Here are my initial thoughts and a quick review of the Garmin Forerunner 405 with HRM. This is my first Garmin Forerunner so I cannot compare usage against previous generations on usage but……..
The Garmin 405 is way smaller than the 305 or other previous generations. I do not have a big wrist and this watch felt “normal” on my wrist as opposed to an alarm clock on my wrist, which is how I would describe the previous generations when I tried them on. You can wear this watch on a daily basis and not notice it.
Now comes the interesting part, figuring out how this works:
Setup - The Garmin walks you through a menu set up and is very simple to get set up. Piece of cake
Satellites - I am not sure if it is NYC or this watch, but acquiring satellites for the first time took a few minutes. Once acquired I think I lost the signal a few times as the time on the watch showed a half hour before actual time. It took about 25 minutes for the correct time to appear
Screen - I have not gone through many screen, but viewing the screen was easy. I know there were worries that the screen size would be too small but I could see all readouts simply. The other cool thing is if you touch both sides of the bezel at the same time the backlight will go on, super simple and easy. This is a great feature when running at night.
Bezel - I am still working out how the bezel works and it is not that simple. The first thing I did was shut off the beeps for each touch of the bezel, it will drive you insane. Going through the menus is simple but figuring out what to do next and programming is not easy, but a few days with the manual and I think it will be OK.
Heart Rate Monitor - I have not tried this part out yet, so TBD
Pace Accuracy - I ran a route that I know is 5 miles and the Garmin came back with 5.01 miles, so pretty good there. I felt a ran a solid 7:40/mile pace and the Garmin told me I was running a 7:37. Unfortunately the pace was not accurate the whole way through as the satellites went in and out.
Overall I am a big fan of the Garmin 405 and if you do not mind spending (it is pricey) then pick one up if you can find it
After months of waiting and confusion on delivery dates that I have documented in the past, my Garmin 405 is finally on the way and is being shipped overnight. Now I know many will want to know where this magic shipment of Garmin 405’s came from and shockingly it came from the NYRR. It seems some of the major running clubs got the first shipment of a small number of Garmin 405’s and I was lucky enough to get my order in before they sold out.
As soon as my Gamin 405 is delivered I will take it out for a test run and have a review with pictures. Pray for UPS and some nice weather tomorrow.
This past week has been the final week of hard training before the Brooklyn Half Marathon next week and I guess a mini-taper. I think the whole team has been putting in the miles and getting ready for the race. This is going to be a fun one and hopefully able to get close to a 1:35 half. With Birch pacing I think it is a possibility.
To prepare for the pace, I have gone back to the track for some speed workouts, which are horrific and vomit inducing, but would love to share with you for those who want to speed work.
On a standard 400m track, do one lap below 1 minute 30 seconds, then slowly jog (hate the word) or shuffle your feet to keep moving for 1 minute, then repeat the fast lap. Then wash rinse, repeat for 8 fast laps, trying to stay below a set time (mine is 1:30).
I have no scientific proof for this method as I have cobbled it together from a few training gurus, but give it a shot, if you do not get faster, you will puke, gonna be fun either way.
Tomorrow morning I will try to hook up with the Shampoos for an easy 8-10 mile run before our annual Crawfish Boil. Then let the good times roll.
Crawfish Boil pictures and report to follow later this week
Mad props out to Sean for his amazing performance this Monday. He ran a 3:09 which is damn fast in any marathon. In Boston? SICK! Here’s his race report:
“The marathon was an incredible experience. Just running a course with so much history (112 years - oldest except for the original Greek Olympiad) is pretty amazing. And, some of my earliest memories are of watching my dad run it.
The race is incredibly well organized - making 26,000 runners safely and timely move through an urban course is no small feat. High points for me were finally getting under way in Hopkinton, charging through the “wall of sound” at Wellesley College where hundreds of college women uphold a tradition of nearly blowing your eardrums out, Summiting heartbreak hill with my stride intact and realizing ½ way down the final stretch of Boylston Ave that I had my sub 3:10 in the bag. Low points included a scary hip pain in the early miles that went away, struggling on the first of the Newton hills (I recovered), and struggling mightily in the final 5 miles to maintain a sub 3:10 pace.
My goal was to run under 3:10 and I managed to cross in 3:09:13, 2290th place out of 25000+ finishers. The weekend was even sweeter because 4 college buddies of mine were all running as well. One of them even got to run with Lance Armstrong for about 2/3 of the race. For any of you who ever have the desire to run a marathon - there is truly nothing out there like Boston.”
Nice work Sean; may all dofb membership in good standing toast your mettle forthrightly!
Morning all,
Just a quick report from this morning’s jaunt to Lido beach. Waves were 3′ glass and, while the water is still in the low 40’s, it was already nearly 70 degrees out by 7am. Holy F I’m out of form/shape, but it was amazing to be out on such a perfect morning. While further out than the Rockaways, I like Lido. It always seems to stack up a bit higher and there are less folks spread over seemingly more peaks.
Can’t do it everyday (the 5:30am roust + hr each way of driving is a bit much) but my-oh-my does a little clean surf start the day off right.
I am not sure for a blog if you celebrate a birthday or anniversary, but either way it has been one year since the initial post on dofb.com. In our first year, there have been 186 posts ranging from stories on running, motorcycles, how to start a proper charcoal BBQ to how to grill on an engine block.
Hope you have enjoyed Year 1, and really do not have much more to say here then stick around for the future, it is going to get intersting
Just a quick shout to all the runner’s who are preparing for this coming Monday’s 112 running of the Boston marathon.
As a runner and native New Englander I can’t help but love the Boston. I was peeved to miss qualifying in this year’s NY by a minute and change, but it’s with no small amount of pride that we’ll be cheering one of our own on from afar. My cousin (in-law?) Sean Kerwin, an iron-man, all around kick-ass athlete and soon to be Duke (he’s on our Reach the Beach team), will be competing in this year’s race. Sean’s a machine and I have no doubt he’ll be high-steppin’ over heartbreak hill.
Best of luck to Sean and all the other runners….we’re pulling for a cool, windless and slightly overcast day Monday!
17 Apr
Posted by Graham as Baja 1000, Motorcycle, Travel
I just got back from a 1,230 mile off-road motorcycle trip from Ensenada to Cabo San Lucas. It was a training run to prepare for the Baja 1000. Here’s part three of the story…
DAY #3
This was going to be our 2nd longest day, around 250 miles, so we got up particularly early to get a head start. Things started to go wrong immediately. We had two rear flats that needed to be changed before we even got out of the parking lot, delaying us by about an hour.
We finally got off around 7:45 or so, wearing jackets as it was a cold, damp morning. The first section were rocky dirt roads through rolling green hills, shrouded in mist. You could run at decent speeds, but had to be on the lookout for rogue boulders. The bikes didn’t have steering dampners so when you hit something big, the front fork would completely twist and if you were sitting down, you’d get thrown into the front of the bike, possibly going down. This often resulted in a superman, both legs completely off the pegs, outstretched behind you. It’s a little unnerving at first, but you learn to hang on and regain your composure. Gotta keep moving.
We then hit a rocky technical section that criss-crossed craggy mountains. This was my first technical section and it took a while to get used to the punishing terrain. When in doubt, get the bike in first gear, stand on both pegs and find the cleanest path. When you’re riding through what amounts to a field of boulders, that can be tricky, but it does work. I dropped the bike a few times during this section and lost my SPOT Satellite Messenger. The drill in Baja is to conserve your equipment and energy, so dropping the bike a few times early in the day can really wreak havoc towards the end of that day.
This particular Duke has been a long time without posts here and I must first apologize for my sloth. I’ve been one part lazy, two parts frenetic and then one part vacation, which I’ll hereby relate.
Myself, Mrs. Duke & the Mother-in-Duke just returned from a groovy jaunt to Ireland where we cruised around checking out the sights and pillaging keg and sea alike. It turns out Ireland’s a damn cool place; beautiful and very old. And they have beer…lots and lots of beer. Who knew?
Anyway, here are a few shots from the trip & I promise my fellow Dukes I’ll be more regular in my posting. At the very least I promise to be more vigilant and regular in my beer drinking and, if there’s one thing Ireland taught me, it’s that diligent, copious application of the suds will inevitably lead to great things.
Hook Head light…13th century lighthouse that purports to be the oldest continually operating in Europe
The colors in Ireland are pretty stellar
First Guinness on Irish soil…mmmmm
Your average goaty Irish road
The cliffs of Insanity…errr Moher
One of only one or two memorable meals had, and easily the best. Seafood restaurant named Boluisce in Connemara. The proprietors Bairbre Brooke & Monica Mac Gabham run a lovely little restaurant with top-notch vitals, a fine wine list and an extremely tasty Guinness tap system. of particular note was the unholy combination of local Galway Bay oysters and Guinness. We were previously unaware that Galway Bay oysters are akin to Kumamotos in creaminess. Combine that with the fresh Irish Guinness and you have the stuff of dreams.
I really do not need to say much, this picture really tells the story.
Here are the basics, the cat is Italian, his names is Orazio, eats lasagna all day long and once in a while will have a Limoncello as an after dinner digestivo. Oh yeah, he looks like he is scared S**t
15 Apr
Posted by Graham as Baja 1000, Motorcycle, Travel
I just got back from a 1,230 mile off-road motorcycle trip from Ensenada to Cabo San Lucas. It was a training run to prepare for the Baja 1000. Here’s part two of the story…
DAY #2
Each morning started around 5:30. We had a quick breakfast and were on the road by 7:00 AM. We had to drive 30 miles of blacktop to get outside of Ensenada and start our off-road voyage. The first day was by far the easiest terrain and we only covered 170 miles. The first leg was winding dirt roads - we were really blazing, getting comfortable on the bikes. It rained a lot this year so the countryside was uncharacteristically green.
As we approached the coast, the terrain became more rocky and sandy - a constant theme. The roads were a little rough, but the biggest hazard was the amazing scenery. You’d come around a corner, get a panoramic view of the ocean just as you hit a difficult patch. The scenery was like a siren song at times, luring you to make a mistake.
We continued along the coast the whole day, running through little towns. I believe this is a typical section of the Baja 1000 course. At one point, we were on a narrow road lined by barbed wire and had to pass 4 horses that weren’t terribly fond of our engines. It was honestly surreal - dangerous, but somehow under control. You come to know that Baja is lousy with animals - those and vehicles are your biggest concerns as you rip along in remote areas. This was where I got my first flat - again a constant theme in Baja. A guide changed it out as I assisted, an old folding chair serving as a stand. Another lesson: you have to make do with what you have or can find nearby. It’s all you’ve got.
Just because I happen to run marathons does not mean that I follow the professionals and the big races around the world. But I do happen to follow the career of Ryan Hall, a 25 year old California runner who I met 2 years ago at a dinner two nights before the NYC Marathon. He is the best chance the US has of breaking the insane stronghold the Kenyans have on Marathon wins in the coming few years and happens to be pretty nice guy.
On that note I came across the results from the London Marathon this past weekend and Ryan Hall kicked ass. He finished in 5th place (behind 4 Kenyans) with a time of 2:06:17, which is the 3rd best American marathon finish ever. I think the coolest thing I read about the race is that sometime in the middle of the race, Hall in the lead pack rolled up to the front of the Kenyans and told them to pick up the pace, they were running too slow. Granted that may not have been the best move as the Kenyans picked up the pace to 4:30/mile (insanity) and dared him to keep up, not much of a chance.
Overall, congratulations to Ryan Hall on a great performance and look out for him in the Beijing Olympics this year when he tries to win a gold medal for the USA in the smog, smoke and debris of the streets of Beijing.
I just got back from a 1,230 mile off-road motorcycle trip from Ensenada to Cabo San Lucas. It was a training run to prepare for the Baja 1000. I’ll have to write about specific days as there is simply too much for one post.
DAY #1
I met up with my Chris Haines group in San Diego. We loaded our gear in the van and were driven down to the Mexico border, and then 100 miles down the coast to Ensenada. You know you have gotten to Ensenada when you see a Mexican flag flying that’s as large as a football field. This picture hardly does justice. The flagpole is probably 25 feet in diameter.
I have heard bad things about Ensenada, namely that it’s little more than a commercial fishing town, but I really enjoyed myself there. One highlight was a fish market that is directly across from a row of seafood joints where we you can grab a quick ceviche, whatever floats your boat. This stuff is fresh, right off the boat.
The main drag in Ensenada is the starting line for the Baja 1000. The race follows pavement for a few blocks then drops down into a drainage ditch where the racers speed out of town.
It’s hard to imagine 850hp trucks blowing through these tight, densely populated areas, but that’s the thrill of the Baja 1000. As Sal Fish says, “it’s not for wusses”.
I came across this post at the blog Off The Broiler and it discusses a BBQ place that I have never been to but sounds incredible
The Pit Authentic Barbecue
328 W. Davie Street, Raleigh NC
(919) 890-4500
Now, if you are a fan of real BBQ, PLEASE CLICK HERE to see one hell of a slide-show from the folks at Off The Broiler.
I love to follow crazy endurance events and members of this team even plan on participating in some of these events (Baja 1000 , Reach the Beach Relay ), but I think this one has to win the prize as one of the most insane events to participate in. It is called the 4 Deserts and it is four endurance races, each one is a seven-day, 250-kilometer footrace across the world’s largest and most forbidding deserts. The four deserts this year are Atacama in Chile, Gobi in China, Sahara in Egypt and for good measure, the last desert, Antarctica.
I had been following the Atacama Crossing race online this year which was won by Dean Karnazes and the people who compete/participate in this endurance event are nuts. Besides that you are racing for 7 days straight, in the driest conditions in the world (it is a desert) you have to carry all of your own gear and there are no support crews. Is there a purpose to this type of insanity? If there is someone needs to explain this one to me. I can understand ultramarathons and team endurance events like the Eco-Challenge or whoever is sponsoring it now, but this one is beyond comprehension. I think the only cool thing are the pictures.
That being said, if someone can come up with a good reason, and convince me, I will see meet you in the Gobi Desert and run across China.
DOFB
