Not gonna last…
The battery on this guy is not going to last my entire 50K next Saturday:
When I registered I had to estimate by average pace and finish time. I hope I wasn’t being too cocky:
Gah… that’s a long time to be on my feet.
Unrelated, but I must ask this. When you register for a race in advance do you ask for a shirt in your current size? Or in the size you think you will be on race day?
By the time I get to packet pickup I can almost never remember what I asked for. So sometimes I am in for a surprise (unless they let me choose the size there! score!). Especially when I assumed it was men’s sizing, and it turns out to be women’s, and much too small…
I think we get a shirt and arm warmers for the 50K, so that’s cool. Moving along…
So. Since my watch is not going to last the duration of the race, I am going to use an app on my phone to at least have my splits as a record. Right now I am trying RunKeeper. I plan to use it, along with the Garmin tomorrow during the race, and see how they compare.
Does anyone have a preference for a certain pace/distance tracking app? Does anyone know which ones have data you can push to your computer?
Themocracy
Can you get your splits with apps? I didn’t think you could. You are welcome to steal my watch and swap out halfway through if you want…
I have friends who use runkeeper, runtastic and mapmyrun. But I don’t know enough about them to answer your question.
Wait – here’s Michelle’s last run…it DOES have mile splits…
http://www.runtastic.com/en/users/Michelle-Dragoo/sport-sessions/24456815
I am running RunKeeper on the train right now and it’s listing splits, but I haven’t stopped it yet to see if I can push it to my computer. So maybe I should try Runtastic! Thanks!
I use runtastic pro along with my Garmin! I really like this app.
I think you will be way faster!
Next Saturday… aaaahhhh!!!! Those Garmin batteries really suck, don’t they?
The shirt thing can be frustrating – I usually ask for the same size, but I’ve discovered (afterwards) on at least one occasion that they gave me the wrong size. And in another race, the sizes all ran large! So, it seems to be a bit of a crapshoot.
Good luck with your race! I can’t wait to hear about your first ultra.
I usually either request a medium or small depending on how I’m feeling when I register. If it is a women’s cut then I’d probably ask for a large. I usually have no idea what size shirt I requested when I get to packet pick up. ha.
I don’t use a phone app for running so I’m no help there.
I always order the size I am currently. Also I hate when races shirts have such inconsistent sizing! When they don’t indicate that they have mens & womens sizes, so I assume it’s unisex and go down a size, but then it’s a womens shirt and too small. Or when it’s just … bad sizing. I’ve gotten stuff that’s way too small (hoodies from the Hot Chocolate 15K a couple years ago) or way too big (jackets for the local Turkey Trot last year). If it’s a cheap race, no big deal, but when they try to sell you on the “awesome swag” that ends up not fitting, I get pissed.
You are not slow girl!!! The garmin 405 just does not have good battery life! Mine barely lasted on my 7 hours hike up the mountain this summer. Good to have a back up plan. I wonder if the garmin 410 gets better battery life.
What in the world do people who do Ironman events use? Are there GPS devices out there for fitness that have longer battery lives? Do you think you phone and/or Garmin will get satellite signal on the trail? I hope so!
As for race shirts, I HATE that they aren’t sized consistently. I have some mediums that fit like smalls and I have some extra smalls that fit like those mediums. Crazy. I usually just request a small and hope for the best.
I’ve tried most of the running apps and my favorite is Runmeter. That being said, I doubt your phone’s battery will last even as long as your Garmin’s while using GPS. A battery case can effectively double the life, but I’m not sure even that’s enough for 7 hours of GPS.
I got that warning too (about the phone not lasting). And I will be in the woods. I think I should just give up on this quest!