After running the half marathon, I wished I had some pictures. There are the official photos available on the race website, but they are ridiculously priced. And there only a few of them. I would love to have pictures of the race from my point of view.
I have a nice 8mp Nikon digital camera, but it is kind of expensive, and I don’t want to risk breaking it with 26.2 miles of bouncing around. And frankly, I don’t need all of the features, and stuff available on the camera to take some snapshots along the race. I also have an older 1.3mp HP camera. I thought about bringing this. And I still might. It is a little on the large side. But it takes good pictures, and if it breaks, I won’t be heartbroken.
I ordered a small 1.3mp digital camera. It is very small, has no flash, or zoom. It will hold about 50 pictures in the 1.3mp mode, which is more than enough. Reading reviews, it needs to be held still to take pictures. Since I have no fantasies about winning a marathon, and will likely be finishing between 4.5-5 hours with periodic walking breaks, stopping to snap a photo now and then during the race, wont kill my time. Since I want to race in the Las Vegas, and I sure there will be lots of interesting things to see. I have read they will have 26.2 Elvis impersonators running the race. The little camera comes with a lanyard that I can hang around my neck. Though that might be awkward having it flop around while I am running. I will work something out. If it comes soon enough, I might be able to try it out during my upcoming off-road duathlon race.
Tanita 6102 cardio heart rate monitor
SUMMARY: Works okay under proper conditions. Price is good.
More of a pulse meter than a heart rate monitor. I originally bought this pulse meter to try and measure my morning resting heart rate. It hasn’t been very useful for that though. When I wake up, I am still have asleep, and can’t focus my eyes. Then I need to turn the light on, and find the unit. After all of that moving around, my pulse has usually risen anyway.
Where I find it useful is when I am sitting around at work, or at home. I can pull the unit out of my pocket, and get my pulse. It is good for biofeedback. I can watch my pulse, and try to force myself to relax, and get my pulse lower.
The Tanita cardio heart rate monitor measures your pulse by measuring the light changes going through your finger. As your your hear pulses, blood is forced and into your finger, and less light comes through. Sometimes, it is tricky getting your finger in the right position. Because the unit it is looking for changes in light, it needs a consistent light source. So this unit does not work while you are moving around. Don’t even think about using it while you are running or walking. It just wont work. For that, you will better off buying a real heart rate monitor with a chest strap.
Since I bought the Tanita cardio heart rate monitor as a pulse meter, it has one behaviour that is really annoying. You press “PULSE”, and then put your finger on the sensor. It will read, and display your pulse for one minute, then switch back to displaying the time. I didn’t buy this as a clock! I don’t want it to keep switching back to displaying time!
Anyway, if you just want something to see your resting heart rate, while you are sitting around, and don’t want to go through the hassle counting beats, while watching a clock, then you might like this unit. The price is good.
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Since I started running using a heart rate monitor, and working on keeping my workouts within an aerobic zone, my resting heart rate has been getting lower. When I started, my resting heart rate was most often found in the mid 50’s to low 60’s. After a little bit, I did count of 48 once. now, only couple months later, my resting heart rate is usually in the low to mid 50’s. But if I am relaxed, I often get it down into the mid 40’s. And I am finding it in the 40’s more and more often. The lowest I have measured it so far has been 43. And I am not even talking about a morning resting heart rate when I first wake up. I am talking about sitting at my desk at work.
My heart rate monitor training follows the ideas of Phil Maffetone, and John L Parker Jr. I am definitely seeing improvements in my endurance. And after I have been working out, my heart rate drops my more quickly.
I wonder if I can get it down into the 30’s? I haven’t yet measured it that low.
Surviving The Toughest Race On Earth by Martin Dugard
SUMMARY: Interesting book. Slows a little in places though.
The author starts out covering the Raid Gauloises as a journalist. The Raid Gauloises is a race that combines multiple disciplines. For example, you might sky dive, then hike through a jungle, then kayak on the ocean, then mountain bike up a mountain, etc. Details of the race are kept from the racers until shortly before the race. They are held in remote places like Borneo, the Andes and Madagascar. Eventually the author goes from journalist, to competitor. He puts together a team, but the team doesn’t work well together, and then after an injury, he is forced to drop out. The next year, he comes back as an independent, not part of a team. But going along, ready to fill in if a team loses a member. He eventually joins a team. The team encounters many problems, and is forced to quit. The author manages to go on and complete the race.
The Raid Gauloises has inspired other races such as Mark Burnett’s Eco Challenge, and very loosely The Amazing Race.
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I was thinking last night about trying to learn to swim. I can run, I can ride a bike. But unless they change Triathlons to Running/Riding/Drowning, I am not ready to compete. Don’t get me wrong, I can swim, just not well. When I was a kid, I had all kinds of ear problems, so most of the time, I wasn’t allowed to go swimming under doctor’s orders. I do remember taking swimming lessons when I was kid, but not doing great at them.
Then there is the problem of sinking. When I got married, my body fat was fairly low. I remember trying to float in a pool, and I couldn’t. I would slowly sink. Then when swimming, I spent a bunch of energy just trying to stay on the surface. I didn’t even float well in salt-water. My weight slowly climbed after getting married, then floating got easier. Then I lost weight, and not my body-fat is dropping again. If my body-fat percentage continues to drop, it will be the lowest it has ever been.
Anyway, I got the idea to ask my wife to teach me to swim so I can swim for 2.5 miles. I knew that she used to teach swimming. Her advise, was just get into the pool and do it. Hmmm… She must have taught by the sink or swim method. I am hoping to drag her to the pool tonight, or maybe tomorrow night. I don’t have karate class tonight because of the holiday yesterday. But I am supposed to run 4 miles tonight, and I think 8 miles tomorrow night.