Fast Running Blog

I’ve had this discussion with a few people and thought it might strike up some conversation. I know I used to be a watch runner and never really logged mileage just time. Then I started training seriously and ran the same “metered” loops every day. Then I got a Garmin and went crazy. However, I’ve noticed I’ve also become somewhat of a gadget slave, circling at the end of runs to get to that next mile mark… What about you?

I'm not at all a GPS guy, and firmly believe that many runners (some on this blog) put too much faith in the accuracy of those gadgets.  Paul is somewhat an expert on this matter, and he will tell you that the accuracy is not down to 0.01 miles.  I chuckle everytime I see someone complain in a race report that a 5k was long since their garmin reported the milage as 3.14 or something like that.  I've also had runs where GPS people I was with looped around the parking lot for 10 extra seconds just to get to the "round number", thinking it somehow made the run more official. 

Personally, I always round to the nearest 1/2 mile.  Never more exact.  Somedays I know I am a bit longer and somedays I am a bit shorter, but rounding is close enough for me and evens out in the end.  I can understand people rounding to 0.25 mile, but not more specific (unless they were doing track repeats or something like that).  Unless you have had a USATF guy come wheel out the length of your run, exact distances are not... well, exact. 

That is my opinion.  I'm sure lots of you will disagree.  But as for me, my mileage board is always in nice mile or 1/2 mile increments.

I have set out for a run with a specific distance in mind, but not a specific route.  So I will use my Garmin to let me know how far I have been.  But if I am getting close to home and still want to get in that distance  I will circle the block to get it.  But I also go by how I feel.  Sometimes I cut it short, but many times I will go a little further.  The Garmin has proved to be more accurate than driving my route and measuring it my car.  It is hard to drive on the wrong side of the road and on the sidewalks to simulate where I have been. :)  And Google Earth does not cover my entire running area with high quality maps.  So that is not an accurate measuring tool for me.  But the newest version of the Training Center I just downloaded will plot my runs in Google Earth.  I really like that.

Also it seems a lot of people use the Garmin for pacing.  So far I have not.  I do not even show that feature on the display.  But I do show my mile splits.  I like to see them even though somedays I am not happy with what it displays.  My pace is set by how I feel. 

I round to the nearest half mile.

Call me a gadget slave...it doesn't hurt my feelings.  :)  I go by my Garmin, which may not be exactly accurate, but is consistent, which is an important distinction to me.  If I run the same 7 mile stretch as recorded by my Garmin, it records the distance within a half-dozen paces every time.  Perhaps it's not exactly 7 miles, but at least I know I'm getting what I believe is 7 miles consistently.  Later, if I need to bump up my mileage and add a mile, it'll get bumped up by a consistent amount....perhaps not exactly 1 miles, but a consistent amount that's close.  Consistency is the key in my mind.
I have used Garmin too much for pacing, a practice I've tried to get out of by looking at it much less frequently.  But using it does certainly help me associate paces with how I feel much better than my math skills on the run every would.  Guess the trick is to use the available tools and not become their slave...

I use the most accurate number I can get, ideally with .01 precision. If I am out on a random unmeasured course, I just go by time, and estimate the distances to 0.1 accuracy from the feel of the pace.

I hadn't even seeen that yet . . . that is totally cool!  I will have to check that out.  I just downloaded and installed the newest version because Garmin had me upgrade my firmware on my device to troubleshoot a sound problem.

I also use the Garmin for measuring the distance I run, and probably need to be a bit less anal about the precision.  I also use the pace function, purely to make sure I am not accidentally running too fast (for extended periods of time).  Sasha has pointed out before that the immediate pace feature is not very reliable, which I agree with, but if I see my pace staying faster than I want to go for more than a 1/4 mile, I know that I need to slow down a bit.  My purpose in keeping track of my pace is to make sure that I don't run too fast all the time to avoid getting injured.

James,
It is Training Center version 3.3.2  When you do try and use it with Google Earth it may lock up everything...like it did for me.  It was trying to plot ALL of my runs at one time.  I guess this was too much for GE.  It worked for me when I right-clicked on a single run and chose to plot it.  I just upgraded to this last night, so I am not sure what else it may be capable of.

With Jonathan and Paul- I round to the nearest 1/2 mile.

I only use the Garmin for 3 things:
1) To get my pace when I've done some sort of speed/tempo work
2) The first time a do a new route, to get the mileage. This is most applicable to long runs that may incorporate two or more shorter routes that I'm familiar with.
3) To get my mile splits for a race- after the fact.

I really believe in running by feel, both in training and racing. Because of this, I don't use the Garmin during the actual run. I just use it as a point of reference after the run. That way I can run by feel and see what my level of fitness is based on the numbers that show on the device when finished.

Craig- you are my kind of guy!

Lest anyone misunderstand me, I am not anti-knowledge (i.e. pace, distance, etc).  For example, I know how long some of my runs are.  I have a route that is almost exactly 4 miles, one that is 8 miles, and one that is 15 miles.  I can also tell how fast I am going those days based on my times at certain splits, such as if I need to speed up a bit on a tempo run.  I have even used Garmin's.  But, I prefer to run on feel most days, then check my fitness every so often by doing a known distance.  I don't think I lose out on any fitness by not running the extra 0.1 miles around the parking lot at the end of a run just to get the right distance.  If my run is much shorter than planned (i.e. more than 2-5 minutes), then I will add some more distance.  But nothing short just to meet an arbitrary number.

I am very similiar to Craig as well. Use the data mainly for analysis purposes. In fact I was bugging Sasha eht other day about looking at his watch to often, especially during easy runs.

Run naked on easy runs (i.e. no watch!)- you should just run easy and not worry at all about pace.  I can relate to wanting to hit a certain pace on tempo runs, etc.  But easy runs should just be easy, irregardless of pace or GPS reading.

It's a lot easier to not worry about pace during the winter, since my sleeves cover the Garmin! And once it gets really cold, rolling up the sleeve to take a peek just isn't an option.

I like to put exact mileage to bug people.  Mainly Jon and James.  They can be easily annoyed.  Or I am good at annoying.  Who knows?

Mainly the second.  Aren't you the "toughest whiner"?

James/Scott,
Thanks for the Google Earth heads up. That is a good toy.
Jon,
I know we spoke about slaves to Garmins before. That is part of the reason why I wanted this post. That and to pick on the guys posting their mileage to the tenth of the mile. However, I have a confession. My name is Adam Wende and I am a Garmin addict. I will admit that I've circled in front of my house to get to that magic mile mark. But admitting you have a problem is the first step...

I try to only look at the Garmin when it beeps each mile. If I'm doing a workout I tend to look a little more frequently. However, as with most my main thing is looking post-run and at averages etc...

Adam,
Thanks for posting this, I was hoping that someone else would do it besides me.  I have noticed it has become quite an issue after looking at all the funky mileage postings on the mileage board the last few weeks.  I think that Paul and Jon are is right.    I think if It came down to it I would round to the nearest tenth not the hundredth, I just always make sure that my runs are on the mile or the half mile so I don't have to worry about it.  It is the hundredth stuff that everone does that drives me crazy!  I have been riding some of the bloggers about it as of late because it can be so overboard.  Not that I am on the mileage board that often, but when I am I notice that there is often about 4 people with similar mileage but this how it looks: 
Blogger 1: 40.15
Blogger 2: 40:04
Me :        40.00
Blogger 3: 39.94
I mean common people, that sure looks like 4 people ran 40.00 to me. 
I wear my Garmin about half the time and and only on runs that I haven't run before or might be changed a bit.  If I know the distance I will just wear my watch, which I usually don't even look at until I get done.  I do go naked on some easy runs too.  I have worn it in one race and probably won't do it again.  If I do look at my Garmin it isn't every mile, and I don't ever look at pace unless it is overall pace.  On my run today I did add on a block so my Garmin would record my last mile because I was doing a tempo mile, otherwise I would have called it good.  I just think we get too picky about things and need to enjoy ourselves more and not worry about every hundredth of a mile.

Why does it matter that someone likes to keep track of his/her mileage more specifically than you?  It sounds like some people are trying to pick on others that like to keep very precise #'s for THEMSELVES.  Why?

Dave,
Don’t take this discussion personally. First, if the Garmin gives the number to that decimal place there is no reason not to put it down. Second, almost all runners I know are compulsive to some degree so I too am guilty of locking into some arbitrary number. Dale put it best “Consistency is the key in my mind.” That being said I don’t see any problem with it. But I started as a watch runner, with no recorded mileage, then went to consistent loops, now the Garmin, so I sometimes have to chuckle when I see a hundredth mile specificity because I’m sure I’m only a few months away from doing it myself... It is nothing against the person doing it. More so pointing out what is important in a persons training and how different people view that measure. My friend Dennis often just runs for time. No Garmin and random courses. I’ve known a few people that believe it is time on feet and not distance covered that matters. Believe me I am laughing at myself as I loop the block an extra time to get to “exactly” 11 miles on a run but will that stop me NO. Should this posting stop people from logging their mileage to the 0.01 value, of course not. It was meant to open discussion as to why people log as they do and what that means to their training…

Yup, this whole conversation is kind of silly, just for fun.  Doesn't really matter.  Just differences of opinion and to see who has pet peeves.  Kind of like if we had a board on which brand of shoe is best- personal preference.

Nike is better.

Do you even own any Nike?  Saucony, Brooks, NB- I have seen you in those.  Nike?

You are inferior for even typing other brand names. Nike.

Just tell me if you even own any.

nIKE.

Brooks with their BioMoGo  :P

LOL

How could you guys ignore Puma!

My favorite pair of shoes were Etonic.  I put about 689.00128936475 miles on them, which is about 689 miles!

James, that was a very un-Nike thing to say.

Paul, once again you are right.  My favorite pair of spikes were Nike and my best race in them was .9375 miles, which is about 1500 meters or 1.00 metric miles!

I used to have a pair of Puma soccer cleats . . . does that count?  Also, has anyone had any experience with the Axiom 2?  I have tried other brands (Saucony, Asics, no nIKE's in a long time) and the brooks seem to be the only ones that fit me properly.  I actually read from others that they liked the Axiom 2 even better than the Adrenaline.  Sorry to hijack the thread . . .

I also have a pair of Axioms on the way. I've never worn them before, but I'll find out and let you know.

As I read James - I thought he was reciting pi and that got me thinking of a race that was held down here by a local elementary - it was a Pi K, so 3.14..... whatever (I only take it to the hundredth and then I would go an extra step to make it 3.15!).  But, does a race based upon a number that has no end, ever have an end?

Dave, That is a great point and I'm pretty sure I won't be able to sleep tonight contemplating the meaning of a Pi race. Thanks a lot!!! :)

3.1415926535897932384626433832795028841971693993751058209749445923078164062862089986280348253421170679821480865132823066470938446095505822317253594081284811174502841027019385211055596446229489549303820...

I tend to round to the nearest half mile.  I also probably look at my garmin more than I should, but it has been one of the most enjoyable purchases I've ever made related to running.

It has an end, it's just a FREAKISHLY precise end, which our poor Garmins could never hope to measure accurately.  *wink*

I agree with Dustin.  I look at my Garmin way more than I should, especially the pace, but I love it and I also think it has been one of my favorite running related purchases.

Every end is just as precise as PI. We can measure one mile no better than PI miles.