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Garmin Forerunner 305

This week I had purchased a Garmin Forerunner 305. It's probably the coolest thing I have ever bought. So far I have used it for two track workouts, a mid-week long run around the tip of Manhattan, a long run in Prospect Park and a long run in Central Park. I was surprised how accurate the GPS is determining the distance. Although the distance is too long by .05 mile running on the track. The heart rate monitor works excellent. I like the fact you can configure the display to show the data you require. The best thing about the Garmin Forerunner 305 is the quality of it's construction. Absolutely solid. The Garmin Forerunner 305 is highly recommended.

New Tuesday Track Workout

Last Tuesday I had decided to mix things up for my track workout. Instead of running the usual 3x2000 meters, I cut the distance in half to 1000 meters and had run them six times. I would give myself about two or three minutes rest in between each 1000 meter. The workout remained the same overall total distance. But by shortening to 1000 meters, I figured would help me with my overall speed.

Tuesday's workout
Warm up
6x1000M
1x1600M
1x400M
Warm down

Sunday Long Run In Central Park

Sunday is my day to run in Central Park. Today there was rain in the morning. I had timed the break in the rain just right. By the time I had arrived at Central park, it had stopped raining. I always begin and end my runs at the part of the loop by the Christopher Square entrance. This Sunday I had run the full loop from East to West two times. Going up Harlem Hill the second time was a killer. Usually I don't have any difficulty going up the hill. But, today I had noticed my heart rate wasn't going up and I wasn't going any faster. That's fatigue. When I reached my ending point, I had turned around and run the loop from West side heading North to the Northern transverse going to the East side. Then I ran South to my ending point. The total distance is 17.2 miles.

eBay Score: Saucony Grid Fastwitch 2

Recently I had scored a pair of Saucony Grid Fastwitch 2 racing flats on eBay for $26 + $9.99 shipping. Not bad at all. I took them to the East River Track for a training session this week. They feel great. The Saucony Grid Fastwitch 2 are best on hard surfaces like asphalt. The shoes have an amazing response when the shoe strikes the ground and then release. I can't wait to run a race with them.

Saturday Run in Prospect Park

My new Saturday routine is to run the Prospect Park loop four times. The distance total is 13.4 miles. The park loop is great for a training run. It has a very smooth surface. There is the occasional large puddle. But not as bad as the large puddles along East River Park. I'll cover that topic soon. I also feel safer running in Prospect Park over Central Park. Prospect Park is less congested and there are not as many speeding cyclists as Central Park. So go out and enjoy a run in Prospect Park.

More about running in Prospect Park.

Training Area "B" for Rainy Days

When it rains it's ideal to have a back-up plan for a place to train. And good rainy day training locations are difficult to come by. So when it rains I train under the FDR along South Street from Montgomery St to the Seaport. It's the perfect rainy day location because it's covered and the running surface is smooth. The distance is roughly .91 mile. A bit short. But, not a bad distance to get some tempo work done.