The Running Thread - 2019

Great: now *my* Garmin isn't synching my runs, and it was synching just fine when everybody else was having trouble. Did anything fix the previous issue besides just waiting for an app update?
Just the last update helped mine. It took about 45 minutes to sync the first time after not having synced for 2 weeks, though.
 
How about just slipping a pair of Hot Hands into the right locations inside your fleece tights?

I was just thinking about this, but then I was thinking you'd want to make sure they don't, um, migrate somewhere where they'd be TOO hot. I haven't tried this - my butt is not the coldest part of me when I run in the winter.
 
OK, you got me looking at the VA4. Of course, Garmin's site says it won't be available for 5 - 8 weeks. But still... can't see right away what is supposed to be better on the VA4.

Both the VA3 and VA4 says the battery life is 5 hours for GPS + music and significantly longer (like 15 hours) for GPS without music. I've never downloaded any music to my VA3, and yet my GPS battery life is about 5 - 6 hours. I have a widget on my VA3 to start/stop the music playing from my phone. Is that the problem?

I guess I will answer my own question by removing that widget before my run today and see how the battery life goes. I thought the music control widget would be useful, but actually I never use it. I rarely do anything except start the music at the beginning of my run (from my phone) and stop it at the end (by turning my earbud off).

If anyone except me cares...

I removed the music control widget from my VA3 and then did a long run. I had the GPS on for a little over 3.5 hrs. My battery went from 78% to 8%. This doesn't seem to indicate that GPS without music will last for anything like 15 hrs. Maybe they are assuming no music also means no bluetooth? I may try that next just to see how the battery does.

At any rate, it doesn't make me think the VA4 battery will be a significant improvement since it is described in the same way. It's probably the same battery.
 
Inspired by @jmasgat ,
backside coverage- I layered shorts under my fleece tights, but my backside is still uncomfortably cold and nearly numb. My thighs and calves are fine. Someone mentioned quilted running skirts, about which I know nothing. Is this a real solution, and if so does it restrict your running? Any other suggestions for warmth?

So I have Fleece running tights from LL Bean. They also make pants. They are expensive, but they do keep me very warm. I wore them all last winter in temps 20 and below with wind and I was never once cold. It was even sleeting one time and I found that they did not get soaked right away which was an added bonus. And I know not everyone has this problem, but they also sell long for those who need more length.
 


Just the last update helped mine. It took about 45 minutes to sync the first time after not having synced for 2 weeks, though.
I should add, it synched my steps and heart rate data up to date but didn't register my "activity"-- my run. Is that what happened to you, or it wouldn't sync at all?
 
Great: now *my* Garmin isn't synching my runs, and it was synching just fine when everybody else was having trouble. Did anything fix the previous issue besides just waiting for an app update?

Mine wasn't syncing for a while and I found a workaround, when done in this specific order:

  1. Turn off watch
  2. Force close Garmin Connect on phone
  3. Turn watch back on
  4. Open Garmin Connect
  5. Press sync icon and activity would sync
Since the most recent update, though, my watch has gone back to syncing automatically.

ETA: For clarity, all my steps and ancillary data were updating from the watch. It just wasn't registering the activity/run. This got the activity to sync.
 


I should add, it synched my steps and heart rate data up to date but didn't register my "activity"-- my run. Is that what happened to you, or it wouldn't sync at all?
It wouldn’t sync at all, but it would connect... I could see my steps and heart for the day or moment, but it wouldn’t actually sync. And the next day, it would just show blank data or no data for those steps and heart rate that you could instantaneously look at for the previous day.
 
Inspired by @jmasgat , I packed up a thermos of hot chocolate when I grabbed my running gear and left for work. I hyped myself up reminding myself that I did this temp and below last winter, and got it done but it was more uncomfortable than I remembered. Specifically my face and backside.
While running I realized I had inquired here last winter about gear, put items in an amazon shopping cart, and forgot to ask follow up questions before buying. So, I'm asking.
Balaclavas- Does anyone use the ones with holes or the plastic inserts? I hate the buff over my mouth (I am a mouth breather) as it is soaked very quickly. I also wondered if neoprene is better?
backside coverage- I layered shorts under my fleece tights, but my backside is still uncomfortably cold and nearly numb. My thighs and calves are fine. Someone mentioned quilted running skirts, about which I know nothing. Is this a real solution, and if so does it restrict your running? Any other suggestions for warmth?
Noting all the fleecy options folks have listed! My solution last year was to buy a heavy, oversized pair of men's sweat pants to wear over two pairs of leggings (one layer of cuddleduds with my summer leggings over them to help keep them in place since cuddleduds fit me weird in the waist). It made a huge difference; I think it helps having a buffer of trapped air against your legs. Not the most flattering look, though.

The face thing is an ongoing problem for me. I bought this balaclava and force myself to wear it when it's cold enough to be dangerous for my lungs, but I really don't like it--I'm also a mouth breather and it gets very wet on the inside, plus the damp breath that gets pushed upward over my eyes results in my eyelashes forming icicles (not even exaggerating). The one face-related solution I've found and am really happy with is that on very cold days I wear ski goggles instead of sunglasses. They don't fog up like glasses even if I'm wearing the balaclava, I don't get icicles in my eyelashes, and I can keep my eyes open and see clearly even when there's blowing snow.
 
Inspired by @jmasgat , I packed up a thermos of hot chocolate when I grabbed my running gear and left for work. I hyped myself up reminding myself that I did this temp and below last winter, and got it done but it was more uncomfortable than I remembered. Specifically my face and backside.
While running I realized I had inquired here last winter about gear, put items in an amazon shopping cart, and forgot to ask follow up questions before buying. So, I'm asking.
Balaclavas- Does anyone use the ones with holes or the plastic inserts? I hate the buff over my mouth (I am a mouth breather) as it is soaked very quickly. I also wondered if neoprene is better?
backside coverage- I layered shorts under my fleece tights, but my backside is still uncomfortably cold and nearly numb. My thighs and calves are fine. Someone mentioned quilted running skirts, about which I know nothing. Is this a real solution, and if so does it restrict your running? Any other suggestions for warmth?

I bought this last year on clearance. It keeps my butt nice and warm. I wear it anytime I know I’m going to be outside for awhile for an extra later not just for running.

https://www.rei.com/product/132659/smartwool-smartloft-120-skirt
 
Ahh yes, the old cold butt debate!! Seems to come up every year! Honestly I don't notice how cold my butt is when I'm running. It's not until I come in from outdoors after a run, or like in the shower, that I notice the cold buns. 😆

Last year I bought a pair of fleece tights (the brand is Craft) which work well, but I'm not crazy about the way the waist fits, it's a little weird. So this year I bit the bullet and bought two expensive pair of tights from Athleta, which one should arrive next week and the other is on back order. They get great reviews and sell fast every year. I will report back on those.
 
Ahh yes, the old cold butt debate!! Seems to come up every year! Honestly I don't notice how cold my butt is when I'm running. It's not until I come in from outdoors after a run, or like in the shower, that I notice the cold buns. 😆

Last year I bought a pair of fleece tights (the brand is Craft) which work well, but I'm not crazy about the way the waist fits, it's a little weird. So this year I bit the bullet and bought two expensive pair of tights from Athleta, which one should arrive next week and the other is on back order. They get great reviews and sell fast every year. I will report back on those.

Just take breaks during your run to twerk so that all the muscles receive proper blood flow.

*note: message above not endorsed by professional trainers or disboards.
#coldbutt-troll
 
Ahh yes, the old cold butt debate!! Seems to come up every year! Honestly I don't notice how cold my butt is when I'm running. It's not until I come in from outdoors after a run, or like in the shower, that I notice the cold buns. 😆

Last year I bought a pair of fleece tights (the brand is Craft) which work well, but I'm not crazy about the way the waist fits, it's a little weird. So this year I bit the bullet and bought two expensive pair of tights from Athleta, which one should arrive next week and the other is on back order. They get great reviews and sell fast every year. I will report back on those.
Those were the first pair of tights I got, and better than others I have auditioned. I'm eying that skirt recommended by @PrincessMickey to add to it. There is enough wind whipping up and down a couple points on my lunch run that it is unbearable.

I might get some wierd looks from my coworkers walking/driving by my route if I were to do this. No, I definitely would get wierd looks. :rotfl:
I already get weird looks from coworkers when I dress to go out on my lunch break so I am not sure how much more a dance break would add to that. The only one who did not marvel at my insanity yesterday was my colleague from St. Petersburg, Russia who only suggested I upgrade my buff to something more robust (he wasnt wrong).
 
Does anyone run the full without any nutrition? I don't do very well taking anything while running. I don't do any food/gels/water for distances up to the half, and then on my long runs I've been taking only small amounts of water and electrolytes.
While experience varies from person to person, here's what I learned about fueling and running.

2011 Half Marathon 1: No fuel at all during training. At a sporting goods store, I decided to buy some clif bloks before the race under the guise of "maybe I should have this." Had no idea what I was doing. Took 1 blok randomly when I remembered to during the race and ate whatever they passed out at the fuel stop. Didn't cause me any problems which established a precedent that would have been disastrous later on.

Every Half Marathon since the first one: I would take one clif blok every so often during training on long runs. I think I settled on every 90 minutes because I had no idea what I was doing. Upon learning more, I increased this to one blok every 45 minutes/3 miles. Still no problems. Even my most difficult races I did not have energy problems.

About one year ago in training for my first marathon, I had a string of consecutive brutal runs, the last of which left me so depressed that I actually considered dropping out of the marathon despite all the money I had spent on it. I was feeling completely exhausted way too early in medium length runs (over 4 miles) and it only got worse during longer runs (anything over 6 miles).

In consulting with @DopeyBadger over my issues and challenges, he gave me the exact amount of fuel I should be taking in and I discovered that I was not even close to that amount. By this time I was using sport beans, but realized that I was taking 3-4 beans every 45 minutes when I should have been taking an entire small package. I was dramatically underfueling for the marathon distance and my body was telling me that.

So I started experimenting. I learned that my stomach felt slightly off when I took the proper amount of sport beans in training. Others recommended huma gels, so I tried those. This worked much better for me. I tested different flavors and found ones I liked really well. In a couple weeks time, I figured out the right formula for me and things started to go much better in training.

While each person is different, I can't imagine having an enjoyable first marathon experience when my in race nutrition and fueling was horribly off for the marathon. I believe that discovering my fuel problems in training may well have saved my first marathon. While it's entirely possible that I would have stubbornly forced myself to finish the darn race anyways, I had a much better time because I was properly trained heading into the race and fueled during the race.
But that's how you find out what you like...you do weird things on training runs to discover what works.
Experience has taught me that trial and error during training runs leads to fewer problems during races. And that's when it counts so to speak.
 
So who here has aftershoz headphones? Do you like them? Any cons I should know about? I just got the email this week say thing they would have them on sale for Black Friday. I currently have jaybirds and despise them. I got them as a Christmas gift last year and was excited to finally not have to deal with the wires. But they never stay in my ears. I have tried all different size buds and they always fall out. Its so annoying to constantly be fixing them. I'm over it and thinking now is the time to change.
 

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