a solo effort on the gravel. Somehow I thought I needed .2 miles instead of .4 miles to even out the mileage for the week. Ooops. Old days, I always would just round up or down and estimate mileage for routes where I didn't know the mileage. I've almost become a slave to the Garmin, but about the only time I leave it at home is on race day. Nothing like the old Timex, just to get the mile splits. Still can't look at the watch during the race, because I have the tendency to either slow down or speed up to much based on the reading. Almost better just to go by breathing and perceived effort. Nothing left when I cross the line or that's the plan anyway.

Sunday was a great day weather wise. Warmed up rapidly, and really wished I'd gotten out on my bike. Moved the basketball goal, so Dylan could practice. His first game was on Saturday. The won it in overtime. Really telling the kids who've played basketball before versus those who haven't. Thus the need for a some practice on defending.

Flipped on the TV at noon and the Superbowl pregame crap had already started. Paula cooked up a batch of snack foods for the game. Watched the game, 5 hours later and actually it was one of the better superbowls. The Boss put on a great show. Radio this morning the Cardinals fans are whining about the calls. Jeez, I thought most of the calls seemed to be pretty fair.

Mileage is really adding up without taking a day off. This Friday will be 21 days straight without a day off. So, I'll either take Thursday or Friday off. Need a down week in mileage anyway. This is the week to cycle down in mileage. I've gone 54 miles, 67 miles and then 72 miles in the last 3 weeks. Target mileage this week is 63 miles. Actually feel strong, not really fast though. May try and race the Tom King half marathon but at this point my PR still seems like a long shot.