TomTom Cardio Runner - My first impressions

Last month Running Bug ran a competition to review and keep a TomTom Cardio Runner. I entered and thought nothing of it until a few weeks later when I got an email confirming I had won one to trial, how exciting.

When my watch arrived I was like a kid at Christmas as I tore open the packaging to be greeted by my new TomTom Cardio Runner in all it shiney glory.

I had done some research into the watch but could not get my head around how it could monitor heart rate using light. I was baffled by the technology and was thrilled to be able to try it. I had read the DC Rainmaker review of the watch in an attempt to better understand the pros and cons of the watch.

I couldn't wait to get home to try out the watch for myself to see if it worked as accurately as what I have become used to when using a chest strap.

In the interests of science I decided to go for a run wearing two watches so I could compare the HR's between what I (and most other people) have become accustomed to and the new tech in the TomTom Runner Cardio.

On that first run the maximum difference I noticed between the recorded heart rates between the two units was 3bpm. I would love to be able to show you the data to back this up but had a technical malfunction and can't upload the data from this first run off my new watch.

As you can see in the above photo the difference in 1bpm. I was amazed that the difference was so little.

Since that first run however I have been able to upload the data from the watch to Strava and other fitness tracking services.

I haven't been for anymore runs wearing both watches. It just feels weird running with two watches. The plan is to complete another run wearing two watches so I can categorically state that the new technology is as accurate as the traditional technology.

Since that first run I have found myself reaching for the TomTom to log my runs. It is oddly liberating being able to run without a chest strap.  The weight of the TomTom Cardio Runner is also less than I have become accustomed to, which is a nice bonus

I love the fact that you can set HR zones to run to and it lets you know if you are training in the right zone. I find this really helpful and motivational as it is constantly there to remind you if you are working too hard or not hard enough.

I am looking forward to working with the other features of the TomTom Runner Cardio over the coming weeks to see what other niceties I can find in there.

I am not going to lie, I was sceptical about the tech but form my first couple of weeks with the watch, I am mightily impressed by it.

Thanks for reading,

Michael

Breathing, running and me

Over the past couple of months I have begun to notice how atrocious my breathing sounds when I run. I know I have joked about sounding like I suffer from emphysema but that is how bad I think I sound!

At track on Tuesdays as people pass me they don’t sound as bad as I do. With this in mind I spoke to #runboss about my concerns.

My reasoning being when I coach swimming I know that some runners who are learning to swim struggle with the breathing and I wondered if the reverse were true i.e. when a swimmer (AKA me) starts to run and is struggling with breathing, is there a fundamental reason why they struggle to breath?

Now I know this might sound rubbish but I have always been a swimmer and never a runner until 2 years ago. Is there something different in breathing between swimming and running.

I booked an appointment at Blizard Towers to find out. Who better to advise me than two ex international runners, #runboss and my physio.

This Wednesday was the time for my appointment.

I had no idea what this would entail in the slightest.

First Dave got me to perform a peak flow test to see how powerful my lungs were. When I was a kid I had asthma so knew the process, big breath in and blow out as quickly and forcefully as you can.

The first set of results were:

PEF (peak expiratory flow) which is a measure of a person’s maximum speed of expiration of 601L/min. A normal reading for my age and height would be 636L/min

FEV1  which is the amount of air expelled in a one second period of time of 4.6L. A normal reading for my age, weight and height would be 4.36L

Jenny (my Physio) then set about seeing what my range of movement was across my thoracic spine, as this has an impact on how your ribs move which impacts on your breathing. I had severe stiffness in my back. After a bout of manipulation to free up my thoracic spine and check to see what the improvement in flexibility was like, we repeated the peak flow test again

PEF = 766L/min

FEV1 = 4.8L

A marked improvement.

Now we got down to the nitty gritty part. How I actually breath?

After I laid on the couch, Jenny asked me to breath in and out a few times. I did and she watched my chest rise and fall.

I was breathing with the top of my lungs first, my mid lung second and my diaphragm last. Which is exactly the opposite way a runner should breath.

When quizzed as to why I breath that way, I can only think that I learnt to breath that way as a kid who swam sprints for his town. When sprint swimming as a child it was about how quickly I could get breath in and the most efficient way to do this would be to use your top portion of the lungs.

After going through the correct “running” way to breath, which felt really weird at first as I had to isolate all the different portions of the breath before stringing them all together and breathing “correctly”, we checked my range of movement across my thoracic spine. There was a marked improvement from the first range of movement motions

So now I have to retrain myself to not breath in the way that I have breathed for as long as I can remember. Jenny gave me some exercises to do to help with this.

We then discussed how, when I have got my breathing sorted. To run I should breath in and then breath out for twice the duration I breathed in for. Why is there so much to remember?

Now for the important peak flow retest.

PEF = 784L/min, an improvement of 30% and a measurement which puts me 23% above what is considered “normal”

FEV1 = 4.94L, an improvement of 7% which puts me 13% above what is considered “normal”

I was shocked by the improvement with my breathing. I suspect the next few weeks will be odd, having to focus on relearning to breath. Even sat here typing I am aware of myself breathing the wrong way.

I went for a threshold run last night and really concentrated on breathing. I didn’t feel as out of breath as I had done previously. Coincidence? Only the future will tell.

Thanks for reading,

Michael

Hatfield Tri - Take 2

Last Sunday saw me compete in the Hatifled Triathlon for the second time. This triathlon was the same race I competed 2 years ago, the site of my first triathlon.

I wanted to go into the race and set a new PB to see how much I had improved in the last two years. Given I had hardly trained (2 5km runs and 2 swim sessions) since Ironman Austria, it definitely wasn’t the best preparation.

I decided to carry out an experiment in this race and race completely to HR zones.

My aim was to complete the bike at a minimum HR of 160bpm (well into my tempo zone) and then back this up with a minimum HR of 170bpm (again into my tempo zone) and see if I could hold those respective efforts for the duration of the sprint distance race. Yes I knew it would hurt but after holding 180bpm in the Doncaster 5km, I thought it was a worthwhile experiment.

Race day morning arrived and I made my way over to the Waterpark in Hatfield. Registration was seemless. Now time for racking. Since deciding to race sprints, I have stripped my bike down to its bare essentials. Given I punctured earlier in the season, those essentials stop at foam and CO2 cartidge. No bottles. It’s amazing how little stuff I need for a sprint. When compared to how much I took for my first triathlon, it is joyfully minimalist. My transition area held my bike (complete with shoes on), a towel, my visor and sunglasses.

Compared to this photo from the same race two years ago this is nothing.

Swim

The plan for the swim was to push hard but comfortably hard. I always find it hard to guage effort on swimming, I have two speeds (all out sprint) and my general swimming pace. I pushed hard from the hooter but couldn’t find a way through the swimmers in front until we made the first buoy. Then I nipped past a few swimmers and was in clear water. This continued for the last 450m. I exited in around 12 minutes and ran to transition while removing my wetsuit.

It amazes me how efficient I have got at this. I had the top half of my Archimedes off before I had hit dry land. Thanks for the breakaway zipper HUUB.

After reaching transition I stripped my wetsuit off and unracked #Rinnie and ran to the mount line. I hopped on and set about pedalling. Thankfully I had remembered to have my shoes undone.

Bike

Time to get some pedalling done. First job get my feet in the shoes. Second job elevate my HR above 160bpm and keep it there. For some reason my gears weren’t working correctly so I couldn’t sit in my usual gear and pedal at 90+ RPM, it was either sit in a higher gear and pedal at 85RPM or sit in a lower gear and pedal at 100+RPM. Given my lack of riding I decided to settle on the 85RPM gear. Not comfortable but moreso than pedalling at 100+ for me.

The bike course at Hatfield is flat with 5 hills (motorway bridges) and I rode the entire course in the big ring and only changed gear about twice. I was pleased to set an average pace of over 19mph given I hadn't ridden any bike in 3 weeks. My average HR was 164bpm and I was working that hard that I even vommed a bit in my mouth. Thats a first for me.

I only got overtaken by about 10 cyclists throughout the ride, which pleased me. As I was pulling into the Waterpark I took my feet out of my shoes in preparation for a flying dismount. I flew into T2.

Bike racked now for putting my trainers on and starting the run.

Since I have been using talc in my trainers, my T2's have gotten a lot quicker.

Run

I even managed to smile on the run

Time for more suffering. It took me a while to find my running legs but I managed to get my HR above 170bpm quickly in my run. Despite the run route differing from 2012. 5km is still 5km. I made it to the turn point and wasn't passed once. On the return leg, my pace seemed to slow and I was really starting to hurt. I got passed by about 10 runners in the second half of the run.

This is my own fault as I have done little run training since Austria. I have lost a lot of speed and a lot of endurance. I was so relieved to make it onto the finishing field.  With less than 400m to go, I decided to push harder. I really wanted to get to that line.

I finished the race in 1:27:33 which was a 24 minute improvement on 2012.

24 minutes is ridiculous PB over a sprint distance and I really believe that with the right training there is still a lot more to come off that time especially as I hadn't trained properly going into the race. Who knows what my time will be in 2015 but one thing is for sure, I'll be racing to find out.

Below are the stats comparing 2012 and 2014.

As you can see I improved in every discipline which proves how much I have grown as a triathlete. I'm so proud of how much I have improved.

And if anyone doubts how hard I worked in this race, here is the proof.

Who shot me

Thanks for reading,

Michael

Enjoyable torture in a pressure cooker

Last night marked my return to road running.

I know I run on roads all the time and run as part of triathlons but I have only entered 3 actual running races since I started this journey.

The Doncaster 5k was to be my third race as a runner and the second time I would get to pull on my club colours.

I left it until the last minute to decide whether to race as my knee had been causing me some discomfort but a quick visit to Blizard Physiotherapy last week helped cure the ailment. Yet again it looks like nerve tightness in my back causing me lower limb issues,

On Sunday I went for my first run since Austria and decided on a quick (actually it was quite slow) 5k near home. I trudged round in 29 minutes and was quite pleased with this having not run for exactly 2 weeks. I didn’t push hard but definitely felt the after effects for a few days.

So last night I went to register and was pleased to be back racing. I’ve found the post Austria rest enjoyable but frustrating at times. Some days I have felt great and others I have felt truly awful.

After registration I caught up with friends, some of the club runners and #runboss and watched the start of the Vets race before going for a quick warm up.

My knee felt a bit tight during the warm up but I’m not entirely sure this wasn’t in my head. Me and Martin ran a lap of the town centre including some strides and I genuinely felt good. I knew the heat would hurt me during the race.

When the heavens opened at 6pm, I prayed to the running gods that it could continue for another 150 minutes and then I could run in the rain. I much prefer running in the rain to running in oppressive heat, I just function better. But alas it was merely a shower.

We lined up for the race in the town centre. I positioned myself quite near to the front and on the outside of the course. I didn’t want to hold anyone up but also consider myself a runner, whereas last year I hung around at the back feeling awkward.

It's like Where's Wally. Photo courtesy of @doncasterrunner

The whistle went and we were underway.

I had targeted running the race above 171bpm and keeping it there as long as possible by setting my Garmin to alert me if it was lower.

After 100m my Garmin did it’s usual “beedlebee” to announce my HR was too low but I knew this was fine as we had only just started and had my HR gone from 70bpm to 171bpm in under 100m, I think I might have needed an ambulance or valium to take me to A&E or calm me back down. There were no more beeps  eminating from my Garmin so after a couple more minutes I glanced down at my watch to see 187bpm displayed.

Wow. How hard am I working? Photo from @doncasterrunner

187BPM. What the hell was I doing? Thats in my interval training zone and has only previously been seen on a treadmill when carrying out my lactate tests with Dave Tune spurring me on. No wonder I was breathing like some weird hybrid between a “60 year emphysema sufferer crossed with a male sex line operator”.

Well the plan was to suffer so I thought balls to it and pushed on at the same pace. I completed the first lap and felt absolutely horrific. The heat was dreadful but I carried on. Quick glance 181bpm.

End of 1st lap. Wow I look healthy. Photo courtesy of David Tune

I love the Donny 5km, you can get cheered on by friends, clubmates and the inebriated all in the space of 2 minutes. It really is a special race.

Quick check of Garmin as breathing hadn’t changed . Still 184 and feeling dreadful. Carry on? You betcha. Bring on the suffering.

By the end of the second of three laps some of the quicker runners (read race winner and about 17 others) had passed me. I had hoped to not be passed but I felt like I was running through treacle at this stage. I still had one lap to go so decided to keep the suffering up. HR 183bpm.

Another picture where I look a picture of health. Photo from @doncasterrunner

It transpires that my treacle running was justified. My first mile was a 7:12.

7 bloody 12. My fastest ever mile and proof that I might’ve overstretched myself given I haven’t run for two and a half weeks and haven’t run at speed since my last track session on the 10^th June. My second mile was 8:40 and my third was 9:14 showing a steady decline after my earlier herculean efforts. Honestly 7:12? Was I on drugs?

Just for clarity, in case any of the organisers or people from WADA read this. No I bloody wasn’t.

So the race was completed in a (tbc) time of 26:02. Hardly record breaking and far from what I have achieved in the past.

But it is a new “race” PB.

And it came off the back of an injury and no hard running for 5 weeks.

This morning I expected to feel truly, well crap, I expected to have to walk down the stairs backwards. But I didn’t. I feel great. My legs feel fine and I can’t wait to race again on Sunday.

The race was important to me for a couple of reasons.

Fristly it helped banish any thoughts of long racing from my immediate future. Why? Well I truly suffered during this race and I can’t exert that much pain on myself for a longer race, but I have missed the hurt in the recent weeks. I love the feeling of beasting myself but I don’t possess it in me to keep it up for hours on end. If you had seen me at the finish line you’d have been tempted to call an ambulance as I was bent double propping myself up on the barriers with sweat dripping from my forehead but inside I felt alive.

Secondly it transpires that I possess the ability to well and truly suffer. My average HR for the run was 180bpm. This is harder than I have ever run before and although the time doesn’t reflect the effort I put in (given my actual PB is 22:53). I know I raced with honesty and heart. My previous 5k runs have seen my average HR be

169bpm for Blenhiem

169bpm for ETU aquathlon

168bpm for my last warm up run before Cologne.

168bpm for my actual 5km PB of 22:53 from April this year.

These are all in the right zone though as my tempo zone is from 167 – 186bpm.

But last night I absolutely beasted myself and completed all 5km with my HR well into my tempo zone. I didn’t die. Yes it hurt, but isn’t that the point?

So now with a renewed sense of vigour I know my distance. My distance is short, no more playing at going long as it isn’t for me.

I know how to suffer as I have done it.

Onwards and upwards. I have a score to settle in Doncaster in 364 days where I will be lighter, stronger, correctly trained and as a result a lot quicker.

I’d like to thank all the race marshals, all the spectators and all the people who cheered me on for making last night so enjoyable. Sorry I couldn’t acknowledge you if you cheered me, I was in a different place at the time.

Thanks for reading,

Michael

A sprint triathlete

What's next?

The A race for 2014 has been completed after I got to the finish line in Klagenfurt.

I also managed to complete a wish in the run up to Austria when I got to pull on a GB Trisuit.

So what's next?

I honestly don't know.

I have a few sprint triathlons coming up over the next few months but as for the longer term goals, I haven't made any final decisions yet.

Given the fact that races for next year are already starting to open, I need to be quick and make some decisions. I'm 99% decided that I won't be completing any Iron distance triathlons in 2015.

The long training sessions alone are so boring and time consuming that they quickly absorb a weekend. It is only this weekend when I have nothing planned that I fully realised how little time I have been spending with my wife.

I am not ruling them out in the future though.

I think I need to learn how to truly suffer at shorter distances before I embrace the suck at iron distance.

However I have only raced one half distance and there is an itch there that I would like to scratch. The fact I could combine this with an early season break away with my wife makes it something I would like to discuss with my run coach.

As for the races that are coming up my calendar is quite full.

16th July - Doncaster 5k (if my knee is up to it)
20th July - Hatfield Sprint (the Hatfield in Doncaster not near London)
3rd August - London Triathlon Sprint
16th August - Swim With Other Teams Championships
23rd August - National Club Relay Championships
14th September - Leeds Triathlon Relay (swim)
21st September - Brigg Sprint
5th October - Drax Triathlon

I'm really looking forward to going shorter over the coming months and I think I will continue this vain into next year.

I am also going to make a concentrated effort to lose some weight. The quickest way for me to get quicker on the bike and run is if I weigh less. It's simple physics.

So next year will mainly be spent doing sprints with a possible entry to Ironman 70.3 Mallorca thrown in for good measure. After all I have a PB to aim for there. Who knows I may even attempt to qualify for the ETU sprint triathlon champs if my running gets better.

Thanks for reading,

Michael

Update

After speaking with Dave Tune aka #runboss I have decided not to pursue any 70.3 races next year and will concentrate solely on sprint distance racing. Who knows I may even push the boat out with the odd Olympic distance.