April 11, 2012

A blind run

Fitting in runs during my kids' Spring Break is difficult. My mom watched them Monday morning for our long run, so I didn't want to ask her to watch them again today for our "semi-long" run (9 miles). Jerry worked a night shift, so he needed to sleep this morning, but he was insistent that I go do my run and that he would be fine.

I met Jessica earlier than usual so that I could be back home earlier to relieve Jerry. We headed out to the Metropark at 7:20. When we got there, we went into the marina to use the bathroom, and I turned on my Garmin. Immediately, the "low battery" warning came on. I thought I had charged it, but I guess not. Right after that, the watch died and shut off.

I hate running without my Garmin!! I've only done that once, and it was during the 5K race last month. Luckily, I had mapped out a route before I left home, so I knew the distance. We ended up starting our run at a different spot, however, so I just adjusted (in my mind) the point where we had to turn around for our out-and-back run.

Just before we started running, I decided to grab my cell phone and use the stopwatch feature on it (I don't have a "smart" phone, just a regular old cell that apparently comes with a stopwatch in the tools section). I noticed the battery on my cell was low too, but I figured it would make it a couple more hours. So I started the stopwatch and off we went.

It was SO STRANGE to run without my Garmin! I actually paid attention to the in-park mile-marker signs. At a stoplight, I found myself reaching for the "stop" button on my watch, but the watch wasn't there.

Since we started running from a spot that was a little farther away from the spot that I mapped out, we turned around a little sooner than I had mapped. I heard my phone turn off--stupid battery died! So I had no clue what our time was. When we turned, we walked for about 30 seconds to eat a Gu and then kept running. 

Jessica's knee was really starting to bother her about 5 miles into the run. I could hear in her voice how bad it was. And she's usually a champ when it comes to running through pain--she's had all kinds of hip and foot problems that she's run through, but her knee was really bad today. We were pretty quiet after that as we ran through the Metropark

About 2 miles from the car, Jessica said she had to stop and walk the rest of the way. Her knee was killing her. So I took her key and ran ahead (my knee started to hurt every time I slowed to walk, so I preferred to keep running). I checked the time when I got back to the car (I think we started running at 7:45, and it was 9:32 when I got back to the car).

Jessica finished shortly after me, at 9:36. We stretched and then left. When I got home, I mapped out our route and we had actually run 9.57 miles--0.57 miles more than we needed to! Hahaha. So my pace was approximately 11:11/mi, if we started when I thought we did.

I've always loved my Garmin, but I have a whole new appreciation for it now! I'm going to make sure I charge it EVERY time I run. Normally I do, but I don't know--maybe I was distracted or something on Monday.

Jerry's off work today, so we're taking the kids to the zoo and out to dinner for their good report cards.


13 comments:

  1. You could have sluffed it off, but you and your family made it work. Way to dig in.

    Congrats to skiddles for good grades!

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  2. I am so with you - I hate running without my pacer! (Now my Garmin 305) Seeing yours all the time had me lusting for it, so I finally got it a few weeks ago!

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  3. I love my Garmin also! Hate being without it!

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  4. Aww, that stinks but it sounds like it made the run a little more interesting if nothing else. ;) Have fun at the zoo and dinner! Yay for good report cards!

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  5. I just started using a Garmin (an older model, for now) and I love it. Even though I've only used it twice, it's changed my view of running forever. :)

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  6. I keep track of my runs using Nike+. I hear Garmin is way better but Nike was nicer to my wallet! Anyway there has been a time or two where I couldn't sync my run and it drives me crazy! I wanna know my stats! And those are some lucky kids, I'm sure they love keeping their grades up in that house!

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  7. I recently purchased the Garmin forerunner 405 and I'm really liking it so far. For those who are interested in a Garmin, but looking for a lower price...amazon.com had the one I got for $179.99 quite cheap compared to other models...even older models.

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  8. Hip, foot and now knee problems? Maybe this is the body's way of letting your friend know running is too high stress on her. I don't understand "pushing through the pain" that just seems like inviting more injury.

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  9. How are we going to charge all of our gadgets for Relay?!?

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  10. Nice job doing the run garmin-less! I'm so anal about using mine. I need to do some wo it, but its like my security blanket.

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  11. Oh my gosh! Poor Jessica! I can relate though, I am just as stubborn about working through my back pain. I hope she heals soon!

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  12. I love that picture, HILARIOUS! Hope Jessica is better :(

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  13. I hate being without my Garmin too! It (was about) to happen to me once when I realized my cell phone car charger had a USB port on it so I was able to charge my Garmin on the way to the park! So awesome! Oh and I'm sure you know this, but you can set your Garmin to "auto-pause" when you stop (stoplights, etc.) so you don't have to remember to stop and start it yourself. I use that feature and it is pretty accurate (I have the same Garmin as you).

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