Three Things Thursday: I'm a Kenyan

I've been out on the trail, just working on my fitness, and this morning I saw all my hard work come to fruition.

I was running a large loop of the neighborhoods around me, when I glanced down at the MOTOACTV. To my shock, I was going at a 4:08 pace. That's running a minute per mile faster than any of those during the Olympic marathons and 9 seconds faster than the female record mile.

Of course, the MOTOACTV is a big, fat jerk (just like my husband) because not 10 minutes before it said I was running at a 24:XX pace.

Talk about running steady. That there pace is all over the place - just like the MOTOACTV.

1. This morning's run was supposed to be a 9-mile negative split outing (4, 4, 1) but I shortened it to 8 miles because running more than that on a Thursday seems ludicrous to me. My hope was to negative split the run 3, 3, 2 but, according to that fancy-schmancy watch, I did not. My splits: 8:06, 10:48, 10:27, 8:37, 9:19, 11:10, 10:37, 8:25. There's about three miles out of the eight that seem like they could be right.

I'll let you guess.

2. It's not far-fetched to think that if my pace was all over the place that there must have been something wrong with the satellites. Being as intelligent as I am, I am obviously right.

I just didn't know how right.

 

The top map is the MOTOACTV route and the bottom is what I mapped on Daily Mile. I'm not sure if you can tell but there are huge discrepancies in the routes. It's not like it had me running through yards rather than streets. Oh, no - I was running in areas I didn't even come close to and in a shape that nowhere resembles the route I did run.

As to be expected, again because I'm smart, there was a difference in mileage. The MOTOACTV said I ran 8 miles on the dot; Daily Mile, 8.41.

Shit. Much closer to that prescribed 9 than I'd like.

3. I got home from this epic outing about 15 minutes after Miles woke up. Mark was busy warming a banana muffin and topping it with peanut butter for the lil guy when I tried to give him a hug. No dice. I tried to hold Miles' hand; he clung to Mark's leg. For a good 15 minutes, my child would not let me near him.

And here, I thought I was doing something good as a mom by running early so I could spend the morning with him. So much for that good thought.

Taking care of business

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Well, I have news for you: I wasn't lying. The lovely ladies at handful will offer one lucky Healthy Strides reader a bra of her choice (subject to color and size availability). So head on over to the post to see the updated rules and details.

Note: Those who already commented are automatically entered into the contest.

***

Two weeks ago, I posted about some recent (or not so recent in some cases) frustrations with my MOTOACTV.

Well, I have good news for you and I have bad news for you.

The bad news: I still haven't heard from customer support.

The good news: I have heard from the PR folks and the social media team, who offered some situations to fix the problem.

The easiest - and most immediate - was to do a system update. The MOTOACTV is all about the system update, and it pays to connect it to your computer on a regular basis to see if one is available. I am pretty good about this (with help from email reminders) and had tried to update the system a couple weeks before things had gotten out of hand. At that time, there were no updates available.

When the update was suggested, I was doubtful but begrudgingly tried it. You know, to have my bases covered. Lo and behold, one was available! And even more worthy of an exclamation mark, it seems to have helped. I won't say that it has fixed everything - I still see the satellite drop and at times the pace seems off - but it seems to catch up with itself if that makes sense.

I am also seeing some improved consistency with the distance. After more than a year in my neighborhood, I've finally figured out mile markers on certain routes and the MOTOACTV is once again lining up. Since the update, I've stopped comparing the distance with Map My Run - if that tells you anything.

And just one more note about the update: I listened to a playlist for the second half of my long run Sunday, and I was surprised to hear lap updates. "Beginning Lap 6," it told me. I got super excited that I had hit 6 miles but realized that I was beginning the 6th mile and had completed 5. Total bummer for me, great feature for the watch.

Product review: Revisiting the MOTOACTV

For someone who doesn't love math, I am a numbers junkie. Laps, pace, distance - I want to know it all, and I want to know it NOW. It's probably why I like the MOTOACTV so much.

Wait. Stop. Liked the MOTOACTV.

My favorite piece of gear, which was sent to me for review by the company, has begun to get a bit ... well ... unreliable.

 I first noticed problems with the device in March when we had those super hot, humid days. Mark and I were on a run, and the sweat was just dripping off of me. We were slated to run 6 miles and turned around at the 3-mile mark. We got home at 5.75. Now, I know that distance can be off running tangents but if I run 3 miles one way, I expect the return home to be 3 miles.

The next run, I put a small piece of paper towel between the MOTOACTV and my wrist as the sensor is open through the band. It was fine. The weather cooled down shortly thereafter, and I went about my business.

Until this week - when, excuse my language, shit started to get effed the hell up.

Sunday, Mark and I ran another out and back where the distance didn't measure correctly on the return. Upon inspecting the map, I saw that it had us basically running on an odd tangent through people's yards and houses. I don't think Lolo Jones could even handle those obstacles.

(Note: I think I sort of hate Lolo. She's just too good looking and talented for me.)

Wednesday, I headed out for some speedwork. The goal was to warm up, run 1 mile tempo, recover for 400 and run 1 mile tempo before cooling down. I had the stroller and because of it, I decided to go by effort and not by pace. Nonetheless, I was happy to see miles that went a little like this 8:XX. However, as I began my cooldown, the GPS just sort of dropped off. I went from an 8:47 mile to running at a 38:27 pace. I know I put the brakes on but damn. Just damn.

Thursday, frustrated as hell, I decided to do a little experiment. Once a week or so, I like to plan a run (mentally and route-wise) where there are no stops - no breaking to check if Miles is sleeping or to see if Denali has to pee. I think these runs help with endurance and race pacing. Anyway, I did this run on Thursday. No stops. And while my pace will fluctuate, the chart shows that my pace dropped off nine times. NINE.

I have tweeted @MOTOACTV about the problems and they responded but did not follow through with questions. I sent a message via the MOTOACTV website and received a response seeking follow-up information as my concern was going to require "Level 2" support. I sent them the data requested but have heard nothing.

(Editor's note: Just as I was about to schedule this post - no lie - I received a DM from @MOTOACTV apologizing that they missed my original message from last week. Hmm ... I've emailed the address they sent me with all kinds of info. We'll see what happens.)

It's so disappointing because I like the features of the MOTOACTV - the display, touch screen, WI-FI workout sync and the ability to add custom workouts such as BODYPUMP. However, no matter how "cute" something is, it only matters how well it works. And it's not. At least for now.

Is anyone else a MOTOACTV user? Have you had any problems?

Mother of a run

Mark and I were sitting on the couch last night when he turned to me and asked:

"What would you like to do tomorrow for Mothers Day?"

My answer was simple and monosyllabic: Run.

"Besides run," he said.

"Just run," I replied.

Now, before you chastise me before not milking the heck out of my first Mothers Day, I will tell you this: I had already made brunch reservations at Granite City where caramel rolls, mojitos and parmesan hashbrowns would await me. The only thing I wanted was to fit in a run before that.

And a run I got. A very special run.

Not because of the crazy hair, either.

This morning, I had the opportunity to run solo. No dog. No stroller. Not even a husband. It was just me, my Nikes, RoadID, MOTOACTV and the road. (Not as romantic sounding when you put it that way ...)

It was a bit weird that the one thing I wanted for Mothers Day was to be nowhere near the things that define that role but it was exactly what I needed. For 6.12 miles, I thought about nothing but what I was doing and how I was feeling - not whether the dog was going to lunge for the goslings or whether Miles finally fell asleep. I took my time exploring a new-to-me part of the trail, taking note of the shape of the tree trunks and the bends in the river. I took deep breaths and slow steps and enjoyed every step of me time.

I would have liked to go a bit farther - especially as I haven't run more than 6 miles since the Martian Invasion half-marathon - but brunch reservations and a day of family awaited. And that was OK. Mostly because there were raspberry mojitos involved but also because as much as I resist the traditional heartfelt sayings about motherhood, I do enjoy that little bugger and the surprises he brings each day.

I hope everyone had a Mothers Day rich with celebration and love.

MOTOACTV: A follow up

It's the little things in the life.

A sunny day at the park with my lil man.

A post-race martini (or two).

And learning that one of your running idols has one of the same gadgets as you.

Eric, who manages the local running store and placed second at this weekend's 20K (on the left), is training for the Boston marathon. A 2:35 Boston marathon. He's been chronicling his training on a Tumblr page - the good runs (5:38 pace) and the bad ones (7:21 pace), all of which make me feel slow and in awe.

This week's training highlights included that 20K and the fact that he has a MOTOACTV. You know, the same thing that I have. While I've been in love with the device, I felt sort of uncool for shunning the Garmin. Eric using it - and liking it - validates my love all the more.

"But, why?" you ask. "Why do you love it so much?"

Here are some things that I didn't get to in my first post:

*Instant, easy to read stats. When you end your workout, it gives you a summary. There are the basics, of course - duration and distance - but if you "scroll" down, you can see splits. I find this to be especially helpful after a race when I'm not going to immediately sync my workout.

*User friendly. If you are at all familiar with an iPad, iPod, iThing, you can easily figure out how to use the device. Yes, there's a learning curve but it takes about a week. With my Garmin, after two years, I was still trying to figure out how to find things.

*Cross training. The Garmin is great if you are a triathlete but not everyone swims and/or bikes. Some of us like Zumba. Or try to like it. With a new software update, there are 40 trackable activities - everything from yoga to yard work, pilates to punching. Oh, and Zumba.

*Battery life. I had heard a lot of negative feedback about the MOTOACTV's battery life before I said "yes" to the device but a software upgrade fixed many concerns. I'm able to use the device for my weekday runs without charging - and that's even when I forget to turn it off and it "sleeps" for a day.

With anything, there are some things I'd change.

*Elevation. I can see the minimum elevation, the max and net change but I'd love to see an elevation chart when I log on to the MOTOACTV website. Especially after the weekend's hilly 20K. Update/clarification: You can do this - I just hadn't figured it out. When looking at workout details, click on "Select Metric" and choose elevation.

 From Saturday's 20K

*Daily Mile. You can share your workouts on Facebook and Twitter but not Daily Mile. I like to log my miles on that site as there are a few "friends" I only have there.

*Reports. I like that Daily Mile sends me reports each week that includes my mileage and pace. It would be great to see something like that.

*Online milestone reports. The MOTOACTV will congratulate you when you end a workout if you've done something new or awesome - ran your fastest mile, burned more calories than ever before, worked out for the longest period of time or ran the farthest. However, there's no way that I know of to see those benchmarks on the site.

Have you tried the MOTOACTV? What do you think? Or, are you scared to try something new?

Disclosure: As you know, I received the MOTOACTV device for free but all opinions and suggestions are my own.

Insanity

I loved fake winter. I loved running on clear sidewalks and in capris. I loved that it was rarely too cold out in the morning to push Miles in the BOB. I loved not having to shovel snow.

But going from fake winter to summer ... well, it's a bit insane.

I'm not complaining. I'm not. Really. However, these higher temperatures do take some getting used to and are forcing me to do things I don't like to do.

1) Thank God for the higher waist on my athletic Running Skirt because it allows me (for lack of a better phrase) tuck in my belly and run sans shirt.

2) Rethink workouts.

I had 5x800 on tap this week for my speed session, and I thought it would be a great idea to do it tonight as I could do it without my entourage. However, when I realized I would be trying to leave my legs on the track in 85-degree heat, I thought that I might not have to do speed this week since I have a 20K on Saturday. I could do a couple easy miles this morning, I thought, and invite Jillian or Bob to my "Mommy Needs Alone Time" night.

Great idea. Right? Right!

I set out for a couple miles and quickly decided that if I was going out for 2 that I might as well do 3. When I hit the half-mile mark, I thought that if I was going to go for a short run that I might as well do it fast. When I hit the park, I thought that Miles and Denali seemed pretty content, so why not just go around and make it 4.

When I get all crazy like that, insane things happen.

1) My first sub-9 run since last month's 5K and only my second post-baby.

2) A MOTOACTV speed record. When I ended my workout, my cute little device told me that I ran a mile in 8:03. EIGHT-OH-THREE. With the stroller. I'm not entirely sure when I did it because the MOTOACTV will allow users to set records between laps (ex: I could have ran an 8:03 between miles .76 and 1.76 but my laps could be entirely different) but even still, my splits were mighty fine: 9:09, 8:44, 8:52, 7:22 (8:40 pace).

I guess I got in my speed session, after all.

Side note: I've gotten a couple questions about my MOTOACTV, especially since I said I'm not going back to the Garmin Forerunner. I'm going to do a follow-up about the device, talking about some things I've learned and other features I didn't get to talk about. If you have a question, ask it in the comments below and I'll include it in the post.

Things I have decided (+giveaway winner)

*You can only run as far as your mind will allow you. I had 8 miles on the schedule - just 8 nice miles on a cut back week ahead of Saturday's 20K - and I could have done no more. How I ran 11 miles last week is beyond me.

*I would run with a MOTOACTV - even if I didn't get one for free. Reason No. 153: I forgot to turn it off after yesterday's failed second run and I was still able to use it this morning. For all 8 miles. And still had battery to spare. Anyone who has set off only to learn that the Garmin is dead knows just how awesome that is.

*I don't care what the calendar says - it's summer. Or at least spring. If you care to know my reasoning, it's not just the seriously above normal temperatures. It's more that I accidentally ate a bug on my run this morning.

*I am (finally) becoming a better runner because Mark accompanies me on part of my long runs. The little bugger makes me run faster than I should.

*Pushing Miles in the BOB sans car seat adapter is a much more manageable task.

*No matter how comfortable I find Nike Tempo shorts to be, I still think they make me look like I'm wearing a diaper. How do I know this? Well, I like to stare at my reflection in store windows as I pass. And I've seen Miles' butt in a diaper.

*Gu Roctane is not for me. I've tried several flavors, and I don't care for any of them.

*Pancakes, even if they are 7-grain, are the perfect recovery food.

*Making enough pancakes so that you can freeze them for later is much better in theory than practice.

*Biscoff spread is like crack.

And speaking of Biscoff, our winner is ...

Congratulations, Jan! Email (hlthystrides at gmail dot com) your mailing info and I'll have that sent out to you ASAP.

What have you decided lately?

Push it, push it real good

Motivation!

It screamed at me from the cover of Runner's World. The magazine had the key, 9 actually, to get me out there pounding the pavement. The writer suggested things like thinking positive, joining up with friends and doing workouts you love.

What can I say? Predictable, predictable, predictable.

You need real motivation to run.

Personal hygiene. Gross as it may seem, I try to avoid hair washing daily at all costs. It's taken a while to "train" it that way but I'm finally there and my scalp thanks me. I washed my hair yesterday, and I need to shower tonight because I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow morning. If I'm going to have to go to all the effort of washing my hair and such, I might as well get my time's worth by sweating it up beforehand. Rain or not, I'll be running 4.5 miles.

Pre-track your workout. I do this a lot with strength/cross training. If I know I should workout, I mark that I've done so on MyFitnessPal. I'm less likely to skip it because going back and removing it blows chunks.

A decent race time. My average pace for my 8 miles at RnR NOLA was 9:09. Do you know what that means? And if you say that I missed running sub-9, I might hit you. A 9:09 average is just what I would need to run to get a sub-2 finish at the Martian half-marathon next month. I know it's not what I've been training for and it would have to come down to perfect race conditions but that number was all that I could think about yesterday. It was that number that motivated me to do my interval workout even though I had the stroller. I had 7x400 on tap and though I didn't do the prescribed workout, I did 1:30 hard followed by 2 minutes easier for 7 or 8 times during my 4-mile run.  It might have been that 9:09 that pushed me to one of my fastest stroller miles ever - 8:55. (Thanks MOTOACTV for letting me check my stats online on Mark's computer. Booyah!)

Double the fun. We can all go out and sign up for a 5K and "stick" to training plan. But come race day, we can dial it in just because. Well, when you have someone else depending on you, it's a whole lot different. I know I ran harder in NOLA because I didn't want to disappoint my friend and I know she trained and ran harder for the same reason.

Chocolate milk ... or beer. When Pattie and I were walking back to the shuttle, we were trying to be good runners and cheer on those who were heading toward the finish line. I started shouting that they were just a few strides away from chocolate milk (the best ever recovery drink if you ask me). And the Pattie started with the two beers because, well, there were two beers. It's probably not all that amusing to you but I can assure you that we thought we were being funny helpful. On a hotter by the minute day, who wouldn't run for beer or chocolate milk? I know I shouldn't advocate caloric reward for sweat but you gotta do what you gotta do.

Do you have an unconventional way of motivating yourself?

Hello, MOTOACTV: a product review

Anyone who knows me knows that I love my Garmin Forerunner 305.

Well, loved my Garmin.

After nearly 2 years, my favorite training tool was beginning to fail me. It was taking forever to find a satellite. It was taking forever to load workouts - if they even loaded. It was crashing my laptop at any chance it got.

I tried to make things better between us. I  spoke with customer service (the Garmin folks are great!) and got the crash issue resolved. For a short period. I ordered a new USB connector thingy (technical term) from Amazon but it only made it apparent that I was going to need a new cradle - if not a new Garmin. I was scouting discounts and trying to draft a creative, witty proposal to Mark on why we needed to forgo a new dresser for a new Garmin when I got an email.

A very interesting email.

The folks at MOTOACTV had seen my story on Yahoo! and read on this here blog that I had just registered for the Martian half-marathon. I have newish shoes and a pair of tights to get me through training but what I didn't have was a MOTOACTV.

The MOTOACTV, I was told, is an all-in-one GPS fitness tracker and smart music player. It's  the perfect companion to help motivate, track, and share workouts. The device features running, biking, elliptical and stair climbing settings. (No swimming for you, you crazy triathletes.)

After some reading and wallet soul searching, I decided that I had nothing to lose by accepting the generous offer. Within a few short days, I was sent an 8GB MOTOACTV with several accessories - the wrist band, the arm band and the bike mount.

It took me a few days to get everything set up and ready (I got it just before Mark went away for the weekend) but soon enough we were off and running ... literally.

Like any relationship, it took us some time to get to know each other but after two weeks and 10 or so runs, I'm ready to share my thoughts.

Oh, you're just a dainty little thing. Weighing in at 35 grams, the MOTOACTV feels significantly lighter than the hefty Garmin Forerunner 305. It is, however, just as big dimension-wise.

 
Like an iPhone but not. Once I got past just how light this thing was, I was enamored with the display. It was like switching from an old Nokia phone to an iPhone. The display is bright and colorful, and the menus are accessed through touch. I felt like the menus made sense, and it was easy to navigate the system to find what I wanted. Also, the color display makes it much easier to see things like pace, mileage, etc. even in the early morning hours. The only downside is that in the winter you will need to take off a glove or have those fancy tech gloves to get to what you want.

Locating, locating, locating. One of my complaints with the Forerunner 305 was just how long it took to find a satellite. It seemed like forever. And by forever, I mean at least a tenth of a mile walk and sometimes longer. The MOTOACTV has a countdown timer to show you how long it takes. For me it's never been longer than 30 seconds and is usually in the 10 second range.

Glitches. I've had a couple times where things weren't working just right. One of my first times out with the MOTOACTV, I hit something and the display changed. I could no longer see my pace, which was crucial as I was doing a tempo run. Another time, the pace showed just "---" as if I lost satellite but I hadn't. I knew that because it showed a changing distance. When I sync'ed the workout, it showed paces for those splits.

End workout. Damnit! I am not a non-stop runner. We pause for poopy breaks (Denali, not me) and intersections and checks on Miles. You can use an autopause setting (which I hated - took 5+ seconds to pause and didn't restart automatically) or you can manually stop-start the watch by pressing a button at the top of the device. However, when doing so it's too easy to accidentally swipe the screen and end the workout. Seriously, my long run on Sunday was in three parts because of it. It would be nice if there was an "are you sure" feature after pressing end workout.

Sync it to me. After having issues syncing my Garmin, I think the sync feature might be my favorite. Once you end your workout and walk in your house, with a few finger strokes, you can sync your workout via a wifi connection. The information is uploaded to your MOTOACTV profile, where you can look at splits, route and other features.

Music to my ears. While I'm not one to listen to music during most runs because I have the stroller, it is nice to have a playlist to zone out to. MOTOACTV users can sync their music via iTunes (or other things I'm sure) directly to the device, eliminating the need for a Garmin and an iPod. You can sync as much as you want but I created a playlist in iTunes and uploaded just that because 8GB fills up fast when you factor in the space the maps require.

The cool thing about the music feature isn't that you can listen to "Bye Bye Bye" during your 5K - it's that you can see how fast you ran to that song during your 5K when you sync your workout.

For instance, at my recent 5K, I ran my fastest splits to "Bye Bye Bye" and "Jai Ho" and my slowest to "Set Fire to the Rain" and "ET." If I need to run fast, I should listen to the first two. If I need to keep pace in check, Adele's my girl.

Accessorize your life. When you get the MOTOACTV, you get the MOTOACTV - and that's it. The wristband, the armband, bike mount - those are all extra. One could easily spend the equivalent of the device on the accessories, especially if you get the wireless headphones and chest strap (want this!). Sure, it's nice to get just what you need but this girl likes options and options are expensive.

Final thoughts. I like the MOTOACTV. And not just because I got it for free. You see, we've become buddies and I can't imagine going back to the Garmin. Unless I get into triathlons but that's a whole other story ...


Disclosure: The MOTOACTV and accessories were given to me but all opinions are my own.