True Love

Carol and I went on a run last night instead of deploying the official European release that many of you have been asking for:) Check it out...

The weather turned really cold so the moment required two of us working together to actually get out for a run.  Knowing the weather was so brisk we turned our Forerunner 301 units on in the car as we drove to the trail-head.  This way we knew our signal would be acquired and we could hop out of the car and get busy.

Luckily our individual Heart Rates were found correctly inside the car.  Keep in mind that your 301 will keep the same heart rate strap during the entire activity, but during HR acquisition it is important to be away from any other 301 heart rate strap, otherwise you may end up with someone elses biometrics.

Tennessee Valley is mostly open skies and makes for a good GPS run, but from where we started the trees were thick and the valley was narrow. The GPS reported a signal outage right away.  Losing signal at the beginning of an activity can be a bummer since this may cause the biggest loss of distance.  MB may not know that you actually started where you did and just assume the run started where the signal was acquired.   If you lose signal in the middle of an activity we know that you must have gotten from point A to B somehow so we assume at least a straight line distance. 

We continued and the GPS gained signal again.  The remainder of the run was in the open valley towards the ocean and back.  In the parking lot near the stables we had the choice of running on the fun trail away from the road or actually on the road itself. 

I don't know about everyone else, but I really don't like to run on the road.  Running on the trail is much more interesting jumping over logs and creeks.  Carol usually feels the same way, but when we were faced with choosing the trail or the road...she asked to return on the road.  I had to ask why because I know her usual preference.  She responded:

"Well, if we run down the trail we might lose signal again."

I mean, is true love or what?.  Thinking of the GPS signal quality over our own preference of the terrain!  Don't worry, we chose the trail. I am a GPS geek, but there is a limit.  She probably just didn't want to get her shoes muddy and knew she had a better chance of convincing me if she mentioned the GPS rather than her gear.  In a way, knowing how to manipulate your loved ones into following your own preference is true love too.

So the moral of the story is to not let the GPS determine your workout.  Choosing to run outside instead of on the treadmill is an acceptable reason to have the GPS modify your workout plans, but always choose the path that best fits your desires, not the limitations of the GPS.  Let us figure out how to make the GPS work better in your terrain. 

Simply remember to help out with those items that you can control.  Let your GPS and HRM warm up before you start your activity, make sure your battery is charged, moisten your heart rate strap, acquire heart rate away from other FR 301 units...leave the rest up to MotionBased and Garmin.  We're constantly trying to make it all better.

Aaron

 

Comments

[Jeff Odell]

I have to remind the folks in my training group that running down the middle of the road in order to get better GPS reception is a BAD IDEA! Seriously, getting run over so you don't introduce GPS error is a bad trade-off.

Glad to know we are not the only obsessed souls. Thanks for sharing your story.